An Eerie Balance

The main hall of Naka Shrine, surrounded by all the buildings, had also been torn down and rebuilt. It became the grandest shrine on the grounds, since it would be where Kei lived.

A statue had been erected in the main hall of Naka Shrine. Kei knelt before it, looking devout.

They said that the palm was yang and the back of the hand was yin; striking pure yang against pure yang could ward off evil spirits.

Kei pressed his palms together in the pure-yang seal, struck them together three times, then bowed until his forehead touched the ground.

"There's no god in this world cooler than you! You'd better prove my theory is right."

When he raised his head again, he could finally make out the grim statue's features. It was modeled after Uchiha Kei in his previous life.

"In this life, I don't respect anyone else. I respect you!"

Uchiha Kei swore solemnly to himself.

Ever since Tenshen had awakened his eyes, a great weight had finally lifted from Kei's heart.

At last, Kei had found a new way forward after feeling powerless against high-level fighters. Though they still weren't Orange Cards, and couldn't unlock much, they would give him a significant advantage in the conflicts to come.

Two years had passed, and the first batch of those summoned seemed to have grown tremendously. If Tenshen could awaken his eyes, then how far behind could Oboro, Gennosuke, and Danjō be, given that each of them occupied two slots as well?

In particular, the way Tenshen had awakened his eyes seemed completely different from the method handed down within the Uchiha Clan. It gave Kei plenty to think about.

Besides the standard Mangekyo ability, Susanoo, Tenshen's Mangekyo had a unique ability called the Saha World.

It was a powerful passive ability that doubled his damage whenever it was activated.

Just how powerful was this ability? Once activated, one slash became two, one ninjutsu became two, and even Susanoo appeared as a pair of giant warriors.

Combined with Tenshen's seemingly limitless chakra, one Mangekyo was as good as two.

According to Tenshen, when he awakened his eyes, he entered a state of meditation. His conviction had grown firm, like a pilgrim's, and he decided he would carry on the life Sakumo had left unfinished.

For that reason, Tenshen had made a solemn vow to the Buddha he worshipped.

"If I don't go to hell, who will?" This man, who bore the most vicious reputation, had the kindest heart. His thoughts reached all the way into hell.

And then Tenshen's Sharingan awakened.

Perhaps even the gods wanted to see what kind of life a man rejected by his friends and family, yet willing to shoulder the burdens of others like a saint, would lead in a new world.

The process of Tenshen's awakening had given Kei a deeper understanding of the Sharingan.

This world was truly strange. Perhaps faith could really bring something into being.

A dead-last could rage his way into awakening the Mangekyo, while a genius could lose his entire family before awakening a One-Tomoe. That showed how unreliable the claim was that one needed to endure intense negative emotions to awaken the eyes.

At least, that wasn't the whole story.

"If I'm right, maybe I won't have to let Konoha lead me around by the nose anymore."

After learning the details of Tenshen's awakening, Kei had come up with a new idea.

This world was fascinating. There were gods here, but they were real beings, like the Death God, the Evil God, and the Sage of Six Paths. Few people had seen them, and most thought they were only characters from stories, but Kei knew they objectively existed.

But this world had no myths or legends. Izanagi had a name, but no stories. Susanoo was simply Susanoo, a jutsu of the Uchiha Clan. No one knew it represented the god Susanoo-no-Mikoto.

The Uchiha Clan's secret history, mixed in among the ninjutsu scrolls Danzo had sent, described in detail the special abilities that had accompanied the Mangekyo awakenings of past Uchiha, as well as the fame those shinobi had earned.

Yet there were no records of the gods associated with the Mangekyo abilities named after them.

That was abnormal, and it was also the key.

As it happened, the Koga and Iga were clans of shinobi with their own beliefs. So Kei began a full-scale campaign to create gods.

And this campaign would prove some of Uchiha Kei's theories.

The idea came from a detail in a book Kei had read in his previous life.

In The Three-Body Problem, some people who had lost faith in humanity's morality turned to the advanced Trisolarans as humanity's saviors. They developed a delusion they should never have had: that the more advanced a civilization was, the higher its moral standards.

They devoutly worshipped the Trisolarans as gods, hoping an advanced civilization could save the morally corrupt people of Earth.

But when they learned how terrible their gods' living conditions were, those Earthlings who had treated the Trisolarans as gods subconsciously turned to the untouchable Bodhisattvas for help.

They hoped the Bodhisattvas could save their gods.

Clearly, that intangible faith was the greatest support in people's hearts.

Perhaps the Uchiha awakened their eyes when, in their darkest hour, they prayed to the gods. Their devotion won the gods' favor, and the Sharingan came into being.

It wasn't a cursed power, but a power blessed by the gods.

And proving it wouldn't be difficult. Kei only needed to tell his subordinates stories about the gods, then get them to believe. In other words, it was religious brainwashing and the training of fanatics.

And so, a full-scale campaign to create gods began.

There was no harm in trying. The Iga and Koga already had their own faiths: one worshipped the Future Buddha, and the other Vairocana.

Well, Tenshen was an exception. He worshipped Ksitigarbha.

No wonder people disliked him. He was always out of step with everyone else.

If Kei could also learn from Fugaku exactly how he had awakened his eyes, that would be even better confirmation.

Kei was certain Fugaku had awakened his eyes.

But whether or not he confirmed it, if another case emerged as Kei expected, that would prove Uchiha Kei's theory.

While Kei was driving large-scale development, Konoha remained eerily calm.

The Third Hokage had a foolproof plan: while the enemy grew food, he would forge weapons. The enemy would become his granary.

Seeing Uchiha Kei throw himself into development, the Third Hokage grew even more unhurried. He planned to build up enough military strength, then seize the fruits of the Uchiha's hard work all at once.

"Uchiha Kei is naïve after all. A peaceful life will make shinobi lose their will to fight. Once they lose that will, they'll lose everything, including the land where they live in peace. That's the lesson of a thousand years of warring states."

Every clan that had fallen had been one that tried to settle down.

Work hard, Uchiha Kei. This will be your final contribution to Konoha.

With that in mind, Sarutobi wrote Jiraiya, who had gone out to gather material, an eloquent letter reminiscing about their years as master and student. He even hinted that he hoped this pupil would help another pupil overcome the pain of losing his lover and family.

To win more support, Sarutobi even loosened Orochimaru's leash, tolerating the inhumane human experiments his pupil conducted out of fear of death.

Of course, immortality could be researched, but Impure World Reincarnation was out of the question. It toyed with the souls of the dead, and that was absolutely intolerable.

For Konoha, there was nothing that couldn't be sacrificed—except the dead.

Yes, that had to be it.

This arms race, much like a cold war, even benefited Orochimaru, leaving him somewhat puzzled.

Orochimaru felt that life had been going unusually well lately. Had Minato done something to displease their teacher?

After all, apart from suppressing Minato, Orochimaru couldn't think of any reason their teacher would promote him.

There was no doubt about it: Sarutobi's balancing act had become second nature to everyone.

Danzo, caught between the Uchiha and Sarutobi, kept a very detached attitude.

Although Danzo had betrayed Kei, he hadn't revealed much.

Naturally, he didn't dare tell Sarutobi that he had bought his life by selling Kei information about their past. He had only exaggerated the threat Kei posed to put an end to their conflict.

Although things had once again failed to go his way, the result was close enough. The Third Hokage and Kei were now locked in bitter hostility. Every move either of them made was read far too much into by the other.

This was the best environment for him to survive long-term.

And so, with Konoha's three great powers—one farming and dreaming of the world, one forging weapons and eyeing the granary, and one quietly stirring up trouble—an eerie balance emerged.

But all three knew it wouldn't last long. Sooner or later, someone would make a move.