Killing a Konoha Ninja

Forgetting history and falling into fallacies are necessary conditions for any social group to exist.

This is an objectively scientific fact, yet a highly irrational one.

Unfortunately, the ninjas in Konoha Village rarely have access to a comprehensive education system. Thus, the low-ranking ninjas who provide labor and even their lives rarely understand this principle, and those who do understand it are even less likely to popularize it among the lower ranks.

Watching the impassioned, agitated, and irritable villagers of the ninja village, Kei became increasingly calm.

This calmness stemmed from cultural confidence; he knew that his greatest advantage as a transmigrator was his cheat, and his greatest ability was not martial power, but culture.

He understood all too well the worship of culture by the illiterate. Otherwise, why is it that in feudal societies, the gentry and the scholarly advisors could always stage a silent restoration after social stability was established, overthrowing the very peasants who had built the new order?

Never mind the ninjas who had never studied history; even in that world with nine years of compulsory education, clickbait media still found plenty of room to thrive.

This is human nature: the thirst for knowledge.

Of course, another aspect of human nature—laziness—makes people unwilling to actually learn.

This leads to the human tendency to blindly worship authority.

And today, Kei intended to be that authority.

The Konoha villagers before him were becoming increasingly restless due to Kei's words. This made Uchiha Fugaku more and more uneasy; he even toyed with the idea of sacrificing the pawn to save the knight.

The Uchiha clan had long controlled the Konoha Military Police Force, naturally placing them in opposition to the ordinary villagers of Konoha. The dynamic was akin to that of city inspectors and street vendors; without official endorsement, the sharpness of the conflict became irreconcilable.

Before them, the ninjas who had just returned from the battlefield, bearing the title of "Konoha Heroes," were clearly filled with a sense of identification with Konoha. Behind them stood so many ordinary villagers, and here was someone from a clan universally recognized as villains in Konoha spouting nonsense.

If they didn't do something, it would seem they were unworthy of the title of hero.

The reason they hadn't acted yet was certainly not out of fear for the guards surrounding Uchiha Kei, but rather out of a desire to avoid a bloody conflict within the village.

Yes, that was it.

While they couldn't beat Uchiha Kei to death in public, they certainly couldn't let this petty man off easily—this petty man who spouted nonsense just to avoid going to the battlefield.

Uchiha Fugaku knew that if the emotions escalated further, things might become uncontrollable. He felt a pang of regret for having confronted Uchiha Kei about such matters in public.

He had originally intended to use his authority as clan head to force Uchiha Kei in front of everyone to lead the clansmen to the battlefield and secure a significant victory for the Uchiha.

This would have given Uchiha Kei a chance to earn military merit, once again introducing a newcomer to Konoha who was both an Uchiha and not the Uchiha clan head. The Uchiha could accept it, and he assumed the Hokage could as well.

After all, with Shisui as a precedent, the Hokage had no reason to object.

If it weren't for the fact that Shisui was too biased toward the Hokage's faction, Uchiha Fugaku wouldn't have felt the need to push for a new candidate.

This was a good thing for Uchiha Kei, but unfortunately, Kei didn't see it that way.

Children are truly unreliable; this young man simply couldn't grasp the leadership's vision. As expected, Uchiha Danjo was far more mature and steady.

Uchiha Fugaku once again thought of Kei's subordinate—that old man who kept the clan's affairs in perfect order, always understood Kei's thoughts, and helped him cover his blind spots.

This filled Uchiha Fugaku with jealousy. Others had subordinates who were united and capable, while he looked at his own—either stubborn old men who still believed in the ways of Uchiha Madara, or turncoats basking in the sunshine of the Will of Fire.

Alas, a vassal's vassal is not one's own vassal; Uchiha Kei's capable subordinate could never become Uchiha Fugaku's.

Hmph, sooner or later I will push Danjo to the top. I cannot let a child like Kei hold a high position and cause trouble.

Kei's behavior today was deeply disappointing in Fugaku's eyes.

But the Uchiha clan suffered as one; even if the act of going to the battlefield was proposed by Fugaku, if things were handled poorly today, the label of "fear of war" would inevitably be pinned on the entire Uchiha clan.

By then, not only would the Uchiha be forced to send more ninjas, but all they would gain was the removal of the "fear of war" stigma.

This was not what Fugaku wanted to see.

Just as Fugaku prepared to rebuke Uchiha Kei, pin the "fear of war" title on him personally, and force his branch of the family to deploy, Kei spoke first.

The emotions of the Konoha ninjas and villagers had been pushed to the limit by his demand for money. Now was the perfect moment to break a person.

To kill someone, physical destruction is the final resort; making them doubt their own deeply held beliefs is the most effective method.

"Oh, so you love the Land of Fire so much? But has the Land of Fire ever loved you?"

A single sentence instantly caused the blood pressure of the Konoha villagers to visibly rise. A sense of resentment surged from their hearts to their heads; the civilian ninjas in the front row almost couldn't hold back from attacking Uchiha Kei.

Unable to use force to "humanely eliminate" these Uchiha rebels, the civilian ninjas desperately needed evidence to refute Uchiha Kei.

But when people are angry, it is hard to think rationally. Of course, it might also be that they truly couldn't find any evidence that the Land of Fire loved the villagers of Konoha.

In an instant, everyone was speechless.

"Hmm?"

"How could the Land of Fire not love us?"

Or rather, how could one prove that the Land of Fire loved Konoha?

Every heart was filled with this question.

The masses, who had just been standing on the moral high ground, indignantly denouncing Uchiha Kei, suddenly didn't know how to respond.

A look of contempt became even more pronounced on Uchiha Kei's face.

One person making a crowd doubt themselves—this is how authority is established.

Kei shook his head slightly and sighed: "You people, you don't even understand the relationship between the Land of Fire and Konoha, yet you come to talk to me about love. Is it ignorance that gives you the courage to face death without fear?"

With the superiority of knowledge, the arrogance of a transmigrator, and the disdain of a great clan for commoners, Uchiha Kei, standing on level ground, made even the ninjas watching from the walls feel as if they were being looked down upon.

"Naive!"