Konoha has its own Will of Fire.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, for instance, kept saying, "Where the leaves dance, the fire burns ever on."
Iwagakure has its Will of Stone.
Even Kusagakure has its Will of Grass.
These various "wills" left indelible contributions during each village leader's tenure. Akatsuki Village must likewise have its own Will of Light.
"Lord Makoto, do you mean the ninja-as-tools doctrine?"
Kazuma spoke after a brief thought.
The Will of Light was still in its infancy, and Kazuma didn't know what political creed Uchiha Makoto wanted, so he voiced the shinobi world's mainstream idea.
The ninja-as-tools doctrine.
Uchiha Makoto fell silent.
The accursed doctrine had appeared.
It could be called the root of countless evils and tragedies, yet it wasn't without effect. In the brutally competitive Warring States era, shinobi shaped by it would carry out their missions to the utmost,
even at the cost of their lives.
That death-defying spirit underwrote every clan's reputation and kept quality contracts coming. Clients look at completion rates; fail repeatedly and they'll hire a more reliable clan. Without commissions, there is no revenue. A harsh reality.
Even now, in the village era, the doctrine would remain mainstream for a long time.
Only decades later—by the middle and late years of Sarutobi Hiruzen's rule—would that begin to change.
Though Hiruzen could be infuriatingly timid at times, compromising for peace, he did usher in a relatively peaceful period—especially in the era of Konoha's Twelve, whose childhoods were largely insulated from war and materially sufficient.
According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs,
once basic needs are met, people seek higher ones; the notion of abandoning a mission for comrades began to surface. But for now, that is unquestionably heresy.
So despite the doctrine's many flaws, Uchiha Makoto wouldn't swim against the tide, and hacking at ideology carelessly is dangerous.
Of course,
the Will of Light would not be merely that. Take its essence, discard its dross, add a few elements, tweak it, and fuse in what he wanted.
"Then what do you mean?"
Kazuma nodded, took out paper and pen, and prepared to record his conversation with the Light Shadow.
"Loyalty."
"I need loyalty."
With so many clans in the village, if his orders ever clashed with a clan head's, their shinobi would most likely obey the head rather than the Light Shadow.
That had to change.
For long ages past,
the main force in war had been the samurai. Only with the rise of shinobi did that change, and shinobi differed drastically from samurai.
The greatest difference lay in combat power,
and another glaring one: samurai had a lord—an object of allegiance.
Shinobi did not.
They took jobs as clans, with no single sovereign to serve.
Now the Warring States were over and the village era had dawned. Clans must, like samurai of old, rally around a single object of loyalty—clearly, the village.
The village is where they live, their home, so they can accept this; it doesn't conflict with protecting their families.
But that alone
would not satisfy Uchiha Makoto.
He thought of a man who loved to blare his own background music while galloping on a white horse; he could borrow from that man's governing philosophy. Of course, rule out the Tang Monk as the wrong option.
Light Shadow, Will of Light—did that not make him the sun incarnate.
The fit was perfect.
With the First Shinobi World War only a few years away, his hybrid Will of Light would help unify thought during wartime. The first war would be the fiercest; first- and second-generation leaders were still just warming up in this founding period.
For now the villages would recuperate and store strength.
Once war erupted,
the early carnage would be like a meat grinder, and by the later stages many small clans might be fought to extinction.
"I don't want casualty numbers. I only want…"
Uchiha Makoto wanted the clans to carry out such orders unwaveringly instead of fleeing Akatsuki Village.
Beyond that,
the doctrine would also aid his next plans.
Akatsuki's expenditures flowed like water. Even with deep coffers, eat the mountain and even gold and silver will run out. New revenue streams were essential.
The previous tulip scam couldn't be used year after year. Even leeks need time to grow fat, and that approach was crooked besides.
He was the Light Shadow of Akatsuki.
He couldn't rely on crooked tricks forever. He had to earn money in the open.
To make money,
ordinary villages skim a cut from missions. That little money is a drop in the bucket, useless to him.
Especially once the First Shinobi World War began, shinobi would be sent to the front; there would be no chance to take paid missions, and sending them to fight would itself cost money.
War funding is a terrifying bottomless pit.
So he had to do business.
He was the head of a village, a warlord. How could a warlord fail to profit from commerce.
Impossible.
Best to deal in monopolies.
Bit by bit, build trusts across industries nationwide, skimming monopoly profits in the Land of Fire and beyond until a dual cycle formed: companies up front carrying out economic extraction, the village in back providing armed support.
"I understand."
As Uchiha Makoto elaborated on the steps and advanced ideas, Kazuma couldn't help but marvel, and wrote down every word.
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