"Exactly! Uchiha Brahman was afraid. He feared that the four great ninja villages would join forces and defeat him, so as soon as we confirmed our alliance, he launched an attack!"
A clapped his hands. He had finally understood Uchiha Brahman's motives. The man wasn't invincible. He had attacked them first because he was afraid, hoping to catch them off guard.
"He chose Iwagakure first because he had already taken control of Ōnoki. By targeting Iwagakure, he could bring Ōnoki completely under his control, combine the strength of two villages, and then take us out one by one! How despicable, Uchiha Brahman!"
A gritted his teeth. He now understood Uchiha Brahman's intentions and just how strong—or weak—he really was. There was no way he could have crippled Ōnoki with a casual pair of punches.
He might have been a little stronger than Sarutobi Hiruzen, but not by much. He might even have been weaker.
All the villages knew what had happened in Konoha that day. They didn't know the specifics, but one thing was certain: Uchiha Brahman had launched a sneak attack.
He had taken control of the daimyo and Shimura Danzō, then attacked Sarutobi Hiruzen while the man was at his most relaxed. That was how he had driven Sarutobi Hiruzen out of Konoha.
He was strong, but only to a point. And Sarutobi Hiruzen was old!
Ninja weren't immortals. They couldn't wield power forever. Sarutobi Hiruzen, the former Hokage and current missing-nin, no longer had the strength he'd possessed in his youth!
If Uchiha Brahman had absolute power, he could have simply united the Shinobi World by force. Why would he need to use this serum to control ordinary people like the daimyo?
If he were truly invincible, why had he panicked when he learned that they planned to join forces, wage war, and kill him? Why had he rushed to attack them with no warning, not long after they'd discussed forming an alliance?
Wasn't it all because Uchiha Brahman lacked the strength to back up his ambitions?
He was afraid—afraid that once they united, they would defeat and kill him!
That was the truth. Uchiha Brahman wasn't an invincible God of Shinobi who could rule over the entire world.
Every piece fit together. A felt he had finally figured it all out.
After all, if this wasn't the truth, could it really be a coincidence?
One or two things might be coincidence, but when so much evidence came together to form such a perfectly coherent chain of logic, how could it still be coincidence?
It couldn't. This was the truth!
"Thank goodness I didn't inject this stuff!"
A thought with relief. If he hadn't resisted the temptation and had injected it back then, the consequences would have been disastrous. Kumogakure would have been finished.
He would have ended up like Ōnoki—controlled by Uchiha Brahman and beaten to death with two punches.
"But it seems Uchiha Brahman's mind-control jutsu isn't absolute. At the very least, Ōnoki managed to resist for a while!"
A spoke, recalling the news he'd received not long ago.
"Raikage-sama, we're ready to depart!"
An Anbu stepped forward.
A nodded. When he'd heard that Iwagakure had fallen and Uchiha Brahman was leading his forces toward Sunagakure, he'd realized they couldn't just sit and wait. They had to take the initiative and go support Sunagakure. All the villages would unite and kill Uchiha Brahman.
It would be even better if they could get their hands on the jutsu that controlled people who'd been injected with the Sacred Blessing Serum.
Then they would no longer be ninja. This country would belong to Kumogakure. From then on, Kumogakure would never be short of money again, and they would never need to complete another mission.
Uchiha Brahman had shown them a new path—a path that no ninja in the Shinobi World had taken in all its long history.
Most importantly, he'd succeeded.
Best of all, all the daimyo were already under control. If they acquired this jutsu, then... well, sorry, daimyo. You were the ones who didn't want to remain daimyo.
Come to think of it, Kumogakure had a pretty good relationship with the daimyo.
But the village's interests came first...
If Uchiha Brahman died, there would be no going back to the era of the ninja villages, even though the so-called village system had only been around for a relatively short time.
What Uchiha Brahman had done was like telling a smart person who looked just like a human, but was constantly ordered around by a bunch of weak, worthless trash, forced to fight and die for them just to earn a bone they could have taken from those weaklings by force: You're a person, too.
Those weaklings were no match for you. You could kill them without suffering any consequences. No one could punish you. Those weaklings couldn't control you!
The best part was that the daimyo and nobles really had no way to control ninja. Ninja were simply too spineless, born with a slave's instinct to serve as tools.
They had tremendous power, yet never thought to squeeze ordinary people dry and become the new nobility. Instead, they fought and killed other ninja. They didn't even fight for world domination or to become the new aristocracy.
They did it just for money, just to get a meal...
Sometimes Uchiha Brahman found it absurd. Since when had the lives of the strong become so cheap?
He had to admit, the ninja of the Shinobi World were pretty kind.
"Bad news, Raikage-sama! Sunagakure has fallen! Uchiha Brahman is almost at our village!"
A ninja rushed in, panicked, and shouted.
"What?!"
A stared at the ninja in disbelief. He charged forward, grabbed the man by the shoulders, and stared hard into his eyes.
How long had it been?!
Sunagakure had fallen already? How was that possible? What kind of joke was this?
"It's true, Raikage-sama! Sunagakure has been destroyed!"
The ninja answered calmly.
"How could it happen so fast?!"
A let go. How long had it been? Sunagakure had already been defeated. It seemed Ōnoki really had been controlled by Uchiha Brahman.
How devious!
"Looks like we'll have to rely on ourselves!"
A spoke gravely.
Konoha, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure—three villages had fallen in such a short time...
Outside, nearly every ninja in Kumogakure had gathered...
"Kumogakure. Only Kirigakure remains!"
The wind roared past Uchiha Brahman's ears as the scenery rushed by. They were rapidly making their way toward Kumogakure.
Every so often, needles shot from his body, striking ninja who were watching from hiding. Any creature hit by the serum would pass out on the spot.
The Sacred Blessing Serum came in different varieties.
Before you continue