The First Raikage was caught completely off guard by Akatsuki Village.
The moment he learned that the first and second defensive lines had been destroyed overnight, he convened an emergency council and declared war on Akatsuki.
"War!"
"Make the Akatsuki pay in blood!"
The clans of Kumogakure roared. Those thousand-odd dead ninja were all kin—every one of them tied by blood to someone present.
How could this be let go?
Blood for blood.
Within just two days,
thousands of Kumogakure elite had massed at the third defensive line.
The First Raikage took personal command at the front. Cloud's ninja, soldiers in mourning, fought like madmen, and within days the war had entered a white heat.
Among rock forests, by lakesides, in thickets—
within a month,
the two sides butchered each other with brutal intensity. Even veteran jonin could die without a sound under fighting this fierce.
In a certain temporary tent,
"Damn it."
"Kumogakure really can't be underestimated."
Uchiha Makoto frowned over the recent reports.
Cloud's ninja fought like lunatics, attacking regardless of cost.
Even for a grief army, this was extreme.
Living on home ground and knowing the terrain,
they knew exactly how to ambush in this region, how to pick off Akatsuki sentries, how to squeeze Akatsuki's room to breathe inch by inch.
Every battle,
Cloud struck from surprise and threw themselves in as if with no lives to lose, making Akatsuki pay dearly.
Compared to Cloud's hasty response,
Akatsuki had prepared in secret for months—longer, really.
They were armed to the teeth. But the individual strength gap wasn't large. Even with oceans of explosive tags, Makoto estimated that, per engagement, losses were roughly in the 1 to 1.5 range.
Under Cloud's ferocity, that ratio had nearly flattened.
Akatsuki's numbers didn't look bad—still an advantage on paper—
but Cloud had more ninja. Akatsuki was outnumbered in this theater, and the pressure of those assaults was wearing even on Makoto.
Akatsuki had lost nearly four hundred ninja; Cloud had lost close to six hundred. Numbers like that made any Kage shudder.
"Makoto, at this point—have some ice cream first."
Uzumaki Shinji, seeing Makoto's knitted brows, brought over a bowl.
The heat was rising.
No one refused ice cream in high summer. Makoto set the reports aside and accepted it.
"Don't worry too much," Shinji said, spoon in hand. "Cloud's attacks aren't as fierce as at the start, and we're adjusting to their rhythm. Soon the tide will turn."
Cloud's assaults were wild, but that was all. After paying a price, Akatsuki had grown familiar with the region and with Cloud's ambush patterns.
Akatsuki had mountains of explosive tags.
Every likely approach for surprise attacks had been carpeted with them. Doing what they'd done before was getting very hard for Cloud.
Makoto nodded.
He had prepared for this war.
From the opening lightning strike to Cloud's reaction and the First Raikage's massing of heavy forces at the third line,
it was all within his expectations.
He had abandoned the idea of storming the third line outright and switched to the plan: attrition. Day by day, use barrages of tags to uproot outposts around the third line.
As for Cloud's recent frenzy, he had a guess.
Cloud's logistics were failing.
The first and second lines had been stacked with food, shuriken, explosive tags—stores of military materiel. Overnight, all of it went up in smoke.
The First Raikage had moved in a rush, without full war prep, and shoved reinforcements straight to the third line. Every ounce of logistics pressure piled there.
He had likely realized Makoto's intent to grind him down—so he chose to cut the arm to save the body, lashing out to find a weak point in Akatsuki's positions and force a decisive battle.
"Kumogakure's logistics won't hold long. The outcome may be decided in a month or two."
Makoto laid out his estimate. Shinji nodded. He thought much the same: if Akatsuki and the Uzumaki could weather Cloud's first furious waves, the balance would tip fully to them.
Morale in Akatsuki was still high.
Logistics kept their clothes, food, and shelter comfortable. Their three meals weren't soldier pills and water but fresh rice, miso soup, meat, and a little dessert. Ice cream—summer's salvation—was unlimited. Having Ice Release in the ranks was a blessing.
From raids on Cloud outposts, reports showed Cloud's rations were already being cut with soldier pills—emergency fare for battle.
The longer it went,
the greater Akatsuki's advantage.
"Shinji… it seems Konoha won't send troops. I've already reached out. Senju Tobirama replied that Konoha is urgently preparing military supplies—who knows if that's true…"
Makoto pushed the battle aside for the moment, eating his ice cream as he spoke casually about Konoha.
As expected,
Konoha likely had no plans to wade in. Tobirama's reply reeked of perfunctory courtesy. Better to guard against that born-evil Senju old ghost making mischief in the dark than to wait on aid.
He'd been a bit too quiet lately.
Makoto's reach in Konoha was limited—he would meet what came, with water and earth.
But where the Uzumaki were concerned—
this eye medicine for Konoha had to be applied promptly.
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I have published a new novel. You can check it out on my profile. The title is:
Naruto: I'm an Uchiha, But My System Wants Me to Revive the Senju
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