The bureau office of the Daimyō

Tekkan was hosting a meeting with several clients and investors

"We’re not asking for mass manufacturing immediately but, we would prefer a moderate number" (Tekkan)

CHATTER

The listeners mumbled to themselves for little over a minute before one of them spoke

"We understand what you're asking Tekkan-dono. However, forgetting the number you're requesting, delivering a single prototype in such a short timeframe is a hassle in itself"

"Your request was vague enough as it is, but you and your superiors have refused to divulge any details as to what you plan on using them for"

"When you lot purchase or sell something, do you divulge every single detail? Considering how experienced you are as merchants, I would think the obvious answer is no" (Tekkan)

"If things were that simple we wouldn't be having this conversation"

"Telling us to give you a new age power cell, small enough to be carried by a human isn't like ordering a bowl of Ramen"

"Obviously, but your companies are surely capable of providing at least a schematic well within our time range" (Tekkan)

Tekkan was growing frustrated as the men and women before him continued to give him the run around. Right now, he was doing his best to acquire a more compact generator for Kumogakure's secret "Network" project

The Daimyō had left the village and entrusted Tekkan with the duty of supporting the Raikage. For him, failure didn't exist in his vocabulary, definitely when it came to his boss

And while he couldn't share any exact details, he was sure the requests and payment offers he gave were fair, yet the ones before him appeared to have an abnormal amount of uncertainty despite being merchants

{Is the offer to low? Or are they waiting for me to propose something better?} (Tekkan)

"If I may, Tekkan-dono"

"Makibi-dono..." (Tekkan)

One of the merchants, opposite of the room from Tekkan, gathered everyone's attention. In his mid twenties, he had fair skin and brown hair with small black eyes. He was probably the youngest one present yet carried an aura of authority

His name was Makibi, president of the "Makibi Company", who just rose to the position of company president after his father recently passed away

Tekkan had a low opinion of him, not only due to his bad reputation for pompously indulging a wealthy lifestyle, but the many peculiar, if not suspicious details regarding his father's death. If Kumo wasn't desperate, Tekkan would never even consider talking with such a disgusting man, nor any of the other corrupt businessmen in the room

Out of the over thirty people present, barely a third of them had honest reputations

"I think what my colleagues are getting at is conducting business with this country right now...well, it's not beneficial at all" (Makibi)

"...What do you mean?" (Tekkan)

"Merchants, dealers, businessmen...this room is filled with people carry such titles. And with these titles comes the many things we have to protect in order to keep them. And do you know what the most important thing is?" (Makibi)

"..." (Tekkan)

"No? Well, allow me to educate you" (Makibi)

{This son of a...!} (Tekkan)

Tekkan's face went completely neutral. Neither showing happiness or anger, he fought to remain calm while the arrogant young businessman stood up and monologued. Rudely lecturing Tekkan as if he were a child

An experienced servant of a Daimyō, he knew exactly what Makibi was hinting at, but refused to respond since it wasn't a subject he wanted brought up during this meeting

Unfortunately, Makibi derailed his plans...

"Reputation, Tekkan-dono" (Makibi)

"I assure you, working with the Land of Lightning will not cause you any grief. To you, or your reputation" (Tekkan)

"But it's not the Land of Lightning that wants our help right?"

"It's the capital Kumogakure that needs us"

"Quite so! And from what I've heard, that village has been the subject of gossip in the past two months" (Makibi)

"That's-!" (Tekkan)

"The Hyuga Incident...right?" (Makibi)

"U-Urgh..." (Tekkan)

The mood in the room took the worst possible turn for Tekkan. When he called this meeting, he tried to spin it as if the country itself needed new tech, and not its shinobi capital

"Our practice involves taking risks sure...but that one is far too big"

"Any shinobi village that makes multiple attempts to steal from another during an armistice signing can't be trusted"

"Just imagine what our other clients would think if word got out we're dealing with such brazen village" (Makibi)

"H-Hold on! This request is coming from the Daimyō-sama, not the Raikage. Regardless of who uses them, what matters is who you're selling them to!" (Tekkan)

Tekkan tried to regain control of the mood but the damage was already done

"That's a naïve thought, our clients won't care" (Makibi)

"There's no guarantee Kumogakure won't abuse such technology. The village already has a monopoly on most technology related to energy"

"As I recall, there are several members of it's council that have connections to company presidents in this field. They should do fine on their own"

"I don't think there's any need to continue this further. You're keeping us in the dark and we can't just go out on a limb and trust Kumogakure. They've lost everyone's trust" (Makibi)

Makibi took his leave and others quickly followed suit. One by one, the clients left until Tekkan was the only one in the room. He sat down on his chair and sighed

What happened today was one many failed attempts to acquire more contractors

"Damn it...Tenga!" (Tekkan)

SWISH!

The shinobi Tenga suddenly appeared before Tekkan

"I need you to call another meeting" (Tekkan)

"More clients?" (Tenga)

"No...with our friends" (Tekkan)

"Ah! Of course, I'll leave immediately" (Tenga)

"I don't think I have to tell you but, be discreet about it" (Tekkan)

"Always" (Tenga)

 

♦♦♦

 

One hour later

Tekkan was now conversing with Mabui, Samui, Dodai, C, Tango, Darui, and the Raikage. There was also a new face with them that stood by Dodai

"Thank you for coming, especially you Raikage-sama" (Tekkan)

"No worries, we've been meeting in my office too much, the risk of our inner circle being discovered was getting worse" (A)

"Hm? Where's Toroi-dono? Shouldn't he be here?" (Tekkan)

"He's currently leading an investigation on the southwestern border of the country. As I'm sure my friend here can tell you" (Dodai)

The one standing next to Dodai stepped forward. Wearing the usual Kumo-nin attire, he had dark-brown spiky hair and dark eyes. A notable feature is the dark green mark that ran down his nose

"Ah...Motoi-dono. It's been a while" (Tekkan)

"Apologies for my absence Tekkan-dono. As the stand-in overseer of Genbu Island, I'm constantly required to stay off the mainland" (Motoi)

"It's fine Motoi, we've been using that island as a base to conduct our secret missions anyway" (Dodai)

"Mm...Toroi-sama was just dispatched from there" (Samui)

"About that, if you're still holding investigations...does that mean you still haven't-?" (Tekkan)

"Sigh...yes" (Samui)

"The one's responsible for the attempt on Yugito's life still haven't been identified. All we know is they hired the Fuma clan...and we've yet to identify the other clan aiding them" (Mabui)

"The Fuma typically dwell near the Land of Fire, and the idea of Kumogakure ninja going there now is..." (Tekkan)

"You can see why the investigation has been so dull" (Darui)

Kumogakure was already on thin ice with Konoha, sending ninja in their land now could potentially lead to another war. Which was the last thing they needed in their current state

"How is Yugito-sama by the way?" (Tekkan)

"She's up and moving but...a tailed beast extraction can be very traumatic on the body. Especially one as crude as the extraction she went through. Her connection with the Two-tails has been damaged and controlling it now is more difficult than ever" (Samui) 

"When I treated her, I could tell her chakra network was even more damaged than Rei's. It'll take some time before she's back to 100%" (C)

"We also haven't identified the one responsible for massacring the Fuma-nin at the site. Suzu was knocked out and when she woke up, Yugito denied responsibility for it" (Dodai)

"What about Rei?" (Tekkan)

"..." (Mabui)

"We questioned Rei, but he told us he didn't remember anything" (Dodai)

"Nothing at all?" (Tekkan)

Tekkan squinted eyes

"No. Besides, I doubt a Genin could've done THAT much damage...even one as talented as him" (Dodai)

Motoi interjected

"Are you sure?" (Motoi)

"Who else could it have been?" (Tango)

"A fair point I guess..." (Motoi)

"I see...things are bad all over" (Tekkan)

"The only actual progress we've made recently has been the Network" (Dodai)

"How far did your team manage?" (Tekkan)

"Tango" (Dodai)

"With the power supply on hand, we maintained a link to our asset in Yugakure¹Hidden Hot Water Village" (Tango)

"That's quite the leap compared to last time. But judging from your tone, the same issue still remains" (Tekkan)

"Mm. Our power source is far too big to be of practical use" (Tango)

"Which brings us to you Tekkan. How's your progress been" (A)

Tekkan unfolded his arms and held his forehead

"Calling it 'awful' would be a crude understatement. Most contractors won't even bother speaking with us, let alone deal with us after the incident in Konoha. Even the scummiest and greediest of them aren't willing to work with us, and I'm running out of pitches" (Tekkan)

"To think the nation that leads the world in energy technology has been reduced to this...how pitiful" (Dodai)

"Thanks to that idiot, and members of the council, our village is in the worst state imaginable. My only regret is that I couldn't kill the Head Ninja myself" (A)

"Speaking of the council..." (Tekkan)

STUDDER!

The Raikage stood tall and inadvertently release some of his chakra, causing the whole room to tremble. The behemoth of a man spoke with a cold, stern voice

"I've already taken care of that front. I made it clear if anyone even thinks of gridlocking me, or doesn't meet me in good faith negotiation will feel my wrath" (A)

"G-Good to know" {Wish I could do that. Sure as hell would make my life easier} (Tekkan)

"At least we won't have to deal with anymore distractions on that front" (C)

"But it doesn't change the fact we've already poured too much money into the project. If we can't get a smaller power source soon..." (Mabui)

"We'll have wasted all those resources for nothing. The economic impact...even for our village, will be terrible" (Samui)

The group has been working on this enigmatic project for quite some time. Giving up now after the effort, money, and sacrifice was the last thing any of them wanted to do

But whatever this project was, it was clear if they don't acquire a proper power source soon, it would fail

KLUNK!

The door to the room opened and a single shinobi entered

"Tenga! I told you we're not to be disturbed!" (Tekkan)

"Yes sir! And I'm sorry to intrude but the bureau has received a message for you" (Tenga)

"Who's it from?" (Tekkan)

"The Daimyō-sama" (Tenga)

"Eh?!" (Tekkan)

Tekkan quickly took the letter from Tenga and after reading...a smile formed on his face

"What happened?" (A)

"Hehehe! Things might be looking up after all!" (Tekkan)

"Hm?" (Darui)

"Did...did you find a contractor or something?" (Dodai)

"You can say that" (Tekkan)

Tekkan grabbed his belongings

"You're leaving?" (Tango)

"Yup! I'm not gonna miss this one!" (Tekkan)

"I haven't seen you this excited in a while, who is this person?" (A)

"Oh right. We talked about him before didn't we?" (Tekkan)

"?" (A)

"Do you all remember one by the name of..." (Tekkan)

Tekkan displayed the letter to everyone, within was a picture of said contractor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"...Tetsuo Mori?"