𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄 | sasuke uchiha

52

"Akinobu-san. Thank you for responding to my request so swiftly."

Outside of the meeting room, Madara greeted his guest and his two guards, instructing Shisui to head in before them.

"My pleasure!" bellowed the Kouhage, puffing out his chest proudly. Madara glanced at his guards and nodded at them, saying, "If you don't mind waiting outside. This meeting is strictly limited to our council and your leader."

The two boys glanced at Akinobu, who quickly waved them away without a second thought.

"You heard him. Begone!"

"As you wish, Akinobu-sama."

Bowing to the two leaders, Aki and Yoshi retreated from the corridor, leaving Madara standing alone with the Kouhage's leader. Knowing that his time was limited, the Uchiha deftly activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, which seemingly went unnoticed by Akinobu.

"Shall we enter?" asked Madara with a broad smile, certain that his tactic had worked judging by the unsurprised look on Akinobu's face.

"Of course!" said Akinobu happily, hands on his hips as Madara deactivated his dōjutsu. "Let us begin!"

Madara bowed his head at the Kouhage and opened the door for him, urging him to sit near the front by his own seat. He soon followed afterwards, and then their meeting was put into motion.

"As you all know, a war is brewing between us and the Senju," began Madara, looking at all of his council members. However, his gaze lingered on his ever irritated nephew, Sasuke, and he couldn't help but leer in triumph. "And as we all know, they outnumber us greatly. In addition to that, the help of their allies further increases their numbers, and what with members of our own clan leaving us to join their side, we need to find a way to increase our own military force, as well as boost morale and confidence in our leadership. It is for that reason that I have reached out to Akinobu-san and his clan, in the hopes that they would be able to remedy this dilemma."

"And we are honoured that you have chosen us to do so," said Akinobu with a grin. "What are allies for?"

"That being said, what we are asking is no easy task," continued Madara, looking towards his other council members. "I put this forward to you, our council. What do we make of the idea of the Kouhage clan moving to the Land of Fire so that they are closer to us?"

"With all due respect, Madara-sama, that is a task that would require great effort on our behalf," interjected Fugaku, voicing his concerns. "We would have to find an area suitable for them to restart their lives, as well as assist in constructing their new homes. It simply is not a feasible task, if you are wishing to wage war on the Senju in the near future."

"I hear you. Is there anyone else?"

This time, Kagami spoke.

"Why can we not just request that they send us their shinobi?" asked Shisui's father, frowning at Madara's preposition. "Surely we can make do with accommodating their shinobi, rather than having to house their entire clan."

"I too considered that, but naturally, Akinobu-san had his own doubts about that," said Madara, turning to the Kouhage leader. "Akinobu-san?"

"Yes." Akinobu cleared his throat, sitting up straight in his seat. "Although we would wholeheartedly send our full military force to join your side, who would remain to defend our home? What if our home were to be attacked while all of our able bodied shinobi were up here, fighting alongside you?"

"Surely you can spare a handful of shinobi to stay on home guard, and send a majority of them to join us?" asked Baru, earning a shake of the head from Akinobu.