It wasn't very long ago that the Land of Iron forever expelled Ieyasu Tokugawa for his treason. He could still remember the smell of blood running down his chest after the blade cut through, the piss that he let out in his fear as the tip of the general's blade reached within less than an inch of his throat, the tears running down his face as he begged for forgiveness like a dog in front of the young, ambitious, inexperienced samurai that he had rallied behind him to rebel and seize power. It was a wonder that they didn't kill him, and for that mistake, the government of the Land of Iron would pay a heavy price. He would come back, with an army of his own, to take back what he saw as rightfully his.
In attempt to align himself with a small village in the Land of Fire that bordered the Land of Iron so that he could eventually rally them behind his cause when the time was right, as they had a relatively impressive militia of fifty samurai strong, he met with the leader of the village, a young shinobi, during his travels to discuss the current state of relations between the Land of Iron and their small village, trying to see what weakness he could exploit to get the village on his side.
He soon found that there was a dispute over the rights to a nearby forest, one which the daimyo of the Land of Fire would not dedicate any political capital to disputing, thus having it go to the Land of Iron rather than the small village who had relied upon the forest for game and wood for a long time. Having portrayed his tale, to the leader, as if he were a hero fighting a corrupt establishment in the Land of Iron rather than an ambitious coward seeking power but faltering when his life was on the balance, he soon convinced the shinobi leader that if he ever came to power in the Land of Iron, he would restore the village's rights to that nearby forest, gaining favor in the eyes of the leader. Escorting him would not only earn Ieyasu some desperately needed ryo; it would also earn him a favor later on that, compounded with the village's interest in the forest, might convince the young shinobi later on to help him invade the Land of Iron.
Apparently, a successful shinobi from Konoha was also being sent to guard this young leader on his way back to his village. Perhaps he could get this shinobi on his side as well. After all, if he ever wanted to dream of taking the Land of Iron for himself one day, he would need to return with a large, diverse army. Fifty samurai from this small village, if he could even convince this leader to do that much, wouldn't be nearly enough for what he was trying to pull off. Not just that, but he would have to improve his own skills as well. He had shown a poor display of strength in the battle with the general that had been his ultimate downfall during the coup; he couldn't even land one hit on the guy when push came to shove.
"Hello, friend Ieyasu!" the young shinobi would welcome him as he arrived at the village gates of Konohagakure, spotting the princely village leader along with the shinobi escort from the hidden village, "This is the shinobi from Konohagakure who is to assist us on the travel back to the village. By the by, what is your name, young man?" With that, he would turn to the shinobi from Konoha; whether or not he supplied his name, they would begin their journey to the small border village.
"What else would you like to see from the Land of Iron?" the exiled samurai would inquire from the princely young shinobi, trying to see if there was anything else he could offer to make sending troops more enticing when he would appeal to this man later on.
"Frankly," the man would reply as the trio walked, "I'd like to see more favorable trade relations between the Land of Iron and our village, in addition to regaining our rights to our forest." It was a reasonable desire: better trade to make the simple people of his small village more prosperous in addition to those land rights that he'd already mentioned in their earlier discussions.
"I assure you, when I come to rule the Land of Iron," he spoke, trying to further persuade the shinobi leader, "Your land rights will be restored, and trade relations will be better than ever." He was making these promises now, so that he could bring them up later whenever he was to appeal this shinobi leader on sending troops for his cause. Of course, that was a long way away, but, given this shinobi's young age, he was sure that he would remain in power for a long time to come, barring an assassination or sudden illness that couldn't be cured by medical ninjutsu.
"So as for you," he would speak, turning to the shinobi from Konohagakure, "What is your background?" He wanted to know more about this Konohagakure shinobi, so that he could perhaps find some desire in him to exploit for his cause just as he had done with the shinobi leader of the small border village.
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