The Uzumaki Clan were blood relatives of the Senju Clan—and, if one traced far enough back, they could also be considered relatives of the Uchiha.
After all, when you went back far enough, everyone ultimately came from the same roots.
That said, the Uzumaki Clan had always been far closer to the Senju. The two clans had even joined forces in the past to wage war against the Uchiha.
But Makoto Uchiha bore no grudges.
Those were matters of the past.
The clan era was over.
This was now the era of ninja villages.
He had previously sent an invitation to the Uzumaki Clan, hoping to persuade them to join Akatsuki Village. Unfortunately, the message had been met with silence—left on read, never answered. Eventually, Makoto gave up.
After all, compared to Akatsuki Village, Konoha was clearly more attractive—even though, in the original canon timeline, the Uzumaki Clan never truly joined Konoha either.
And yet—
Things had suddenly taken an unexpected turn.
Makoto felt genuine anticipation.
He truly hoped the Uzumaki Clan would join Akatsuki Village. Not only would it significantly strengthen Akatsuki's power, it would also very effectively cause a certain someone in Konoha to mentally collapse.
Without hesitation, Makoto wrote a reply.
Akatsuki Village would warmly welcome an Uzumaki delegation at any time.
To demonstrate sincerity and avoid any missteps, Makoto specifically summoned Sato Kazuma and instructed him to prepare a formal reception ceremony.
"We must treat the Uzumaki Clan well."
"Yes, Light Shadow-sama."
Kazuma nodded and agreed—but instead of leaving immediately, he held onto the documents in his hands and began reporting on Akatsuki Village's recent major developments.
Controlling the Battlefield of Public Opinion
The first item was the acquisition of large publishing houses and newspaper agencies.
After the overwhelming success of the previous "Inspirational Short Story," Makoto had already made up his mind:
He needed to seize the high ground of public opinion.
Akatsuki Village had to possess its own voice—its own mouthpiece.
In peacetime, it could be used to promote Akatsuki Village.
As for those brainwashing yet oddly addictive short stories?
Makoto had an endless supply of them in his head. No exaggeration—he could publish content like that for years.
As long as the messaging remained consistent, subtle influence would accumulate over time. Under the power of repetition and herd mentality, Akatsuki Village would naturally be perceived as a land of freedom, equality, peace, and civilization.
That image would attract more investors.
More workers.
More ninjas.
And once war arrived—
The value of public opinion control would only grow.
At present, Akatsuki Village had already acquired two to three major newspapers and publishing houses.
"New Ninja Digest is selling extremely well," Makoto said. "Increase the print runs."
"Konoha is our key target. Their village has only just been established—rules and regulations are incomplete, and public discourse is practically unguarded."
"If any clans decide to withdraw from Konoha and join Akatsuki Village instead, that would be perfectly reasonable. After all—Hashirama Senju is a good man."
"And don't neglect the other four great nations either. Their talented ninjas are also prime recruitment targets."
Makoto's voice carried a hint of excitement.
He couldn't openly poach talent, of course—but if Konoha's clans voluntarily chose to leave and defect to Akatsuki Village?
Well. That couldn't be helped.
Hashirama would probably feel regret—but he wouldn't use force.
And even if Tobirama attempted speech control or censorship—
Makoto wasn't afraid.
Those who yearned for freedom and civilization could not be contained.
As long as propaganda continued relentlessly, there would always be villagers and ninjas willing to risk defection routes just to reach Akatsuki Village.
"Yes, Light Shadow-sama."
The Unexpected Success of a Certain Novel
"There's more," Kazuma continued.
"The novel you personally wrote—Romance of the Warring States—has become extremely popular."
"Readers are demanding more updates. Three chapters per week is too slow. They want daily updates."
"…Huh?"
Makoto frowned.
Romance of the Warring States had been something he wrote purely for fun—a heavily modified version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, reskinned with ninja-era warlords from a fictionalized pre-shinobi period.
He hadn't expected such explosive popularity.
"Daily updates? Impossible."
"I'm not that casual."
"Well… the underground bounty exchange has already posted a reward," Kazuma said carefully.
"Someone's offering a massive sum to capture the author and lock him in a dark room until the novel is finished."
"????"
Makoto stared, stunned.
Ninja World readers were incredibly rude.
How could they just put out a bounty on the real author?!
Fortunately, Makoto wasn't worried—but at this moment, he felt deeply grateful that he had published the novel under a pen name.
Thank goodness this world didn't have doxxing weapons.
"…Fine," Makoto sighed.
"It's just daily updates."
"One Shadow Clone will handle it."
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Makoto decided to comply and update once per day.
The Bottomless Pit Called Finance
"Anything else?" Makoto asked.
Kazuma hesitated.
"Light Shadow-sama… in the recent period alone, we've already spent over twenty billion ryō."
"Education funding. Clan recruitment. Investment incentives. Medical system construction. Research laboratories and equipment. Scientific grants."
"None of these are small expenses."
"You also want to invest in iron mines—that alone is a massive cost."
"And then there's the wartime logistics supply chain you mentioned. That's an outright bottomless pit."
"…Also," Kazuma added weakly,
"Why do we need to guarantee the supply of ice cream during wartime?"
"All of these are money-eating monsters."
Kazuma felt the pressure acutely.
Building a six-stat ninja village—economy, military, education, medicine, research, logistics—was unimaginably expensive.
Everything Makoto was doing now was preparation for the First Great Ninja War.
And this was only the initial investment.
The costs would only continue to rise.
Without stable, high-volume income, Akatsuki Village would run dry in two or three years—and eventually become as poor as Konoha.
That outcome was unacceptable.
"We still need to find ways to make more money," Makoto said slowly.
Even with vast reserves, a village that only spent and never earned would eventually collapse.
The ninja world's technological development would accelerate dramatically in the coming decades—but right now, it was still essentially an agrarian society.
Makoto had already begun investing in factories, aiming to seize the earliest dividends of an industrial revolution.
But factories took time—from construction to profitability.
There needed to be a transitional solution.
So the next step had to be an industry with:
Low technical barriers
Enormous market demand
High profit margins
Fast cash conversion
Makoto didn't need Kazuma to remind him.
He had already been thinking about this for some time.
To compress decades of Konoha's development into just a few years, every step would require vast sums of money—and time for results to ferment.
And time was the one thing he lacked most.
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