The campfire flickered softly, casting golden shadows across Akari's face as he crouched silently among the rocks, watching Kuroyama and his followers from the treeline. The enemy was preparing to move—swift and calculated—yet something in their actions felt... familiar.
These weren't bandits or common rogue ninja. They had discipline. Purpose.
Kuroyama stood at the center, now removed from his earlier theatrics. He didn't shout or rally with fiery speeches. He gave clear orders in a low voice, and his people followed without question.
Akari noted every word, every movement. This wasn't just a rebellious faction—it was a vision. A dangerous one.
Yet even as he observed, doubt crept in like fog around his mind.
He had seen firsthand what Konoha had built—peace, prosperity, order. But he had also seen its darker sides: the silent disappearances, the quiet enforcement of control, and the pressure placed on clans who resisted too loudly. Especially those not aligned with the Senju or Uchiha.
And now, here stood a man who had also seen those shadows.
Kuroyama was no saint. But neither was he a madman.
"Do I report now? Strike now?" Akari wondered.
But he didn't move.
Instead, he stayed. Listening. Watching.
---
Back in Konoha, Madara and Tobirama stood in the Council Room. Hashirama had been called away to calm tensions near the Land of Lightning, and in his absence, strategies shifted.
"This rebellion needs to be eliminated before it spreads," Tobirama stated coldly. "We can't afford weakness."
Madara leaned forward, his fingers steepled. "Strength is not the absence of dissent. It's knowing when to crush it—and when to understand it."
Tobirama's eyes narrowed. "You're starting to sound like Hashirama."
Madara smirked. "He's not always wrong."
For a moment, the air between them was taut. Then Madara spoke again.
"Akari is out there. If anyone can see the line between threat and truth—it's him."
---
Later that night, in the rebel camp, Akari finally stepped from the shadows.
Kuroyama didn't flinch. "Took you long enough."
"You knew I was here?"
"I hoped you were. Only someone like you would listen instead of killing."
Akari remained still. "You're planning war."
"I'm planning to survive," Kuroyama replied. "You've seen it. Konoha's peace doesn't come for free. Not for people like us."
Akari's expression didn't change. "People like us?"
"Shinobi without names tied to the great clans. People not born into the legacy of the Senju or Uchiha. The world you protect is squeezing everyone else out."
Silence fell.
Then Akari asked, "And your solution is rebellion?"
"No. My solution is choice." Kuroyama stepped closer, voice calm. "Walk away now, Akari. Let the world burn slowly under a peace that only serves the powerful. Or help us change it."
For the first time in years, Akari didn't know what to say.
He had never hesitated in his duty before.
But now, duty and conscience no longer aligned.