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

      - My village has already captured a one-tailed man. I think it would be fair for you to compensate me for the dead ninja of my village. - The Kazekage suddenly interrupted the silence. Such a thing made my left eyebrow twitch involuntarily....       No, I understand that you lost your military power there, but damn it, that's your problem... You made such a responsible decision yourself, sending a bunch of your ninja to fight Shikaku. Your army and economy are already in trouble. Apparently, you thought it would be a good idea to spend some of the army to take the one-tailed one for yourself, although his village is unlikely to be able to seal that much chakra into a seal properly, and even if it could, I doubt very much that he or his village would be able to seal such a creature into a human, because, in reality, almost no artefact can hold back a biju for long, so there is only one sealing, which even I am afraid to do, because there are too many subtleties and nuances in it. And yes, I'm talking about sealing biju into ninjas now. When I studied fuinjutsu, I took on even such complicated techniques, but there are quite a few sealing techniques. I superficially learnt each of them. Only then did I realise that there is no such thing as a perfect sealing technique. Most of these techniques are based on the power of the vessel - the person in which the tailed one is sealed, but not a simple power, but a mental power... If the person cannot resist the temptation to use the biju power, the seal will gradually weaken. This process will take a long time and unnoticed by the vessel, but at its end, the seal will be completely broken, leading to the release of the demon, although that word does not fit the description of these great creatures after all I have learnt about them from my conversation with Isobu. Yes, one can use a seal that simply shackles the biju, however the vessel will not be able to use the chakra of the tailed one. Then it raises a reasonable question... why would you need a vessel that can't use its power? That's why they put the "monster" in it.       As hard as it is for me to admit it, people like that will go downhill from the moment the Tailed One is sealed. Society is very hard on people who are different from them. I'm a prime example of that. In a past life, everyone turned their backs on me because of my ideas about automating all technology. I wanted to minimise human involvement in devices, but people misunderstood me or didn't want to understand me at all. Humans, for the most part, are selfish and greedy. Even among the top grade ninjas, there are some. And one of them is the Kazekage. He wants to make his village strong and powerful, no matter the sacrifice. A thousand people died to capture a one-tailed man? I don't care... but the country now possesses a one-tailed one. It's an increase in the village's military strength. One child loses his childhood for the good of the village? Little things... It's hard for me to see such individuals as people in general. They're just scum, unworthy of their titles and their lives. But that's my opinion. So why does the Kazekage want to demand financial payment for a tailed one they should be selling anyway? It's simple, he's feeling the loss of profit. It's FOMO forcing him to put up some unthinkable terms, seeing his competitors get the same power as him, but at a cost.       - Yes, you're crazy, Kazekage. Your demands make no sense. - The Reikage spoke in a dismissive tone. Lightning flashed in his eyes with anger and indignation. I understood this man perfectly well.       The atmosphere in the kage meeting room began to heat up after Sanshi's words. The other kage were also looking at the head of the Sand Village, not understanding what the hell was going on in his head.       - I agree to buy the biju, but I don't understand why I have to pay you, Kazekage Dono. - Ishikawa spoke more respectfully, but with a touch of sarcasm in his tone. His gaze was fixed on Reto, literally demanding an answer.       - I've already explained. It's a moral payment for the opportunity to sell the biju in front of me, or else there will be war. - In a calm and monotone tone, the Kazekage gave out. After his words, three of the five kage grinned, showing their intentions towards each other. Only one hokage became more serious.       - As long as I am alive, there will be no wars. Any war between neighbouring countries will mean that you are declaring war on the Fire Nation as well. - Hashirama said in a firm voice. A determined glint and confidence could be seen in his gaze.       - Loud words, hokage dono. Let's put them to the test. - Ai spoke up, rising quickly from the table, about to use some technique, but he stopped suddenly, unable to move.       - I guess you didn't get enough after our last fight, Sanshi. You remember what I promised you then, don't you? - A low, ominous voice was heard that reached every ninja's ears. Along with it, an oppressive aura hung in the hall, which pinned the Raikage to the floor.       - You..." Ai literally hissed with hatred and anger. The owner of that voice clearly had a personal feud with the reikage.       - Sit back down, or else..." the voice said in an orderly manner, not even finishing the threat, nor did it need to. Sanshi returned to his seat almost without a second thought. Apparently he knew that this man didn't throw words in the air, and I knew it too. The owner of that voice never showed up in the kage's meeting room, but everyone had long since realised who it was. Everyone knew his name. It brought fear and terror throughout the world. Few people in the present day did not know the legendary Uchiha Madara. Many tried to negotiate with this man, but the leader of the Uchiha clan was not interested in their proposals. He was pursuing some goal of his own that no one knew about. So why could the kage speak so rudely to Hashirama, who stands on equal footing with this monster? It's quite trivial, Madara had a reputation for being a man of principle. It was impossible to negotiate with him, which meant that if he wanted to, this person could invade any hidden village, causing serious harm. Madara only needed the slightest excuse and then even the Hokage wouldn't stop him. Hashirama, on the other hand, was his exact opposite. He tried to resolve all conflicts peacefully. His main goal was to avoid war. The price wasn't that important, but I knew it was... I knew that if the Kage bought the Biju, the war would be more bloody... Doesn't he realise that? An albino should definitely understand such a simple thing, though it's worth checking. Catching Tobirama's gaze, I gestured to him and asked him a question about the situation. He wrinkled his nose. I guess he knew what he was getting into. He ignored me for a couple of seconds, then showed me a single gesture that meant "I know." At that moment, I felt a nasty look on my face. Turning my head in the direction of the irritant, I found that bandaged guy standing behind the tsuchikage. He gave me a brief nod, and I realised without words that he too was a participant in our silent conversation. Why could I allow myself such communication at such an important moment? It was very simple. The Kage were arguing about how the bidding would go, because no one knows in advance what kind of treasury a particular village has. The conversation went on for about an hour. The arguments had long since ended, but no one wanted to give in. Each kage wanted to buy more tails, because it will increase the power of the country. At one point, Byakuren approached me with a wave of his hand.       - What kind of tail do we need in terms of attack? - He asked me a question in my ear, trying not to let anyone hear. I thought about it for a few seconds, starting to go over my options. The one-tails are already at Suna's place. They'll be hard to defeat in their territory now, since Shukaku has a genome of magnetism that allows him to control sand. So in the desert, he'll have a huge advantage. The two-tailed, or rather the two-tailed fire cat is an interesting creature. Fire is very useful in attacking, but the raikage already has a grudge against this tailed one. Oh, and we can't douse this biju's fire if it disperses. It's the same problem with the four-tailed one. He has the lava genome. He's also known as the king of the apes, but there's no room for him on our islands, so we can't negotiate with him. Man, all tails like to be out in the open. It's the only way to negotiate with them. Who's left that can be free in a confined space? The six-tailed one... he seems to live in caves. Likes damp places. Well, no wonder, cos he's a slug by nature, albeit a huge one. Eight-tailed? Yeah, he'd be perfect for us as another water-type biju. With him on hand, the Water Country would simply dominate the sea, but I don't have fools sitting in front of me. The six-tailed one will certainly suit us on one side, but there's another side to it. It's more for defence. Slow and slippery. I'm not likely to get him to come out into the sun willingly. That leaves us with the seven-tailed. Yes, that's right... It's perfect, because it's the only tail that can fly. He'll be free on our lands, and he'll be able to move our troops to the mainland faster for a price. And the air advantage over the enemy has never been cancelled. It could be a decisive factor in any battle.       - Seven-tailed. - I answered the mizukage without hesitation. He didn't answer, but I knew he'd heard me, so I went back to my seat. After another hour, everyone knew the reason why the Kazekage was acting like that. He couldn't afford to buy biju for his village. There was too little money in the treasury, and it was recovering very slowly due to the weak economy. Not to say that other countries were doing much better, but the Wind Country had a problem with domestic resources, and with the capture of the one-tailed beast, it hit the whole village very hard... even more than I thought it would. So it was decided that the Water Country would now have three-tailed and seven-tailed beasts, the Fire Country would have only one biju - Kyubey Noeku or the nine-tailed Demon Fox, the Earth Country would have four-tailed and five-tailed beasts, and the Lightning Country would have two-tailed and eight-tailed beasts. In fact, Hashirama was willing to give the six-tailed one to the Kazekage, but the other Kage were strongly against it, so they proposed a compromise. The last tailed one would be given to the village formed first on the lands between the Great Countries on the mainland. It was a decision that could have serious consequences, but Hashirama promised to see to it. What about the bidding? It was an amazing sight to see the kage exchanging pieces of paper with numbers written on them while exchanging words: Not enough, not enough, what are the prices and so on... After the kage meeting was over, we headed towards the hotel where we were politely given two rooms for free. The chief samurai in the Land of Iron was generous, but I had no sooner travelled far than I felt the stare that followed me all the way. I didn't show my excitement to Byakuren and Yumi, however I made judgements that someone wanted to talk to me....