The forest was still burning at the edges when I finally lowered my Susanoo. The giant armor dissolved into drifting crimson light, leaving only the ringing in my skull and the sticky warmth of blood at the corner of my eye. Uchiha Izuna stood across the ruined clearing, panting, humiliated, and very much alive.
Exactly how I needed him.
Killing him here would have been easy. Stupidly easy. But killing Madara's kid brother in front of half the Land of Fire? That was the kind of move that made history textbooks list your cause of death as "bad decisions."
The Konoha Alliance was barely held together as it was. Starting a blood feud with the Uchiha now would send every clan in the region scrambling for alliances and excuses to crush us. Even Madara himself could shrug off me vaporizing a few nameless Uchiha. But his brother? That line was too clear to cross.
So I wiped the blood from my eyelids, looked Izuna dead in the eyes… and walked away without a word.
The silence probably hurt him more than Amaterasu ever could.
Behind me, Izuna finally found his voice.
"Amamiya Raizen! Today's disgrace will be paid back tenfold!"
I didn't bother turning around.
"You can pay me back when you stop losing," I said, loud enough for all of them to hear.
Izuna's snarl echoed through the smoking trees.
"Damn you…"
Yeah, join the queue.
We were halfway back toward the clan when other ninja finally crawled out of hiding to stare at the wreckage. The forest looked like someone had taken a giant flaming shovel to it. The awe on their faces said everything: Raizen wasn't just "that guy from the Amamiya clan" anymore. News like this spreads faster than plague rats.
And it did.
By the time we reached home territory, every clan in the Land of Fire was buzzing like bees kicked out of their nest. The moment they realized the strength displayed at the daimyo's mansion wasn't a rumor, half the region panicked.
Because if the Konoha Alliance grew any stronger, where would its new resources come from?
Easy answer: everyone else's pockets.
The Hyūga clan reacted first. They always did. Hyūga Tennin, the patriarch, was already in a foul mood about the Amamiya clan's rise. Back when we were barely a footnote, Hyūga tried to pressure us a dozen times, and each time we slipped out of their grip like wet soap. Now the Amamiya were on equal footing with them. With me… maybe higher.
Hyūga Tennin didn't like that. At all.
The moment he heard about my display with Susanoo, he snapped. Decided to "test the intentions" of the other clans. Translation: he sent ninja messengers to every family that still hated the Konoha Alliance or felt threatened by its growth.
Pig–Deer–Butterfly. Sarutobi. Shimura. Even smaller clans like Chiba and Hibiscus.
His message was simple:
If the Konoha Alliance keeps growing, we're all next. Let's join forces before they swallow the Land of Fire.
And because paranoia is the official language of the Warring States, everyone listened.
The Sarutobi patriarch read the letter and immediately gathered his clan.
"The Hyūga propose an alliance against the Konoha Alliance. Opinions?"
One of their senior ninja didn't even hesitate.
"The Alliance is getting stronger. If we wait, they'll control the missions, the markets, everything. If we don't act now, we'll lose our standing. I say we join Hyūga."
Others followed, voices rising with anger. Lost contracts, caravans choosing our prices over theirs, the Konoha Alliance expanding into small clan territories. None of it hit them directly yet… but they weren't stupid. When the grass burns, the tall trees follow.
Every major clan in the Land of Fire felt the same pressure. Fear turned into unity. Unity turned into movement.
Within days, an anti-Konoha coalition began forming.
And not in whispers anymore.
By the time the last messenger hawk flew, every clan from the great houses to the half-forgotten bloodlines knew what was coming.
Hyūga Tennin had successfully pulled half the Land of Fire into one camp.
A camp pointed straight at us.
When I got the report after returning to the Alliance, I wasn't surprised. Honestly, I would've been more shocked if they'd stayed quiet.
Still… the timing was annoying.
"Right after the daimyo's birthday," I muttered. "They're fast."
Too fast, actually. Fear makes people efficient. And the spectacle I'd put on earlier clearly scared the life out of them.
I couldn't blame them. If I weren't me, I'd be terrified too.
But fear cuts both ways.
"The Konoha Alliance needs a war," I said quietly.
A war to prove we weren't just a gathering of hopeful clans.
A war to carve our name into the Warring States.
A war that every future generation would remember as the first step toward something bigger.
If we won, the Alliance wouldn't just survive.
It would dominate.