บท 219: Ch219. New Kiri Council
Two days passed since the Battle between Water and Lightning as the people started calling the clash between Ringo and Yagura. Honestly, it was quickly becoming the stuff of legends on par with Madara and Hashirama. For the first time in history, normal people from all over the Elemental Nations got to witness a battle between high-ranking ninjas from the comfort of their houses.
The various ninja villages were of two minds on the matter. On one hand, people were shown the power of ninjas by someone who was a monster even by their most brutal standards. That could really lead to some unnaturally high expectations from their clients and it would be awfully awkward resolving any misunderstanding if somebody asks them to destroy this or that country. On the other hand, ninjas would be now feared or respected even more which was, yet again, a double-edged blade in itself. Nevertheless, it was more of a useful kind in regards to ninjas.
But one thing was set in stone. After seeing the battle, there wasn't anyone, be it a Daimyo or a Kage, who was willing to antagonize Kirigakure. In fact, the village was flooded with requests for alliances, trading agreements, and so on.
Naturally, all were offered under the assumption that Ringo will be the Fifth Mizukage.
...
The door to Kirigakure's council room suddenly flew open, shutting up a nasty argument between the councilors of Yagura's reign and the clan heads who deemed it their right to become new councilors. All of them snapped towards the door, wondering who is the rude bastard trying to enter the room when they are discussing important matters...
But before anyone could even let out a simple 'eep', Ringo apathetically strode into the room. One look at her eyes and the councilors, no matter whether new or old ones, knew they would be unable to provoke the unimaginably dangerous woman. Most of them averted their eyes, trying to reign in their shudder but there were still some of them who couldn't help but hyperventilate when they remembered the battle between Ringo and Yagura.
The old councilors simply feared for their lives but they didn't have anywhere to go. All of them were Kiri loyalists to the core and as such, if the new Mizukage wanted them dead, they would prefer dying in their village rather than going rogue.
As for the new councilors, the clan heads,... when they hired Yozora to resolve their problems, they never thought Ringo would be so... so... so frighteningly powerful. At best, they thought Yagura would be overpowered by sheer numbers or through trickery but never in their wildest dreams did they think Ringo capable of facing a bijuu head-on. Now they were stuck with her as their Mizukage and slowly, they started to understand why Ao was so cross with them for giving her the position. Who cared if they, according to some document, had a free reign? Ringo raising one eyebrow had more weight than anything they could do or say! It was honestly a very striking reminder that 'might makes right'. One they did not really enjoy.
Ringo steadily walked towards the furthest throne-like chair in the back of the council chamber and flopped into it with a complete disregard for anything even remotely resembling etiquette. She sighed irritably and swept the people in the room with a fed-up stare. "An hour ago, Ao sent me a message that you are bickering like a bunch of little children." 'And damn Rei for giving him a way to contact me...' She mentally grumbled as the message interrupted her forging. "Care to share what is so important I had to be dragged into it?"
The room descended into complete silence. Ringo stared at the councilors, her eyes getting more and more fed-up by the second while the councilors tried to gather courage and their wits to reply.
"Well?" Ringo drawled, her eyes stopping on Ao who stood by the door to the chamber, showing he was not a part of the council.
'Of course, it has to be me... It's so hard to be one of the only two competent people in the room.' Ao wistfully thought before sighing in exasperation, "The clan heads and the old councilors can't decide who shall be the new council under yourself, Lady Ameyuri. Maybe you could state your ruling on the matter?" He added a bit mockingly.
And with that sentence, tension returned to the room. The old councilors looked at Ringo with apprehension while the new ones with hope... causing Ringo to deadpan at Ao, her eyes clearly asking if this is really how leaders and high officials should behave. Much to her chagrin, he simply casually shrugged, letting her deal with the problem.
Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Ringo furrowed her brows, "I am far too young to do this shit." She mumbled and while at the time it peeved her to no end, now she inwardly thanked Rei for giving her an idea of how to avoid running things. If only he didn't decide to do it in the middle of their lovemaking… then again, she probably wouldn't remember it if he didn't choose that exact moment.
"Fine..." Ringo reluctantly started, "As per Yozora's contract with the Resistance, the clan heads will gain the position of councilors." Quiet cheers and smug looks started appearing on the faces of the clan heads before Ringo added, "Do keep in mind the contract clearly stated you are obliged to work for the betterment of the village as a whole, rather than just your clans. If you break that, I will know," And she really would since Rei used his mastery of seals when creating the said contract, "and I will break you."
Now that put an instant stop to the cheers and smugness of the clan heads and the mood turned somber again. Quite a few of them quickly decided it would be in their best interest to stop scheming too as they were reminded that this was still a dictatorship.
"As for the old councilors," Ringo glanced at them, causing them to flinch. This was it. The Fifth Mizukage was about to decide their fate. "They will be put under investigation. If they come up clean and capable, they shall retain their position as a councilor." Ringo shrugged. "Doesn't really matter if there are more seats on the council or not anyway. This way we will have more input, more people working towards the development of the village, and it will also be harder to manipulate votes. Not that I am going to let any who try walk away intact." She nonchalantly added.
The old councilors sagged in relief while the new ones were a bit miffed at people without the status of a clan head becoming councilors or their sudden inability to bribe or blackmail others to get laws passed. Nevertheless, they could do nothing about it. Well, technically they had all the right but not one of them had the courage to speak up. Ao, on the other hand, started to get a bad premonition when Ringo smirked at him.
"As for the person responsible for the investigation..." Ringo's eyes met Ao's pleading gaze, giving him only a cold look, "I think Ao is the least corruptible person in this room. He should do it. Any objections?"
"I object!" Ao weakly tried, getting weird looks of respect from the people in the room except for Ringo who simply lifted her eyebrow amusedly.
"Rejected." She happily said. "I look forward to your report."
Ao groaned but nodded in understanding. After all, she was now his Mizukage and he would be damned before he failed her.
"And with that, I believe my work here is done." Ringo hummed as she stood up and walked towards the door, "Don't argue too much, kids. I don't enjoy having to come and teach you to behave because your mo-, ahem, Ao gets too annoying. You wanted to rule the village so rule it," She said as she stopped in the middle of the door leading outside the council chambers. The air suddenly turned heavy as killing intent flooded the room, making the occupant sweat, "Properly. Don't let me discover you are ruling it dishonestly. I want to see a clear improvement in the future."
And with that she walked away, the killing intent in the air dissipating.
It was then the various clan heads paled as they understood that they might have screwed up with the contract more than they dared to admit. After all... 'She just dumped all the work on us, didn't she?' Many of them realized. Worse yet, 'What's the point of being in politics if we can't even use it to better our clans!?'
Alas, they were already far behind the point of no return.
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