Pull One Hair and Move the Whole Body

Uchiha Kei had mobilized, a move no one had anticipated.

Upon receiving this news, Danzo was pleasantly surprised.

Based on past experience, whenever this branch of the Uchiha mobilized, it never amounted to more than a few dozen people.

Danzo, who had been racking his brains over how to lure Kei out, didn't bother to investigate further. He gathered every force at his disposal—roughly over a hundred men—and prepared to intercept Kei along his path.

A hundred against a few dozen; the advantage was his.

Just get it done.

Sarutobi was also taken aback.

According to his experience with the younger generation, a youth who had just put on such a grand performance and garnered so much attention should be at the peak of his arrogance.

Young people at this stage are most prone to losing their heads. In the past, if a youth of this age had such an experience, he would be indulging in song and dance, celebrating the spectacle of thousands bowing to him just yesterday.

Sarutobi wouldn't even have been surprised if Uchiha Kei were currently commissioning people to write books and biographies about him.

But to suddenly gather all his subordinates and set off with an unclear objective, as if going to war, was truly baffling.

Judging by the direction, they were heading toward the location of Danzo's Root headquarters.

Could it be that Danzo had done something else behind his back?

Or had Kei somehow learned of the subtle hints he had just dropped to the Uchiha elders?

Sarutobi felt a flicker of panic, though not entirely.

He decided to wait and see. In any case, they weren't coming for him, nor were they attacking the Hokage Building. He didn't care about Uchiha Kei; even if the two sides truly clashed, he had nothing to fear.

If they really ended up in a brawl, it would be a good opportunity to weigh Uchiha Kei's true strength through Root, and perhaps see what Danzo had been hiding all these years through Uchiha Kei.

Either way, it was a win for him.

Uchiha Fugaku, who was visiting the Uzumaki clan with his wife Mikoto, was also stunned.

His wife Mikoto and Kushina Uzumaki were close friends, giving him a perfect excuse to visit today and build rapport with Minato Namikaze. After all, the two had found common ground in their discussion of the battlefield situation yesterday, feeling a sense of regret that they hadn't met sooner.

Reliving that pleasant conversation today would have been a fine thing.

But just as the four of them were chatting happily, moving from personal friendship to ideals, and from childhood to recent years, the Uchiha household had turned upside down.

This isn't right. How could there be a major operation at home without anyone notifying me? Am I not the clan head?

What should I do now? I have no experience with this. Should I go home to handle it, or stay here and pretend to be composed, as if everything is under my control?

Fugaku began to struggle with the dilemma.

Kei, meanwhile, hadn't expected this. I'm just moving house, why is everyone panicking?

Truly, those who do no evil have no fear of ghosts knocking at the door.

Uchiha Kei led everyone, walking out of Konoha in broad daylight, heading toward Naka Shrine.

That was the sacrificial site of the Uchiha clan, though it had been rarely tended to since Uchiha Madara left.

It was also the birthplace of the Uchiha clan. Konoha had been established right between the ancestral lands of the Uchiha and the Senju, so Naka Shrine was not located within Konoha Village itself.

According to the rules, even individual ninja required a permit to leave the village.

In the past, everyone followed the rules, so the guards at the Konoha gates didn't need to be anyone of note; one or two Chunin and a Special Jonin were enough.

Besides, who would dare to cause trouble at the gates of Konoha?

But today, the gate guards lost their nerve. They didn't even attempt to step forward and inquire, letting Uchiha Kei and his men pass while whispering to themselves as they watched them leave.

These guys are even more arrogant than Root. At least when Root leaves the village, they know not to use the main gate, opting instead for the gaps in the Sealing Squad's perimeter.

You Uchiha really don't take Konoha seriously at all.

Oh, wait. Konoha belongs to them, doesn't it? Why would they need to report to anyone about what they want to do?

We're just being nosy.

Mind your own business.

Whatever happens, happens.

But no sooner had the Uchiha left the gate than a group of Root operatives came chasing after them, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.

They were usually arrogant, but they at least maintained a facade of decorum.

Today, however, they were in such a frantic rush that they didn't even bother with their secret passages, charging straight out of the main gate in pursuit of the Uchiha.

It seemed Danzo was truly panicked.

Upon receiving the news that Kei had left, Danzo had been pleasantly surprised. He had been in Konoha preparing to discuss how to deal with Uchiha Kei with the Hokage, but now he abandoned everything.

He dropped all his tasks, gathered every force he could muster, and rushed after Kei.

Only when he arrived did he realize that Uchiha Kei wasn't on a typical outing with three or four bodyguards and twenty peripheral members.

It was the entire clan, a grand procession of over two hundred people, fully equipped with the supplies for a military campaign.

Can't mess with them, definitely can't mess with them.

Danzo prepared to retreat.

While casting a suspicious glance at the subordinate who had delivered the intelligence, he readied himself for a withdrawal.

The subordinate felt quite innocent; after all, the Lord hadn't waited for him to finish speaking before setting off, and according to the rules of Root, he wasn't permitted to speak out of turn.

Before Danzo could even decide how to punish his subordinate, something even more terrifying occurred. The Uchiha, clearly on an armed march, were heading straight for his Root base outside Konoha Village.

That was the place where Root trained its new recruits, and also where Root stored its secrets.

Oh no!

Are they coming for me?

Are they trying to raid my home base?

This won't do!

Once a conflict broke out at the Root base, regardless of who won or lost, the Hokage would inevitably intervene. At that point, all the things that couldn't see the light of day would be exposed.

He couldn't let Uchiha Kei advance any further.

Danzo didn't even care that most of his subordinates were merely filler genin who couldn't possibly defeat the Uchiha before them. He led his men in a head-on clash, attempting to intercept the Uchiha on the road between Konoha and the Root base with forces that were completely mismatched.

He was even prepared to sacrifice the majority of his men just to stall for time until the Hokage arrived to save the situation.

A perfectly good sneak attack had been turned into a desperate defensive struggle by Danzo.

Yet, even then, Danzo felt incredibly fortunate.

It's a good thing I'm so wise, otherwise, the whole plan would have been ruined.