Swoosh.
Kisame, ever the considerate gentleman, finished rinsing the bridge with a massive wave of water.
In seconds, the blood and gore were gone.
The bridge looked as clean as new.
Watching this scene, Tazuna trembled like a leaf.
He didn't dare breathe too loud!
Facing the "good guys" from the Hidden Leaf, Tazuna could play the pity card. He could use moral coercion, guilt-tripping them about his poor village and his cute grandson.
But facing this group of rogue ninja killing gods?
He'd have to be bat shit insane to try that shit here.
One wrong word and the shark-man would probably use him as a fish bait.
"Haku," Makoto called out, turning to the masked boy. "You and Zabuza should know where Gato's base is, right? Go secure it. We don't want any of those rats who ran away to loot the treasury before we get there."
"Understood."
Haku responded instantly and vanished, sprinting toward the other end of the bridge.
Haku didn't even consult Zabuza.
Although the boy hadn't spoken during the earlier strategy meeting, he had listened to every word. Makoto wanted to change the Land of Water. Zabuza had agreed to join.
Zabuza followed Makoto. Haku was Zabuza's tool.
Therefore, by the transitive property of ninja loyalty, Haku followed Makoto command.
While Haku went to seize Gato's assets, Makoto's group followed a terrified Tazuna back to his village.
According to the old man, the village was dirt poor.
So broke they couldn't even afford the official fee for a B-rank mission.
But looking around, Makoto realized it wasn't that bad. If they were truly poor, they wouldn't have had the resources to start building a massive bridge in the first place.
They were just squeezed dry by the blockade.
After touring the village to get a feel for the layout, Makoto stopped walking.
"I got it."
"Zabuza," Makoto turned to the Demon of the Mist. "From now on, you will establish a branch of our organization here. Let's call it the Wave Ninja Village. Though... the name sounds a bit wet."
Makoto stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Establish... a ninja village?" Tazuna's eyes widened, his jaw dropping. "Ninja-sama, are you serious?"
"Old man, you aren't wrong to blame Gato for your poverty," Makoto lectured, pacing back and forth.
"The exorbitant protection fees, the trade restrictions—I get it."
"But do you honestly think building a bridge is going to magically save you? A bridge only solves the physical transport problem. It doesn't solve human greed."
"Even if Gato is dead, what happens next week?" Makoto asked, his voice cutting deep. "Can you guarantee there won't be another Gato? Without a ninja village to protect this trade route, you're just a sitting duck."
"You saw those worthless thugs Gato hired. Kisame could wiped them out with a single jutsu. But what if the next guy hires a Jonin-level rogue ninja? What if they set up a blockade just like the Bloody Mist? What are a bunch of fishermen going to do then? Throw hammers at them?"
"By the time that happens," Makoto leaned in, "you won't even be able to sneak out to hire help."
Makoto's words hit Tazuna like a ton of bricks.
The realization dawned on him, but so did the fear.
'What if I'm just trading a wolf for a tiger?'
Makoto noticed the old man's hesitation.
Honestly, the worry was pointless. If these monsters wanted to exploit the village, Tazuna couldn't stop them anyway.
"Relax. Gato was an idiot," Makoto scoffed. "Even a miser like Kakuzu understands that sustainable development earns more money in the long run. Gato was just squeezing the lemon until it was dry. We want to plant a lemon tree!"
"Zabuza, once the village is set up, scout the local kids. Find the ones with talent and teach them ninjutsu."
"As for the administration and politics," Makoto pointed at Tazuna. "Dump that on the old guy and the locals."
"And Zabuza, listen closely: Do not use the outdated system created by the First and Second Hokage. It's inefficient garbage."
Makoto tossed a scroll to Zabuza.
"I've written the new organizational structure in there. Follow it."
"Ah?" Tazuna stood there, stunned holding his breath.
This terrifying man planned to let an ordinary person like him run the government? And he was going to train their kids to be ninjas?
"Let me be blunt," Makoto said, his eyes narrowing. "We are rogue ninjas. We kill people for a living. If you mistake our tolerance for weakness—if you become corrupt and ruin this project—don't blame us for being cruel."
"But," Makoto's expression softened slightly, "if you treat the Wave Ninja Village as a home to protect... then the village, the country, and the organization can all get rich together."
The classic carrot-and-stick approach worked wonders. Tazuna nodded frantically, swearing he could get the other village elders on board within half a day.
"I never expected our Strategist to be a genius in internal affairs, too," Itachi remarked, reading over Zabuza's shoulder.
The scroll was brilliant.
The reforms hit every pain point of the traditional village system.
Itachi sighed with admiration.
'If only Makoto had been born in the Leaf...'
Actually, Itachi was overthinking it.
The reason Makoto gave Tazuna that "don't screw this up" warning was precisely because he knew how the Hidden Leaf worked.
People think Naruto's childhood was sad because he was a hero's son who got bullied.
They think the villagers were just mean to him.
Wrong.
The Hidden Leaf villagers are just assholes!
They discriminate against everyone equally.
Obito? Bullied.
Gai? Bullied.
Naruto? Bullied.
Hinata, the heiress of the strongest clan? Bullied.
Even in the Boruto era, rich kids got bullied.
Hell, even Kushina got bullied for her hair!
In Konoha, if you didn't have a traumatic childhood filled with bullying, were you even really a konoha citizen?
"I wouldn't call it genius," Makoto waved off Itachi's praise. "I just understand common sense. Do you really think it's normal for a Kage to have his desk piled high with paperwork about lost cats?"
Makoto sneered.
He knew his limits. He could manipulate the Akatsuki because he had future knowledge and logic. But governance? He wasn't a politician.
The only reason his reforms looked god-tier was because the original system was brain-dead stupid!
Take the Hokage's workload.
As Makoto pointed out, the Third, Fifth, and Seventh Hokage spent their days drowning in D-rank mission reports.
Why does the Hokage need to sign off on finding Mrs. Yamanaka's runaway poodle?
It was absurd!
It was purely performative busyness.
By the time Naruto took office, it became a farce.
You had the strongest ninja in history, a living god of chakra, using Shadow Clones to help old ladies carry groceries and chase stray dogs until he passed out from exhaustion.
He was so drained from doing minimum-wage labor that he couldn't even maintain a clone to sing "Happy Birthday" to his own daughter and dropping the cake on the floor.
Imagine Spider-Man stopping a mugging.
That's fine.
Now imagine Iron Man or the President of the United States personally responding to a noise complaint or a cat stuck in a tree, every single fucking day.
It was micromanagement hell not a damn leadership at all.
Makoto was just fixing these obvious bugs in the code.
He didn't deserve praise for telling them that the CEO shouldn't be scrubbing the toilets.
"As for delegating authority..." Makoto glanced at Zabuza. "Don't worry about being sidelined."
"In a world of ordinary people, giving away power is dangerous. But here?"
Makoto smirked. "The Kage is the strongest fighter. That's the bottom line. You can let the civilians handle the taxes and the permits. If they ever try to betray you... well, you can just overturn the table."
"Or in your case, Zabuza, decapitate the table."
Zabuza's strength was more than enough to keep the locals in check.
And if anything unexpected happened?
The Akatsuki headquarters had his back!