Kapitel 9: Venti the God
After his chat with Hinata at Naruto's apartment, Venti/Hoshi told the three her that he'd come the next day in the afternoon, and he left Mythra behind to protect Hinata and Naruto as well as to focus on removing the Caged Bird Seal with her currently limited power of creation. It would be a simple mattr once she fully unlocked her Pneuma form, but she wasn't there yet.
After leaving there, Venti/Hoshi went to make an example of the Hyuuga clan.
Venti did not plan to kill anyone since he knew that Hinata would probably feel terrible if she was the reason he killed them, but he certainly meant to give them hell and put every main branch elder he found in the hospital for a few weeks. On his way there he also planned to liberate Hiashi and Hanabi if he could.
Regrettably, when he actually got there, his plans did not fully go as he had hoped. He had certainly handled the main family the way he had planned too do, but he hadn't been able to find Hiashi there. H did bring Hanabi back to Naruto's apartment though. Hanabi had resisted, intimidated by him, and he'd had to knock her out to get her there, but Hinata was able to calm her down and Mythra immediately started removing Hanabi's caged bird seal after she finished removing Hinata's.
After completing these tasks, Venti headed to the Akimichi Barbeque to perform for an hour or so. He couldn't stay too late since he had to send his Venti Avatar towards Amegakure in the morning, but if he was to be missing a few days he figured he'd better make at least one more appearance there.
With an alias like Venti the Bard, it was only natural that he'd do bard things like perform in places like this, and he actually had quite a few fans among the regulars in the evenings.
He'd gotten about two thirds through his act when he saw the Third Hokage enter and he frowned for a moment as the old man approached him.
He had just finished one song, and decided to perform one more "It seems the Third Hokage wants to speak with me, so I'll perform one more song and then call it a night a bit early tonight." he announced.
Hearing this, Hiruzen nodded to Venti and took a seat as the bard started playing his lyre before beginning his song.
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The stars are very beautiful, above the palace walls,
They shine with equal splendour, still above far humbler halls.
I watch them from my window, but their bright entrancing glow,
Reminds me of the freedom I gave up so long ago.
The royal circlet of bright gold rests lightly on my brow,
I once thought only of the rights this circlet would endow.
But once I took the crown to which I had been schooled and bred,
I found it heavy on the heart, though light upon the head.
Although I am the head of state, in truth I am the least,
The true King knows his people fed, before he sits to feast.
The good King knows his people safe, before he takes his rest,
Thinks twice and thrice and yet again, before he makes request.
For they are all my children, all, that I swore to defend,
It is my duty to become both King and trusted friend—
And of my children high and low, from beggar to above,
The dearest are my Heralds, who return my care with love.
The dearest are my Heralds, swift to spring to my command.
Who give me aid and fellowship, who always understand
That land and people first have needs that I may not deny—
So I must send my dearest friends to danger—and to die.
A friend, a love, a child—it matters not, I know indeed,
That I must sacrifice them all if there should be the need.
They know, and they forgive me—doing more than I require,
With willing minds and loving hearts go straight to grasp the fire.
These tears that burn my eyes are all the tears the King can't shed,
The tears I weep in silence as I mourn my Heralds dead.
Oh gods that dwell beyond the stars, if you can hear my cry—
And if you have compassion—let me send no more to die!
------
As he finished the song, the regulars to the bistro cheered excitedly.
"Thank you. Thank you everyone. I'm glad you enjoyed the song." Venti said to them all before looking at the Hokage "I assume you are here because I punished the Hyuuga clan?" he proclaimed it proudly, not caring that everyone heard his declaration since they were still paying attention to him..
The bards declaration to the Hokage caused the whole audience to go quiet.
Hiruzen sighed, obviously not thrilled that Venti removed subtlety from the equation immediately. He had hoped to keep the embarrassing defeat of the Hyuuga clan a secret, but that no longer seemed to be an option.
"Alright, everyone, I am going to tell the Hokage a story, so listen well, everyone." Venti declared dramatically "Listen and here the story of Barbatos, the god of the wind and of freedom." he sat with the Hokage, and others moved to other tables to get as close as they could to hear the story, with some people even standing due to lack of seats.
Venti then looked at the Hokage "Barbatos is the second oldest of the gods of Teyvat, behind only the god of Earth and of contracts, Morag, and Barbatos' story starts as the story of one simple wind spirit among many in Teyvat. Before he was a god, the wind spirit that would eventually become Barbatos, was curious in nature and would often watch the going-ons in the the city of Mondstadt. The people, who had recognized him from time to time, started calling him 'the elf'. During this time, Mondstadt was encased in a barrier of storms created by the storm god Decarabian, who the humans had been worshiping at the time. Decarabian created the storms to protect the people from the cold blizzards ravaging the area due to the workings of Boreas, the wolf king of the north. Due to this wind barrier, however, the people of Mondstadt were unhappy, as the outside world was blocked by the storm wall as well. The winds were harsh and powerful, making the people miserable even if they were at least warm. The first clan to confront Decarabian was the Gunnhildr clan. They grew disillusioned with Decarabian's rule, believing him to be aloof and selfish, that he did not really care for his people, and thus they confronted him and demanded freedom. The leader of the Gunnhildr clan led his people out into the blizzard, but the life outside the barrier was harsh and unforgiving. A never ending blizzard was what they faced. The clan quickly became disarrayed, and was at risk of freezing to death. The daughter of the Gunnhildr clans leader prayed for anyone to help them, and the rest of the clan joined in her pleas, and just as all hope seemed lost, a spirit appeared before them, one that they recognized as 'the elf'. The cries and pleas of the people turned into faith, and this faith gathered in front of 'the elf', like water flowing into a spring, and became a source of power for him. 'The elf' used this power to create a small shelter for the clan, that allowed them to resist the winds and cold, and then bestowed to the daughter the power to command the winds and protect her clan. Thanks to this act by 'the elf', the Gunnhildr clan would forever be faithful to 'the elf', believing him a more worthy wind god then Decarabian."
"He became a god just like that?" one of the men listening suddenly asked.
"Of course not, but this was an important part of his journey." Venti insisted, smiling "Anyway. A few years passed, and while visiting Mondstadt again, 'the Elf' came upon a young bard named Venti, and was enamored by the boys playing of the lyre. Young Venti was curious about the world outside and wanted to see more of it. He pleaded to the storm god, but his voice was unheard due to the loudness of the storm walls. The young boy saw the state of the people, and thought that the outside world and the happiness of the people were things worth fighting for. With these thoughts, he started a rebellion against Decarabian, and was backed by the Ragnvindr and Lawrence clans. Additionally, the Gunnhildr clan, now led by the daughter after her fathers death, returned to join in the war for the freedom of Mondstadt. 'The Elf' also joined the bard, inspired by him and believing his cause was just. Together, they all succeeded in vanquishing the storm god, though at a cost of many lives, including the life of the young bard Venti, who desired to see the world beyond Mondstadt."
"Wait, but you are right here. You aren't dead" another man insisted.
"A power vacuum was created by the death of the storm god Decarabian, and a new god of Wind was needed, and that ended up being the wind spirit preciously called 'the elf' becoming a god in full. Upon obtaining full divinity, he gained the name Barbatos. Using his newfound power, Barbatos took on the form of Venti the bard, to honor his fight and to fulfill his wish of seeing the world. The nobility of Mondstadt swore their loyalty to Barbatos, and Barbatos decreed that they should go forth and establish a city without rulers." Venti explained to the group gathered "My first act as god of the wind was convincing the wolf of the North wind, Boreas, that his blizzards were not good for the people of Mondstadt. I clove mountains and reshaped the lands to be more hospitable. I changed the weather around Mondstadt, making it more pleasant and warm, and sowed seeds that brought more life. I created special festivals for the people to enjoy after hard days of work."
Hiruzen was the only one that knew Venti was apparently a god before he told this story, so everyone was shocked by the implication that Venti wasn't a human at all, but a god!
"I, Venti, as Barbatos, am a free-spirited and relaxed god, who governs the winds. I am also the god of freedom, so things like the Hyuuga's caged bird seals are sacrilegious in my eyes. I tolerated them in spite of my disgust towards their behavior because I am new in town and because I selected Hinata Hyuuga to be my Herald and High Priestess. I did not want to rock the boat, as the saying goes. But that changed when they attacked Hinata." Venti was now looking directly at the Third Hokage.
Hiruzen was not an idiot. He now understood why Venti had deliberately sang that song, not just to tell Hiruzen how he should lead, but also to stress Hinata's importance to him.
------
The dearest are my Heralds, swift to spring to my command.
Who give me aid and fellowship, who always understand
------
Venti had just labeled Hinata as his 'Herald, so these words from the song undoubtably echoed through Hiruzen's mind at the moment.
"I was careful not to kill anyone or cause anyone permanent harm" Venti told the Hokage "At worst the main family fools will spend a couple weeks in the hospital, hopefully allowing Hiashi to recover from whatever they did to him and stabilize things. I couldn't ignore a direct attempt at murdering one I value. You should understand that. You have your flaws, Third Hokage, but you try to do what's right and generally have the right way of thinking when it comes to leading. Your flaw is that you sometimes trust the wrong people."
"Are you talking about someone specific?" a nearby woman answered.
"Hiruzen, tell me, who do you know that uses the excuse of doing what's for the good of Konoha while spreading propaganda and oppressing the Uchiha clan?" Venti asked the Hokage, then looked around at the others "The Uchiha are a prideful clan, yes, and some of their actions seem overboard, but it's in response to discrimination that they are subjected too because of one mans fear of the clan, just like he feared the Senju clans strength and the Uzumaki clan, and betrayed both to their destruction, claiming it was for the greater good of Konoha. And once the Uchiha are killed due to his schemes, whose next? Probably the Hyuuga, if I were to guess. Because of his paranoia, he'll always be able to tell himself that someone else he fears is a threat to Konoha, so it's fine to scheme to destroy them. Hiruzen's flaw is that he is too passive, trying to negotiate peace between the village and the Uchiha, but doing nothing to stop that man. How can a prideful clan like the Uchiha just accept being disrespected? In the last Ninja war why were the Uchiha sent to the battlefront in the Hidden Mist. The jutsu's of the hidden mist can substantially weaken the benefits the Sharingan gives to the Uchiha. This means that if they were on other war fronts their contribution would have been far greater. The Hyuuga with their Byakugan would have been far superior to the Uchiha in that particular battlefield. So what was the point? Obviously it was two-fold. It was to maximize the number of fatalities that the Uchiha clan suffered and to prevent them from achieving any war-time merits. Your Hokage listened to the terrible advise of that man who had different and very insidious intentions." he looked the Hokage straight in his eyes "If you wont deal with Danzo, then someone else will." he said as a harsh warning to the Hokage "And I wont be as gentle as I was with the Hyuuga clan. You have been warned. Will you protect the man who urged Orochimaru to begin human experimentation and destroyed the Senju clan through treachery, even betraying Nawaki and Dan to their deaths, causing Tsunade so much suffering?."
Before Hiruzen had time to speak up, Venti rose to his feet and transformed into his divine form for the surrounding people to see "I am Barbatos, god of wind and of freedom. The adviser known as Danzo is a disease that has taken root deep in the heart of Konoha like a malignant tumor. Danzo destroys everything he touches, and says it was for the greater good of Konoha that he did so, but was corrupting Orochimaru for the good of Konoha? No, it was for Danzo's personal benefit. Everything Danzo does is for his personal benefit. He thinks he should be Hokage and anyone that could threaten his chances of becoming Hokage, be they the Senju, the Uzumaki, or the Uchiha, must be destroyed. He's not your friend, Hiruzen. You may consider him your friend, but he's never considered you his friend. You are just someone else in the way of his ambitions."
"You are making serious allegations." Hiruzen pointed out "Do you have any proof?"
"Do you think Danzo so stupid that he'd leave hard evidence?" Venti insisted "If you step back and stop always trying to assume the best about him because you believe he's your friend then his profile is quite unavoidable. Many ninja are very likely to be suspicious of him because their intuition demands it, but they keep their mouths shut because they respect you. You are not addressing the problem and thus it is festering. I suggest you think long and hard about this."
Venti looked towards the assembled citizen's around him "Danzo also has a private army that is loyal only to him that he calls Root. On the day that the Kyuubi attacked, what did Danzo and his root do? Where was danzo and his army while your Fourth Hokage was fighting for his survival?"
The question caused the people around him to gawk, wondering where he was.
"I'll tell you." Venti insisted "Danzo and his Root were on standby around the Uchiha compound, and forbade the Uchiha from leaving, not allowing them to due their jobs and help the villagers or the Fourth Hokage. This blatant suppression from Danzo towards the Uchiha was then spun by those loyal to Danzo into propaganda, telling the people that the Uchiha suffered no fatalities while so many others died because they 'hid' in their compound. And with so many people just trusting the lies spread by Danzo and those other two elders, it is no surprise that the Uchiha, who are admittedly a prideful clan, would lash out in anger towards the civilians for believing the lies. They are angry at all of you, and they have damn good reason to be."
As he said this, Venti suddenly disappeared, having said what he needed to say, Hoshi released the form of Venti to sleep normally for the rest of the night since he'd be sending off Venti to Amegakure first thing in the morning and thus needed to recover properly.
Hoshi didn't really expect Hiruzen to act since he never acted against Danzo before, but he figured he would give the Hokage a chance to do so, as well as letting the villagers begin questioning Danzo more rather then just trusting that awful mans propaganda. Hoshi definitely would not allow the massacre of the Uchiha clan to happen.
After helping Ken with his little task, it would be time to think about making contact with the Uchiha clan and build bridges. The academy was hopefully going to be his in with the Uchiha clan, since he hoped to find an Uchiha in his class who he could befriend. He'd find out tomorrow, though.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein