High stakes game and butterfly effect
Today in Konohagakure it was a great weather - sunny sky with a small breeze.
On the streets one could see a middle aged man on a cane slowly heading towards Hokage Tower. He had black shaggy hair and a bandage over his right eye.
Today Danzō Shimura was heading for today's council meeting that will address the rising tensions on the continent. Before leaving he gathered and read through the reports on the matter from his directly subordinate unit named "Root".
Root was a branch of the ANBU (Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai - Special Assassination and Tactical Squad), which gathers the most skilled and elite of shinobis. All members of Konoha's ANBU wear animal-styled porcelain masks, covering their identity, and are surrounded by the thick veil of secrecy. They responded only to Hokage.
Under Third Hokage's permission Root responded only to Danzō, and their methods were darker than even those of ANBU. It allowed Danzō to create a pretty capable spy network throughout the entire continent.
For some time Danzō Shimura have been using Root to increase the tensions between Land of Wind and Land of Fire, under the belief that the sale of fertile land to the of Land of Wind was a mistake by the First Hokage, and he plans to rectify.
He used his political connections in addition with Root's 'forceful encouragement' of traders and dayimo's civil administrations within Konoha and other allied nations to increase prices and tariffs of the trade destined towards the Land of Wind.
Despite the fertile land currently under control of Sunagakure's, it's produce wasn't enough to fully supply entire nation, which forced it to import basic provisions from the outside.
To further exacerbate the issue, Danzō ordered his Root operatives to infiltrate and sabotage civilian agricultural sector in the fertile sector.
As he entered Hokage's Tower he was informed by the secretary that the meeting will take place in council room, with a respect fit for his position.
When he entered the room he saw that he was last to arrive. Inside of it he saw already seated Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane - his two closest allies, alongside with Shikanu Nara - current Jonin Commander, Kagami Uchiha - representing his clan, Heshi Hyūga - head of Hyūga clan, Torifu Akimichi representing Akimichi clan, Inozu Yamanaka - Yamanaka clan head, and last but not least - Hiruzen Sarutobi - the Third Hokage.
(AN: Heshi Hyūga is cannon, though he wasn't named, so here he is Heshi. He's a father of Hiashi Hyūga - Hinata's dad. Shikanu - OC, father of Shikaku. Inozu - OC, father of Inoichi Yamanaka.)
"You're here, my old friend." Said Hiruzen with a fond smile.
"Yes, I had to review data." Danzō answered shortly, as he sat down in the last open seat.
The meeting started calmly, with a brief discussion about domestic affairs, after which the Shikanu Nara brought forward topic of Sunagakure.
"...Our scouts have detected increased presence of Suna forces on their northern border - near Land of Rain and Land of Rivers. The gradual increase have started around a year ago. We are currently unaware of the reasons behind those deployments." Shikanu surmised.
'Naturally they would increase patrols when one of their lifelines is being infiltrated and sabotaged by foreign ninja.' Danzō inwardly sneered.
"They probably want to invade Land of Rivers, to secure sources of rivers! Should they redirect them into Land of Winds, the economical damage to our western border would be unimaginable!" Danzō exclaimed dramatically. "Should they strike while our guard is down, they would overrun Land of Rivers and setup defensive positions before we would be able to even get there! We need to reinforce our western border!"
"...If we were to do that it would increase tension between our villages. Hostilities might grow from such a manoeuvrer." Hiruzen said after pondering.
"We cannot risk ceding initiative to Suna, Hiruzen. Konoha's good is at stake here." Koharu chastised Third Hokage as if she was talking to her junior. "Should Land of Rivers fall, it is Land of Fire that would become a battleground. The devastations brought by such war are unacceptable." She continued.
"But Suna wouldn't act like that normally, for what reason did they now act?" Hiruzen pondered out loud, not noticing, not caring or maybe ignoring Koharu's tone, which did not get missed by other councilmen that were present.
"Koharu is absolutely right, we need to act. But if it will alleviate your worries I will send more Root squads into the area of their deployment and investigate, while we strengthen our defences." Said Danzō sensing an option to put even bigger pressure directly on to Suna's industry.
At that Hiruzen exhaled with relief, and with gratitude on his face said "Thank you, you always knew how to alleviate my worries. I knew that I can always count on you my friend."
"Everything I do is for Konoha's good." Danzō said in a matter of fact tone.
Before Shikanu begun to narrate about the development in Land of Rain and Hanzo, Danzō's last thought on the topic was 'For the greater good.'
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
"...unknown assailants damage our agricultural sector and at the same time all traders affiliated with Konoha started increasing prices on their wares that we import. It's too much of a coincidence Kazekage-sama." Commented a middle aged woman with light purple hair. She is a counsellor and a leader of Puppet Brigade.
"I know Chiyo-san, I can see that they are trying to make us destitute through sabotage and tariffs. That's why I sent out more forces to the north-east, to squash saboteurs, but it's only a stopgap measure." Said with a sigh Third Kazekage.
Currently the two of them were located in Chiyo's office, discussing subject of grave importance.
"If it comes to war" started Kazekage "the situation will be difficult. Mito Uzumaki - current Kyubi jinchūriki - has a strong grasp of the beast's power. If Konoha uses her in combat, our only hope will be to retreat, while having our ichibi jinchūriki - Bunpuku - to cover our retreat. Even if we could send Bunpuku out, the damage onto the battlefield would be catastrophic, we cannot destroy what we are trying to defend. That seals one of our stronger cards to be only reactive..." Kazekage pondered.
"If they deploy Uchiha's or Hyuga's at our frontline in large quantities, the situation will be dire." Kazekage said with a frown.
"Luckily Konoha has a lot of enemies. The midget from the north - Ōnoki - would love nothing less then destroy Konoha, so they wouldn't be able to deploy all of their strength against us. Because of our limited strength, and danger of wildcards that are Kirigakure or Kumogakure pose towards Konoha, it will be forced to keep large reserves for other sectors." Chiyo added a positive aspect in the current situation.
"Yes" Kazekage nodded "but we still will face a lot of casualties. Our limited resources didn't allow for our average shinobi to match that of Konoha's. Out puppet's won't be enough to match them. We will have to rely on your and Ebizō's expertise."
"Me and my brother will do our best Kazekage-sama. I will ensure that my poisons will sweep and decimate their ranks." Chiyo said assuredly.
"Suna counts on you, now we..." Said Kazekage before being interrupted by the knocking.
After Kazekage gave an ok sign, Chiyo permitted the entry.
The one that entered was Otsuka Shou, a jonin puppeteer that is a part of puppet brigade. When he saw both Chiyo and Kazekage he quickly straightened his back before apologizing for intrusion, for which Kazekage waved him off to not worry about it.
"So Otsuka" started Chiyo "what is it?"
At that Otsuka gulped, not expecting he will discuss the matter with Chiyo in Kazekage's presence. "I bring a matter of highest urgency. I believe that this innovation will change everything." He said as he presented a drawing with notes written on the side.
As Chiyo analysed, Kazekage noticed that with each second she analysed it with bigger seriousness, noticing what Otsuka meant. Surprised by that he leaned over the desk to see the drawing and read the description.
As they finished Chiyo's face was that of seriousness and happiness, both at the same time, which only resulted with Kazekage's further confusion. "I can see that this "clock" could be a nice, useful item, however I fail to see the importance and urgency." He exclaimed, as both puppet nuts started communicating with light signals in their eyes.
Seeing his confusion Chiyo decided to ask him first. "Kazekage-sama, do you know how puppets are made and used?" At which he shook his head. She then explained. "Our current puppets are made of wood, which is carved and then hollowed. It's insides are largely empty, with the exception of hidden weapons."
"To use puppets, a puppeteer needs to extensively wire his chakra thread throughout the entire puppet, every single limb, joint, weapon needs to be connected to user through his chakra strings. Those..." "Gears" Otsuka helped when she pointed at the hoops with protrusions.
"...gears" she continued "will allow us minimise the area to which chakra strings have to connect. With them we can connect every single part of a puppet to the single area, making a part that would be something like a control area. To give a comparison the difference between current system and the possibility of this new one would be like an ordinary man trying to write using both of his hands and feet at the same time, compared to 4 men writing with their dominant hand."
(AN: To give a better comparison for us modern normies it would be like trying to calculate a complicated formula on paper, instead of using a calculator. Yes, it is possible to correctly calculate without a tool, but it's slower and easier to make a mistake the more complicated a formula is.)
"This" She exclaimed while holding the drawing with fascination. "will allow our puppeteers to use more puppets at the same time with a smaller chakra and mental strain. The strength of our forces will increase drastically."
With Chiyo now dazed thinking of all new possibilities, enlightened and happy Kazekage rose and gripped Otsuka's shoulder. "You did well bringing this directly here. If we modernise our mass produced puppets with your innovation we will be able to give our enemies a rude surprise."
"Thank you sir, but it's not my innovation." Otsuka said sheepishly.
""Not yours?"" Exclaimed both Kazekage and Chiyo. "Then whose?" She asked.
"It was that of my son." Otsuka said while scratching the back of his head, while the other two looked at him with incredulous gaze.
"But wasn't your brat born... 3 years ago? What was his name" She asked with disbelief.
"Teruya, 26 months old. He worked on this project to secure funding for his future ideas" Otsuka said still sheepish smile on his face.
'Teruya, wasn't that the brat that Sasori was talking about?' Chiyo started looking back on her talk with her grandson.
Chiyo and Kazekage's gaze met, both thinking what sort of genius would be able to create this kind of wonder at such a young age, realizing that future generation might be Sunagakure's goldmine of potential.
'Future is worth looking forward to.' They thought.
*Cough* "It's good that you brought this matter to us and stopped your son from releasing his creation for sale. Our puppeteers would dismantle those "clocks" and realize the potential by themselves. That wouldn't be bad, however they would speak loudly of their findings, telling everyone that puppets are now stronger, making our enemies vary of our increased strength."
Kazekage said before continuing.
"But now that we hold direct control over the information we can slowly inform trustworthy personel, and ensure that secret will be kept, giving us quite an edge in a conflict."
'This will lower our casualties in war drastically.' He thought.
"Kazekage-sama." Said Chiyo towards him. "We need to ensure safety of this boy. His potential is impossible to estimate."
"Yes, you are right." Kazekage agreed "For now I will assign to him one of my ANBU operatives."
Now Kazekage faced Otsuka "In the near future we expect a war to take place. Until the war is over the sale of clocks is forbidden, and this whole matter is from now considered an S-rank secret - no word to anyone. After the war your son can start sale of his innovation. It might paint a target on his back - which is why at that point the guard detail will be increased to a full squad of ANBU operatives, but at the same time it will generate him a considerable influence for his achievement in village, higher ups and especially the puppet users.
As a recompensation for holding the sale the village will give your family subsidies. Is that clear Otsuka?"
"Crystal, Kazekage-sama." Otsuka quickly replied.
"Good, you can leave now, me and Chiyo must discuss things." At his words he lightly bowed and left them alone, where they discussed new plans.
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AN:This chapter is quite a chonker, 2100 words, my biggest yet. Usually I make 1500 one.
And that's why gears are important.
So here we go, war is brewing Danzō is scheming, and MC creates a butterfly effect for us to witness in action. Our MC assumed that puppets are made with gears inside of them, but didn't know that they are actually hollow, creating a new generation of puppet technology. He never got his hands on a real combat puppet, nor theory, as it's available starting only from Academy. It's Sunagakure specialisation aka secret. His small invention of clocks might ends up having a big impact.
In other news I made discord and you can talk with me there. The invitation link is in the synopsis, or you can take it directly from here: https://discord.gg/5hXDQhhqxU (Guys it's awkward being alone on a discord server, I had to get a pet turtle here, pls help.)
Another question: Should I make a Pat-re*n? I never thought of it before, I just started writing down a story that I wanted to read. Would anyone support that idea? I wonder how taxes would work with that...
Well that's all folks, my planned schedule right now is chapter every two days. Take care.