In the Cloud Village, a secret meeting was taking place in the nation. The attendees, including some of the most powerful individuals in the Cloud Village, such as the Fourth Raikage, A, and council members, were all gathered around a large table for the meeting.
The Fourth Raikage, A, sat at the head of the table. Beside him stood his assistant, Mabui. Dodai, a senior member of the Cloud Village's Council, and Onnen, a man notorious for his hatred of the Leaf Village and his propensity to make decisions that favoured himself over everyone else, were on the other side of them.
The topic of discussion was a new seal that the Leaf Village had recently developed—the [C.A.T Seal], short for Chakra Affinity Test Seal.
Mabui presented the seal to the table and explained, "This seal has the ability to convert a ninja's affinity into a score of 100 for each element, allowing for precise testing of both multiple affinities and the strength of each member out of 100, aiding in assessing ninja abilities accurately."
"How did we manage to get our hands on this seal?" Raikage asked, his voice deep and commanding.
One of the council members explained, "It was acquired from Ryu Hamura, the grandson of Dan Hamura. He gave it to a classmate, who then unknowingly sold it to one of our spies in the Leaf Village. It seems the classmate was facing financial difficulties and saw an opportunity to make a quick profit from the seal, which has not been made public yet."
Raikage's eyes narrowed. "The spy did well to acquire this. What have we learned from this seal?"
The council member faltered before speaking. "The seal measures the user's chakra affinity, converting it into a numerical score. We understand that the measurement involves suppressing the user's chakra affinity and assessing the degree of suppression. While the concept is straightforward, the actual creation of the seal is intricate and complex."
Raikage said, "So this is not an offensive seal or a defensive seal but a general utility seal."
"Yes, but that doesn't diminish its potential value," the council member Dodai added. "It could prove to be a valuable tool for training and assessing shinobi abilities."
Raikage nodded, considering the possibilities of incorporating the seal into their village's training regimen.
Leaning forward with a spark of curiosity in his eyes, Raikage's attention was fully captured by the unfolding discussion. "And have we been able to fully understand the inner workings of the seal?"
Another council member spoke up, shaking their head. "Unfortunately, no. The seal is encrypted with [Encoder Seal] that we last discussed. We've tried to copy it, but the copied seal doesn't work at all. I guess this is the reason the leaf boy, who sold us the seal, was given the seal without any worry."
Raikage furrowed his brow, realising the critical implications of the existence of the mysterious Encoder Seal. Because of this seal, the village's growth and capabilities in the field of fuinjutsu would remain stunted, hindering their advancement forever. Their village has been stealing seals from other villages since its inception. Most of its seals, outside of the general seal, are works of grandmasters from other villages and not of their own. But now they cannot do it.
Raikage said, "So, even with the copy of the actual seal, it's useless to us. And even if we have the theory of how the seal works, it is difficult to replicate. What the hell are our grandmasters doing then? You are all enjoying the benefits that come with the grandmaster status, but you have nothing new to show for it; apart from training new seal masters, you have done nothing. Even numbers of masters are decreasing now. It's time for you all to step up, or we will never be able to catch up to Leaf Village."
Every grandmaster in attendance bowed their heads in shame, their collective guilt palpable in the heavy silence that followed Raikage's speech.
Raikage then said, "This Dan Hamura's fuinjutsu skills are troublesome. I need to do something about it."
After moments of silence, Onnen, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke up. "Even if we cannot catch up to them, we can still bring them down to our level. I say we increase the bounty on his head. He's becoming too much of a threat." The grandmasters nodded in agreement, realising that taking down Dan Hamura was the only way to stop the growth of fuinjutsu in Leaf Village.
A heavy silence enveloped the room as the others pondered the weight of Onnen's proposal. Finally, Dodai spoke up. "I disagree. We should wait for the right opportunity to deal with him ourselves. We need to be careful not to involve the village's ninjas directly. Using the Jisatsu Squad under Onnen's control could be an option, but that is not a foolproof plan. As those criminals are hard to control."
"Yes, but they are also highly skilled and could potentially take down the target without drawing too much attention. Due to Lord Onnen's [Jisatsu seal], catching them alive is impossible, and even if they are caught before they die, we can deny anything they find out using them as they are declared criminals."
The Raikage nodded in agreement with Dodai's suggestion, recognising the importance of exercising caution in the situation. When dealing with the Jisatsu Squad, things don't always end well, and their unpredictable nature made them a risky choice for sensitive missions, but they come to have built-in deniability for the village, and the village cannot be blamed for their actions. But he knew that only Onnen, with his specialised [Jisatsu seal], possessed the ability to control the Jisatsu Squad. If he had to go with this option, he had to give Onnen full mission authority.
Raikage nodded thoughtfully and finally said, "I agree. We should keep an eye on him, but from a distance. Onnen, you're free to do as you see fit, as long as our ninjas aren't harmed and the village isn't implicated."
Onnen smiled, a sly glint in his eye. "Thank you, Lord Raikage. I'll take care of it."
Onnen's smile twisted into a wicked grin as he relished the unrestricted authority Raikage had granted him. They never see eye to eye, but Raikage knows the force Onnen commands is perfect for an assassination job, given his expertise in covert operations and control over the Jisatsu Squad.
In the end, the meeting concluded with the weight of dealing with the Hamura clan falling squarely on Onnen's shoulders. And Onnen was determined to make the most of the chance to establish his worth. He was like Cloud's version of Danzo, but unlike Leaf Village, he was never given full rein. And this Amanda Waller wannabe was always looking for an opportunity to change that and make himself more influential in the Cloud Village.
The next morning Dan showed Ryu a letter, its seal embossed with the crest of the Fire Daimyo. Ryu's eyes lit up as he said, "Finally."
Ryu asked, "What does the letter say?"
Dan smiled knowingly and remarked, "The Daimyo typically delegates letter deliveries to their ministers for unpleasant news. So I take it that this is good news."
"Grandpa, let's not waste time and open it," Ryu said.
Dan read aloud, his voice steady and clear:
__________________________
To the esteemed Dan Hamura of the Hamura Clan,
After careful consideration and consultation with the Hokage's office and many other esteemed ninja clans and my advisors, I am pleased to grant the Hamura clan a licence to train ninjas outside of your family. This decision comes with the following terms and conditions:
1.) The Hamura clan is permitted to train any number of medically unfit students as trainee ninjas. However, all healthy subjects must be pre-approved by my office.
2.) Ikkyu Madoka, the guarantor for the Hamura clan, shall be held responsible for the actions of your clan and the ninjas you train.
3.) Medical certificates of all ninjas with medical conditions must be delivered to Ikkyu for individual approval.
4.) Every ninja trained by the Hamura clan will be counted as part of the Leaf Ninja village under the ultimate leadership of the Hokage and must accept all compulsory missions assigned by mission control under the Hokage.
5.) All ninjas trained by the Hamura clan are required to attend the regular Chunin exams, with promotions falling under the jurisdiction of the Hokage's office.
The Fire Nation hopes that the Hamura clan will continue to provide for us and remind the ninjas of their fundamental duties to Fire Nation.
We look forward to seeing the fruits of this new endeavour and trust that the Hamura clan will continue to uphold the standards of excellence we have come to expect from Ninjas of Leaf Village.
Signed,
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
_______________________
Ryu listened intently. After Dan finished reading the letter, Ryu said, "Finally we can train our own forces."
##PoWeR StOnEs##
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