In that moment…
Kei stopped caring.
He activated the system and spent every Summon Scroll he had saved over the past six months in one massive summoning session.
As for anyone who questioned where these new Uchiha had come from…
How they had entered Konoha despite the village’s barrier…
Or whether even more unknown shinobi had slipped into the village…
Kei no longer cared.
His attitude at the time was simple.
Either kill me…
Or come up with an explanation yourselves.
“I, Uchiha Kei, answer to no one.” “If you want answers, choose.” “Interrogate me…” “Or fight me.” It was the mentality of someone who had already accepted the worst possible outcome.
A flash of light burst forth— Almost like the Flying Thunder God Technique.
When the light faded…
More than sixty shinobi stood before him.
Six Purple-tier Summon s.
Over a dozen Blue-tier Summons.
The rest were Green-tier Summon s.
The Purple-tier Summon s possessed Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
The Blue-tier Summons possessed Two-Tomoe Sharingan.
The Green-tier Summon s had only recently awakened their One-Tomoe Sharingan.
The commotion naturally alarmed Konoha’s leadership.
Yet the situation unfolded in an unexpectedly restrained manner.
Suspicion often shackled even the greatest schemers.
Especially when the target was an orphan with nothing left to lose.
Without complete information…
None of Konoha’s leaders dared act rashly.
Looking back now, having reached a position of influence himself, Kei could understand their hesitation.
At the time, the village was already suppressing the Uchiha.
Fugaku, meanwhile, lacked the strength to openly resist.
Then, out of nowhere, dozens of unmistakable Uchiha appeared.
Regardless of where they came from…
They were still Uchiha.
Fugaku spent a long time wandering outside Kei’s residence with several trusted clan members.
He hesitated.
Again…
And again.
In the end…
His indecisive personality won out.
He never entered.
Not even once.
His reasoning was straightforward.
“It’s only a few dozen people.” “Sooner or later they’ll have to interact with the clan.” “If nothing else, food, housing, and daily necessities will force them to come to me.” Just as the daimyō controlled the hidden villages through funding…
Fugaku believed he could do the same.
So instead of confronting Kei, he quietly shielded the newcomers from outside scrutiny.
To the village, he announced that they were members of an Uchiha branch family that had lived in seclusion and had finally returned home.
Then he patiently waited for them to approach him.
There was another reason as well.
A political one.
“The Hokage keeps suppressing the Uchiha because he believes he knows all our tier summon cards.” “Now these mysterious newcomers have appeared.” “For a while…” “The village won’t know what we’re truly capable of.” “Hell…” “Even I don’t know what’s going on anymore.” “If I can’t see through it…” “The Hokage certainly can’t.” As it turned out…
Fugaku was right.
For quite some time afterward, the Hokage eased pressure on the Uchiha.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had believed dismantling the Uchiha was simply a matter of time.
He considered himself thoroughly informed about the clan’s strength.
After all…
One of their greatest assets— Shisui Uchiha— already stood on his side.
Even Fugaku’s own son, Itachi Uchiha, had begun following Shisui’s ideals.
To support that effort, Hiruzen quietly spread word throughout the village that young Itachi possessed the qualities of a future Hokage.
A five-year-old child with “the makings of a Hokage?” That title existed only because the Hokage himself chose to say so.
From Hiruzen’s perspective…
He understood the Uchiha.
He restricted their growth.
He gave them just enough hope to prevent open rebellion.
How could the clan possibly overturn that situation?
“You may hope to outlive me, Fugaku…” “But at this rate…” “I’m not convinced the Uchiha Clan will outlive me.” Faced with this unexpected development…
Hiruzen chose silence.
Because he knew someone else would act first.
Danzō Shimura.
Danzō never disappointed.
Several Root operatives were dispatched immediately.
Their mission?
Detain the newly arrived Uchiha for questioning.
They didn’t even bother informing Fugaku.
But Kei already understood what Root truly was.
A covert organization hidden even from most shinobi.
Outside the village’s senior leadership and jōnin…
Few people even knew it existed.
Officially…
Its members possessed no legal authority whatsoever.
Kei, meanwhile, had already prepared himself for open conflict.
Among those he had summoned were Uchiha Gen, leader of the Iga Group…
And Uchiha Danjō, leader of the Kōga Group.
A mere handful of Root agents thought they could arrest people like them?
That was no different from common thugs trying to rob an armed military base.
That very night…
Those Root shinobi finally achieved their wish.
They each found themselves buried beneath the roots of a tree.
Never to see daylight again.
Danzō had vastly overestimated his own reputation.
He believed everyone in Konoha would yield to him.
Surely no one would dare start a war inside the village itself.
What he hadn’t expected…
Was that these newcomers had been summoned by someone perfectly willing to gamble everything just so a group of orphans could eat their fill.
One side had come expecting intimidation.
The other had already resolved to fight a war.
The misunderstanding was inevitable.
Just as veteran gangsters often died at the hands of fearless rookies…
Experience meant little when one side simply refused to fear death.
The instant the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal vanished from his fallen subordinates, Danzō understood.
Someone in Konoha had finally stopped giving him special treatment.
Furious, he initially intended to mobilize Root.
Fortunately…
He calmed down.
Root had plenty of members.
Very few were true elites.
Their influence had always existed because they stood behind the Hokage’s authority.
People didn’t fear Danzō himself.
They feared Hiruzen Sarutobi— the Hokage who commanded the loyalty of the Legendary Sannin.
With no other choice, Danzō pressured Hiruzen to punish the Uchiha.
Hiruzen, however, viewed the incident differently.
To him…
Danzō’s actions had served as a convenient test.
If Fugaku remained weak…
The village could tighten the screws even further.
If the Uchiha finally resisted…
Then Danzō could shoulder the blame.
Either way…
Hiruzen benefited.
But now…
The unknown strength displayed by these mysterious Uchiha made even Hiruzen hesitate.
Gradually weakening the clan remained the safest approach.
Open conflict was the last resort.
Once again…
The familiar argument echoed through the Hokage’s office.
“You’ll regret this, Hiruzen!” “I am the Hokage, Danzō.” And just like that…
The incident came to an end.
Kei never realized his actions had dragged the entire Uchiha Clan into the storm alongside him.
Eventually…
Both the Uchiha and Konoha accepted a convenient explanation.
An overseas branch of the Uchiha Clan had survived in secret.
Now, little by little…
Its members were returning home.
After enough time passed without incident…
The Hokage’s faction began spreading the Will of Fire among the Uchiha orphans who had originally followed Kei.
Those children had never known warmth before.
Now…
The Hokage personally visited orphaned children throughout the village—including those of the Uchiha—under the banner of honoring the families of fallen heroes.
Kei was never present during those visits.
Children, after all…
Were easy to influence.
Even now…
Kei had no idea how many of those orphans had sincerely come to believe in the Hokage.
He understood why.
The Hokage represented the legitimate authority of the village.
If someone like Hiruzen had personally visited him in his previous life…
His own loyalty would probably have increased as well.
Understanding…
Didn’t mean accepting.
To Kei…
Those children had betrayed him.
Not personally.
But socially.
Class betrayal.
The very children for whom he had risked everything simply to secure a warm meal now drifted closer to Shisui’s faction than his own.
Officially they still belonged to Kei’s branch.
In reality…
They became messengers carrying the Hokage’s ideals directly to him.
At some point…
Kei realized something.
He had originally wanted to change the world for those orphans.
Now…
He simply couldn’t stop pursuing his own ambitions.
So often…
People travel farther and farther…
Only to forget why they started walking in the first place.
To outsiders…
Uchiha Kei appeared to be a newly appointed elder surrounded by countless loyal followers.
Respected.
Admired.
Powerful.
Only Kei knew the truth.
The only companions who never abandoned him…
Were the people summoned from his system.
The “paper characters.” Sometimes…
Even he wondered whether there was something fundamentally wrong with himself.
If the system hadn’t engraved absolute loyalty into every summoned subordinate…
Would they have left him too?
If Kei had been an ordinary native of the Naruto world…
That kind of betrayal might have broken him completely.
Just as public condemnation had once broken the legendary Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of Konoha.
No one understood how to destroy a person’s spirit quite like Konoha’s leadership.
They understood human nature…
All too well.