Shikamaru Shinden Chapter 17

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PART 4: THE FUTURE

CHAPTER 17

It was a magnificent sight. All of the Daimyo and their aides from the entire continent had gathered in one place. The Daimyo themselves were sat in a row of tables shaped like an arc, ten to a row and divided by country. Hundreds of sets of eyes were focused on the central podium.

The Land of Iron had facilitated the entire construction within a mere week. It was a place were the Daimyo could give their speeches. Somehow, there was a desk and a chair for everyone.

This kind of meeting was unprecedented.

Everything was completely new. A fierce battle without weapons, but words, would soon begin.

The room was stuffy and hot. There was a cool breeze blowing through a window close to the roof, which stretched the entire length of the venue. The heat made Shikamaru sweat slightly.

The arc of tables closest to the podium seated the Five Great Nations Daimyo and their aides. The Five Kages, which included Shikamaru and Naruto were in the row just behind them, very close to the centre of the arc.

“Finally, it’s happening,” Shikamaru muttered.

“I don’t know whether I’ll be laughing or crying when this is over, ya know?” Naruto whispered to Shikamaru, his blue eyes focused on the central podium.

“Yeah,” Shikamaru agreed.

“If during this meeting, more than half of the countries agree with the Earth Daimyo, we’ll be going to war. They’ll carry on their invasion of Hana,” he added.

“We can’t let that happen,” Naruto murmured.

“No shit,”

Shikamaru prayed that it would work out.

As a matter of fact, they wouldn’t know the results of the meeting until it was over. They had no idea how many countries would agree with the Daimyo’s greed. At the moment that the invasion of the Land of Flowers was approved, it would be impossible to stop Danjo’s plan. The opposing countries would gather together.

Not just the Land of Iron, but all five Hidden Villages were on edge. If they screwed up, they’d soon find out.

“We will now begin!”

A samurai seated near the podium declared. He was the general of the Land of Iron, Mifune.

In order for the gathering to work, the neutral nation of the Land of Iron’s leader was chosen to be chairman of the event.

“The Continental Talks!”

At his words, the meeting began.

The chairman would be in the background, and the Earth Daimyo, then the Fire Daimyo would be going first. Their words would affect the entire continent. No one wanted to make a wrong move here.

After the chairman’s lengthy explanation, Danjo of the Land of Earth took the podium.

He wore a wide smile and raised his right hand up to everyone. Everyone bowed. He took a small breath and then started talking, his hands gripping the podium.

“There is a race of people called Shinobi in our world,”

Those were Danjo’s first words.

“Shinobi… They are a people who are destined to fight. They fight to prove their existence. Trained to kill from a young age, with skills passed down by their parents and teachers. They are taught to deceive others. You can only truly become a ninja when you have succeeded at this,”

“They are born in Hidden Villages, to shinobi parents and are made to walk the shinobi’s path. Even to this day, shinobi are raised this way,”

People that were only recognized in battle…

Danjo’s words were something that Shikamaru couldn’t deny. He was always yearning for a good battle deep in his heart, it was ingrained so deeply into his body it was his second nature. Perhaps all Shinobu had a similar psyche to Shikamaru, well at least half of them.

Only by exposing yourself to such hardships, would it be possible to refine ones ninjutsu and chakra. Each shinobi had their own ninja way. It was by no way a straight road, but they all welcomed the harsh environments. But was it true that battle was the only true nature of shinobi?

No, it wasn’t.

At least to Shikamaru, protecting the people he loved was far more important. That was the reason he was there. To stop a potential war. His mind may not be able to deny Danjo’s words, but he wouldn’t let his words settle in his heart.

Danjo continued his speech as Shikamaru sat in thought.

“With their presence, the history of our continent has been engraved in blood. I will convict them, but I do not intend to suppress them. Rather I will affirm them. I have chosen that path,”

With plenty of spirit, he raised his right hand. Shikamaru heard a grinding to the right of him, Naruto was gnashing his teeth and glaring at Danjo.

“I don’t mean to attack their weaknesses, there must be some defense for the Land of Flowers. Protection that would be given away, and used to protect the weak. As a major power, we want to fight an equal fight. Sweet fantasies such as peace are depriving ninja of their true nature, battle. They want to co-exist, and I will acknowledge their desire to fight, because, without it, there will be an imbalance. I seek to liberate their fighting instinct. To avert world-ending disasters, shall we allow a fair competition like the old days?” Danjo declared.

“He’s not uninformed…” Naruto sighed. “But he has his own ambitions, he’s just using Shinobi as an excuse,”

“Calm down,” Shikamaru whispered, touching Naruto’s clenched fist.

Danjo had finished speaking. There was a scattered applause.

“Next is Lord Ikkyu,” Mifune said.

Naruto closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

Ikkyu appeared, there was no huge greeting from him like there was with Danjo, just a curt bow. He acknowledged everyone, looked around the whole room and began talking with a gentle expression.

“I would like to ask you all something,”

Ikkyu said with a small laugh.

“Are Shinobi just entirely for war?”

He looked across at Naruto and Shikamaru.

“While listening to Danjo’s speech, I couldn’t rid myself of a terrible feeling, that he himself, wanted to start a war. Is that the case?”

Shikamaru let out a breath as Ikkyu went on.

“I am a different kind of man,”

Ikkyu’s voice was weaker than Danjo’s, softer rather than booming.

“Here now, the Lords of this continent are gathered. This has never happened before. There are no rich or weak. We are people gathered on the behalf of our countries. Thankfully, depending on the request, there would be no Daimyo here. This is unheard of. There has never been a meeting between all of the lands on this continent. Once I’d have given up at the idea of this all, but now, this is our reality,”

Shikamaru listened to every word, every breath.

Ikkyu’s speech had everyone pulled in.

“If no one said anything, we couldn’t do anything like this. No, a war would have already started. One month or ten days, each day is valuable. Within that time, there are those who have fought desperately to avoid this conflict,”

Shikamaru’s heart flushed with warmth.

“I’m supposed to be the advocate of this conference as it’s significant to in a way that I have decided to break off a piece of the Land of Fire’s territory. I saw them crawl, fighting desperately and never giving up. Compared to them, I’ve done nothing. They’ve shed sweat and blood, I’ve never even hit anyone. My father’s land was something I was running on autopilot. I never even noticed that things had changed. But when I saw them, I realized that the world had become calmer, In order to keep it like that, I must resist the current,”

For the first time, Ikkyu raised his hand and pointed at Naruto.

“Who were the ones who changed me? Shinobi. They refused to fight with blood more than anyone and avoided war until the very end. Danjo says they can only thrive in battle, he says that is the nature of Shinobi,”

The venue roared, Ikkyu waited for everyone to calm down. He spoke slowly.

“To fight, well, there is no need to shed blood in war. The Shinobi who changed me, they are the ones who led us from harsh places. In that situation, most people would give up. Ninja are those who push themselves to win. The figure we have fought in the past, they would seek the end of their fight. There is no blood or tear or ruin. I can assure you, that today, we will change our world,”

The Fire Daimyo’s eyes were alight.

“Because Shinobi are the ones on the frontline, they are the ones who desire peace more than anyone,”

Ikkyu gave a soft laugh.

“ Rather than talk to each other, people would have me say what they wish to be said. To those people, I ask, what would you like to be said,”

Everyone clapped.

“Naruto!” Ikkyu called.

He stood up next to Shikamaru. A thunderous applause broke out.

“I’d love to hear his story,” Ikkyu said.

Ikkyu said loudly. Naruto looked at Shikamaru and Shikamaru looked back, smiling at his partner.

“Go on,” Shikamaru said.

“I got this,” Naruto said.

Ikkyu left the podium and Naruto went to move. Shikamaru also got up.

“What are you doing Shikamaru?” Mirai asked, blocking his way.

Her face was full of surprise.

“The Hokage is about to make his speech!” she said.

“I need a cigarette, I can’t smoke in here can I?” Shikamaru said.

“At a time like this?” Mirai sighed.

Glancing at her contempt, Shikamaru walked away from Naruto. Ikkyu had asked to fight with them. Naruto stood at the podium.

If the meeting was confused, letting Naruto talk was inevitable. Shikamaru knew that. Ikkyu would also think the same.

Shikamaru gave him a wave, Naruto then returned it. Shikamaru had absolute confidence in Naruto’s speech.

The game was over. There was no need to stay in the room.

“The Hokage was an idiot, but I hear his heart is bigger than anyone else’s. Prepare to listen to him,” The representatives were whispering among themselves.

All eyes were on the podium.

Shikamaru left the venue.

His work was done.