No matter what world it was, no matter how righteous its ideals appeared , one truth never changed: Weakness was the original sin.
As Uchiha Kei strolled through the streets at an unhurried pace, he silently compared his own strength with that of Uchiha Fugaku…
and with Konoha itself.
Three shinobi followed closely behind him as bodyguards.
One glance was enough to identify them as Uchiha.
A three-man escort was smaller than the Hokage’s five-man personal guard and even smaller than the four-man detail Fugaku had adopted after Kei began traveling with bodyguards.
In terms of numbers, Kei lost.
In terms of quality…
Kei won without question.
Each of the three possessed at least the strength of an elite jōnin.
Even against a Kage-level opponent, they could hold their own for a time.
Which spoke volumes about one thing.
Kei was absolutely terrified of dying.
The Naruto world didn’t really measure strength by the official ranks of genin, chūnin, and jōnin.
Some genin were monsters.
Still, having a rough power scale made things easier to understand.
Among Kei’s three guards, two looked so unusual that they barely resembled members of the Uchiha Clan.
Yet their Sharingan made them unmistakable.
The truth was…
They weren’t real Uchiha at all.
They were subordinates created by Kei’s cheat ability.
A simple…
Gacha System.
Its rarity system worked like this: Green-tier Summon → Genin (One-Tomoe Sharingan)Blue-tier Summon → Chūnin (Two-Tomoe Sharingan)Purple-tier Summon → Jōnin (Three-Tomoe Sharingan)Orange-tier Summon → Kage Level (Mangekyō Sharingan) Because Kei himself was an Uchiha, every summoned character automatically possessed a pair of Sharingan.
That bonus alone made them even stronger than their original versions.
Nor were their abilities fixed.
They could continue training and growing.
The rarity only determined their upper limit.
Green-tier Summon s, for example, could at best reach the level of a Special Jōnin or ANBU operative.
They weren’t even worthy of personal names.
Kei simply gave them the surname Uchiha and let them choose the rest themselves.
Only Purple-tier Summon s and above retained their original names.
After all…
Those individuals had once been legends in their own worlds.
Every ten consecutive summons guaranteed at least one Purple-tier Summon .
Since arriving in this world nearly two years ago, Kei had performed two hundred summons.
Not a single Orange-tier Summon had appeared.
He suspected Orange-tier Summons required saving for a full one hundred consecutive summons.
Unfortunately…
Time wasn’t on his side.
The increasingly tense political climate in Konoha constantly left him uneasy.
He simply couldn’t afford to spend an entire year saving summon tickets without strengthening himself.
Fortunately, his steady ten consecutive summons had already yielded over twenty legendary jōnin.
Combined with their Three-Tomoe Sharingan, every one of them possessed elite jōnin-level combat ability.
That…
Was Kei’s greatest source of confidence.
His own strength hardly mattered anymore.
With over twenty elite jōnin, sixty chūnin, and more than one hundred genin under his command, no one within the Uchiha Clan could deny that he had become the second most powerful force beneath Fugaku himself.
Yet even that wasn’t enough.
Powerful…
Yes.
Invincible…
Not even close.
Otherwise, Kei wouldn’t still be operating under Fugaku’s authority.
And compared with Konoha?
The difference remained enormous.
Although Sakumo Hatake was dead…
And Tsunade had left the village because of her hemophobia…
Konoha still possessed monsters like the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Minato.
There were also exceptional shinobi such as Might Dai , who could temporarily attain Kage-level strength by opening the Eight Inner Gates, albeit at a terrible cost.
Then there were prodigies like Shisui Uchiha, whose bloodline and secret techniques allowed him to contend with Kage-level opponents.
People like that should have served as the trump cards of their respective clans.
Instead…
They willingly became the Hokage’s loyal supporters.
Kei believed that if the Uchiha possessed such hidden assets…
Then every major clan in Konoha probably did as well.
If a clan didn’t…
It simply meant they were too insignificant for the Hokage to bother manipulating.
A great clan always produced traitors.
A clan united in purpose…
Was usually a dying one.
Take the Hatake Clan, for example.
The Hokage’s methods were truly frightening.
It was practically mind control.
That was why Kei kept his strongest followers constantly at his side.
After all…
He himself had only recently awakened a One-Tomoe Sharingan.
His personal strength barely reached the level of a chūnin.
He genuinely feared death.
His bodyguard unit, however…
Was absurdly powerful.
The first was an elderly woman named Uchiha Gen, leader of the Iga Group.
She excelled at virtually every conventional ninjutsu.
Kei estimated that in her youth she had likely possessed ordinary Kage-level strength.
Unfortunately, old age had taken its toll.
Abilities Ninjutsu: S+Taijutsu: CGenjutsu: S+ The second guard was Gen’s granddaughter— Uchiha Oboro.
She would eventually inherit leadership of the Iga Group.
Her physical ability was terrible.
Her ninjutsu was terrible.
Her genjutsu was terrible.
Every measurable combat statistic was terrible.
Abilities Ninjutsu: FTaijutsu: FGenjutsu: F But anyone who underestimated her because of those ratings would pay dearly.
She possessed an innate ocular ability known as the Eyes of Dispelling, capable of nullifying virtually any ninjutsu or illusion.
Her Sharingan’s three tomoe had naturally turned blue, causing Fugaku to mistakenly believe she had awakened a brand-new form of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
A remarkably powerful one, at that.
Kei suspected the misunderstanding occurred because Fugaku had secretly activated his own Mangekyō Sharingan while investigating this mysterious newcomer.
Instead…
His dōjutsu had simply failed.
Oboro’s eyes naturally suppressed other supernatural techniques.
To Fugaku…
It looked exactly like a Mangekyō ability.
Naturally, he kept the matter secret.
Just as he concealed his own Mangekyō from the rest of the clan.
That misunderstanding became one of Kei’s greatest deterrents against Fugaku.
A weapon…
That was best displayed rather than used.
Unfortunately…
Oboro was hopelessly lovestruck.
All she cared about was her fiancé— Uchiha Gennosuke.
Now that both the Iga and Kōga factions served under Lord Kei, she happily believed the two clans would no longer fight each other.
All she wanted was to marry Gennosuke in a few years.
She had absolutely no interest in becoming a stronger shinobi.
Ironically…
Despite possessing the power to reduce nearly any elite shinobi to an ordinary person…
Oboro herself was so weak that she’d probably lose even after stripping away her opponent’s abilities.
So while she officially served as Kei’s bodyguard…
Only Kei truly understood who was protecting whom.
“What a ridiculously delicate strategic weapon…” Watching Oboro happily buying colorful dango nearby, Kei could only sigh.
“You’re a Purple-tier Summon …” “How are you weaker than some Green-tier Summon s?” His final bodyguard was the massive Uchiha Jōsuke.
One of the Ten Warriors of Kōga, he possessed astonishing durability despite his size.
He specialized in the Expansion Technique, inflating his body like a balloon.
Ordinary physical attacks barely affected him.
He could even float through the air.
He was practically an Akimichi with a pair of Sharingan.
His existence had recently caused the Akimichi Clan to repeatedly challenge the Uchiha through official village channels.
The Akimichi Clan Head even produced ancient family records claiming that during the Warring States Era, an Akimichi and an Uchiha had eloped together.
Based on that story, they argued that Jōsuke possessed legitimate Akimichi blood and therefore belonged with them.
Their attitude was astonishingly firm.
They were willing to offend the Uchiha over this matter.
After all…
Every clan dreamed of obtaining a Sharingan without suffering its drawbacks.
Because Uchiha women traditionally never married outside the clan, no family had ever achieved that goal.
Without Uchiha blood…
A transplanted Sharingan was a burden.
Now that an apparent exception existed, none of the major clans intended to let the opportunity slip away.
The resemblance between Jōsuke’s Expansion Technique and the Akimichi Clan’s Multi-Size Technique only strengthened their argument.
The techniques looked as though they belonged to the same lineage.
Naturally…
The Akimichi insisted that their clan’s secret technique had to be reclaimed.
They produced witnesses.
Historical documents.
Even elderly clan members over a hundred years old came forward to testify.
Their evidence was so convincing that if Kei hadn’t personally known the origins of his summons…
He might have believed them himself.
The result was absurd.
Jōsuke somehow became an “Akimichi-descended Uchiha.” The Akimichi even negotiated marriage rights over him.
Kei had no idea what Fugaku gained in exchange.
Apparently…
Compromise had become second nature.
But what good came from compromising with a clan that had always stood firmly beside the Hokage?
In a true crisis, they might promise assistance…
Whether anyone should believe that promise was another matter entirely.
Jōsuke himself found the whole affair deeply troubling.
He was a straightforward and dependable man.
An elite jōnin specializing in taijutsu suppression.
Now strengthened further by a Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
But he also had one major weakness.
He loved beautiful women.
Despite being enormous himself…
He absolutely refused to marry a giant Akimichi girl.
Ever since the marriage negotiations began, he constantly feared being ambushed, knocked unconscious, and dragged away to become little more than breeding stock.
While he was naturally resistant to physical attacks…
His resistance to genjutsu was practically nonexistent.
As a result…
He voluntarily attached himself to Kei’s escort detail.
Even though no official position existed for him, he happily worked without pay.
After all…
Attacking an ordinary Uchiha and attacking an Uchiha elder were very different matters.
Even if it meant working alongside the Iga Group despite belonging to Kōga…
He gladly accepted it.
His personal ninja way was simple.
“I’ll marry a beautiful woman!” This was Kei’s bodyguard team.
With them protecting him…
His own safety was virtually guaranteed.
Oboro neutralized enemy abilities.
Jōsuke crushed opponents immune to ordinary attacks.
Gen calmly guarded Kei while filling any gaps in their defense.
Against such a combination…
Ordinary assassination squads were as helpless as feudal soldiers charging shinobi.
And Kei possessed more than twenty warriors of similar caliber.
Ironically…
Despite only possessing a One-Tomoe Sharingan himself, no one dared disrespect him.
This was the shinobi world.
Strength commanded respect.
Even if Kei personally wasn’t particularly strong…
The force behind him ensured that everyone—from ordinary villagers to ANBU—treated him with utmost courtesy.
As for Root…
If someone from Root dared say, “Lord Danzō requests your presence.” Kei would answer only one way.
“Tell Danzō to come speak to me himself.” “He’s the leader of Root.” “I’m a captain of the Konoha Military Police Force.” “Who gave Root the authority to order me around?” “A bunch of rats hiding in the shadows…” “Once I pull an Orange-tier Summon…” “Root will be the first organization I wipe out.” That confidence came entirely from his cheat ability.
The Gacha System.
It was the reason Uchiha Kei could walk through Konoha with his head held high.
It also left countless people puzzled.
Why did these newly arrived Uchiha follow an orphan like Kei instead of powerful veterans such as Uchiha Gen?
Why did they call the weakest among them…
“Lord Kei”?
Even Shisui’s branch couldn’t understand it.
Shisui himself could defeat Kei in seconds.
Yet whenever Kei traveled through the clan compound, he was surrounded by powerful followers who filled the Uchiha with pride.
His position as elder hadn’t been granted by Fugaku.
It came from his own strength—more precisely, the strength of those loyal to him.
Controlling nearly one-fifth of the Uchiha population—all of them active shinobi—meant that Fugaku had no choice but to reserve Kei the first seat at his left during every clan meeting.
Without uniting under Fugaku, no other Uchiha branch possessed enough shinobi even to stand on equal footing with Kei.
Shisui’s situation couldn’t have been more different.
Although he personally earned the right to attend clan meetings through his own talent…
His branch held no elder’s seat.
Even though they descended from Uchiha Kagami, once a disciple of the Second Hokage, a member of the Hokage Guard Platoon, and a serious Hokage candidate.
Their branch had declined.
Shisui cared deeply for the village as a whole.
His own relatives…
Were simply part of that village.
It was difficult not to feel disappointed.
Because of that, members of Shisui’s branch often associated with the orphans gathered under Kei.
They desperately wanted to know one thing.
How had an orphan with mediocre strength gathered so many powerful Uchiha beneath him?
What qualified him to become the man everyone respectfully called “Lord Kei”?
Life, however…
Had never been fair.
In a battle shōnen world, surviving required one of three things.
An extraordinary bloodline.
A protagonist’s burning spirit.
Or…
A cheat ability.
Someone like Shisui possessed Uchiha blood, yet inherited Uchiha Kagami’s loyalty to the Hokage.
He wasn’t the hot-blooded protagonist type either.
A person like that…
Was practically destined to become a tragic casualty of the plot.
Kei, on the other hand…
Simply smiled.
“I’m cheating.”