After blasting the First Raikage to dust, Uchiha Makoto ordered the Akatsuki behind him to finish off the remaining grievously wounded Kumonin who had lost the will to fight, then prepared to leave at once.
This battle had drained him too much; in truth, the gap between the two sides' combat power hadn't reached a qualitative difference.
His eyes were already half-blind.
Sometimes the gulf between Kage and Kage is like an unbridgeable chasm.
Even if his stat panel had been climbing—say, from 8,000 combat power at the start to 80,000 now, a terrifying swell—while the First Raikage sat around fifty or sixty thousand… Senju Hashirama had always been in the hundreds of thousands, and enraged could spike to a million. The gap was still enormous.
Hashirama was also a Kage, but handling Makoto—or the Nine Tails—was like pinching them to pulp with one hand.
At the moment Makoto still had a little ocular power and chakra left, but Kumogakure's main force was lying in ambush. If they discovered him and pinned him down, the consequences were obvious. He truly had no strength to deal with wave after frenzied wave of Kumonin.
Retreat.
Back at a safe camp,
he dragged his heavy body onto the bed. Though his vision was still a fog and his spirit utterly exhausted, he was nonetheless in a state of fierce exhilaration.
The First Raikage had been blasted to dust by his hand.
Barring surprises, the third defensive line would also fall smoothly… this war, fought for three—nearly four—months, could finally end.
What remained was to negotiate with Kumogakure's remnants. With their logistics cut by Akatsuki, they had no need to keep fighting.
The war's duration would be greatly shortened.
Lying there, Makoto tallied the gains and losses. The losses he set aside—over a thousand fallen Akatsuki and the money burned had always been in his calculations. Though Akatsuki's damage was not small, it was all worth it.
The benefits were many.
Leading Akatsuki to defeat Kumogakure and slay the First Raikage would bring him immense prestige. His position in Akatsuki would be completely cemented. No shinobi dislikes a leader who risks everything to back them up at the front, who can behead generals and take banners, who can lead them to promotion, profit, and victory after victory.
That was only inside Akatsuki.
Outwardly, Akatsuki's name would resound across the shinobi world, surely drawing shinobi forces from all lands toward Akatsuki—whether out of admiration for its way of doing things, or bowing their heads before its strength. Either way, good.
The Uzumaki would cling even closer to Akatsuki.
The magnates would keep ramping up investment. Akatsuki had once named its price—guarding their interests in various countries—to get them to pour more money in. Back then Akatsuki had been "leveraging with empty hands."
Well… it was exactly that.
Once your funds flowed into Akatsuki, even if you wanted to pull them out, you couldn't run.
The Fire Country's tycoons and those from all directions weren't fools. Before Akatsuki proved its ability in concrete terms, their promises were words only.
Akatsuki wasn't their only option.
Konoha didn't care about commerce and had nothing like Akatsuki's aggressive support policies.
But Konoha's hard power spoke for itself; magnates would go on their own.
This time, with Akatsuki fighting its way to a price tag,
they should be the ones pleading with him.
You wouldn't bring charcoal in the snow; now that you want to cling to Akatsuki, there'll be a crowd of you. If you still want to come sidling over now, you'll need to show capability and sincerity.
Akatsuki really will fight wars for its shinobi and their interests.
That alone tells the magnates that, though Konoha is strong, it won't stick its neck out for them… but Akatsuki will.
New Ninja should also ride this wave beyond the Fire Country, selling abroad, seeding Akatsuki's ideology across the shinobi world, until everyone is singing Akatsuki's little bowls of chicken soup.
Used well, that one book could stand against thousands of shinobi.
"Our village is striving to train rookies, update ninja tools, develop techniques… what is your Akatsuki doing?"
"What you say we're doing, we're doing—and we're waiting for you to study New Ninja until your shinobi grow up and enter your villages' management systems."
Ah…
One more thing.
Senju Tobirama—that born-evil Senju old ghost.
That bastard had dawdled so long, probably to swoop in for the spoils, but now the war had been decided by Makoto's hammer blow.
The First Raikage was dead, the third defensive line taken by Akatsuki, logistics cut; Kumogakure had only one road left—surrender.
If Konoha still wanted to find a pretext to wade in, it wouldn't be easy… unless Tobirama truly threw away his face. Hm… coming from him, that wasn't impossible. He was a hateful, scheming old ghost… fondest of racial discrimination.
In any case,
the advantage was his.
The Uzumaki ally was there watching. If Tobirama dared get up to anything, Makoto would sow discord right in front of Uzumaki Shinji, dripping with irony.
Even if it blew up all the way to Hashirama, Tobirama wouldn't have the right of it.
Thinking thus, Makoto sank into deep sleep, his consciousness slipping into endless darkness.
He slept soundly.
An entire day and night.
When he woke…
his vision was still a blur, his body somewhat weak. At some point the med-nin had dressed his wounds, bandages wrapped several injured spots.
"Lord Light Shadow is awake!"
A delighted shout rang out. The Akatsuki leadership waiting outside rushed in at once.
"Lord Light Shadow, you really slew the First Raikage with your own hands?"
"Too strong!"
"This war is destined to be our Akatsuki's victory!"
As soon as Makoto woke, the tent filled with people. Med-nin busied themselves with checks while the rest peppered him with questions, bustle and clamor everywhere. He smiled. From their joy, it was clear the third defensive line had been taken.
"How could a mere First Raikage ever beat me?"
"I blasted him to dust head-on!"
Makoto recounted the fight. Before this battle he had no real feats to show in the shinobi world; without the title of Akatsuki's Light Shadow, his name was no different from a stray dog's.
If you want to get famous fast,
the easiest way is to step up on a senior's corpse.
"And the third defensive line—you took it too…?"
"Uh… Lord Light Shadow… when we'd smashed nearly a third of the third defensive line… something unexpected happened…"
"What do you mean?!"
"Iwagakure…"
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