"You Kumogakure scum! We're here to negotiate!"
"Hmph! The Akatsuki Ninja bastards, huh?"
"You think you can extort the Hidden Cloud Village? Dream on!"
"You black devils from Kumogakure, I'll curse your ancestors! Answer me properly — are you surrendering or not?!"
Uchiha Makoto personally led the team. He wanted to make sure nothing went wrong — and just as he expected, both sides were already full of pent-up anger.
Thanks to a wave of deliberate propaganda, tensions between the two groups had reached their peak.
The Akatsuki Ninja believed the Hidden Cloud had purposely provoked them, killed two of their chunin, and then shamelessly refused to apologize or compensate. So when they met Cloud shinobi face-to-face, they could barely hold back their rage.
Meanwhile, the Cloud Ninja thought the Akatsuki were nothing but arrogant bullies trying to stir trouble.
And so, when the two sides met, peace was impossible. What started as harsh words quickly turned into a full-blown shouting match.
Insults flew. Tempers rose.
Faces twisted with fury.
Hands reached for weapon pouches.
But the Akatsuki had strict orders from Uchiha Makoto — don't strike first. They restrained themselves, waiting for the perfect excuse.
Finally—
"You damn Akatsuki! You've gone too far!"
"I'll screw your mother!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A few shuriken cut through the air.
One of the Cloud Nin had lost control.
Makoto's lips curved into a slow grin. Inside, he was already celebrating. Finally. They took the bait.
He raised his hand — a silent signal.
At once, the Akatsuki behind him surged forward. The moment they received the order, they attacked without hesitation.
The Cloud Ninja, who had been busy shouting moments ago, froze in shock. They hadn't expected Akatsuki to be prepared — and worse, to outnumber them.
A sneak attack! Unethical! Shameless!
But in war, only results mattered.
Within moments, the battle was over.
The Cloud patrol was crushed.
Uchiha Makoto dusted off his cloak and began dictating the next morning's "official report." His tone was calm, almost cheerful:
> "The Hidden Cloud Village ignored repeated warnings from Akatsuki, killed two of our chunin, and even launched a surprise attack on our negotiation team. The Akatsuki Ninja Village, forced to defend itself, had no choice but to counterattack in self-defense."
He spoke as he watched the battlefield burn. "Was the whole thing recorded?" he asked the ninja with the camera.
"Yes, Kage-sama! Everything was captured clearly!"
"Good. Just… edit out the part where we were cursing them."
The cameraman froze. "Uh… that might be a little difficult, sir."
Makoto frowned. "You don't understand the basics of photography! Even third-rate rogue ninjas can manage better. Learn properly! If people think Akatsuki is full of idiots, you'll be the sinner of the whole village!"
"Yes, Kage-sama!"
The poor ninja bowed so low his forehead nearly hit the dirt. Makoto let him go with just that scolding — no need to crush morale so early.
Moments later, the main Akatsuki army arrived, following the signal flare. Makoto turned to them, his eyes sharp and focused.
The Cloud and Akatsuki forces were roughly equal in overall strength. But Makoto had two key advantages: surprise and money.
If he played this right, Akatsuki could bleed the Cloud dry over time.
But there was no time to rest.
He needed momentum.
Before the Raikage could even react, Makoto planned to shatter the Cloud's defenses — fast, brutal, decisive.
Intelligence reports mentioned five defensive lines stretching from the border all the way to the Hidden Cloud's main headquarters.
Makoto didn't waste a second. He led his troops through the night.
---
The First Line of Defense
Under the starless night, the border burned with fire and blood.
"Damn it! So many Explosive Tags—how despicable!"
"Are you Akatsuki insane?! This is war!"
"The Raikage will never forgive you!"
Cloud shinobi screamed as their outposts were consumed by flame.
Moments earlier, three patrol teams — twenty men total — had been silently eliminated. The rest, nearly three hundred strong, were asleep when the explosions began.
Panic spread. Fire lit the sky.
The Kaguya clan led the charge, bone blades gleaming under the firelight. Their savage grins reflected pure joy as they carved through the chaos.
"Push forward!" Makoto shouted. "All units — throw Explosive Tags as soon as you see them! Don't waste chakra!"
He kicked a dying Cloud genin aside and pointed ahead. "Blow them up first, ask questions later!"
Explosions thundered one after another.
Within minutes, the Cloud's first line of defense was gone.
Those who survived fled in terror, hoping to regroup at the second defense line. But Makoto's forces pursued them relentlessly, leaving only corpses and flames behind.
"Victory!" someone shouted.
A roar of cheers erupted across the battlefield.
Makoto stood in the middle of it all, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction.
They had struck first — and hard.
---
"Makoto," said Vortex Shinji, catching his breath, "we've had a great victory tonight… can we rest now?"
Shinji's grin was wide, but his eyes drooped with exhaustion. Even for someone of the Uzumaki Clan — known for their vitality — the all-night march and combat had drained him dry.
The rest of the army was even worse. Most chunin and genin could barely maintain chakra for a few C-rank jutsu. Many were forced into pure hand-to-hand combat just to survive.
But Makoto shook his head.
"Strike while the iron's hot," he said. "If we rest now, morale drops. And once morale drops, fatigue follows."
He turned to the troops, his voice booming:
> "Pass on my order! Continue the advance! If you're tired, slap yourselves awake! Think of our Will of Light! If you're hungry or weak, eat Byōganmaru and keep moving!"
The men straightened. Their eyes blazed again.
"LOYALTY TO KAGE-SAMA!!"
The chant echoed through the night as they set off once more — toward the second line of defense.
---
The Second Line of Defense
Dawn.
A heavy fog rolled over the hills, cloaking the world in gray.
The Cloud outpost guards frowned. "Weird… why's the fog so thick today?"
Then — glowing red eyes appeared within the mist.
Hundreds of them.
Makoto led from the front. The fog concealed his army's approach perfectly.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A river of flames roared forward, engulfing the outpost.
The guards barely had time to scream.
From behind, Akatsuki shinobi cheered in awe.
"I heard that the Uchiha's Fire Release could burn armies to ash," one whispered. "Today, I see it for myself! Kage-sama's power is unmatched!"
Makoto gave a small nod, eyes cold. His fire jutsu still wasn't at Madara's level — not yet. But it was enough.
The flames cracked and sizzled, shattering the outpost's barrier like glass.
"Has the Cloud already set up barriers at just their second defense line?" Makoto murmured. "Impressive… their foundations run deep."
Still, hesitation had no place here.
He dashed in.
"Bastards! How did they find us so fast?" a Cloud jonin shouted. "Did they really destroy the first defense in one night?!"
"They're using too many Explosive Tags! I can't even get close—wait, those are Shadow Clones!"
Uzumaki shinobi cackled as dozens of explosive-tagged clones rushed forward, detonating among the panicked Cloud ranks.
"Fools of the Cloud!" an Akatsuki shouted. "This is the Will of Light! Long live Kage-sama! Akatsuki will prevail!"
Their cries rose like thunder.
Even the exhausted Akatsuki soldiers felt a second wind. Their bodies trembled, not from fatigue — but from sheer adrenaline and belief.
"Hail Akatsuki! Long live the Will of Light!"
Explosions tore through the valley again.
By sunrise, the second line of defense was nothing but smoke and rubble.
Only scattered groups of Cloud shinobi managed to escape — their will to fight already broken.
The rest lay dead among the ashes.
---
"Long live Kage-sama!"
"BANZAI!"
"LOYALTY!"
The victorious Akatsuki roared as they captured prisoners and raised their arms high.
Some, too excited to hold back, dropped to their knees, forcing captured enemies into the dirt just so they could free their hands to join the cheering.
The captured Cloud ninja gasped for air. "I… can't… breathe!"
Uchiha Makoto stood tall among the ruins, cloak fluttering in the smoky breeze. His eyes swept across the cheering army — battered, filthy, but burning with victory.
He raised one hand, acknowledging their cries.
For the first time in a long while, he allowed himself to smile.
The war had only just begun —
but the Will of Light was blazing brighter than ever.
patreon (Obito_uchiha)