While Tsunade and Yugito babysat Koyuki, Sosetsu was being babysat by Rei.

Sosetsu was currently sitting behind a round table in the meeting room of his castle, waiting for the Yukikage to show up for a little bit of chat. ​​

'The prick is really taking his sweet time.' Rei, who was hidden in a dark corner of the room, thought bitterly. The Yukikage was supposed to be there for an hour already. 'Sigh, if only the Land of Snow had some kind of strong standing army... Yukikage would never dare to do this.'

This was a problem with small ninja villages. They usually cared for country politics because it was bringing them some benefits. The bigger countries had no such problems for one reason or another. For example, the Land of Wind. Yes, the Daimyo hated Rasa with a passion which could be seen in the steady economic decline of Suna. It was nothing much as of now but Rei knew it would get a whole lot worse. So then... why won't Rasa simply assassinate the Daimyo and put somebody who favors him on the top?

That's what happens most of the time behind the scenes of the countries with small ninja villages when they get far too much power. No longer do these villages have to painstakingly beg for funds while wagging their tails at their owners. They simply use what they are the best at to become the said owners.

Rei saw Sosetsu lacked three things many Daimyo of richer and bigger nations had.

Firstly, they had their own freaking ninja guards. Assassination suddenly became a whole lot harder when ten jonin level ninjas guarded the target. It would most likely be stopped before the guy was dead which would result in retaliation and Daimyo's kind of never played fair in this department. They would never use open warfare against ninja villages because... well, they would lose. Instead, they almost always used money. Refusing to fund them, ruining their reputation by spreading the fact they tried to assassinate him, and so on and on. Hence why every ninja who accepted a mission to assassinate some kind of Daimyo, no matter how small the country was, was already written off as a rogue ninja. If he managed to successfully accomplish the mission without anyone knowing about his identity, this record would vanish and nobody would talk about it. If he didn't... well.

Secondly, reputation. On paper, the whole concept of a village of superpowered ninja warriors seems strong, nice, and appealing. How the heck could such a thing be toppled by a powerless withered old chump such as Daimyo, right? Shouldn't he be afraid?

And here Rei wanted to groan every time he thought about this. Surprisingly, no ninja village was self-sufficient, and it had an excellent reason. A reason why he went for a place such as the Land of Snow which is ruled by a kind-hearted but still somewhat competent wimp such as Sosetsu. The Daimyo more often than not had control over merchants to some degree.

Konoha was a picture-perfect example of this. The supposedly strongest village that is able to rally up and work together, civilians and ninjas alike, to protect it even when they are facing enemies on three fronts. During the war, the civilian council made damn sure to do their work and give the Hokage time to focus more on the war efforts than running the village. Now? They are subtly sabotaging the village whenever possible. And Rei knew not all of it was because they were bored. The Fire Daimyo had his own grubby hands in it.

The Hokage knew it. The Konoha Shinobi Council knew it... but what can they do when the man who is feeding them is behind the scenes? Especially after the catastrophe with Kyuubi? At the very least, it had its advantages. So many merchants slash saboteurs meant they were the richest village and didn't fully depend on the Fire Daimyo. But this was just yet another layer of dependence on the Daimyo in itself. Konoha Clans knew their wealth came to existence thanks to the Daimyo and his support of their businesses. Merchants prefered to do business with them, gave them discounts, and much more. There was really not much the Hokage could do when even the clan heads were supremely reluctant to deal with the civilian council simply because of who stood behind them.

And then... the civilian council couldn't do too much damage to the village either. Firstly, most of their wealth kind of depended on the existence of ninjas, and secondly the Daimyo wanted the village to exist as some kind of a buffer. Since these ninja villages sprang up, there was no war between the major countries of the elemental nations. The wars were fought by the ninjas while the Daimyos and nobles watched from the front rows as if it was some kind of sport, occasionally sending in a few samurai squads to deal with some breaches if enemy ninjas actually manage to enter the country.

The system worked like clockwork in every major village. While the ninja villages had brute power, the Daimyos and the nobles were political and economic powerhouses who simply used the system that had been set up for centuries to hinder them and keep them exactly where they wanted... which was horribly missing in the Land of Snow, causing the Yukigakure to grow a bit too big pair... of horns.

According to Tsunade, the sole exception to this rule was Konoha when it was ruled by the Senju. And it had a good reason why the Fire Daimyo started harassing it only around ten years after Sarutobi became the Third Hokage... and the Senju clan was on the brink of extinction.

Rei glanced into the opposite corner of the room where the young Kakashi was hidden, completely oblivious to Rei's presence in the room. Seals sewn into the clothing were simply that broken.

'It is kind of ironic, isn't it? The masters of espionage, infiltration, and assassination are being spied upon by lowly merchants. All that is needed is a list of their expenses and some rumours for the Daimyo or the nobles to know what is currently going on in the village. The saddest part,' The corner of Rei's lips twitched, 'most jonin have no idea it is going on. After all, there was a perfect reason why Sarutobi was so thrilled,' Rei rolled his eyes, 'when the younger monkey wanted to become one of the Fire Daimyo guards. I mean other than the fact it was a bit humiliating for his son to be one. Lazing around on the ceiling while making sure that probably the safest man in the whole country is safe... Prestigious position my ass.'

The door finally opened and inside walked a small man with shaggy brown hair and a self-important expression, clad in what looked like armor. Rei blinked before a proverbial lightbulb went on in his head. 'So that is the earlier stage of the chakra armor? The only selling point of Yukigakure? Looks a bit bulky and useless, to be honest.'

"Suzufumi, welcome." Sosetsu smiled and gestured towards the empty chair opposite him.

Mikado Suzufumi, the Yukikage, just walked towards it, not even bothering to greet Sosetsu. Behind him, on his right side was Doto and on his left side was Nadare Roga. Both gave at least a slight bow to Sosetsu before sitting down next to Mikado. After all, it was common courtesy. Even if Doto planned to kill his brother, he would at least bow in greeting before he got to the bloody work. The man was still his brother...

'Ouch, judging by the way Doto and Nadare are looking at the uncultured prick of a Yukikage, the guy is not supposed to last long in his position.' Rei noted with amusement. 'Well, not that it matters now that I am here.'

Mikado grunted and his gaze landed directly on Kakashi, causing his lips to briefly twitch before he narrowed his eyes at Sosetsu.

"Let's get straight to the point, Sosetsu. I want independence."