A Gentleman Not Mingling Might Be Forced

The crowd fell silent, yet they did not disperse.

They were still pondering the answer to the question posed by Uchiha Kei.

And until they had settled on an answer, they clearly had no intention of letting Kei leave.

Moreover, not only did the people present not scatter, but the number of onlookers continued to grow.

The center of the ceremony celebrating the hero's return had shifted, bit by bit, from the Hokage Building to the commercial street outside the Uchiha clan grounds.

Those further back whispered the question Uchiha Kei had raised: Does the Land of Fire love Konoha, and what exactly is the relationship between the Land of Fire and Konoha?

Those who knew the answer could not bring themselves to voice it, while those who did not know fueled the increasingly eerie atmosphere with their hushed discussions and wild speculations.

Life is rarely perfect; dissatisfaction is the norm of existence.

Greed and jealousy are human nature, and under the interrogation of this question, the dissatisfactions of life naturally found a target.

Uchiha Fugaku, who had originally intended to reprimand Uchiha Kei, stared blankly, unable to fathom what Kei was actually trying to achieve.

Mature people always have a purpose in their actions, and for a moment, Uchiha Fugaku could not decide whether he should continue to categorize Kei as an immature child or as an adult with deep, hidden motives.

If you called him a child, the series of actions before him clearly had a goal.

But if you called him a competent adult, Uchiha Fugaku could not grasp what that goal was.

Kei, however, had achieved his purpose: in an instant, he had shifted the attention of the Konoha villagers from the celebration of the battlefield victory to the relationship between Konoha and the Land of Fire.

In truth, Kei's goal was simple: he was afraid of going to the battlefield.

Going to the front lines? Only a fool would want that. Bloodshed and sacrifice were things meant for others to endure. And I, Uchiha Kei, am the one who shouts passionate slogans to trick others into going to war.

I am a big shot, Lord Kei.

Sitting in Konoha and directing the course of the war is the proper job for someone like me.

As for "You have been empowered by the Will of Fire, go and die," that is something for you underlings to do.

Orochimaru, having been baptized by the fires of war, naturally understood its essence. A man who had trodden across the entire ninja world would not have his worldview easily overturned by Uchiha Kei.

Or perhaps he had long since found the answer to the question Kei posed, to the point where he disdained seeking validation from others, choosing to ignore Uchiha Kei's sophistry entirely.

He even had the heart to snatch a stick of three-color dango from his disciple, Anko, to give to the wide-eyed Uchiha Itachi to taste.

In his heart at this moment, the discussion about war and nations was not even as important as the sweets in a child's hand.

Minato Namikaze, currently being baptized by the war himself, had sufficient psychological fortitude—or rather, he was very clear about his goal: to lead Konoha to win this war.

Everything else was outside the scope of his considerations.

Whether the Land of Fire loved them or not was unimportant; what mattered was that Uchiha Fugaku, who had already been swayed, had agreed to send more ninja to join the war, and now, because of the words of this child, it seemed things were about to become turbulent again.

"Lord Fugaku, who is this?"

It seemed that Minato Namikaze, who had been away on campaigns for years, had no idea who this Uchiha Kei was.

"Oh, this is an elder of the Uchiha, Uchiha Kei!"

Fugaku, still wearing a stern face and racking his brain to figure out what Kei was up to, hurriedly collected his thoughts upon hearing Minato's inquiry and replied.

"Kei is a genius of our Uchiha clan and the hope of our future."

Kei, however, felt his face twitch with irritation.

Twelve years old, an unregistered ninja of Konoha, just awakened his Sharingan, with strength barely reaching the level of an average chunin. As expected, the "genius" of the Uchiha clan was just a label thrown around at will.

Whoever needs to be propped up as the new talent, that person becomes the genius.

In the past, with the tilt of family resources, those geniuses lived up to the name.

But Kei knew that he was no genius; he wasn't even a dead-last, he was just an ordinary person.

"Oh, so it is Kei-kun. Nice to meet you, please take care of me!"

Minato's attitude was very warm, enough to make those surrounding them feel his enthusiasm.

However, Kei was not so polite.

"Oh, Minato-kun, there is no need for such courtesy. The Uchiha still owe some respect to the Uzumaki Clan!"

From the moment he saw Minato Namikaze, Uchiha Kei had been prepared.

There are some people whose stories are moving and tragic, worthy of pity and lamentation. But these people should only be viewed from afar, not touched.

Just like Lin Daiyu, or the Minato Namikaze before him; one should sigh at their lives and feel pity in their hearts, but as for associating with them, forget it.

Because their stories are always accompanied by sacrifice. Either they sacrifice themselves, or they sacrifice those around them. To become the savior of their life stories requires paying too much.

Unless one is a supreme being of the age, one simply cannot afford such a heavy price.

Therefore, Kei, without any hesitation, pointed out his other identity right in front of Minato.

That is, even though others treat you like the heir to the Hokage, in front of me, Uchiha Kei, you are merely a matrilocal son-in-law of the Uzumaki Clan.

They say you shouldn't hit a man in the face or expose his shortcomings.

Minato Namikaze married Kushina Uzumaki out of love, naturally.

Being willing to marry into her family for love is a form of respect for the Uzumaki Clan, a prestigious race in the ninja world.

Although this ninja clan is nearly extinct, Konoha still uses their clan crest as its symbol; the bare minimum of respect must be paid to them.

Everyone in Konoha has accepted this love as a form of respect toward the other family, and no one truly considers Minato Namikaze's marriage into the clan as a genuine case of a man marrying into his wife's family.

The dead are to be honored above all else; those who have lost their entire family deserve sufficient respect.

In any case, as long as enough respect can garner more benefits, why not do it?

However, acceptance is one thing, but a marriage into the family is just that; the term "matrilocal son-in-law" clearly separates the noble clans from the commoners.

From the moment he realized he could not be friends with Minato Namikaze, Kei had already made his decision: to make a clean break from Minato Namikaze.

Kei did not believe that Minato Namikaze was a man completely devoid of temper; could Minato Namikaze really not be angry about such a slap in the face?

If it were Kei himself, he certainly wouldn't be able to endure it.

When petty people encounter situations that harm others to benefit themselves, they always like to judge others by their own standards, thinking that in such circumstances, everyone would act just like them.

When they encounter situations that harm themselves to benefit others, they always hope that others will stand in their shoes and think from their perspective, acting in a way that favors them.

Kei is exactly such a petty person.

But Minato Namikaze is clearly not that kind of petty person.

He just scratched his head with a hint of embarrassment and laughed heartily: "So, Kei-kun knows my wife!"

This embarrassment seemed to be nothing more than the shyness of a newlywed, with not a trace of anger over the term "matrilocal son-in-law."

Yet, the use of the term "wife" also made Minato's intentions clear; since Kei-kun does not wish to be close, then Minato is not one to force it.

"Wife" is a respectful term used for one's spouse when speaking to those one is not close with.

The conversation between the two seemed to end right there.

Konoha Village continues to discuss Kei's issues in secret, Minato is thinking of other ways to secure clan support for the front lines, and Kei is also heading home to eat.

But today, it seems fate refuses to let Kei off the hook; the Uchiha clan is like a leaky bucket—just when you've exhausted all your efforts to solve external problems, someone inside will always find trouble for you.

Having accepted a bribe of Three-Color Dango from the Hokage's faction via Orochimaru, Uchiha Itachi seems to have once again felt the warmth of the Will of Fire.

"Brother Kei, we Uchiha live in Konoha, so naturally, we must bleed for our country. If Brother Kei is worried about the dangers of the battlefield, I can go in your stead."

The sensitivity of a child is always ill-timed; compared to Uchiha Fugaku, who was overthinking and still guessing at Kei's motives, intuition told Itachi that Brother Kei, who spoke so righteously, was truly afraid of going to the battlefield.

And he truly hoped to take Brother Kei's place on the battlefield, so that he could both ease his father's worries and alleviate Brother Kei's concerns.

It was a win-win solution.

Kei, having had his true colors exposed by Itachi, wished he could slap this little traitor to death.

Truly a cub possessed of the Hokage's mindset, always able to share the Hokage's burdens.

Do you even know how much trouble you've saved the Hokage by doing what you did?

He didn't know, and Kei wasn't about to let him know clearly, either.

Kei ignored Itachi entirely and instead said to Fugaku: "Lord Fugaku, Itachi should seriously study the history of the clan."

Fugaku was already thoroughly terrified by the children's lack of discretion; today was a lesson that the generation gap is indeed a problem—he simply could not keep up with Uchiha Kei's train of thought.

Whether he understood it or not, he would wait until they got home to talk about it.

Fugaku hurriedly agreed.

However, the villagers of Konoha seemed to have found a way to deal with Kei.

Although they hadn't figured out the answer.

They absolutely could not lose to a child like Kei.

"That's right, the Land of Fire raised us, and you, a clan living on the land of the Land of Fire, actually don't want to contribute to the Land of Fire!"

"Traitors, get out of the Land of Fire!"

"Uchiha, get out of Konoha!"

The masses had found another outlet for their venting.

And this outlet was provided to them by another Uchiha. They had once again occupied the moral high ground.

And Kei, thoroughly enraged, decided he would no longer let them off.

"Your origins truly limit your thinking; you know nothing of the history of the Uchiha clan! You lowly wretches!"