Arc IV Chapter 9_Si Vis Pacem -‖- Para Bellum [Naruto FanFic]

Arc IV Chapter 9

 IV

 <hr>

 ━━━━━━┓???┏━━━━━━

 <hr>

 Arc IV Chapter 9

 <hr>

 ━━━━━━┛???┗━━━━━━

 <hr>

 Little Asami crossed thbyrinth of dark corridors,making her way back to the arena, which took much longer than expected.

 Her failurefrustrated, dissatisfied,displeased her. Whether it was due to arrogance or negligence, shehad failed to eliminate Orochimaru. How unbing of her. Her inattentiveness had cost her victorytodayand allowed Orochimaru to escape. How annoying. It was avictory that was given away so easily. All because of her negligence, but failure was not eptable. Failure was not allowed. Failure was not permitted. Failure was a sign of imperfection.Not that it mattered now ... Orochimaru got away.

 “...”Aheavy sigh escaped Asami. At least, she got a chance to talk with Kakashi, the future Hokage, in person,

 What a shame that it wasn''t her, but such was fate and vige policies, much to her disappointment. She was still far too young and possessed no n connections. Shecked seniority and the support of the ns. Her aplishments and exploits were still unknown. Her name didn''t carry yet the necessary weight and renown to be reality. It was unfortunate, but such was reality. The odds stacked against her candidature. Thus, only Kakashi remained, for better or for worse. Hiruzen nned to step down again because of his advanced age, designating a new sessor who would hopefully survive longer than the Fourth Hokage.

 Theregrvige council consisted of six members, the Hokage, the three vigeelders, the jonin and the ANBUmander. They were supplemented by a number of important n heads. A simple majoritywas all that as needed to be Hokage.

 So far, Hiruzen appeared to remain undecided, still hesitating, still searching for a suitable sessor. The ANBUmander obviously favoured Kakashi. Shikaku, the joninmander, remained neutral. He mostly observed. He rarely acted on his own.

 Homura and Koharu were both an enigma. They two elders were difficult to read. Danzo, however, was a man of ambition. His lust for power and his dubious methods were well known. Rumours imed that he was responsible for a number of mysterious deaths among high ranking Konoha ninja. The rumours were correct. Danzo was behind their deaths, and more. Nobody wanted the old man with his cane to acquire even more power. And yet, the senile old man still wielded much power, maybe far too much. His opinion still carried weight within the vige council.

 Danzot loathed Hiruzen and his weakness with every fibre of his being.Hewould neverback Tsunade, nor Jiraiya. They were both Hiruzen’s students.This was the situation. This was how Kakashi would go to be Hokage.

 The only question was, did he possessthe political acumen, the leadership qualities the vige needed? To be honest, she had her doubts.

 Because times were changing, and they were changing quickly. Konoha had to move on if it wanted to stand the test of time. The days of the small nations were passing. On the surface, the world of the ninja appeared to be calm, peaceful, but that wasn''t the case. The wheels of history never ceased to move. The factors that led to the outbreak of the Third Great War regained momentum now after a decade of peace.

 The previous warmight have ended, but beneath the surface,old conflictspersisted, conflicts that had never truly ended.The peaceamong the viges was brittle, nothing more thanan illusion, nothing more than a better armistice.The signs were everywhere. The next great war was inevitable. It was only a matter of timeuntil hostilities were about to break out.

 Amegakurehad grown suspiciously silent in recent years together with the rest of the smallerneighbouring countries, isting themselves. Kumogakure strengthenedtheir forces. Supported by their strongeconomy, they proceeded with their unprecedented military expansion.Iwagakurefollowed suit. Both powersincreasedtheir military strength at an rming rate.Kirigakure represented no major threat, at least for now. They were still weakened by years of the bloody mist, but even Kiri was regaining strength.

 Konoha, by contrast, stagnated. Whereas the strength of their enemies increased day by day, Konoha grew weaker. Their sole ally, Sunagakure, suffered from a steady economic and military decline. It was clear that Suna could not be relied on any more. Konoha stood alone these days, surrounded by enemies on all sides. Drastic measures were needed to reverse this situation. Thus, the question, did Kakashi possess the strength to do what was necessary? She didn''t know.

 Because she certainly did. She possessed the strength, the determination, the resolution, to lead the vige and her fellow vigers,her future underlings ...

 No, pardon, underlings was not the right term. Minions? Nah, not what she wanted. Something more neutralwas needed ... Citizens? Nah, too egalitarian. Subjectsperhaps? No, too monarchic ...Although the ir of royalty undoubtedly appealed to her.

 Because, with all due to respect, the title‘Hokage’was definitelcking.It didn''t suit her. Too short.Too simple. Itcked proper decorum. Some refinement was needed. Why not Empress? Why not something like Her Imperial Majesty, Asami I., By the Grace of Heaven Enlightened Empress of the Chrysanthemum Throne, Divine Sovereign of the Land of Fire and of Her other Realms and Territories ...Didn''t that sound better? It did.

 <hr>

 ━━━━━━┛???┗━━━━━━

 <hr>

17kNovel

Arc IV Chapter 9