Kumogakure..
The First Raikage sat in the chief seat.
Around him clustered a group of dark-skinned heavyweights, their bodies stacked with "dead muscle," each with an exaggerated build that spoke of terrifying strength. By comparison, the First Raikage's frame actually seemed very small.
But no one dared speak first.
Because the First Raikage said nothing, his aura gloomy like a low-pressure center. Seeing his dark expression, the big men unconsciously held their breath, fear and respect on their faces.
Kumogakure isn't like Konoha; the people here are fierce and love to brawl. To fight for the Raikage's throne, every man present had been beaten soundly by the First Raikage now sitting at the head.
The atmosphere in the conference room was stifling.
"Bastards!"
"Do they really think Kumogakure is made of mud?"
The First Raikage was furious, lightning crackling over him. With his anger, his momentum climbed step by step, and the figure that had seemed withered and small among the strong men suddenly swelled.
Rip!
Cloth tore.
"There it is…"
"Too strong!!"
Even though they'd seen the First Raikage in this state more than once, the burly men still looked horrified.
Traditional Kumogakure shinobi constantly temper their bodies, training muscle—muscle mass grows by the day; body and strength grow without cease.
But the First Raikage had been cultivating the Yotsuki clan's secret art. He too trained and tempered his body, yet his frame showed no obvious change. All power and muscle were endlessly compressed and packed within a limit, only blossoming into his true form in battle.
This secret art is extremely difficult. To date only two people have mastered it: its creator in the Yotsuki clan, and the First Raikage.
Everyone else's "purity" is too low to meet the requirements.
Now the First Raikage stood nearly two and a half meters tall, like a small giant, his muscles carved as if by nature's magic.
More astonishing still—
If someone stood behind him now, they would see two deep muscle trenches forming the sockets of eyes—the infraspinatus and teres major knotted and pressed together, forging two arched cliffs beneath the scapula. At the center, the teres minor bulged like a blood-swollen eyeball, its fibers twisted into an iris-like spiral, pulsing a bloodthirsty dark red with each breath.
It was the visage of a demon crawling from the abyss, a bronze ghost mask sewn alive into flesh.
"Demon Back!!"
That's what the surrounding strong men called it.
"Ah… Konoha, Akatsuki Village…"
"One plays bad cop, the other good cop—they're birds of a feather!"
Red light flared in the First Raikage's eyes as he tore two statements in his hands to shreds.
The compensation terms from Akatsuki Village were outright surrender: not only must Kumogakure pay over a hundred million ryō, they wanted Kumogakure's shinobi sent to Akatsuki to be judged and executed, and even demanded he himself go to Akatsuki to repent and confess.
How could that be possible!
Of those three conditions, he would not accept a single one!
And Konoha's words were just pretty talk: "Adopt the proper attitude, exercise restraint, do not escalate the incident, and propose reasonable terms for negotiation."
Konoha and Akatsuki Village are allies—more than that, unusually close allies. Uchiha Makoto is of Konoha's founding Uchiha clan!
How could Konoha not have known in advance about Akatsuki's compensation terms?
They're birds of a feather!!
The First Raikage had seen through it completely.
Akatsuki and Konoha were playing bad cop and good cop. They had no intention of handling this properly; they wanted to use the chance to blackmail Kumogakure!
"Lord Raikage, what should we do now?" asked the fair-skinned Kinkaku.
"What to do?"
"Issue a statement at once: Kumogakure will never accept such unreasonable terms! And two of our chūnin are dead as well—don't Konoha and Akatsuki owe compensation?"
"Copy Akatsuki's format word for word. Tell that so-called Light-and-Shadow to come to Kumogakure to repent and pay up!"
"And don't bring Konoha into it."
The First Raikage's temper was truly violent.
But he hadn't lost his reason.
Target Akatsuki? Yes. But unless absolutely necessary, don't involve Konoha.
Kumogakure isn't yet strong enough to fight both Konoha and Akatsuki at once. If Konoha wants to play the good guy, let them.
Kumogakure will focus its fire on Akatsuki.
Compared to Konoha, Akatsuki is easier to handle. In Konoha, Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama are long-famous powers of the shinobi world, while Uchiha Makoto—though a thunderous name inside Akatsuki—was still a nobody in the wider shinobi world, a stray mutt with no notable feats.
You pick the soft persimmon to squeeze.
Though he felt some disdain for such behavior—he would of course prefer to drag Konoha in as well—lacking the strength, he had to avoid the edge.
For Kumogakure.
This was the necessary sacrifice of a Raikage.
"And if Konoha and Akatsuki press the issue?" asked the darker-skinned Ginkaku.
"It's extortion. As long as we take equal countermeasures, Akatsuki will back off!"
"Hmph. Would they really start a war with Kumogakure over a few chūnin? At worst we fight them to mutual destruction. If soldiers come, we block them; if water comes, we dam it!"
The First Raikage cared nothing for Konoha and Akatsuki's pursuit.
It was bluster!
Konoha only wanted Akatsuki to act as a vanguard to exert maximum pressure and extort us. If Kumogakure's stance is weak, Konoha and Akatsuki will push their luck; if our stance is firm and we counter equally,
Akatsuki will be at a loss. This is essentially the kind of routine mission dispute common in the Warring States era; it will not rise to war… because it's not worth the cost.
As the manipulator behind the scenes, Konoha will also retreat in the face of difficulties and order Akatsuki to change its tune; then the matter will have a chance to be settled properly.
"Lord Raikage is wise!!" Xn
The First Raikage broke the essence of the matter into pieces and explained it to the burly men present. They listened, enthralled, suddenly enlightened.
Worthy of the Raikage!
Not only are his muscles better trained than theirs—his political skill is extraordinary.
Kumogakure's future looks bright!
......
Akatsuki Village.
"Why does everyone think I'm bluffing! Do they really believe Akatsuki Village doesn't dare go to war?"
Uchiha Makoto looked at Kumogakure's statement and grinned. He had already begun the final checks on wartime supplies.
The ninja clans who survived the Warring States era of high-intensity combat had ample experience. Each basically had a fixed template; with a bit of tweaking it could serve as a village's war plan.
But on that basis,
Uchiha Makoto added a lot. Clan money is earned bit by bit with hard work; in the spirit of saving wherever possible, they mostly prize simplicity, avoiding unnecessary expenses and putting funds on the blade's edge.
Makoto ignored all that.
Add money!
Max it out!
He had spent so much building a wartime supply chain system; it wasn't for nothing. Anything shinobi could use, he prepared to the fullest.
That's how the budget should be spent.
Especially at such a critical time.
This was the first war Uchiha Makoto had forced through against opposition; it had to be a resounding victory—his battle to establish prestige!
If they lost, or if clan casualties were too heavy, then even with Uchiha Madara as a backstop, Makoto would most likely have to abdicate and apologize.
After issuing all the orders for the day, Makoto checked the time.
The two visitors should be arriving about now.
Uzumaki Shinji and Uchiha Setsuna—one the head of the Uzumaki clan, the other Konoha's envoy. Whether prearranged or a coincidence, both had set today afternoon to meet him.
They arrived at the Light-and-Shadow Building almost back-to-back, less than ten minutes apart, so Makoto hosted them together.
"You two came a long way; forgive me for not greeting you farther out!"
"Makoto, long time no see." X2
Though Makoto had already guessed their purpose—both were lobbyists urging him to back down, contrary to his aims—
he still greeted them warmly.
After all, Uchiha Setsuna was of his own clan. Makoto had once fought in the same trench with him, cutting down Senju together—comrades who had swung blades side by side… According to the storyline, Setsuna would later deliver righteous judgment to Tobirama Senju and set Konoha back on course.
They would have many chances to cooperate!
As for Uzumaki Shinji,
no need to say more—they shared 3.86 billion ryō in ties.
Makoto poured each of them a cup of hot tea. This time there were no extra pleasantries; both went straight to the point.
"Makoto, regarding Akatsuki Village's compensation terms for Kumogakure—the Hokage believes they're far too harsh. For the balance of the shinobi world, for peace, the Hokage hopes you'll make concessions and resolve this as peacefully as possible."
"Right, Makoto, you were too reckless on this. Those compensation terms, even I… As for Kumogakure's strength, I've heard of it—that's a great village dominating the Land of Lightning. Making them an enemy brings no benefit…"
Uchiha Setsuna stated their purpose; Uzumaki Shinji chimed in.
"I understand everything you're saying, but… I did it on purpose. If we don't fight this war today, we'll fight it later. Since we'll fight sooner or later, better to fight early. Besides, Akatsuki Village, Konoha, and Uzumaki are allies—three villages against one. The advantage is ours!!"
Makoto spoke from the heart, laying out his view of the shinobi world's future: sooner or later the villages would clash over mission friction and spark wars. Better to strike while their side was strong, to destroy or weaken any village that dared offend them.
Uchiha Setsuna fell silent.
He had attended the emergency meeting that day; Makoto's view was exactly the same as Lord Madara's—only Madara's method was more extreme: directly eliminate the other villages and unify the shinobi world!
Uzumaki Shinji wore a pensive look. He had to admit Makoto was right, but the cost of starting a war was truly high. Even with Akatsuki Village giving the Uzumaki a big boost, they had to think twice; war burns not only money but shinobi lives.
If Akatsuki wanted to start a war, and if Konoha could keep up, the Uzumaki would go all in. But Konoha's stance…
"Although Tobirama Senju issued a gag order, you're not an outsider… uh…"
Uchiha Setsuna instinctively glanced at Uzumaki Shinji beside him. After the meeting, Tobirama had not only ordered mouths shut, he'd forbidden the clan representatives to leak the day's content—especially Uchiha Madara's "bold words." But Makoto was Uchiha; it was fine to tell him.
Makoto noticed and added, "Uzumaki Shinji isn't an outsider either. Say whatever you need to say."
"Then I'll be blunt: Lord Madara thinks exactly like you. But the Hokage disagreed. The two of them had a big quarrel in the meeting. In Konoha, Uchiha's voice still doesn't outweigh Senju's. So if you insist on going to war with Kumogakure, Konoha likely won't send troops… If Akatsuki faces Kumogakure alone, not only is the outcome uncertain—you'll likely suffer heavy losses!"
Setsuna spoke the hard truth. In Konoha, the Senju still decide. Though the Uchiha are a founding clan, they don't hold final say.
Hashirama Senju had already made his stance clear that day: Konoha would never start a war over this. At most, if Akatsuki couldn't hold, they'd pull Makoto out—but Akatsuki's end would not be ideal.
Makoto only smiled; he had long anticipated this outcome. Then he looked to Uzumaki Shinji, who felt extremely torn.
If the big boss Konoha wouldn't follow… should the Uzumaki follow…
Fortunately,
Makoto withdrew his gaze after a few seconds; he didn't force Shinji to decide on the spot.
"Relax. I know what I'm doing. Akatsuki Village will win!"
"Makoto, you really won't reconsider?"
"This concerns Akatsuki's future!"
Uchiha Setsuna and Uzumaki Shinji were still urging him, not wanting Makoto to do something foolish in a rush of blood.
"Looks like you still misunderstand Akatsuki Village's strength."
"Do you know what 'cash power' is?"
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