Naruto- Secret Sage

Not so much because his voice was unpleasant in sound or anything like that but because I could tell from his tone and body language that he was pathetically weak. It took me all of about five seconds to realize why I seemed to dislike the man like this. See as far as I knew factually speaking the Daimyo of any particular country was supposedly the highest power in that country. Unfortunate the definition of power I was expecting and the one I got in this first meeting were VERY different.-

Politically speaking the man was a juggernaut that could break or raise an entire country by his words, will and resources alone. So yes in a way he was indeed quite powerful but in terms of combat he was worth less than the weakest genin in the world. My mind had hyped up the man to some powerful warrior king and when reality proved me different I had developed a distaste for him immediately.-

'I may be taking after beasts a little too much it seems.' I thought annoyed.

I was so used to the food chain being topped by the actually powerful creatures that a fake like this disagreed with my way of life heavily.

"I'm flattered you'd say so sir but I really must insist that it was my sensei's teachings that are to be praised instead." I said downplaying my own talents in the process.

"Is that so? Perhaps I'll need to ask her when next she visits. I would normally ask you to work as a guard under me but if you are anything like your sensei you'll just reject me." the man said with a chuckle.

"I suppose you aren't far off since I do rather enjoy my freedom, truly I do just hate when i am forced to do things." I said with a pointed look at the Hokage.

The old bastard just chortled to himself like it amused him to see me frustrated.

"Enough idle chatter though, lets talk about how to earn the most money from these exams." the Daimyo said with a sharp focused look that caught me off guard.

"In what regard?" I asked suddenly VERY interested to see how this played out.

"Ha! You really are Tsunade-chans disciple! I'm talking about the betting pools of course, you were a classmate of a good few participants so you'll know things that the bookies won't." the man said with a wide smile.

"Ah! You want to know who's got the best chance of winning from the Konoha teams! Well first off these ones here can be dropped immediately." I started passionately breaking down each of the participants I could since when gambling is concerned I may have sort of picked up a little of my sensei's enthusiasm.

You should have seen the look on the Hokages face as I systematically went over the strengths and weaknesses of my former classmates while harshly criticizing their flaws. The man looked on with a helpless look as the daimyo and I schemed and consorted about how to make the most money from my generous classmates. I'm talking individual match up odds, overall victory chances, placements and even who had the most impressive techniques. Naruto won out on that last one by the way as his porcupine technique was nightmarish to deal with and quite visually stunning too. Obviously it wasn't the most practical of things but in terms of usefulness and power I couldn't think of much at the chunin level that got remotely close to it.-

Well perhaps an dojutsu or kekkai genkai but those didn't exactly grow on trees so my point still stood. The daimyo and I ended up spending most of the first day creating a whole chart of various statistics to hedge our bets the best. He then called it a day as he was tired and I was left alone with the Hokage and his guards.

"I'm glad to see you seem to get along with the Daimyo quite well. If you'd humor this old man what are your thoughts on him?" he asked curiously.

I looked him right in the eyes "Do you want my honest answer or the one that is political in nature?" I asked dead serious.

His eyebrows rose in surprise "Now that doesn't sound very good at all, surely he isn't so bad that you'd dislike him to such a degree?" he asked but I shook my head.

"If he wasn't the Daimyo you'd be correct." I said honestly.

"You'll forgive me if I can't understand what you mean, why would his being the Daimyo change your thoughts of him as a person?" the old man asked seriously.

"Once again, do you want the truth or the politically correct answer?" I asked seriously.

"i want the truth." he said sternly.

"He's weak, hopelessly so in fact. Even worse is that he acts as though this isn't the case, like any random genin wouldn't slaughter him in a fight. I don't like it , it feels wrong to me that someone so powerless is in charge of Konoha and the land of fire. I'd never act on these thoughts but that's the way I see it since you wanted to know." I said bluntly honest.

The old man looked disappointed in me "Power isn't everything Kenzo." he said sternly.

"I know that very well but don't try and lie to me and say that it isn't necessary either. You need power to lead others, to grasp your fate with both hands. You need power to have peace. Humans are violent and cruel beings just as much as we are kind and gentle. Without power you are helpless in the face of the darker side of humanity. Someone without power and the will to use that power should not ever take up a crown for themselves." I said firmly.

"He is a good man who has done the land of fire good in the years he has sat on that throne. Will you deny this reality?" the old man said challengingly.

"A good man you say? Done the land of fire good you say? History seems to disagree with you quite heavily. Every record i read about recent history all says the same thing about him, he's a conformist. He agrees with whoever has the most convincing argument, who has the most benefit to give him. He's made no reformations, no noticeable improvements from his own fathers time ruling. He sits on his throne and lets the land of fire rule itself while he gets the credit. He's merely a figurehead with more political power than he has the will to utilize to it's fullest." I said seriously.