( 01 December- 8 years AK )
The whole idea of Twelve Guardian Ninja (Shugonin Jūnishi) as an independent corp which took care of Land of Fire's daimyō safety was... intriguing. At least in my head.
Even more when one thought that said ninjas all came from a hidden village and could choose to stay as guardians for a not specified length of time.
And why didn't a Kage simply overthrow the ruling feudal lord? I had researched the topic with no success whatsoever.
For starters, no history book explained why a daimyō existed. I went over everything I knew from the manga.
The daimyō (who was the Feudal Lord) is the political leader of a country. A daimyō is responsible for all decisions concerning their country, form alliances to the annual budget to the privileges allowed to the country's hidden village.
Daimyōs are therefore one of the single most important individuals in the entire country and hold the highest degree of political power, such that they are given special protection by the Allied Shinobi Forces during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
The final decision in the appointing of a new Kage for their nation's respective hidden village can rest within the daimyō's authority. In the case of Konohagakure, the Hokage typically selected their successor but if the Hokage dies or is otherwise incapacitated, this responsibility moves to the daimyō.
The daimyō is advised by his committee, the Konoha Council, the Jōnin Commander and a representative of the Anbu during this selection. Once a candidate has been selected, the incumbent must then be agreeable to all the jōnin before they are sworn into office.
For example, Danzō Shimura was selected as the Sixth Hokage Candidate when Tsunade was in a coma but died before the jōnin could convene and thus his position was never made official.
Daimyō frequently attended the final round matches of the Chūnin Exams, either to bet on the fights or to seek out up-and-coming talent.
Shikamaru Hiden, daimyōs were noted to always reside in their country's capital city, constantly waited upon by numerous attendants and advisers who, themselves, tend to be overbearing and arrogant to the general population.
Like any normal politician daimyōs tend to squabble between themselves. Because the daimyōs don't personally involve themselves in these wars, they never truly appreciate the horrors of battle and thus inevitably get into some other petty conflict at some future date.
Kisame Hoshigaki was condemned as a missing-nin in part because he was involved in killing a daimyō from another country, or his own? I didn't remember.
Despite a daimyō's importance for their respective country and hidden village, some of their political decisions may cause unrest and induce rebellion.
When the daimyō of the Land of Wind outsourced many jobs to the less expensive Konohagakure while reducing funding for his own country's Sunagakure, he became very unpopular among the latter village, who even allied themselves with Orochimaruin an attempt to induce fear into the daimyō.
Or at least it was something that was going to happen in the first storyline.
Before Hashirama, clans served the higher bidder, and nobody could outsource the Daymō. At the time, the official army of the countries was made of samurais, which were now only trained in Tetsu no Kuni, like a dying religion.
Honor did not keep you alive in a world of shinobis.
Perhaps I should write 'The last samurai' if Jiraya managed to let his smut get read, I had a lot of actually enjoyable stories to share. I distractedly considered.
And the Daymō was still the one calling the shots simply because a civilian would never accept to be ruled absolutely by something that wasn't human.
And whatever anybody could say, ninjas were not humans, not from a civilian point of view. Ninjas were creatures of nightmares, performing blood-curling acts in the middle of the night for money.
Shinobi existed for war, for destruction, there wasn't a single jutsu without a lethal application. Even I used chakra scalpels to kill.
The existence of D ranks was because of the need to show the civilians that if they purchased our services we would be trustworthy.
I strongly suspected that each business owner had to pay a 'tax for protection'.
So it made sense really, having a civilian calling the shots placed the ninjas into a position of servitude, and kept the population calm. Which farmer would properly attend his fields if he was too scared of being shoplifted in the night to properly rest?
And it didn't matter how benevolent the ruler if there was a ninja in the daymō seat, the people would feel like they were into some kind of slavery.
And it would be true. Slavery is the condition of having to work without proper remuneration or appreciation, and most of all, without a choice.
The choice of dying instead of working wasn't even on the table. After all, didn't ninja have their illusions to force people into submission? (We didn't, not on a large enough scale, but the civilians didn't know that).
I could understand the civilian point of view. With a Kage as a supreme ruler, it would have been like living in 'Injustice, Gods among Us'
Another book I could write.
I shook myself out of my reverie and took in the majesty that was the Capital of The Land of Fire. I was to report at the Guardians' barracks at 06:00 pm, I still had several hours to roam around.
And roam around I did, shinobi style.
I masked my presence and simply ran around taking in sights, sounds and smells. The roofs are the highway of ninjas.
The capital had clearly developed as a castle town, where the local feudal lord resided in the centrally located castle, and his retainers, which once were the samurai, lived in the districts surrounding the castle.
Even if it wasn't an actual European like castle, more like a conglomerate of extremely refined mansions and gardens developed on a hill.
A cross between a grass field and a garden, there were several water canals filled with carps, and I noticed an abundance of weeping willows and sakura trees. Obviously in the middle of it rose the impressive palace.
Circling said hill there was a stone wall a couple of meters high. It wasn't a highly defensive structure, but in that world everything military-related was accomplished through chakra. I had no doubts that there were some powerful seals placed on the stone walls.
The districts in the immediate surroundings of the central hill were filled with mansions or elaborate residences with earthen walls and elegant homes.
Like in all societies built around the idea of social castes, the merchants lived in assigned city districts. Merchant districts were characterized by shop-lined streets and warehouses, while the canals of these areas were actually used to transport merchandise.
I couldn't miss the traditional geisha districts, characterized by the wooden tea houses, in which the geisha performed during banquets.
Like in every civilian city of vast dimensions, near the outer walls there was the 'red lights' district. It was easy to spot. The Akasen was a conglomerate of districts where prostitution and the sex industry flourished along with the black market.
It was as far as possible from the respectable districts, and away from the eyes...
There was no escaping it, the bigger the economy, the vaster the black market. And why I did not doubt that such activities were too rough for the delicate sensibilities of the nobles, at least one of the Daimyō' advisers had his hands full organizing them, with the feudal lord's blessing, no less.
I sighed looking at the malnourished children roaming the streets, trying the occasional pickpocketing or 'helping' the drunks find their way home.
If there was one thing Hidden Villages took care of were orphaned or homeless children.
Sure, they ended up in orphanages with the heavy propaganda turning most of them into soldiers for the good of the village, but still. At least they had the possibility of failing at the academy.
But at that point it was easier for them to find some kind of work. If nothing else helping merchants with their cargo. Often the caravans left with one more child on their carriages.
But why would anybody care? The merchants gained someone who would do the hard work for a low price, and Konoha no longer had to feed them.
When they got tired of working on caravans and became bandits or criminals of some kind it was only more missions for the hidden village. So, a win win situation.
...
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