All Rise for the New Raikage! [Event]

[Morishige]

The letter had been delivered to the Shima estate. It was far too ordinary a piece of paper for the magnitude of what they were about to do. There was a date and time for her to arrive, and said date and time were posted around the village for eager citizens to come and see who had finally won the election. Anticipation was mounting...

She entered the room, met by the councilors who were talking amongst themselves. One of them spoke up with a blatantly obvious false face. "Congratulations Shima-sama. It seems the people have sided with you. We all wish you luck... Raikage."

"It is an honor." she said bowing respectfully to the councilors.

Shortly after, an attendant walked forward after the tension subsided. People who had returned to their conversations seemed peeved. With a shy cough, she spoke.

"It's time."

The bells tolled across the city. Her supporters were in the crowd cheering. Shima Haruka stood on the balcony of the Torre with the village council not far behind her. All of them were displaying wide smiles, though some probably were forced for the occasion and appearance purposes.

"Citizens of Kumogakure! We present to you your new Raikage, Lady Haruka of the Shima!"

(Haruka will now give her speech)
​

 

[Sanageyama Masaoko]

The roar of the crowd was as a thunderous wall crashing upon Haruka as she stepped towards the ledge of the balcony. With trite expressions at her back, and smiling faces facing her- she focused on what was most important. She took in the scenery of the people gathered as they cheered. She inhaled deeply, holding onto her breath until a hush fell over the crowd. In a quick expel, Haruka straightened her posture. Faces in the crowd looked about, wondering why she fell silent in such a glorious time. But as her voice reverberated across the expanse over a sound system and over the radio system reaching beyond their walls, all were captivated.

“I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. That’s not my business. I should like to help everyone- if possible. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness- not by each other’s misery.” Her voice was contemplative and soft as she closed her eyes. “We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.” She opened her eyes once again, heavy sorrow held in the deep gleam of brown. A sense of grim consequence hung on her tongue.

“Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Jutsu that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than power we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost....” She thought of Shin and hoped perhaps there could be a balance. A balance between his ideals and the ideals of his predecessors. She hoped to be the gateway between the two beliefs. Passive love would not win the world. Sometimes action was needed.

“Even now my voice is reaching thousands throughout the country - thousands of despairing men, women, and little children- lost in grief over the death of those they loved. Victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. Lands desolated by those who lost sight of their humanity and what they originally fought for.” She thought of Roenesia and the injustice to the natives of the island. All because of the selfishness of capitalist. The many villages in the mountainside overrun with sickness. Their cries for help denied as those above turned a blind eye to their suffering. The terrorist groups that struck fear in the people of Raiden no Mei still lingered. She went silent once more, allowing each and every person to think on their grief before her voice boomed with new found power.

“To those who can hear me, I say- do not despair! The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed- the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. Men like the Kingslayers. Men like Sarunishi and Isaki Hoshikata! The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish!” Her gusto continued as her voice grew with excitement.

“Soldiers, Never give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts!” Her gestures were large giving her the full length of the stage even though she was one small woman upon a great balcony. “You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural!” She placed her hand over her heart, pleading her people to heed her words.

“Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In you- you, the people have the power - the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security.” These things were taken for granted in an ordinary world, but these were not luxuries afforded to the people of Kumogakure. “By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people!”

“Now let us fight to fulfill that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where progress will lead to all men’s happiness. A world our fallen Raikage would be proud of!” Instill hope. She wanted her people to look forward to the future. To work alongside each other for a better world. At once she raised her fist in the air, shouting,

“Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!”

The crowd erupted once again as Haruka stood frozen. Her chest heaved heavily, catching her breath from the excitement. Her heart raced. The blare of the people nearly deafened her. The sound of her people. The sound of her home.

[TLUS]​

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

The crowd surrounding the Torre Celeste was massive, one could easily get lost within it. All were in attendance to greet their new Raikage, whoever it might be. This was an event that had taken place before, but this time there was a new twist. Most likely every person in that crowd had been given a chance to vote to make their voice heard in the election of the new Raikage. For the first time democracy, the people, had chosen their new leader. Who would it be? So many were in attendance to find out, including Ayumu. He stood in the midst of the crowd with his arms crossed as he stared at the balcony along with everyone else, watching to see who it was that stepped out to greet them. At last, two women stepped out onto the balcony. One of them was hanging back, but it wasn't difficult to guess who it was. After all, only one woman was in the running that didn't have strikingly red hair. The first to walk out stepped forward to the microphone to announce and confirm Ayumu's suspicions. The next to take to the center of the balcony was the next Raikage, Shima Haruka. The crowd erupted, supporters of Haruka overwhelming the sparse boos throughout the crowd with a tremendous cheer. Ayumu was silent for a moment as he took in the news but then joined in with polite applause.

Truth be told, his first choice was Akira Saito. As the most veteran of those running he seemed the obvious choice to Ayumu. Saito had led before on multiple occasions and proven himself capable. His combat abilities were tried and true. But perhaps that was not what Kumogakure was looking for. The election itself was a sign of new things coming in the village. Perhaps the villagers wanted to try something new with Shima Haruka, as well. Technically, as they were allowed to vote for two candidates, Ayumu had his own part to play in electing her. There was no first choice or second choice on the ballet, his vote for her counted for as much as his vote for Saito. He wondered why he had chosen her as his second vote. Saito and Kitsune were both from another age, even if Kitsune was still clinging on to her youthful appearance through science. Between those two, the obvious choice for Ayumu was Saito... but for a second pick he had chosen Haruka. Maybe some part of him wanted to see something new in the upper echelons as well.

Without much further ado, Haruka began her acceptance speech. After having spoken to her on multiple occasions now and becoming accustomed to her less than enthusiastic way of speaking, the speech came as another surprise to Ayumu. It was masterfully written, although he didn't know if that was attributed to her or someone else, but it was also delivered with passion. If he hadn't been careful, Ayumu might actually have believed it. He might have believed it anyway. Just a little. From the previous times they had spoken, she never gave the air of someone who was doing things purely to grab power. If she was to be believed, she held many of the same ideals as Shin but perhaps with the gumption to do what it took to accomplish her goals. Time would tell. If nothing else, she could sure make a speech. With one final outreach to the shinobi soldiers, she concluded her speech. The crowd erupted once more. Even some of those who had been silent before joined in this time. Ayumu simply smiled and gave his applause. 'Good luck, former Spymaster,' he thought.

The thought brought another thought to mind. Haruka was in the process of being made Sennin of the Main Branch. Now she was the Raikage. This was part of the reason why he had hoped for Saito to win. Without Haruka to take on the reigns of Main Branch Sennin, it was questionable as to who the position would fall to. Perhaps it would remain vacant for some time, but it would eventually need to be filled. Something similar happened with Santaru Rin had died. There was no clear successor to take her place. She had named Tagiushi Moro, a fresh ANBU Captain, to take her spot but that hadn't lasted long. The branch suffered some for that. Hopefully the same wouldn't happen to the Main Branch. Perhaps there was an up and coming Jounin he wasn't aware of. He hoped so. Haruka seemed the type to have already planned for what to do if she won. With the speech over, it was time for Ayumu to return to his duties. He took one last look at the new Raikage and then turned to fight the crowds trying to leave.

[TLUS]

 

[Junan]

Akira was amongst those who stood in the Raikage tower during the ceremony. He'd been requested to take part in the announcement from there, after all he was still the ANBU Sennin, and as part of the election it would seem strange to have him amongst the crowd. Basically giving away the announcement.

So he waited in the main room with the councillors, watching and listening to the new Raikage.

There was a good cheer that could be heard from where he stood as she stepped out. He knew that the speech was being broadcast out across radio to some of the main centres in Lightning Country. Though he was also very aware as to how few people would be paying attention, the change of Raikage affected the tiny minority, and only they would pay it any attention. The common worker would continue their day working, the middle class would continue their day, even most of the upper class would be relaxing and doing whatever they would do. However there were occasional shinobi out there who would pay it mind, as well as the political leaders of Lightning. They would want to know what the new Raikage was about.

She spoke about peace, about beauty and freedom and then suggested that they had lost their way. Akira's fist gripped tightly and he hoped none saw. She was speaking negatively of Shin's reign, the man who loved peace above everything else, the man who would and did forgive everyone, even those who didn't deserve it. Her words and her criticism were contradictory in Akira's mind, and the main dislike was the thought of 'how dare she speak negatively of a previous Raikage's reign'. Even if she did disagree with it she should honour their memory, or how else would she expect her memory to be honoured?

She spoke of those she was reaching, and holding himself back from making a scoffing sound he reminded himself that this was a young woman, one who didn't know that in reality her position mattered little to the 'thousands of despairing men, women, and little children'. Their lives would be mostly unaffected by her reign... unless she planned to somehow take over the position of Shogun. Those thousands likely didn't even have the technology to even listen to what she was saying let alone the desire to do so. Reality, it seemed, had not yet touched the new Raikage.

He also couldn't help but get a feeling of sexism in her speech. 'As long as men die, liberty will never perish". She singled out men constantly through her speech. He could almost guarantee that the next main branch sennin would be female based on this, he also wondered how long it would be until his position would be breached.

This was not a very good speech, he wondered what council were thinking allowing her to speak without consult. This was clearly her own words and many of the messages she was giving off had some undertones which would be picked up by many. He hoped this was not how she truly felt and was simply an error by someone not used to speaking in front of large crowds and without guidance on the types of words she should not be using.

After asking for peace she ended with requesting for people to fight...

This was what Cloud voted for. An untried and untested leader. There was another cheer at her last words, though he wondered how much of it was because the people knew that that's what she wanted and that without doing so her shouting would make their new leader look like a fool.

Akira turned, his cloak drifting out behind him as he walked away.

[TLUS]