IV

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Arc IV Chapter 9

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

Asami felt the frustration, the dissatisfaction, the anger boiling inside her. She failed spectacularly. She cursed her inattentiveness, her arrogance.

Her pride cost her victory today. A victory given away so easily. Because of a single stupid mistake, success slipped through her hands. Stupid Asami. Stupid Asami. Stupid Asami.

Asami clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. It didn’t make much of a difference with her constitution.

Failure was not acceptable. Failure was not allowed. Failure was not permitted. Asami hated failure. It was a sign of imperfection.

Distracted by her botched assassination attempt, Asami nearly forgot about her little declaration. She announced her ambitions to the world.

Becoming Hokage was a realistic objective. With a bit of luck, she could succeed.

She might be young, but age didn’t matter. She just lacked seniority and a strong backing.

The deceased Fourth Mizukage was appointed with barely 15 years. And what did the boy possess she didn’t? Intelligence? Experience? She had both.

Granted, the boy was also Jinjuricki of the Sanbi, but she would have eaten the poor boy for breakfast. He stood no chance even with a bijuu at his side. She would have minced and turned the giant oversized magic turtle into soup.

Asami tilted her head, wondering how bijuu turtle soup tasted. An important culinary question that required an answer. The soup should have an interesting flavour.

The odds seemed heavily, heavily, heavily stacked against her candidature, but reality was more complicated. Because why not? Why shouldn’t she become the next Hokage?

Hiruzen planned to step down again due to his advanced age, designating a new successor. The scroll she delivered to the Fire Daimyo informed him that a new Hokage would be inaugurated within the next year. Not much time to convince Hiruzen and the village council to choose her.

The village consisted of seven members. The Hokage, the three village elders, the jonin commander, the commander of the intelligence division, and the ANBU commander. Seven members. Seven votes. All she needed was a simple majority.

Hiruzen was undecided so far. Otherwise, he wouldn’t hesitate for so long. He was still searching for a suitable successor.

The ANBU commander should vote for her unless Kakashi participated.

The jonin commander and the commander of the intelligence division were usually neutral parties. They mostly observed. They rarely acted.

She didn’t know the preferences of Homura and Koharu. Who was their candidate? Difficult to say. They two councillors were hard to read.

Danzo, however, was her man. He knew her, and she knew him. He was the central piece in her game, her key to power.

Isolated, Danzo often stood alone with his opinions within the village council. He suffered from a disastrous reputation that prevented him from ever becoming Hokage.

Rumours claimed he was responsible for a number of mysterious deaths among high ranking Konoha. The rumours were correct. Danzo was behind their deaths, and more.

Nobody had any interest in the old man with his cane acquiring even more power. Danzo had already enough.

But the senile gerontocrat had connections, Danzo had power. He had influence. Despite all his shortcomings, his opinion carried weight within the village council.

The old militant goat loathed Hiruzen with every fibre of his being. Danzo would never back Tsunade or Jiraiya. They were both Hiruzen’s students, infected by his weakness.

She just needed to get Danzo somehow to support her nomination, but how?

Perhaps becoming Hokage wasn’t that of a good idea. Plagued by insecurity, her morale fell.

But Asami gathered her courage, banishing any doubts from her mind. She would become Hokage as sure as the sun rose in the east. She would achieve her modest dreams.

Wouldn’t she be a great Hokage? Wouldn't her merciful reign lead Konoha into a golden future? She possessed the political acumen, the leadership the village needed.

Konoha had to move on if it wanted to stand the test of time. The days of small nations had long since passed away.

On the surface, the shinobi world seemed calm, peaceful, but that wasn't the case. The wheels of history never ceased to move. The factors that led to the outbreak of Third Great War regained momentum after a brief intermezzo of the interwar years.

Peace treaties may have ended the previous war, but beneath the surface old conflict persisted, conflicts that had never truly ended. Peace among the villages was brittle, nothing more than an armistice.

The signs were undeniable, hostilities were about to break out. The next great war was inevitable, purely a matter of time.

Border disputes flared up again here and there. Amegakure grew suspiciously silent in the last years together with the rest of the smaller neighbouring countries. They bode their time, hiding their strength for the time being.

Kumogakure strengthened their forces. Supported by their strong economy, they initiated an unprecedented military expansion. Iwagakure followed suit. Both powers increased their military might at an alarming rate.

Kirigakure represented no major threat, still weakened by the destabilising after-effects of the bloody mist.

Konoha in contrast stagnated. While the collective strength of their enemies increased day by day, Konoha grew comparatively weaker. Their sole ally Sunagakure was trapped in a state of steady economic and military decline.

Sunagakure couldn't be relied on anymore. Konoha stood alone in these dark times.

Drastic measures had to be implemented to reverse this situation.

The only question that remained was, how should she call her future underli ... fellow Konoha villagers?

Asami tilted her head, concerned about the right choice of terminology.

Underlings didn't sound right. Minions? Not what she wanted. She searched for something more neutral. Citizens? Too egalitarian. They could think they were her equal. Subjects? Too monarchic ...

But Asami couldn't deny that she found the idea of royalty appealing. Crowning herself Empress had such an undeniable nice touch, hadn’t it? Because seriously, Hokage? With all due to respect, but what was fire shadow even supposed to mean? She didn't want to be some amorphous shadowy something.

Asami found the titulature lacking. Too short, too simple, not intimidating enough. Almost as if mortal souls were actually supposed to speak her name.

Asami shook her head in dismay. Some refinement was needed. 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.

Asami saw a light at the end of the tunnel. The light came closer. Rays of sunlight awaited her entrance, yearning for her presence.

She entered a room of serene silence, devoid of human life. Asami was alone, alone as usual.

She reached a dead end, but the place felt different, emitting an aura distinct from the rest of the tower.

The walls were clad in black marble. The polished stone reflected her eyes.

Asami touched its cold forsaken surface. Rays of light enlightened the room, forcing back the melancholic atmosphere of solitude.

Asami clicked her tongue. She would have enjoyed the scenery, had she not gotten lost.

She had absolutely no idea where she was.

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