"The sky is falling… the sky is falling…"
Uchiha Ren stared at the intelligence report sent by Kakuzu.
The scale—
It was insane.
The amount of money involved.
The number of people dragged in.
Even high-ranking officials and nobles of the Land of Lightning had joined.
Profit-sharing. Corruption. Collusion.
Classic.
At first glance, it almost looked like "tiered treatment"—
Exploit the poor.
Appease the powerful.
But no—
That wasn't Kakuzu.
He didn't spare anyone.
Everyone would be harvested.
Just later.
Ren felt a chill run down his spine.
He had underestimated Kakuzu.
Underestimated the sheer spread of a Ponzi scheme.
"Third Raikage, are you brain-dead?!"
Ren slammed the report.
"You endorsed this personally?!"
"You're finished."
Absolutely finished.
With the Third Raikage personally backing it—
The fallout in Kumogakure would be catastrophic.
This had gone far beyond the original plan.
If the entire village was drained dry—
Ren didn't even want to imagine the consequences.
But he didn't blame Kakuzu.
Field commanders had autonomy.
And—
Kakuzu had evolved too fast.
Way beyond expectations.
Ren exhaled.
"…I shouldn't have let him read economics."
It's too late now.
He immediately called Nara Shikaku.
Shikaku read the report—
And went pale.
"…Hokage-sama."
"This… is war."
"The First Great Ninja War ended only three years ago."
"Are we doing this again?"
The memory of war—
Still fresh.
This wasn't the old clan skirmishes.
This was an industrial-scale conflict.
If Kumogakure collapsed internally—
It would lash out.
At anyone.
And Konoha—
Would be a prime target.
Ren nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"The Ponzi scheme can't stop now."
"The investment is too large."
"If we pull out—"
"We turn on each other."
Konoha.
Iwagakure.
Sunagakure.
All tied together.
"One mistake," Ren continued, "and everything collapses."
"But…"
A smile appeared.
"This might not be bad."
Shikaku blinked.
"…Not bad?"
"We're not alone this time."
"Three against one."
Ren's tone turned colder.
"Maybe we'll finish it."
"Completely."
"Crush Kumogakure."
"Make sure it never rises again."
Shikaku froze.
This—
It was escalation.
Total escalation.
"…Hokage-sama, I'll follow your decision."
Ren nodded.
"Iwagakure and Sunagakure will panic first."
"They don't have our reserves."
Then—
He leaned forward.
"Send them a message."
"The plan changes."
"We increase investment."
"If war is inevitable—"
"We take more before it starts."
"Ask them if they want in."
Shikaku swallowed.
"…Understood."
Ren added calmly:
"The collapse won't happen immediately."
"At least a year."
"Maybe two."
"Plenty of time to prepare."
"And remember—"
"We're the hunters."
"Three versus one."
"For once—"
"Konoha isn't the one being surrounded."
Shikaku exhaled.
That was true.
For once—
They held the advantage.
They shifted focus.
War preparations.
Resource stockpiling.
Logistics.
Then—
Ren asked:
"What about Amegakure?"
Shikaku responded immediately.
"Hanzo of the Salamander is expanding rapidly."
"He's recruiting everyone."
"Rogue ninja. Mercenaries. Even samurai."
"He's opened access to low-level ninjutsu."
Ren raised an eyebrow.
"…That desperate?"
It was madness.
Even Konoha handled rogue ninja carefully.
Hanzo—
Didn't care.
No filtering.
No control.
Just expansion.
Ren shook his head.
"…A gambler."
Those people—
Were not ideal.
Uneducated.
Violent.
Undisciplined.
If they took power—
They would simply replace one form of corruption with another.
Worse, even.
Ren fell silent.
The Land of Rain—
Would become an experiment.
A real one.
For Konoha—
That was valuable.
But—
He wouldn't just watch.
He would write to Hanzo.
Slow down.
Build ideology.
Because power without structure—
Collapsed.
Whether Hanzo listened—
It didn't matter.
Meanwhile—
In Sunagakure.
Rasa read Kakuzu's report.
His expression shattered.
"…Has he lost his mind?!"
In Iwagakure—
Onoki nearly threw his back out reading the same report.
This was no longer a financial scheme.
It was a war trigger.
Both immediately wrote to Ren.
"What do we do?"
Because this—
Would explode.
And none of them could handle Kumogakure's retaliation alone.
Ren replied quickly.
Clear.
Cold.
The plan continues.
No retreat.
Increase investment.
Harvest more.
Then—
Use that money—
To fight Kumogakure.
As for revenge—
He added one more line.
"For Tobirama Senju."
When Onoki read the reply—
He went silent.
Then furious.
Then—
Resigned.
"…So this was the plan all along."
Not just profit.
War.
Total war.
And now—
They were trapped.
They couldn't withdraw.
Couldn't refuse.
Couldn't escape.
If they jumped ship—
Konoha would abandon them.
And they would drown.
Onoki didn't sleep that night.
Cursing Ren countless times.
But in the end—
At dawn—
He picked up his pen.
"Agreed."
Because there was no other path.
And deep down—
He understood one thing.
Today—
It was Kumogakure.
Tomorrow—
It might be them.
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