Why Fight

Qi flashed onto the outer wall of the Uchiha Clan compound, the closest spot to his own home and the place where he had the most allies.

If Uchiha Qi was going to let loose, he naturally had to choose somewhere safe.

Even at his angriest, Qi's first concern was still his own safety.

"You ignorant lowlifes! You actually want to drive the Uchiha Clan out of Konoha. Have you forgotten how Konoha came to be?"

Uchiha Qi thought he'd asked the key question, but the villagers clearly didn't see it that way.

"Lord Hashirama of the Senju Clan built Konoha with his own two hands! You filthy Uchiha!"

"Everyone knows that. It's the consensus in Konoha!"

"You enjoy Konoha's protection, yet refuse to give anything back. You should leave Konoha!"

When it came to turning on their betters, the villagers of Konoha seemed to have a hereditary instinct.

They hadn't systematically studied Konoha's history, so they naturally believed whatever other people told them.

"Fools! Konoha is named after wood, its shadow is fire, and its symbol is the Uzumaki. These represent the Senju Clan, the Uchiha Clan, and the Uzumaki Clan, respectively. We Uchiha are the true owners of Konoha. You're just people taking shelter here. Does living in a house for a long time make it yours? Is that what you call justice?"

When it came to reasoning, educated people could always make a more convincing case than illiterate shrews screaming insults.

"That can't be right! Isn't the Hokage named that because this is the Land of Fire?"

"Bullshit. Don't people like us, with a family history, know more about history than you paupers, who don't even know how you were born? If you don't believe me, ask those shinobi from the clans who lowered themselves to be your 'friends.' Then you'll understand how the shinobi villages were really founded."

The loudest hecklers, shinobi like Murakami and Inoshita, immediately fell silent. They were naturally intimidated by the clans with their inherited traditions.

The inferiority etched into their bones made them lower their heads.

The shinobi from minor clans who weren't civilians knew Uchiha Qi was right. But that didn't excuse him from refusing to fight for the Land of Fire.

"Lord Qi, if you consider yourself the master of Konoha, why don't you lead your clan to the front lines? Look at the rest of your clan. We, the descendants of those who once followed Lord Hashirama and Lord Madara, are fighting and bleeding on the front lines for your village. Will you really just stand by? They're shedding blood!"

As expected, the clans stood with their own. Though the question still challenged Qi on why he refused to go to war, it affirmed his argument: Konoha belonged to the Uchiha Clan.

History could not be erased.

That shattered the worldview of the shinobi who had graduated after only two or three years at the Ninja Academy. Their textbooks hadn't taught them any of this.

Maybe that was why it was so hard for them to get along with the clans.

They'd all learned different things.

Qi sobered up, putting his anger aside.

"I've never feared war. But fighting for the Land of Fire has never been a reason for the Uchiha to go to war!"

"Why?" The civilians quieted down too. A few words from Qi had dredged up their inferiority, and now their desire to understand far outweighed everything else.

The scene reminded Qi of the old storyteller from his previous life, the one who went around the village sleeping with everyone's wives. The villagers despised him, but still respected him.

That was the natural power of culture.

Even a culture that was just a bunch of useless stories could captivate civilians who knew nothing about the world.

"Because if the Uchiha can go to war to protect the Land of Fire, then one day, we could go to war to protect the Land of Water!"

"Huh? What kind of logic is that?"

See? The illiterates were getting interested.

"The Uchiha Clan descends from the ancient Otsutsuki Clan. The Senju, Hyuga, Kaguya, Uzumaki, and others all descend from that same clan. If we can fight for the Land of Fire today, then tomorrow, as fellow descendants of the Otsutsuki Clan, shouldn't we also be able to fight for the Land of Water, where Kaguya lives?"

That argument was both right and wrong. It was just sophistry, but what could he do when the villagers of Konoha were so uneducated?

If you never studied, every day brought a new mystery.

That was how Qi took advantage of their ignorance.

"Are you really going to stand by and watch shinobi from other countries invade the Land of Fire?"

The villagers still weren't giving up.

"What does another country invading the Land of Fire have to do with us in Konoha?"

See? The logic closed in on itself. Konoha belonged to the Uchiha, and the Land of Fire had nothing to do with them. The Uchiha Clan was scattered across the world, its people living all over. So fighting for the Land of Fire was equivalent to making the Uchiha kill their own kin.

That clearly wasn't humane.

But the villagers still weren't satisfied. They couldn't put their finger on the problem, but they could tell something was off. The crowd fell silent, yet no one was willing to leave.

If this wasn't explained today, the ceremony welcoming the heroes home would become a farce.

They needed to know why they were fighting.

The Uchiha refused to fight for the Land of Fire. So what were the villagers fighting for? Konoha?

But even Konoha's masters weren't going to the battlefield. Why should they?

They needed an explanation, and Qi, who had stirred all this up, had a responsibility to give them one.

Silence was more frightening than shouting.

To put it crudely, a dog that bites doesn't bark.

More politely, if you have other options, there's no need to argue. But if you push someone into a corner, they'll stop wasting their breath.

Looking at the suddenly silent villagers, Qi panicked.

They were supposed to be discussing things reasonably. How had his reasoning left them so stunned they couldn't speak?

Though nobody said a word, everyone present knew what they meant.

Damn it. The thought that young people couldn't be trusted once again surfaced in Uchiha Fugaku's mind.

Orochimaru, who had never cared to reason with anyone, watched Qi with an intelligent glint in his eyes, hoping the young man would surprise him again.

But he thought that if they couldn't settle things peacefully today, the boy might end up like him—giving up on reason and turning to force.

Minato was still all smiles, while preparing to step in if Qi couldn't bring things to a close. The situation had left the villagers confused, but if he could help them find their way out of that confusion, they'd be more united.

He'd already prepared a speech about how they were fighting for survival.

Itachi was bewildered. I'm Otsutsuki, and I have plenty of relatives. So am I Uchiha Itachi or Otsutsuki Itachi?

Only Qi felt his head buzzing.

I'm starving. Does this mean they won't let me go eat unless I give them a whole lecture?

Damn brainwashing. It had such an obvious logical flaw.

The battle for control of the narrative was no fun at all!