Shikamaru Shinden Chapter 14

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CHAPTER 14

Five men were reflected on the screen as Shikamaru and Naruto kept watch.

The Five Daimyo, the owners of the five great countries. Those who were dignified as such were the ones shinobi had vowed to follow. The man behind the cold, transparent screens certainly had influence over the fate of the continent.

“I thought it was like this…”

A man with a flabby face was on the rightmost screen, said in discontent. He had his hands raised to the ceiling, shaking his head left and right.

He was the Daimyo of the Land of Earth, Danjo.

Danjo trembled his fleshy jaws and glared at Ikkyu.

“Ninja spoke of a union between their Five Hidden Villages, why should we have to copy them? We sometimes fight, we sometimes form alliances with one another right? Let’s stop mimicking them and letting shinobi interfere with our politics!” he said.

“Now what kind of attitude is that?”

The man on the left most screen muttered, not looking at Danjo.

He was the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning, Tekkan.

Since the start of the meeting, Tekkan’s thick arms were folded, glaring at Danjo. It was natural, as he was the owner of the country opposed to the invasion of the Land of Flowers.

“Our country has been an ally of Hana’s (Flower’s) for many generations. Knowing that I can’t be silent on this,” Tekkan said.

“Come on, because of this alliance, Hana’s fate is being delayed. Where is the need to protect such things? I hear that the Raikage is rather angry with your plans. I’m grateful for this meeting today, but you’re not willing to talk about this? I came here to discuss this!” Danjo shouted.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Tekkan shouted, slamming his hands on the desk.

Danjo’s fat body shook in fear. His mouth crumpled into a sleazy smile.

“The current Raikage is a great man, but he’s as insolent as his predecessor. Even if I wanted to stop him, I couldn’t.” Tekkan said.

“That’s too bad-” Danjo said trying to stand up.

“I’m not done talking yet!” Tekkan shouted.

Danjo stood up a little.

“I don’t think there’s anything left to discuss,” Danjo said.

“Aren’t you going to try and prevent this invasion?” Tekkan asked.

Danjo laughed through his nose.

“Please sit down, and let’s talk about this,” Ikkyu said.

Ikkyu met Danjo’s frenzied eyes, his own eyes full of determination. He was one of the most powerful men in the continent. A man of great dignity among his people.

Danjo sat down with a sigh.

“Well then,” Shikamaru muttered to Naruto, the pair focused on the screen.

“It’s rather like the Five Kage Meeting. That man has a greedy look. I pity Kurotsuchi-san for having to put up with that man,” Naruto sighed.

Shikamaru agreed.

Danjo’s whole body was covered in fat. Perhaps the invasion of Hana was on this man’s whim.

“Our peace is about to be destroyed by him, I can’t forgive that,” Naruto muttered, hitting his knees with his fists.

Shikamaru calmly spoke to his friend.

“Madara and Obito had ambitions like him. The last great war was the tragedy of that ambition. There is always a cause for war, but what’s truly scary is the power that man has over us. How many lives will it take to fulfill his desires? Such a man will destroy our world with his greed.”

“I shouldn’t have let this happen,” Naruto said.

“That’s why you talked to me back home,” Shikamaru said.

“That’s right,” Naruto confirmed.

They both returned to the screen.

The Daimyo’s meeting was their focus. The Land of Earth wouldn’t stop their invasion and the Land of Lightning was pissed. The Fire Daimyo was struggling to calm down both sides. The Lands of Water and Wind were neutral to the last. A position slightly different from their Kage counterparts.

The Daimyo’s kept debating.

“Things aren’t clear right now, let’s all take a break.” Ikkyu said.

Ikkyu’s screen cut out. The talks were suspended. Shikamaru was actually rather shocked that Ikkyu had chosen a good place to break up the meeting. Ikkyu met Naruto and Shikamaru in the waiting room.

“It’s no good, Danjo won’t back down,” Ikkyu sighed.

They all sat on the provided sofa’s, Ikkyu’s head fell into his hands. Shikamaru wanted to give him strength.

“If I give up on this, that’s it. I have to do this somehow,” Ikkyu muttered.

“I understand, it’s hard without a plan…” Naruto sighed.

“There is a plan,” Shikamaru said.

Naruto looked at Shikamaru and nodded. There was something that they’d been mulling over for a while. Their hearts were in sync.

“The Tsuchikage asked me to allow Konoha’s confidential information to be disclosed. It would balance out all of the nations, with the disparity gone, the other villages won’t be in fear of Konoha.” Naruto explained.

“It’s not enough,” Ikkyu muttered, looking up at Naruto.

He was at least taken in by his words.

“If the Five Daimyo are involved, the Konoha Disclosure might not be enough. They won’t be convinced. Danjo wants the Flower country and even if we were to equalize the power dynamic, it won’t be enough.” Ikkyu said.

The Daimyo was a piece on the board that you couldn’t move…

Shikamaru closed his eyes at the thought.

This man was no shinobi. There was a plan, but it was for the Daimyo to take, not a shinobi like Shikamaru.

Looking at the two stunned men, Ikkyu closed his eyes. He breathed deeply from his nose and then nodded.

“OK, I’ve decided it,” he said.

The two silently waited for his words.

“In the Land of Fire, there are several territories that are fortunately near the Land of Earth. My grandfather once stole them during a war, and it’s a territory that overlaps the Land of Flowers, who owned it originally. The Land of Earth and its people would remember this,” he said.

“So we give it up,” Naruto said.

“Collateral,” Shikamaru muttered.

“Please wait for a second,” Ikkyu said smiling at him.

Shikamaru slapped the desk with his palms, the table laying between him and the Daimyo.

“ The allocation of that territory, it would be akin to admitting defeat. It means we lose to the Land of Earth without fighting,” Shikamaru said.

“Certainly,” Ikkyu said.

Shikamaru had spoken in carefully controlled words.

“ As you say, the act of giving away land is similar to surrendering to other countries. But for the people living in this land, I think it would be better to give it back to the Land of Earth. I’ve always believed that. It’s not something you should worry about,” Ikkyu said.

“But-” Shikamaru started.

“I told you two, I’d work alongside you. If you decide to fight, you had better be hungry,"Ikkyu cut in.

Shikamaru saw Ikkyu’s determination. Shikamaru reined in his temper at Ikkyu’s speech. Thoughts spun in his head, he struggled to bring them to words.

"The territory censure is not something only the Five Nations can decide. It also affects the smaller countries and villages that neighbour us,” Shikamaru said.

“That’s certainly true,” Ikkyu said, nodding to Shikamaru.

“The leaders of all of the countries, not only the Daimyo, but all of our allies. Let’s hold a big conference. We’ll call on all of the representatives of the continent and transfer the land properly,” Shikamaru said.

Originally, they were going to issue just the Konoha disclosure agreement. But because of Ikkyu, they were going to avoid that.

“It’s unprecedented!” Ikkyu said.

“There’s no need for any precedent, the Land of Fire can tie the continent with no further fighting. This decision will affect all of the countries. All of the Daimyo and their aides should be recognized. Not everyone will approve the land transfer,” Shikamaru explained.

“Well…” Ikkyu said.

Ikkyu stopped to think.

Shikamaru had been preparing this for a little while.

“The Continental Talks!” Ikkyu breathed in a mutter. “The Continental Talks… Is it really possible to do such a thing? I have no idea…”

“Nothing is possible if you say it’s impossible beforehand,” Shikamaru said.

“But… What is impossible?” Ikkyu wondered.

Shikamaru would not back down.

“Firstly, let’s talk with the Daimyo here. If that doesn’t work out, we go back to the drawing board,”

Naruto nodded in agreement with Shikamaru’s plan.

“This is the only way to prevent war. Please do this,” Shikamaru said.

Both he and Naruto bowed.

After a moment of silence, Ikkyu got up.

“It’s worth it to try,” he said.

They stayed bowed until he left the room.

-00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000-

The other four Daimyo were silent after Ikkyu’s announcement.

“You’re giving it up?” Tekkan asked, raising his eyebrow.

“That’s right,” Ikkyu said.

Ikkyu didn’t hesitate. He nodded to Tekkan who looked over at Danjo.

“How about it Danjo? It might be smaller than the Land of Flowers but you can still work with it. Crops will grow there,” Ikkyu said.

“But the invasion is all prepared, I’ve spent a lot of money on this!” Danjo protested.

“A small sacrifice in the face of not killing innocent people. I think this would look better in the history books,” Ikkyu said.

“No, but-” Danjo stiffly refused the offer. Shikamaru raised his fist at this.

“What’s in it for the Land of Fire? These are sweet sentiments, but what do you have planned?” Danjo demanded.

“I just want to stop this war,” Ikkyu said.

“You’re all lies!” Danjo stood up and shook his head, pouring sweat and shouting.

“I REFUSE!” he shouted.

“That’s okay, let’s just ask everyone else,” Ikkyu said to the whole room.

Tekkan kept his arms folded, watching the two parties of Danjo and Ikkyu.

“Ha, who with?” Tekkan asked.

“Daimyo of all of the countries on this continent and their aides,” Ikkyu said.

“How can you do such a thing?” Tekkan asked.

“We will talk with everyone,” Ikkyu said, opening his closed eyes.

“The Continental Talks!” he declared.

“Well then, Continental Talks with everyone…” Danjo muttered.

The words of Ikkyu pierced Danjo, his face had distorted where it had once been full of affordance.

“We’ll hold a meeting of all of the countries, against the invasion of the Land of Flowers by the Land of Earth and in favour of the Land of Fire’s territory decree. How does that sound?” Ikkyu said.

“Ikkyu… You,” Danjo muttered.

Greed overflowed in his words, he smothered the room with his aura, but Ikkyu did not flinch.

“If you refuse, there’s another option…” Ikkyu said.

The Land of Fire could become the Land of Earth’s enemy, was what Ikkyu’s words implied.

Danjo appeared to be drowning.

“Is that not okay?” Tekkan asked with a sly smile.

He watched the sweating man and continued.

“The Land of Lightning agrees with the Fire Daimyo’s request,” he said.

The Wind Daimyo raised his hand.

“Me too,” he said.

“It’s the same from me,” The Water Daimyo said, following suit.

“Well then Danjo, what are you going to do?” Ikkyu asked.

At Ikkyu’s question, Danjo no longer had the will to refuse.

Sorry for the short delay, life has been hectic. Typing really does a number on my fingers and my skin is super sore to the touch right now. Don’t worry everyone, this will be finished before you know it <3