Uchiha Makoto put the names of every Akatsuki and Uzumaki ninja who died in the war at the end of the movie.
The movie ended.
The scrolling lines of names represented lives that were once vibrant.
For a moment, the entire theater was silent.
Not until Senju Hashirama was the first to applaud did the rest of the people follow suit, ending the movie viewing.
"How tragic..."
"This war seems even more terrifying than the wars of the past Warring States Period..."
"Ah... yes, look at the names in the middle row, they all have the same surname... this family must have suffered heavy losses..."
The audience did not leave immediately; they were discussing in low voices.
The ninja, in particular, were deeply concerned, worrying about what would happen if the war spread to Konoha.
War was not far from them at all.
After the applause, Senju Hashirama seemed to be lost in some memory. His clear, bright eyes stared blankly at the big screen. The list of the dead at the end of the film was still scrolling.
As a ninja who had grown up fighting in wars, his understanding of war was different from that of the ordinary people around him.
He had faced countless brutal battles. Senju Hashirama once had more than just Senju Tobirama as a younger brother; he had several, but they had all died in the cruel wars.
For Senju Hashirama, war was like darkness.
Peace was like light.
And he, Senju Hashirama, was like a person who had been in darkness for a long time and had finally seen the light. And this light was something he had obtained through countless hardships.
"Madara, this movie is really good... It reminds me of the past... we were once in darkness... and now we have finally seen the light."
"Ah, yes. But we have worked so hard for so long, and it seems to be in vain... Perhaps... true peace will never come."
Uchiha Madara's brow furrowed.
He, who always liked to think, was not as optimistic as Senju Hashirama. Just like in that meeting long ago, he began to ponder the more distant future. The war seemed to have only stopped temporarily. Before long, it would come again.
And based on the casualty rate of this war between Akatsuki Village and Kumogakure...
Future wars would be even more brutal than those of their generation.
Uchiha Madara thought of the story recorded on that stone tablet... the mission that the legendary Sage of Six Paths had entrusted to the Uchiha clan... If it was completed, eternal peace could be obtained.
Even if it was only in a dream...
But... would Hashirama agree to such a method?
Uchiha Madara's eyes turned to Senju Hashirama beside him, as if he wanted to find the answer in his eyes.
"No... Madara... Peace is hard-won. This is what we have worked so hard for..."
"And Konoha is the hope of this peace. No matter what, I still firmly believe that as long as we protect the village, we can protect the people, the ninja, and the children. No matter who it is, even if it's a friend, a brother, or even my own child, if they endanger the safety of the village, I will never forgive them!"
Senju Hashirama seemed to sense the slight change in Uchiha Madara. He spoke as if making a promise to himself, and also as if to encourage Madara.
Uchiha Madara looked deeply at Senju Hashirama, said nothing more, and just nodded.
...
"That naturally evil Uchiha brat slandered me for the entire movie!!"
"Damn it, what a beast..."
Senju Tobirama, sitting in the corner, had a very ugly expression.
This movie was indeed an extremely excellent anti-war film, but Uchiha Makoto's high-level slander and low-level praise had made him a villain in this movie, second only to Kumogakure.
Senju Tobirama wanted to leave the theater immediately throughout the entire movie.
But he couldn't run.
His brother, Uchiha Madara, and his sister-in-law were sitting in front. If he ran away midway, wouldn't that be admitting his guilt?
Of course...
After watching the entire movie...
Although he was gritting his teeth in anger at Uchiha Madara's slander... the information revealed in the movie also set off alarm bells in his mind.
"This bastard is indeed a difficult opponent... Knowing that he can't beat Konoha in terms of hard power, he starts to play with people's hearts. When it comes to using people's hearts and public opinion, Uchiha Makoto is a master... Konoha must always be on guard against him. Today, Uchiha Makoto dares to slander me; tomorrow, he will dare to slander my brother... and finally, he will slander all of Konoha!"
"His heart is truly punishable!"
"And Uchiha Makoto's extremely dangerous remarks before... this is definitely just the beginning, not the end. There will probably be an endless stream of such movies in the future..."
"Plus, Uchiha Makoto seems to be very good at making money... Konoha's finances are not as abundant as his..."
"Could he really succeed..."
Senju Tobirama gritted his teeth and summarized in his heart.
This movie was definitely not just to slander him. That was just the naturally evil Uchiha brat, Uchiha Makoto, deliberately disgusting him in the movie.
What he wanted was...
Senju Tobirama had roughly realized what Uchiha Makoto wanted to do.
But he was completely unable to stop it.
Unless Senju Tobirama could persuade Senju Hashirama to go and eliminate Akatsuki Village now!
And Senju Hashirama, who had always presented himself as a good old man, who liked to smooth things over and protect the current peace, would only personally take action if Uchiha Makoto went mad and openly rebelled against the Land of Fire, or launched a war against Konoha.
And Uchiha Makoto was very clear-headed, so Senju Tobirama was unable to do this.
But to just let Uchiha Makoto boil the frog in warm water like this, bit by bit implementing his strategy, the general trend of the Land of Fire would sooner or later be in his grasp. And if Konoha didn't want to be left behind by Uchiha Makoto, it would have to do some truly taboo things, breaking the ninja code and the village's bottom line, just like Uchiha Makoto.
As a traditional ninja, Senju Tobirama had too many ties.
The traditional ninja laws, the shackles of the ninja-as-tools theory, the deep friendship between the Land of Fire's Daimyō and the Senju clan, and the fact that the Land of Fire had been kind to Konoha... the Land of Fire's Daimyō had not wronged Konoha.
For various reasons, he was instinctively unwilling to do so.
And Senju Hashirama would not let Senju Tobirama act recklessly. To bypass Senju Hashirama and do something that would change the world... at least, it was quite difficult in Konoha at present.
And if Uchiha Makoto had the chance, he would really dare to have the Land of Fire change its daimyō—the Land of Fire's Daimyō fears water, and dissolves in water!
But Senju Tobirama... he couldn't.
Now, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
It made Senju Tobirama want to take a desperate risk—if you can't solve the problem, then solve the person who created the problem.
And it would also allow him to vent his anger!
...
The Second Raikage of Kumogakure had a very ugly expression.
"Bastard... Akatsuki... you've gone too far!!"
"One day... the proud ninja of Kumogakure will take everything back!"
The Second Raikage clenched his fist and punched the wall, leaving a clear fist print on it.
This movie had completely torn open Kumogakure's still-unhealed wounds and exposed them to the entire ninja world.
Especially the final scene of the movie...
The Second Raikage bowing at a ninety-degree angle, presenting the surrender agreement with both hands, had fiercely trampled his own face and the face of Kumogakure underfoot.
And just as the Second Raikage was filled with rage, a series of urgent knocks came from the door.
"Lord Raikage, my son's pension..."
"Yes, Lord Raikage, my husband..."
It turned out that the Second Raikage had already sent away several waves of people, and now another wave of creditors had arrived.
"Everyone, please calm down. I will definitely give you the money..."
"But... now... for the sake of Kumogakure, please be patient."
The Second Raikage's heart full of anger instantly vanished. He wished he could escape from here immediately. Anyone who saw crying women clamoring for money would be in extreme pain.
For this...
He felt that he had lost a lot of hair.
But the Second Raikage had no choice, because he was the Raikage. He could not run.
"Akatsuki, Uchiha Makoto, I will kill you!"
After finally appeasing this group of people, the Second Raikage did not plan to stay in the office any longer. It was likely that the next wave of people would come for money soon.
Of course... he was not trying to evade responsibility.
He was planning to take advantage of the gap to do a few missions to earn money.
To appease the endless waves of debt-collecting women, he could only take money out of his own pocket to temporarily reassure them... Kumogakure would definitely not withhold the money, it was just a temporary delay. Once this period was over and the village's situation improved, the money could be distributed... and his savings were already completely depleted.
"Ah... when will these days end!"
"No... a ninja is someone who can endure. I cannot give up. The future of Kumogakure rests on my shoulders!"
The Second Raikage walked out of the room, looked at the small snowflakes falling from the sky, then clenched his fist to encourage himself, and walked into the wind and snow.
...
The Land of Fire's Daimyō, alone, frowned and watched the entire movie.
After watching... his brow furrowed even deeper.
It was obvious...
After this movie was released, the scale and strength of Akatsuki Village would continue to expand rapidly.
Unless the Land of Fire and Akatsuki Village had a hard decoupling at this time, not giving Akatsuki Village a single mission, not giving it a single cent of support, could they hinder its rapid expansion.
A ninja village's daily consumption was huge. Without the support of the Land of Fire, and being targeted by the entire country, even Uchiha Makoto would feel a headache.
And now was the time for Akatsuki Village's great expansion. If it was sanctioned by the Land of Fire, causing a link in the capital chain to snap... then Akatsuki Village's world could collapse.
There are countless examples of large companies going bankrupt due to a broken capital chain.
But this method was the last resort of the daimyō to sanction the ninja villages.
If you don't give a ninja food, a ninja will definitely not sit and wait for death. With a kunai in hand, they won't starve anywhere.
In short...
With both the Land of Fire and Akatsuki Village exercising restraint and not tearing off the mask of civility, it was now really difficult for the Land of Fire to stop Akatsuki Village's rapid expansion.
This made the Daimyō feel the fatal crisis brought by Uchiha Makoto.
"But... it seems it's not without a solution..."
"At least from the clues in the movie, it can be shown that Konoha... Akatsuki Village... they are not a monolithic block..."
The Land of Fire's Daimyō carefully pondered the plot of the movie. As a master of manipulating people's hearts, just from the clues in the movie, he felt that Akatsuki Village was ostensibly praising and trusting Konoha, but was actually secretly belittling it and damaging its reputation!
The Land of Fire's Daimyō's mind was filled with these thoughts, and he couldn't help but get excited.
As a daimyō, as a chess player, what he feared and worried about most was the ninja starting to unite. Originally, when Konoha had pushed all the blame onto Takigakure, he was worried that Konoha and Akatsuki Village had reached a consensus.
But the facts were clearly not so.
Just from the clues in the movie, the Daimyō had come to his own conclusion—Akatsuki Village had a certain malice towards Konoha, a very deeply hidden malice.
In the Daimyō's view, Akatsuki Village was now unable to contain its desire for expansion.
And peers are rivals. It could be said that Konoha was an obstacle to Akatsuki Village from the very beginning. It was just that because Akatsuki Village was too weak initially, it had not shown it. Now that Akatsuki Village had grown strong, naturally... this movie was clear proof!
But Konoha was still very strong, so Akatsuki Village currently only dared to play some small tricks in the dark... For now... Akatsuki Village was only starting with prestige, quietly attacking Konoha's prestige.
"But come to think of it, how can one mountain accommodate two tigers?"
"My strategy back then was still correct. This is exactly what I want... Since Akatsuki Village wants to surpass Konoha, I might as well grant your wish... A hot stove will always burn, and it will eventually explode. And if I don't add firewood to a cold stove, it will become jealous of the hot stove and attack it..."
"Since you, Uchiha Makoto, want prestige and to strike at Konoha... then I'll help you!"
Subsequently...
The Land of Fire's Daimyō waved his hand and summoned the attendant who had been waiting outside the door.
"Your Highness, please command."
"Vigorously promote this movie for me, and have the propaganda department go all out to build momentum for Akatsuki Village in the country... Akatsuki Village is the strongest ninja village in our Land of Fire..."
"As for Konoha, slander them as much as you can... I want to create opposition, to create the superiority of Akatsuki compared to Konoha. From clothing, food, housing, and transportation to the treatment of ninja, every aspect must show Akatsuki's superiority!"
"As for the mission quotas, secretly bypass the platform jointly built by Konoha and Akatsuki Village, take a portion of Konoha's missions and give them to Akatsuki Village..."
The Daimyō began his operation, planning to praise one and step on the other.
Konoha's strength was unquestionable. Even if Akatsuki Village had grown strong, it could not be stronger than Konoha.
Now he was praising Akatsuki Village to the skies. This combination of punches would both damage Konoha's reputation and its wallet!
This was the mission quota!
In the past, in the Warring States Period, to get more mission quotas, ninja clans could only go to war.
The ninja world is that cruel!
The Land of Fire's Daimyō didn't believe that Konoha could remain indifferent to this.
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