21 Fear the Mighty, Not the Virtuous; Possess Petty Etiquette, Not Great Righteousness

Uchiha Kei opened his eyes abruptly, having figured everything out.

Brave Kei, fear no difficulty; just get it done.

With a bright smile breaking across his face, now that he had a solution, Kei cast all his worries aside and said to Hotaru, "Hotaru, notify everyone. We are heading out on patrol today!"

"Understood!"

Hotaru didn't ask why; she used the Body Flicker technique to find her husband, Uchiha Maru, and went to inform the others.

That was the one good thing about Kei's paper-doll subordinates: they strictly executed everything he ordered without ever asking questions.

Of course, this was also the result of what Kei had done over the past two years, which had filled these people with trust.

He had mediated the conflicts between Koga and Iga, united lovers from the two distinct factions, provided emotional belonging to those with unrequited crushes, and given these "tools" a better pursuit in life.

Looking at the bustling crowd, the dilapidated base where Kei resided had become lively once more.

Yet, Kei shook his head and sighed, "It's really getting too crowded. The Red Eye Clan will be arriving before long, and the living conditions will only become more strained. It's time to change our environment!"

Although Kei's move was a sudden whim, he had long since prepared a contingency plan.

Unlike the usual times when only a few dozen people would head out—with Kei keeping the majority of his strength at home to ensure the safety of his base and himself, while sending out small squads of elites to handle his affairs—the moment he announced that everyone was to leave, his pre-established "Plan Number One" would be triggered.

No one knew when this moment would come, but the instant it arrived, everyone knew exactly what they had to do.

Except for those orphans who had once shared joys and sorrows with Kei, the entire lineage of Uchiha Kei sprang into action.

Success is built on secrecy, while failure stems from negligence.

Those orphans who had once shared food with Kei and stood behind him to offer their support were no longer worthy of trust.

Even if all the Uchihas and all the people of Konoha categorized them as part of Kei's faction, viewing them as an undeniable presence in his family—and even if those few dozen people thought so themselves—in Kei's heart, these orphans, who had already bathed in the sunlight of the Hokage and were filled with hope and longing for Konoha, had long since parted ways with him.

Following Kei's order, nearly two hundred Uchihas immediately busied themselves, organizing combat weapons and logistical supplies as if preparing for a military campaign. They discarded any trivial decorations, keeping only the essential items that were easy to carry.

They gathered, traveling light.

What followed was a disciplined force standing in the square in front of the Uchiha compound.

The Shinsengumi uniforms, with their unique style, carried the oppressive aura of a disciplined military unit. The tailoring was sharp and form-fitting, mostly cinched at the waist, and since the Uchihas were all handsome men with long limbs, they were natural clothes hangers.

This attire made them look even more formidable.

Aside from a few special "Purple Card" ninjas whose physiques had been altered by their own ninjutsu—like Josuke, who was either bloated or gaunt, and considered an outlier—the rest of the Uchihas were robust and fit.

The rigor brought about by their long-term self-discipline highlighted an aristocratic elegance, while their high level of cultural and artistic cultivation showcased their meticulous and precise nature.

It was hard for this group to be anything less than perfect.

Although this attire was often criticized by that meddlesome clan head as nothing more than a flashy display useless for anything but looking good, that bumpkin didn't know that whether one is strong is just a matter of a patch, but whether one looks good is a lifetime affair.

With this getup, the Uchiha Shinsengumi attracted countless envious and longing gazes from the youth.

Even the Hokage had to admit that ninjas dressed this way perfectly embodied the spirit of Konoha's Will of Fire: powerful and elegant.

Unfortunately, the Hokage had no money; his budget was limited, and he couldn't afford to outfit ten thousand ninjas in such a uniform.

It was a pity that these guys who could represent the Will of Fire were actually a group of Uchihas.

As they gathered here, a massive momentum was created simply by these two hundred people.

Konoha, with its hundreds of thousands of villagers and ten thousand ninjas, fell into a hush because of these mere two hundred.

With Kei's command to "move out," the two hundred ninjas marched with the momentum of a thousand-strong army.

The entire village of Konoha began to stir in chaos.

The ordinary Uchiha clansmen, unaware of the truth, began to cheer. Regardless of what these newcomers were up to, their imposing appearance brought great honor to the Uchiha name.

The elders of the other Uchiha branches, who had been hiding in the compound plotting something, suddenly heard the news and became flustered and cautious.

The villagers of Konoha were even more nervous. Over the past few years, they hadn't feared the ordinary Uchihas of the Konoha Military Police Force.

Because no matter what public order issues or violations they caused, whenever a conflict arose with the Uchiha, the Konoha Anbu would always step in to take the other side.

If such things happened constantly, becoming the norm, who would still fear the Military Police Force?

Everyone would only find the Military Police Force annoying, and their authority would cease to exist.

The Uchihas were also helpless; the Military Police Force was the only power they had left, and they had to hold onto it and fulfill their duties.

However, the attitude of the Uchiha leadership was ambiguous, which made them afraid to escalate conflicts too far when clashing with the Konoha Anbu.

This made the already-loathed Uchiha of the Konoha Military Police Force even more awkward, and that awkwardness only served to make them even more restrained.

The Shinsengumi, however, were a different breed. Once they began enforcing the law, it didn't matter who the offender was; as long as they weren't Uchiha, they wouldn't even ask for an explanation. They would flip the table immediately. Any Anbu who came to mediate would get slapped twice, the family dog would get kicked, and they'd even tear up the completed homework of the children.

If a conflict broke out between two commoners, it was fine—they'd just get fifty lashes each. But if you had a conflict with an Uchiha, you might as well consider yourself unlucky.

Those Anbu would at least try to play favorites while keeping up appearances, maintaining a veneer of decency.

But this Shinsengumi group was nakedly abusing their public authority to shield their own.

It didn't matter how many years you had lived in Konoha, what the conflict was about, or who was right or wrong; they would come up to you and declare they suspected you were a spy lurking in Konoha, then demand you come with them.

You had nowhere to appeal, because they didn't deal in reason at all.

A banner reading "Favoring Kin Over Reason" hung blatantly at the entrance of the Shinsengumi's Imperial Prison within the Police Force.

Once you stepped inside and saw those words, even the dullest person would understand: you were finished.

Just accept your bad luck, squat in a cell for fifteen days to "cool off," and then have your family pay a sum of money to get you out.

You say you don't have money?

Heh, many who never walked out of that Imperial Prison are likely spending their days in some dark, forced-labor pit somewhere. Do you really think Konoha would make a big fuss with the Shinsengumi over a few commoners?

Over the past two years, the villagers have seen through it all: acting like a hooligan might work on the Police Force, but when you run into the Shinsengumi, you have to learn to be civilized and polite.

You have to take the initiative to admit your faults and learn to pay compensation.

Because there was no righteous judge to uphold justice for you; even Shisui of the Uchiha clan and the eldest son of the Sarutobi clan, who were known for upholding justice, had been beaten by them more than once.

They truly didn't give face to anyone.

To the upper echelons of Konoha and the Uchiha, this was behavior that created conflict and estrangement, undermined the unity between Konoha and the Uchiha, and was absolutely intolerable.

But to the Uchiha at the grassroots level, this was what the Uchiha Police Force should be.

Therefore, when the Shinsengumi assembled, they didn't ask questions; they simply started cheering spontaneously.

It didn't matter what they were doing; as long as they were happy, that was enough. It meant someone who had offended the Uchiha was about to have a bad day.

The Konoha villagers, however, were even more nervous, to the point that the streets went silent.

Villagers who had been playing with their children ran back home, and those running shops didn't dare close them for fear of a misunderstanding with the Shinsengumi.

They cleared away all the clutter from outside their shops and stood at their doorways with their families, bowing respectfully, not daring to straighten their backs until the Shinsengumi had left.

They looked absolutely terrified of giving the Shinsengumi any excuse to cause trouble, appearing almost servile.

Seeing this scene, the Uchiha elders could never understand why it was this way.

Why were the Uchiha, who were strict with themselves and lenient with others, always boycotted, while the Shinsengumi, who acted like thugs, were so respected?

Clearly, they didn't know that "fearing power but not cherishing virtue, having small courtesies but no great righteousness" was the perfect description for that race.

These commoners of Konoha were exactly that kind of people.

It was a pity the elders didn't understand.

It was a pity Uchiha Kei understood all too well.