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Chapter 17: Death III

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"Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you." ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Isaac felt like he was gazing at the abyss. The abyss wasn't dark, it was bright with lanterns providing a nice source of light.

The abyss wasn't an accumulation of nothing. The abyss was a mansion in the center of a city, the most prosperous and gorgeous of mansions.

It was unlike anything Isaac had ever seen before as if all the wealth in the world was thrown at its construction.

The mansion was a landmark of the country of fire, a landmark he was welcome to as the ninja guards at the gate allowed the group of four entry.

Even Obito and the group were astonished as they found the mansion to be second to the Hokage Rock in impressiveness.

Before them was the residence of the Fire Diamyo which resides in the capital of the land of fire.

It's impressive, honestly, just how different the capital is from everywhere else.

The capital feels like a relatively modern city from Isaac's previous life while most other places in the world are still in the medieval ages, decades behind in just about every field.

The streets were prosperous, stalls with products from all regions everywhere, and crowds of people moving about.

It was truly an abyss that devours all the wealth and prosperity of the world, concentrating it on the few lucky bunch.

Then they finally got to meet the central political figure of the land of fire, the man they call the Daimyo.

The Diamyo was comfortably sitting back on the main seat, adorned in quite the fancy clothes with the standard daimyo headpiece, embroiled with the mark of fire.

Besides his attire, he didn't look out of the ordinary, no different from the common man. He was a middle-aged man with small, circular eyes and dark pupils.

The Diamyo's mannerism, however, was anything but common as he gently swung his fan, enjoying the show before him.

The show was that of dancers showing their beauty and talent as they danced their hearts out as if their lives depended on it.

"Ah, welcome welcome, my dear guests," The Diamyo seemed like a gentleman as he welcomed them graciously.

The group bowed respectfully, especially Kakashi and the others, naturally nervous upon meeting the most influential person in the land.

"Oyakata-sama," Minato especially saluted respectfully, referring to the Diamyo as most of his subjects refer to him, simply meaning honorable lord, "This is Isaac, Uchiha Isaac."

Then Minato stood to the side with the rest, leaving Isaac and the Diamyo to their own thing. He was only responsible for surveillance after all.

"Hmm, well well," The Diamyo nodded as he sized Isaac up, "Little Isaac, heard a lot about you. I've come to admire you quite a bit, so I find myself very happy to work with you."

"I am happy to work with you as well," Isaac calmly responded. Indeed, this wasn't a discussion, it was more so a notice.

"Now, let's discuss the prices," The Diamyo said then left the rest to his advisers as one continued in his stead, "Don't you think that the prices are a little too low?"

"They are affordable," Isaac naturally responded as if he had expected it, "Just as the agreement with our other partners stated. Moreover, making my products any more expensive and no one would be able to purchase them other than the select few."

"The select few should be the target customers, should they not?" Another adviser questioned, "The products should be more unique to be appreciated by people who can afford them."

"Completely disagree," Isaac shook his head, "My products, the computers are merely the beginning. They're the advertisements for my future products. Therefore, the more available they are, the better."

"Does that mean that the prices can be adjusted in the future?" The advisers still pressed on the issue, "And what future products are we talking about?"

"The prices of the old products will get cheaper while the new products will get pricer," Isaac firmly stated, "I will not set my products' prices to be higher than they are worth."

"Yet you are setting them to be lower than they are worth," The advisers retorted. The atmosphere was getting quite heavy.

"Out of necessity," Isaac fired back, "The people are too poor after all. Taxes leave them with little to no extra funds."

"Huh?" The Diamyo raised a brow but still didn't speak. The advisers, however, were stunned as if Isaac touched a taboo subject.

"What did you say?"

"Do we hear any complaints?"

"Why bring taxes up?"

'Clown show,' Isaac eyed them coldly. Just their self-conscious responses told him that they realized the issue yet no one would do anything about it, 'Dead.'

Isaac took a deep breath and explained, "The Internet Project, a project which seeks to connect all of my products together, granting near instantaneous exchange of information even across countries."

He went on to talk in detail about the project, its plausibility, the necessary funds and infrastructure required to make it work, and most importantly, how information can be controlled through the network.

Isaac especially focused on the benefits for that seemed to be all their ears could capture, describing in detail the level of profits they could get from the project.

He basically described a monopoly to them in which they'll control technology and information, leaving every other country far far behind.

No, the other countries would have to suffer under their monopoly because they wouldn't be able to stop the great invention that's the internet.

The Diamyo's eyes got brighter and brighter as he exchanged glances with his advisers before nodding.

The prospects were too appealing. They were in fact so good that it had to be under their complete control.

"Very well," The Diamyo finally nodded, "We'll discuss things with our other partners then we'll see how to go about it. For now, please enjoy the banquet."

The trio of Obito, Kakashi, and Rin could finally let out a sigh of relief. They thought the conversation would turn into a full-fledged battle.

At last, the banquet, tables filled with all kinds of food, even more dancers, rambles and whispers all about. It was all a new experience for the kids.

Only Isaac stayed close to the advisers, discussing some more secretive subjects.

The group spent the night before heading back home first thing in the morning. Honestly, it felt like a pointless trip.

Nothing really happened except for the advisers trying to dig information out of him.

They even informed him that they would send their own team of researchers to aid his studies. It was more like surveillance.

They realized the value of the internet and how important it is to keep it in their hands.

If things go on like this, a normal individual would find himself out of the picture as those at the top take over little by little.

That's what the Diamyo wants, not to completely take Isaac out of the picture but to keep him as the brain of what might as well be called the researcher slaves' labs.

The next seven days after Isaac and the group left was like an unending celebration in the Diamyo's mansion.

It's supposed to be a celebration of the future of the land of fire, a prosperous future.

Isaac very much agrees. The future of the land of fire will be infinitely more prosperous in his hands than the garbage that's the Diamyo, "Demonic Illusion: Devil's Whispers."

The Diamyo desire a prosperous future for the land. Isaac heard his desires and decided to fulfill them, thus why everyone in the mansion heard those whispers.

The whispers were vague, yet they had a captivating tone to them, making everyone relax their guards, somehow finding the unknown whispers to be normal, so much so that they ignored them.

However, the whispers didn't ignore them as they continued to resound about, bringing out the darkest desires of those within.

The whispers aren't much of a hurdle against a ninja, thus why the ninja guards in the mansion had to be eliminated through different methods.

They were, however, very effective against the rest as they couldn't hold back anymore, allowing their darkest desires to take control.

"A bunch of garbage," Isaac muttered coldly as he eyed the abyss, the worst in humanity, 'Now it makes sense... Negative emotions are much easier to manipulate and manifest.'

It was all an experiment to test some of his techniques, arbitrarily deciding who can live and who can not, who is garbage and who has potential.

The investigation he ran for the past seven days told him, complemented by the whispers that aren't influential enough to cause someone to do something they wouldn't otherwise do.

Isaac gazed into the abyss and it indeed gazed back at him and showed him a mirror.

The mirror had his own face... That's why Isaac can not be a ruler. He does not trust himself not to become even more of a monster.