There would be murmuring as the representatives from the Toraono Clan would make their way to the middle of the room. Along the way, they would hand a packet of papers to each faction.
"Kazekage Raizo, esteemed members of the village, we are pleased to announce that there were 36 applications filed, 34 of which are valid, 2 of which are invalid. Those that were invalid were so for the following reasons; one is of an outsider, a foreign under an alias. The second, a mere prank, one which would not please the Kazekage."
This would cause more chattering and murmuring from the gathered parties. But it would subside as the Kazekage would call forth from them to discuss any of the candidates.
"The Branch Leaders would like to advocate for the participation of all candidates who entered from the Main Branch, ANBU Branch, and Medical Branch. Those who applied and fall outside of the borders of the village, while we hold no ill will towards them, would rather see them enter into the village proper and potentially try again in the future." Tomoe of the Main Branch, a woman clad in armor with red hair, would say.
"We want to reward our members for their efforts and accolades already earned within this village, prioritizing that." the purple-eyed Kaori would say, Chief of the Medical Branch.
"The assumption is members of ANBU have entered this contest, I cannot speak on that. I stand with my fellow Branch Leaders in their reasoning for support." the masked Tenken would say from behind his metallic mask, the current head of the ANBU.
"We, all Branch Leaders, would like to highlight two in particular; Shinku Kaen and Sunaku Harupia. Harupia holds the distinction of being one of the more experienced applicants and Kaen's prowess on the battlefield, especially the incident at the gate on the night in which the Swarm attacked our village, makes him an outstanding candidate. Additionally, for their tenure of service, we also would like to highlight the following...[names would be said that would appear later, right now, even if you knew their name what would you do with that information, reader?]
"The Orders support all members of our Orders who are in the candidate pool, which would indeed include individuals who fall outside of the support of the Branch Leaders. We do not mean to cause any discourse, merely show solidarity with our members in this event. While some have not officially joined the village, it does not mean they are incapable of helping the village." Katsumi of the Rangers would be the one to speak on behalf of the other two Orders, as Oiwa remained stoic and silent behind her mask while Satoshi looked like he was about to fall asleep.
"We, however, have an issue with the Main Branch supporting the following; Moriko, [name currently no important], Roku, Suzaku, Kanmuri, [name also not currently important, and Sora. These names are of those listed as Genin rank and one who...guessed... their rank. We have trouble believing that young and inexperienced individuals like this should be measured with much more experience counterparts. We recommend that they are merely considered for promotion within their Branch and not for Sennin position." Katsumi would finish saying as the Orders would yield the floor.
"We politely disagree; from your list Sora has contributed, along with Uziuke, who while not mentioned deserves to be spoken of for the same accolade, to high regard to some technological breakthroughs for this village. Sora was part of a mission that retrieved valuable information from Terminus. Moriko was part of a mission along with the Kazekage that retrieved a strange, but informative sample from the desert and the Kazekage had written very highly of them and their peers in the mission briefing." Tomoe would interject.
"My... Mother... Suna... you people are a bore." These words would escape behind the frustrated face of the bespectacled Chairman of the Commerce Directors, Akihiko.
"Bring in all the little fighters and worker bees, sure, sure... but this event needs to be a spectacle. The Kazekage stated himself that this event was to showcase what this village had to offer. Sousuke and previous Kage's shied away from something the Daimyo did well, even in light of him being our antagonizer; packaging and selling superheros. This village is a company and your number one product are your little shinobi... but if they are all just boring dependable tools, who cares? Bunch of nameless weapons that carry an everyman, or woman, charm... bore-ing!"
He would then raise up some additional sheets of paper that seemed to not come from his packet.
"No matter who you ultimately pick, Kazekage Raizo, the priority of this even should be to showcase and excite... these two names that were removed, we say let them play. Miroku Akkuma and the foreigner Silent, we could easily build up drama and promotion around both. Whether they ultimately win or lose, who cares--"
The Toraono Clanswomen would tense up as they all turned their attention to Akihiko.
"How did you come upon those applications?!"
"Money, honey. And selling the compelling storyline of "monster invades the games" or "foreign shinobi from the mountains comes to subjugate Suna under another nation's rule"... I mean these are things to really work the crowd up into a frenzy. We get the opportunity to, in an event that there shouldn't necessarily be any, create 'villains'. People love to hate on a villain. The young ones, we can sell on their promise or their low chances, betting markets could have a little fun with that angle. And there is the elephant in the event; the Sunahoshi child. We must... and I cannot stress this enough... MUST, program a storyline around him. Maybe manufacture some sort of tension or feud betweeen him and that Akkuma guy, a clash of the good of Suna vs the evil scourge lurking in the darkness... the village's young hope vs the dark shadow of parasitic demon we can't seem to shake!"
He would pause for a moment and take a deep breath.
"Ultimately, the Commerce Directors support storylines first and foremost, and then secondly we support those who we can market as the "Heroes of Suna". This new round of Sennin needs name recognition that will extend outside of these village walls, figures people in Soons Haven can talk about as tall tales, gods among the magical fighting monkies this village churns out. The old Sennin, no offense, outside of Toraono Kuro just did not have any charisma or marketability. Sazuki had promise, but that Roku guy... angry loner, bleh. Moving past that, we had ex-kages, future-kages, an Ancient Lord... those things that you could build a story around, a franchise around. We need to fill the void the previous Daimyo and his Sovereign have left with our Kazekage and his Sennin. So, don't dismiss anyone. Let them all compete, let the storylines build themselves, and then watch the crowd get worked into a rabid state... then we sell those storylines out into the rest of Wind Country, we make our games, our participants, and the future finalist our superheroes of this country!"
There would be murmuring and chattering, and a palpable tension would now settle within the room as eyes, whether directly or covertly, would be glaring at the now smug-looking Akihiko and his fellow Commerce Directors.
"Lady Yukina, you should encourage Lord Raizo to be cautious in both disregarding the words of the Commerce Directors and also willfully letting them set the tone on this matter. If the Akkuma entry is true, and not some prank, why would he allow him to participate? Why would he okay the outsider from another village to participate? These two things alone will make a mockery of the games."
This opinion would be offered by the long-time Kage Tower director, Itsuke.
Much to think about, what would the Kazekage have to say...
[ooc]: this was both meant to be more spread out in several posts and also have happened sooner... so apologies, as we burn through this at a much more, expedited pace to get to the next part so you all can start playing!
