Akatsuki Village.
Inside the conference hall, the clans that had recently joined Akatsuki Village were gathered together.
The Kaguya Clan, Yuki Clan, Kurama Clan, Hatake Clan, Suō Clan, and many other large and small shinobi clans filled the room.
Some of them, by all rights, should have belonged to Konoha, yet Uchiha Makoto had shamelessly pried them away.
Stealing another village's clans was like being a serial homewrecker—
once you started, it became addictive.
Sooner or later, true orthodoxy will belong to Akatsuki Village.
Even so, Makoto still felt dissatisfied.
The more clans, the better.
Unfortunately, Akatsuki Village's foundations were still shallow.
If not for riding Konoha's momentum—and backing from the Fire Daimyō plus overwhelming financial power—the recruitment process would never have gone so smoothly.
Meanwhile, the other Four Great Nations were also founding their own villages.
The first-generation Kage were competing fiercely for elite clans.
Heroes filled the ninja world like carp crossing a river—too many to count.
Thus, aside from well-known clans from canon history, most of Akatsuki Village's new members were mid- and small-sized clans from across the ninja world.
They had no kekkei genkai.
No secret techniques.
If they joined Konoha, they would barely register as background noise.
So they chose Akatsuki Village instead.
Makoto accepted them all.
Panning for gold in dirt.
If the sample size was large enough, even if you couldn't pull an SSR-level prodigy, you were bound to get some R- or SR-tier talents.
Among them, the clans Makoto found most intriguing came from the Land of Sky and the Land of Craftsmen.
These shinobi preferred tinkering with techniques over direct combat.
Of course, the term science and technology belonged to another world.
Here, it was called ninjutsu research.
They were unconventional—almost heretical—by traditional shinobi standards.
Not because others disliked progress, but because research burned money.
If the direction was wrong, all that funding vanished into thin air.
Spending money on training jutsu, on the other hand, gave immediate results.
And since new technologies would eventually be sold anyway—
Why not buy them directly?
Makoto didn't think that way.
He respected technology, valued it deeply, and was willing to invest heavily.
Relying forever on buying other people's成果 made him uneasy.
Most importantly—
He was rich now.
Very rich.
The Meeting Begins
As Makoto entered the hall, he walked straight to the main seat.
Behind him hung a massive red banner:
"Warmly Celebrating the Successful Convening of the Akatsuki Village Assembly."
The sense of ceremony was absolute.
"Lord Kōkage!" × N
"Everyone," Makoto began,
"today is the first time all of you are attending an official Akatsuki Village assembly."
…
After a series of formal but necessary opening remarks, representatives from each clan spoke in turn.
The atmosphere gradually grew lively.
Overall, everyone was extremely satisfied with joining Akatsuki Village.
Official recognition from the Fire Daimyō
Konoha as a protective ally
A leader with absurd wealth
And—most importantly—overwhelming personal strength
That last point mattered most.
Kaguya Masao, head of the Kaguya Clan, felt this more deeply than anyone.
The Kaguya were born fighters—battle maniacs by nature.
In sheer madness, even pre-Sharingan Uchiha couldn't compare.
Money alone would never have convinced them.
Only absolute strength could.
Otherwise, bringing them in would only invite disaster.
Makoto's Power
With system assistance, Makoto's strength was steadily increasing.
While his jutsu mastery and combat experience hadn't magically improved, his raw stats kept rising.
As Akatsuki Village grew stronger, so did he.
Sooner or later, he would become a pure stat monster like Senju Hashirama—
though that day was still far off.
Kaguya Masao personally challenged Makoto.
From his perspective:
A seemingly ordinary C-rank Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu transformed the battlefield into a sea of flames, sealing all escape routes and forcing close combat.
And close combat—
Was where the Uchiha truly excelled.
With the Sharingan, Uchiha possessed terrifying dynamic vision.
They could read every movement, identify flaws instantly, and even copy taijutsu and ninjutsu.
Kaguya Masao, of course, was no slouch.
The Kaguya Clan's kekkei genkai—Shikotsumyaku (Bone Release)—allowed their bones to grow freely, forming weapons and armor at will.
Offense and defense combined.
The two clashed for hundreds of exchanges.
Dust filled the air.
The ground shattered.
Chakra surged violently across the battlefield.
Then—
Masao paused to catch his breath.
And suddenly, the scenery changed.
No scorched earth.
No forest of bone spikes.
Makoto stood calmly before him, smiling.
Behind Masao, the Kaguya clan members looked defeated.
Even a veteran warrior didn't need long to understand.
"…I was caught in genjutsu?"
"When…?"
"The moment you looked into my eyes at the start of the fight."
One move.
That was all it took.
If this had been a real battlefield, Masao would already be dead.
Makoto's genjutsu technique itself was only average—
But the system had continuously boosted his ocular power.
Most stat increases went into his eyes.
At this point, his genjutsu was strong enough to crush opponents through sheer force, no finesse required.
To be clear—
Masao wasn't weak.
Any clan head who survived the Warring States Era was at least Kage-level.
Makoto simply came prepared.
To maximize intimidation, he poured all his ocular power and an enormous amount of chakra into a single illusion.
Masao, meanwhile, had approached the fight with restraint—
a respectful sparring mindset.
Two leaders.
One clan head, one village leader.
Some courtesy was expected.
This was standard shinobi practice: probe first, gather information, then exploit weaknesses.
(Exceptions: Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama.)
Makoto ignored all that.
He went straight for a one-hit victory condition.
Like two cars with similar specs—
One accelerates gently.
The other floors the engine instantly.
The result was inevitable.
Makoto had made a spectacular show of dominance.
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