Kei leaped onto the outer wall of the Uchiha Clan compound.
It was the closest place to home—and more importantly, the place with the most of his own clansmen.
If he was about to unleash a verbal barrage, he was going to do it somewhere safe.
Even in the heat of the moment, the first thing Uchiha Kei considered was still his own safety.
“You ignorant rabble!” “You actually dare tell the Uchiha Clan to leave Konoha?” “Have you forgotten how Konoha came into existence in the first place?” Kei believed he had asked the crucial question.
The villagers clearly disagreed.
“Konoha was founded by Lord Hashirama Senju!” “You filthy Uchiha!” “Everyone knows that!
That’s common knowledge!” “You’ve enjoyed Konoha’s protection all this time, yet you refuse to fight for it.
If that’s the case, then get out of Konoha!” When it came to challenging those above them, Konoha’s civilians showed remarkable enthusiasm.
None of them had ever studied Konoha’s history in any meaningful way.
Whatever they had been told…
They simply accepted as fact.
“Ignorance.” “Konoha’s very name tells its history.” “‘Leaf’ represents the Senju Clan.” “‘Fire’ represents the Uchiha Clan.” “And the village’s emblem bears the crest of the Uzumaki Clan.” “Together they symbolize the three founding clans.” “The Uchiha are among Konoha’s founders.” “You are merely those who came later and lived under our protection.” “If someone occupies a house long enough…” “Does that house suddenly become theirs?” “Is that your idea of justice?” Knowledge was a powerful weapon.
Someone who understood history could always make a stronger argument than people who relied only on shouting.
“Impossible!” “Isn’t the Hokage called the Hokage because this is the Land of Fire?” “Bullshit.” “Do you really think people from clans with centuries of recorded history know less than commoners who don’t even know where their own family histories begin?” “If you don’t believe me, ask your shinobi friends from the ninja clans.” “They’ll tell you how the hidden villages were actually founded.” The loudest voices immediately fell silent.
Even several civilian shinobi lowered their heads.
Facing members of long-established clans, they instinctively felt inferior.
That inferiority had been engraved into them since childhood.
The shinobi from the smaller clans, however, knew Kei wasn’t wrong.
History was history.
But that still didn’t explain why he refused to fight for the Land of Fire.
One of them stepped forward.
“Lord Kei.” “If you truly consider yourself one of Konoha’s founders…” “Then why won’t you lead your clan to the battlefield?” “Your own clansmen are already fighting on the front lines.” “So are the descendants of those who once followed Lord Hashirama and Lord Madara.” “They’re shedding blood for your village.” “And you’re simply watching from here?” As expected…
The ninja clans still understood one another better than civilians ever could.
Although the question still challenged Kei’s refusal to go to war…
It also acknowledged one important point.
Konoha had indeed been founded by the Uchiha alongside the Senju.
History could not simply be erased.
For many of the younger shinobi who had graduated from the Academy after only a few years of study…
Their understanding of history had just been turned upside down.
That’s not what we were taught…
Perhaps that was why it was always so difficult for civilians and the ninja clans to truly understand one another.
They had learned entirely different histories.
Kei’s expression finally became serious.
The irritation disappeared from his face.
“I have never feared war.” “But protecting the Land of Fire has never been the reason the Uchiha go to war.” “Why?” Even the civilians stopped shouting.
Kei’s words had awakened the inferiority they had buried deep inside themselves.
Now…
Their desire for answers overwhelmed everything else.
The scene reminded Kei of an old storyteller from his previous life.
The old man had been notorious for his scandals, and everyone in the village despised him.
Yet every afternoon, people still gathered to hear his stories.
Knowledge possessed a strange kind of authority.
Even something as seemingly useless as storytelling could captivate people who knew little about the wider world.
“Because…” “If protecting the Land of Fire is enough reason for the Uchiha to wage war…” “Then one day, protecting the Land of Water would also become a perfectly valid reason.” “…What kind of logic is that?” The bait had been taken.
“The Uchiha Clan descends from the ancient Ōtsutsuki Clan.” “The Senju, Hyūga, Kaguya, Uzumaki…
they all trace their origins back to the same ancestor.” “If we fight today for the Land of Fire simply because we live here…” “Then tomorrow, should we also fight for the Land of Water because the Kaguya Clan lives there?” It wasn’t entirely true.
Nor was it entirely false.
It was sophistry.
But who could expose the flaw?
The villagers lacked the historical knowledge to do so.
As long as people refused to learn…
There would always be mysteries no one could answer.
Kei was shamelessly exploiting that ignorance.
“Then…” “Are we supposed to stand by and watch shinobi from other countries invade the Land of Fire?” The villagers still refused to give up.
“What does another country invading the Land of Fire have to do with Konoha?” Kei answered calmly.
The logic had come full circle.
Konoha belonged to Konoha.
The Uchiha were one of Konoha’s founding clans.
The Land of Fire and the Uchiha were not inherently the same thing.
Members of the Uchiha Clan had long since scattered across the world.
If they fought solely for the Land of Fire…
Wouldn’t that simply mean forcing members of the same extended clan to kill one another?
How could that possibly be considered just?
The villagers still felt something was wrong.
They couldn’t explain why.
They simply knew they couldn’t accept Kei’s answer.
The crowd once again fell silent.
Yet no one left.
Because unless this question was answered…
Today’s celebration welcoming the heroes home would become nothing more than a joke.
They needed to know…
What were they fighting for?
If the Uchiha refused to fight for the Land of Fire…
Then why were everyone else risking their lives?
For Konoha?
But if even one of Konoha’s founding clans wasn’t willing to go to war…
Then what about them?
They needed an explanation.
And since Kei had started this entire discussion…
They believed he had the responsibility to provide one.
Silence was more frightening than shouting.
As the saying went…
Actions speak louder than words .
A more elegant way to put it was this: People argue only while they still believe words can solve the problem.
Once they’ve run out of words…
They begin preparing to act.
Looking at the suddenly silent crowd…
Kei panicked.
Wait…
I thought we were debating.
How did everyone end up speechless instead?
No one spoke.
Yet everyone understood what everyone else was thinking.
Damn it…
Young people really are unreliable…
The thought surfaced once again in Fugaku’s mind.
Orochimaru, who had never enjoyed arguing in the first place, watched Kei with keen interest.
He hoped this young man would surprise him one more time.
Though if Kei failed to resolve the situation today…
Orochimaru suspected the boy might eventually become just like him.
When reason failed…
Violence would suffice.
Minato still wore his trademark sunny smile.
At the same time, he quietly prepared himself.
If Kei couldn’t bring the situation under control…
He would step in.
Although the villagers were confused now…
If he could guide them out of that confusion…
Their unity would only grow stronger.
He had already begun composing a speech in his head.
“We fight for survival.” Itachi, meanwhile, had become completely bewildered.
I’m an Ōtsutsuki?
I have that many relatives?
Then…
am I Itachi Uchiha…
or Itachi Ōtsutsuki?
Only Kei felt his head pounding.
I’m starving…
So unless I give these people a full public history lecture…
They’re seriously not going to let me go home and eat?
Damn this indoctrination.
The logic has holes everywhere.
Competing for control of the narrative is no fun at all.