Book One: The Rise of the Blue-Haired Devil.

      We reached the Land of Iron quite quickly. The Iron Country was not a ninja country, although there were chakra users in its territories. The local army was a group of samurai who used chakra only for quick lunges with their katanas. These melee fighters were dangerous at close range. Not every ninja of jounin level could keep up with their swift attacks. The climate in this land was harsh, cold and snowy. Summer never came to this land, and it also had one important political feature that had been around for a long time. The Land of Iron does not interfere in the affairs of the ninjas, but lives separately from them. They were not in isolation from the rest of the countries, but also did not strongly seek to establish trade. And for the last year there have been rumours that the head of this country is capable of standing on equal footing with any of the Kage. I'd like to see that, yes... I was dreaming... We got there without incident. I don't know why no one attacked us. Maybe Byakuren tried to clear the way for us by using ANBU. We had to set off the day after we received the invitation, because unlike the others, we live on islands, causing us to have to travel by ship. After a few days of sailing, we entered the land, starting to move through it. This territory was neutral and did not belong to any of the Great Countries. I was mostly silent on the journey, focusing on the terrain. I didn't want to fall into the enemy's trap. We weren't at home after all.       We arrived a little earlier than planned, so one of the samurai, whose armour stood out from the ninja uniforms, being an armour of thick plates that clearly limited their mobility, led us to the guest room, where we stayed for about three or four hours. Yumiko even managed to sleep on my lap while Byakuren and I determined what we wanted out of this gathering. The nuances aren't as important as the big picture of the world. Obviously, all countries came here fully prepared for military action. The war was almost impossible to avoid, but it was to the advantage of our country, because it will be extremely difficult to get to us, and Uzumaki will support us if anything, and on the other hand, the red-haired clan must support the country of Fire. This is problematic, because this country is surrounded by three other countries that are clearly unfriendly. Keeping defence on three fronts at the same time... even with the fact that they have two Shinobi Gods in the village and their two brothers, who together can be counted as another Shinobi God....... it's very complicated... These forces may not be enough, although it's worth admitting that it won't be possible to take the Fire Nation in a hurry, but in a protracted war, Konoha will have a very hard time. After all, logically, food will have to be sent to three fronts at once. There is a chance that other countries will start fighting each other, but it's unlikely. The title of Kage is not given to fools. They'll realise that it's easier to take down the strongest, but surrounded enemy first, and then fight amongst themselves if they have the strength and interest, because if the Fire falls, its territory will be shared by other countries and they'll get the resources they want and need for their lands. This leads me to have bad thoughts of betraying the Fire Country... Oh well, while I was thinking, all the kage had already gathered. I stood behind Byakuren, who was sitting on a chair behind the table. Yumiko wasn't allowed inside the room, because there was an agreement for one defence counsel during the meeting itself.       - My name is Cain. I am the head of the country of Iron. I announce the beginning of the meeting of the five kage. - stated in a half voice a man with black hair and a moustache on his face. He had a lot of pimples on his skin, indicating a rather mature age, though it was hard to tell if he was over forty years old. Cain... that name made me very uneasy. I had heard of an eccentric person with that name from the past world. I hadn't met him personally, but the rumours about him weren't very good, giving the impression that he had a split personality. I don't know if it's true or not, and I don't want to find out. Let it remain a mystery of the past world... - I would like to ask all the kage present here to introduce themselves, so that we know how to address you. - The head of the Iron Country added in a calm voice.       - My name is Hashirama Senju. I am the Hokage of the village of Hidden in the Leaves. My bodyguard is Tobirama Senju. - Rising from his seat, the shinobi god said with a childish smile on his face. I could see the albino so wanted to make a hand gesture to his face, for his eye twitched in annoyance at such a performance. At this point, I was in complete solidarity with Tobirama, who occasionally cast odd glances at me. The other kage somehow didn't react much to this statement. Apparently, they were not surprised by such tricks. Admittedly, this time Hashirama was wearing a white and red kimono over his usual black suit. Apparently, this was the official attire of the kage.       - My name is Sanshi Ei. I am the raikage of the village of Hidden in the Clouds. My bodyguard is my brother, Fujito Bi. - A slender man with dark skin introduced himself. He spoke disinterestedly as if he was forced to do so. From his facial expression, I even thought he didn't care about what was going on here. This man wasn't very muscular unlike his bodyguard, however, the chakra in him was just dark as a lot. He wore a dark kimono with a high collar, a white sash tied around his waist and a white scarf underneath the kimono Raikage wore, on his head was a kage hat with the inscription "first generation lightning shadow". In fact, I knew next to nothing about these two ninja, though I had no doubt about their strength for some reason.       - Ishikawa Kamizuru. I am the tsuchikage of the village of Hidden in the Stone. My bodyguard, Muu. - announced the old man, who was always squinting. I caught his gaze on me once, feeling the wisdom of an entire generation and the insight of the past. This man had clearly been through a great number of battles, just like Byakuren. Ishikawa had a stubbly moustache and long beard, both were dark in places, taking turns. He wore the traditional kage attire, consisting of the usual hat and cloak of a completely dark, loose-fitting, full-length robe that was tied, using a lighter sash, around his waist. Standing behind him was a ninja who stood out from the rest with his appearance. He was dressed in a plain kimono, but underneath, his entire body was covered in intricately wrapped bandages that left only his eyes and nose visible, making him look very much like a living mummy. I thought he was bandaged because of his wounds from the battle, but my gut told me there was another reason, unknown to anyone else. This man was dangerous. The chakra inside his body was fluctuating and moving through the circulation channels in a very strange and abnormal way. It was hard to explain what exactly I didn't like, but I made a mental note to myself to dig up more information about this ninja.       - My name is Reto. I am the Kazekage of the village of Hidden in the Sand. My bodyguard is Shamon. - Spoke the next head of the village. He was a middle-aged man with brown spiky hair that he wore held back on the side of his back with the rest of his hair styled straight. His attire consisted of a dark suit that ended in a mask that brought him some comfort in his home climate, which was a true desert. On top of his kage garb he wore a blue, poncho-like haori with a thick white collar. His bodyguard had a rather memorable appearance. He was apparently a bald man, though he still had some brown curls present on the back of his head. His most distinctive feature was an ornate green dragon-shaped tattoo around the top of his head, with a black dragon claw covering his right eye. A reasonably judicious look was in this individual's eyes, however I did not sense immense power in him.       - I am Byakuren. Mizukage of the village of Hidden in the Mist. My bodyguard is Michiko Yuki. - After standing up slightly, Byakuren introduced himself and me. He clearly didn't like this formality, as he had to remember all the etiquette rules, which he didn't like to do.       - Now that everyone has introduced themselves, I'll pass the word to the Hokage. He has gathered us all here after all. - Kain spoke in a calm enough tone. The katana sheathed on his belt was glistening, indicating that this man was not relaxed at all, but rather tense, and it was understandable.... It's not every day that you have to host such great guests.       - Due to recent events, I want to bring a balance of power to the world so that the rights of all are equal. In two years, I have managed to capture seven biju and I am ready to sell them to you so that we can make peace, thanks to the balance of power between our powers. - Hashirama put forward his proposal. His tone was confident. He clearly had one goal in mind - to end the wars once and for all. After that statement, I hung back a bit, as did all the kage in the room. It was very strange, even with Senju being a very kind person, I didn't think he was a fool. What do I think about this? Well, it's very simple. Biju, even though they have their own personality and character, having their own feelings and emotions, are huge batteries of chakra, and it's unlikely that anyone but me sees them as individuals rather than demons. So what does that tell me? Oh that's right... it only sweetens all countries' thirst for war. They just need a little time to learn how to control the biju and then things will only get worse. The biju that will fight the war for one side will create such destruction that hardly anyone will survive. There are two reasonable explanations for all this. Either Hashirama understands this perfectly well and is trying to lower the vigilance of the other countries' kage, or he's just a naive fool who can't think straight at such important moments. The albino is biting his lower lip. He's probably hoping to the end that the other kage will think it's a trap and won't buy biju....