Reborn in a daimyo’s court-Naruto SI

Chapter 76-EPILOGUE!

{A Teacher's Tale}

ITACHI UCHIHA

The world had changed much ever since Itachi Uchiha had donned his hitai-ate to become a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village, for he was part of what was now termed the 'new era' or 'Shogunate.'

Many years ago, after getting tired of the violence and the deaths of their loved ones during the warring state era, two people, two shinobi belonging to two clans with great animosity between them, joined hands to usher in a new era, the Hidden Village era.

And yet peace would still elude the world, wars between clans simply turned into wars between Hidden Villages, with each fighting for dominance, fear, and hegemony. The world would see four great ninja wars, in the span of a little over half a century, with deaths tolling into the hundreds of thousands.

That was until the last war, the Great War. One that had begun with an attack on the Fire daimyo by Iwa and Kumo as the young lord was set to formalize an alliance with Kiri and Water country, Iwa and Kumo would attack the peace talks, planning to kill the young lord to cause mayhem in Konoha and Fire country, to whom they had both just lost a war.

Their attack would fail, and though the young lord would be severely injured, he would survive and make a claim for a shogunate, calling for 'Crimson Sky,' something that had not been done to this day.

And yet few knew of the true intentions of the young lord, and Itachi Uchiha was amongst those few. His friendship with Shisui Uchiha allowed him an insight into the happenings of that time that few would ever be privy to.

Ten years had passed since that day when he heard those sirens go off, signaling the start of another war. He had thought then that he would much likely participate in that very war, yet such a thing would never come to pass. And though he trained daily as he had since his father had first taken him to the battlefield, he did so, no longer carrying the burden of trying to end all war, for his dream had already been fulfilled.

By the man whose statue now stood infront of him. A state the kids infront of him were watching with surprise and amazement, the grand statue that had been erected in remembrance of the day when the world had changed once more.

"And now, can anyone here name the monument we are standing infront of," he asked, the cabal of students gathered infront of him, each of them looking at the statue around him with awe and adoration, for these people were legends, people who had set forth the foundation for the world they lived in today.

Many hands went up at his question, and he pointed out a student.

"They are called the Shogunate foundation," the boy from Kiri answered, and he shook his head.

"I am afraid not," he corrected gently, and the black-haired girl frowned.

"They are called, 'Pillars'" another voice interrupted them, and he looked to the side and found that all too familiar face of his brother answering with a small scowl,

"These include the Seven statues, six for the pages of that time, and the seventh one for the Shogun who each cut down a meteor with the help of a thousand shinobi and protects everyone," he answered, as a dutiful student.

"That is correct, Sasuke-kun," he praised, and his brother's cheeks turned rosy at the praise as another student chimed in.

"Hey! He didn't ask you duck, duck-haired idiot," and he could feel the headache coming as his brother rounded off on the blonde.

"Shut up, you blonde idiot. It's not like you knew the answer," Sasuke challenged, and though Uzumaki Naruto was a brilliant student, academic and bookish knowledge wasn't really his forte.

"What does it matter if I know the name of a statue or not? I am still going to be a better shinobi than you," Naruto challenged loudly as their usual classmates sighed helplessly while those from Kiri and Kumo began to watch each other's faces nervously, clearly not used to the usual banter between his brother and the son of the Yondaime Hokage.

"And not just that, I am going to be the greatest shinobi that ever lived!" Naruto claimed boisterously.

"As if you fool. You cannot even beat me, and you think you can be a better shinobi than big brother, let alone all the kages," Sasuke scoffed and before Naruto could go on another tirade, he knew he had to step in.

"Naruto. Sasuke. Enough," he said and saw them both perk up at that.

"I believe both of you have the potential to be the greatest shinobi," he complimented and encouraged them, as was his duty as their teacher.

"See, even Itachi sensei believed that I could surpass him," Naruto claimed as Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"We must move on. There is quite a lot of ground to cover," and with that, they entered the massive garden-like building, where flowers from all parts of the continent were planted to show unity, with the six statues of the kages placed around the garden each, acting as a pillar holding up the roof of the building.

"Sasuke was right, though. This whole monument is called the 'Pillars' representing the people that act as the pillars holding the weight of this changing and peaceful era," he added as he pointed towards the greatest statue placed constructed in the centre of the building of the man who had made this all possible.

Akihito Shirahoshi, the Shogun, and unlike the rest he held the roof up with a single hand, the other holding a sword, which was probably the most well-recognized blade in the entire continent.

"The name of all the shinobi who participated in the final battle are inscribed on the walls, while the roof has the names of all shinobi who died during the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Great Ninja war, symbolizing that we must not forget the sacrifices of our forefathers, and that we must carry on the burden of their sacrifices, their failures and their victories on our shoulders," he added as the students all looked around in awe and amazement, not truly understanding the significance of those names, and the sacrifices that had been made.

And yet it did not really bother him. They had all grown up in an era of peace and prosperity, where the world had changed greatly.

And then they came upon the final monument, one not built. It was a single sword, a katana which had cracks in it, as it stood there, stuck in the ground. This was the blade that had cut the largest of the meteors set to destroy this whole country and bring ruin to the world.

This was the blade of their Shogun.

"And this is the..."

"Shogun's blade," another voice cut in and he looked up and found his Kiri compatriot joining them once again. Yuki Haku was a member of the Yuki clan of Kirigakure, a clan that was famous for its Ice release Kekkei Genkai.

This trip was a coordinated effort that included the second-year academy students from all the villages, and such was the shift in the era and time that amongst the villages, many had not even deigned to send a representative with their students trusting the other's him and Yuki Haku to care for their students as they would for their own.

"It is a samurai katana, crafted by Sakonji Hagakure, a renowned bladesmith from Fire country though two very special people took part in its making as well," he asked, as he joined him with a nod.

"Can anyone name who they are?" he asked, and he saw many students frowning until someone finally added.

"Namikaze Minato and Kushina Uzumaki," and it was a Kiri student with fine razor-sharp teeth, showing that he was probably from the Hozuki clan.

"HUH!" Naruto and the rest of the Konoha students seemed surprised by that.

"Tou-cahn and Kaa-san," Naruto gasped as Haku smiled.

"Indeed, the blade was made with their help, for they provided the sealing formula inscribed near the hilt of the blade. A formula that was inspired by one of Kiri's infamous Legendary Blades, the Kubikiribocho," Yuki Haku added.

"And makes Kubikiribocho so special?" he asked. And when no answer came, he decided to answer it himself.

"The blade has the ability to reform itself by extracting iron out of blood," he added. He saw many students getting impressed by this as he turned towards the blade.

"The Shogun-sama chose to leave the cracked blade as it was and stuck it into the ground to mark the end of the war. As a symbol that there had been enough bloodshed, that it was time to put down the blades and embrace peace," and though there had been hiccups at first, the world had indeed changed.

"And now, to this day, this monument marks the beginning of the new age and the Shogunate."

"Ok, now hurry along we are going to have lunch and then we are all going to go see the Chunin exams."

.

.

.

.

.

Later on, he found himself in the booth watching down the genin gathering for the chunin exams when he felt another presence behind him, one he was rather familiar with.

"So you are finally here, Shisui," he greeted his fellow Uchiha shinobi, who smiled as he greeted him and shook his hand.

"Yeah, the Guardians get rather nervous whenever Shogun-sama comes to the land of Iron. The nightmare from all those years ago is kinda imprinted on the captain's head now," he said, and why wouldn't it be?

"Chiryuu-san still did not want to let me go, but Akihito-sama helped me get away," and it still surprised him that his childhood friend was so close with the most powerful man on the continent.

"So, he is here," he asked, and Shisui nodded, looking towards the main building.

"Yeah, he is up there meeting with all the kages and the daimyo's," Shisui replied, as he joined him in looking over the arena, where thousands had gathered to watch the chunin exams, and yet unlike the tense atmpshphere as it had been years go, the air was almost joyous.

People were huddled together, booths were set up with merchandise, banners were hung around, and he even spotted a few cheering squads.

"Man, chunin exams these days are a far cry from what we experienced," Shisui added, and indeed, they were—more for Shisui than himself.

"You were a wartime promotion though, right?" he questioned.

"Yeah, but one of my teammates had been to one. He says he can hardly believe that they have turned into a festival at this point," Shisui added with a bit of longing. And indeed, they had. Stricter rules had been applied, mortal wounds were banned, and it had been nearly seven years since any candidate had died.

The focus of the exams was now more on creativity and unorthodox application of chakra, as each village made to highlight its skills.

"It is a good thing, though," he added softly, and Shisui nodded.

"Definitely," and with that, he leaned forward.

"So, any outlier from our side this year," Shisui asked him, and he shook his head.

"I am afraid I cannot say, though I did hear that Hatake-san failed his team this year as well," he added, and Shisui groaned.

"Again," he nodded along.

"Damn, that man is harsh, but he is the youngest ANBU chief for a reason. You don't become an ANBU chief before twenty unless you are special," and that was a compliment. Hatake Kakashi was the leaf's biggest rising star, one that lived up to the fame of his own teacher, the Yellow Flash, the yondaime.

There was a time when it was thought that Shisui could be his equal, but the Guardian Twelve had taken up his clanmate, and though he doubted that Shisui's growth had stagnated. It was true that his actions were not highlighted, unlike those of Hatake Kakashi.

"Have you thought about joining the jounin teacher unit?" Shisui suddenly added, and he shook his head.

"I am fine as an academy teacher," he replied. He had found his calling, helping young kids traverse through their youth in a meaningful way as he led them and helped them along as they searched for their own way in life.

"Man, you would make a killer sensei, and with Naruto and your brother coming up. I don't think anyone other than you could handle those two," Shisui added, and he shook his head.

"Sasuke and Naruto do have a rivalry," they both butted heads continuously, pushing each other further, and were at the top of their class.

"Even Akihito-sama thinks that," and he perked up at that.

"Akihito-sama?" he questioned, and Shisui nodded.

"Yeah, your name came up a few weeks ago, and he showed a rather keen interest in you. When I told him about your career choice, he had some strange words for you," Shisui began as he looked him in the eye.

"He said it was a career that suited you and that you would indeed make a damn good sensei," Itachi narrowed his eyes, trying to sense the lie, and yet he found it not.

"You are not lying," and Shisui shook his head.

"I am not. I can take you to him right now," he offered, and Otachi shook his head.

"I would not like to disturb a man like him, " Shisui chuckled.

"Nah, he wouldn't mind. Damn, he might even challenge you to about as he did me all those years ago," Shisui began turning around, leaning against the railing.

"You have told me that tale many times," Itachi cut in before his friend could ramble on as Shisui wilted.

"Such callousness," Shisui whined as the noise in the arena died down, and a single figure emerged from the topmost booth, clad in a blue and black kimono. He stood there, with the Six Kage standing behind him as he raised his hand into the air.

"Let the Chunin exams begin!"

And as he looked at the man who had changed the world as he knew it, he thought of Shisui's words as he whispered in reply.

"A jounin sensei...I will think about it."

0000