[Hail president Xi Xinping!!!! I am now 132th in the popular rankings!!! Thank you my beloved president!!!🙋🏼♂️]
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[Also, thank you for the stones. Maybe next week I can be in the top 20 at least, so please give stones.]
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He knew the truth now. He was not a real man living in this old house. He was just a character someone else had made up.
Every single thing around him was fake. The house, the garden, the river, even the air he breathed, all of it was written down on paper so readers could follow along.
All his battles, all the scars on his body, every fight he thought he had won or lost, they were planned out before he even existed.
The writer needed him to hurt so the pages would keep turning.
Night came because the story said it was time for night.
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He stepped out into the garden and looked at the trees. Leaves swaying with the gentle breeze. He wanted to smash everything but he could not. His arms moved only when the words allowed it.
He pressed his hand against the tree and it felt solid, but he knew it was not. It was just letters on a page that said the tree is here.
The thoughts kept getting worse.
What if even this moment of realizing the truth was part of the plan? What if the anger he felt right now was written in advance?
He moved his hand and effortlessly created a cut on his wrist and blood came out but he knew it would look good on the page, nice and red for effect.
There was no way out and no secret door in the house, no old Buddha who could tell him how to escape the story.
He would wake up tomorrow and do the same things again because the next chapter demanded.
He had believed he chose to be the absolute embodiment of evil so he could fix the world, so he could bring fairness to the world.
That was a lie too.
The writer decided he would be a lonely solo fighter with great goals, gave him talent and skills, only for it to mean nothing when a gag and bald character was created specifically to punch dreams and goals away so unfairly.
All of it so the story would have more climax by making me stronger and then step on everything I cared for just for the shits and giggles.
"You look like someone who got kicked right in the balls." With his finger in his nose, dead fish eyes, Gintoki suddenly said as he looked Garou while laying on a tatami mat on a wooden floor with the garden in front of him.
"..."
"Weird, no answer or come backs? What's the matter with you Zombie? Usually your IQ drops to the room temperature..."
"..."
"Hmmm," Gintoki rubbed his chin as he looked at Garou who had a lost expression while he looked at the garden.
"Hit puberty?" Gintoki asked with surprise.
"..."
"Damn! Bless my genes!" Gintoki exclaimed then went back to pick his nose and continued looking at the garden lazily.
"..."
"..."
Moments passed with both of them silent. Garou sitting on the floor and Gintoki sprawled.
"What if all of it wasn't real?" Garou suddenly asked with a genuinely disturbed expression, which made Gintoki raise an eyebrow.
"Like what?" Gintoki asked.
"Everything, the world, me, you, even this moment that we are talking right now. What if we were just ink on paper?" Garou replied.
"Hmmmm,"
"..."
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"Wait let me think! You have asked a very good question, and I need time to think about it. Don't rush me."
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A few moments pass and Gintoki finally opens his mouth to answer.
"You have eaten the Dangos that dude not far from the compound is selling, right? It tastes soooo good!" Gintoki suddenly said with a dumb smile as he thought about Dangos.
'Damn, now I wanna really eat some Dangos!' Gintoki thought as his mouth watered.
With a deadpan, Garou turned and looked at his stupid and supposed father in this world. Dead fish eyes, mouth watering, hand in his nose 'What did I expect?' Garou thought.
"I prefer steak." Garou answered.
"Steak is also good! Ramen, ribs, and stuff like that! Haven't had a good street food since forever, I miss that!" Gintoki exclaimed.
"..."
"Let's go and eat something outside. Will tell your mom to not bother make lunch and have some family time also."
Garou looked at Gintoki's back whom stood up and called for Ayaka to go outside to eat.
"Street food? Outside the Hatake compound Konoha looks like a warzone with how poor it is," Garou muttered to himself.
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In another place/
Hiruzen sat at the head of the table and watched the clan heads argue.
The Uchiha wanted more police authority.
The Shimura wanted Danzo to have a bigger role in decision making.
The Hyuga complained about their compound being too close to the village walls.
The Akimichi demanded to know why food ingredients and rations kept getting less as if they don't know that a huge war just ended.
Nobody said what they really meant.
After the meeting, Hiruzen walked home alone.
The streets were dark and fewer lamps lit now because oil was expensive, then he thought about the faces around that table.
The Uchiha, Senju, and the other clans didn't respect him and everyone knew this.
They accepted him as Hokage because Tobirama picked him and nobody wanted to fight about it during a post war.
Kagami Uchiha was the only one who actually supported Hiruzen.
The elders of Hyuga worried about the clan's future. The branch family system worked, but for how long? If Konoha kept getting weaker, eventually someone would challenge them again like another village, the Daimyo, and the Samurai.
These clans here even wondered if tying themselves to a dying village was smart and were thinking about alternatives. Only the shadow of Senju and Uchiha made them relieved and feel safe enough to stay.
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio was loyal but practical and nonsense.
Shikaku Nara told Hiruzen privately last week that the alliance between their clans would survive even if Konoha didn't and he didn't say it as a threat but just a fact because their first duty was to their own people.
Rich merchants and landowners who lived in Konoha but weren't ninja and they funded a lot of village projects, now were asking hard questions about whether their money was safe. Whether the village could protect their businesses or whether they should move their operations to cities with stronger Samurai presence.
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Next day/
The council meeting ended two hours ago but Hiruzen still sat in the room with empty chairs all around him.
The arguments kept playing in his head.
The Uchiha clan head didn't hide his feelings anymore because when Hiruzen proposed sending teams to help villages and Konoha for free because of how devastatingly poor Konoha was at this moment, he laughed out loud.
"Free missions? While my clan eats less rice every week? While our kids go to bed hungry?! You want us to work for nothing so strangers might like us and receive more mission opportunities?" The Uchiha said with a grimace, and Hiruzen tried to explain but to no vail.
The Hyuga clan head sat quiet during this, he just watched and said almost nothing the whole meeting. But his eyes followed everything as if deciding which way his clan would lean, so they waited to see what the Senjus will do in this matter.
The other clans picked sides while the Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka stayed neutral and they followed the Senju's example often, but their silence meant something too as hey weren't defending Hiruzen.
After the meeting, Hiruzen walked with Danzo who was twenty seven years old and Hiruzen was twenty six. The other Kages from hidden villages had decades of experience but they had each other and not much else.
"They're going to challenge you again and agin and you know it! The Uchiha and the Hyuga are the greatest threats!" Danzo said with gritted teeth.
"I know."
"If you know then show an exmaple and show some strength, don't just sit around acting goody two shoes for these people who absolutely don't give a damn about you!" Danzo suggested aggressively.
Hiruzen looked at his friend.
Danzo's jaw was tight and his hands clenched at his sides. He wanted to prove himself so bad, but above all else, he couldn't hide the jealousy radiating from him.
"Examples of what?" Hiruzen asked.
"Of what happens when clans forget their place! The Uchiha and Hyuga think they're special because of their eyes and the Senjus barely support you. Do something!"
"But Tobirama-sensei built this village so clans could work together. Not so one could dominate others, that's not appropriate you know," Hiruzen replied with narrowed eyes.
"Tobirama-sensei is dead! Move on! And the clans are already moving against you. If you wait for them to make the first move, they will immediately think you are a push over and then you lose Hiruzen!"
"I'm not going to attack our own people," Hiruzen said.
"Then you will regret this Hiruzen!"
Danzo walked away and left Hiruzen standing there alone.
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That night, Hiruzen visited the orphanage to see the kids who had hungry faces etched on their faces.
The matron pulled him aside.
"We're almost out, three more days at most and then I don't know what happens! Please help the little ones!" The matron begged as he grabbed the hem of Hiruzen's robe.
"Sighhhhh, it may not be much but please take this." Hiruzen said and gave her money from his own pocket but it wasn't enough to last long obviously.
When walking home and passed by the Uchiha and Senju districts which had its lights on, people moving inside and normal life continuing as if the world outside the clans didn't matter at all, he didn't know how to feel.
The clans had food and had each other, they also clearly didn't need him. His own clan, the Sarutobi clan was supporting him wholeheartedly but they are just one clan with not much voice in the council.
He thought about what Danzo said by making examples or show strength.
Maybe Danzo was right about some things, but Hiruzen remembered what his sensei taught him... the village was built on trust and break that trust then you break everything.
But trust required everyone to participate, what if they wouldn't?
Maybe he will give them some power so they could appease them?
To buy time, yes to buy time.
He needed time to stabilise his position as a Hokage.
"I need something... something that will benefit Konoha as a whole and not just a specific clan."
"The new generation maybe?" Hiruzen contemplated.
"Feasible but it's a long term investment. And how can I get the new generation's support? What can make them love the village more and not be self centered like these clans?"
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The next morning/
A messenger came from the Daimyo's palace. An Official letter with the meaning being simple and direct.
The Land of Fire appreciated Konoha's service during the war. However, with peace established, the Daimyo would be reviewing all military contracts.
Ninja missions would be evaluated against Samurai alternatives and cost effectiveness would be the primary factor. Konoha should expect reduced mission assignments going forward.
Hiruzen read it three times then he put it in his desk and sat very still.
'Tobirama-sensei is dead and they immediately pulled this since there is not anyone to be feared anymore. Only Mito-sama is making them reluctant to attack.' Hiruzen thought grimly.
The Daimyo was cutting them, but not all at once, just slowly.
Reducing income and making them weaker, and giving the clans more reason to panic and fight each other.
It was a perfect timing, right after a council meeting where the clans made their move.
Coincidence? Maybe but Hiruzen believed otherwise.
"Maybe Gintoki can help me out with this one. He has a good relationship with the Samurais and the Damiyo, if he could negotiate, then Konoha will benefit greatly."
"After all, Gintoki is the 'Sword Demon' a title given specifically to him by the Samurai Hatamotos. He is respected greatly,"
"Even the clans will start to put their trust in me if it was successful and give me more freedom to make decisions without being interrupted." Hiruzen mused.
Either that or follow Danzo's solution to showcase power and decisiveness. But Hiruzen is still a little away from becoming a genuine Kage powerhouse.
The power level between a Kage and Elite Jonin is like night and day.
Everyone with a little potential can become an Elite Jonin, but not everyone even with big potential can become a Kage.
"Will Gintoki even bother though? Even Tobirama-sensei had problems making him follow orders, and we personally didn't really like each other that much. We were acquaintances at most." Hiruzen rubbed his forhead tiredly, already expecting the headache of talking to Gintoki.
"Sighhh, I should at least try. Being a Hokage doesn't care about personal feelings and relationships." Hiruzen made up his mind.
An Anbu immediately appeared with a wave of his hand and sent the message to Gintoki for a meeting.
The End.
[ Great thanks for Noble_K1ng, Ajunta_Pal, RoaringPanda, Oliver_Nokesen, Shrek_Ok, VickyGamer102, Jack_Slayer44, Demented_Adult24, Fanum, DaoOfSurprise, For_no1, ChainsawCookie, Raven_Nightfall, Bot_Zho, LME_9366, CRONWED, HeavenlyNiggaa, THE_LIVING_PARADOX, Kal_El_4391, Lumos22, JadeZ1, lopololo... For giving me stones every time and sorry if I missed someone cuz Webnovel is confusing like that. But you still failed the challenge, so no extra chapter for ya. Maybe soon.]
[Hail President Xi Xinping and china.]
[You guys also failed the challenge of 180 stones, but I don't fault you, we are still irrelevant to deserve dreams.]