My Foolish Little Brother

This world-ending catastrophe ended with a whimper; it seems the god never truly intended to destroy the world, but merely wished to let it feel the weight of divine majesty.

What reactions the various factions might have, Kei does not yet know. He only knows that today's events have left him thoroughly miserable.

Today's spectacle was not a whim of Kei's, but a carefully laid plan. Even so, he had not expected things to escalate to such a degree.

Originally, this display of Susanoo's power was meant to be a show of force to intimidate the Third Hokage—in plain terms, a grand military parade.

He wanted the Uchiha to bring out their trump cards to rattle the Third, to let him see exactly what he would be up against.

After all, war is the continuation of politics, and politics is an art of compromise. Kei hoped that a military exercise would make the Third hesitant and lead him to make a misjudgment.

Since the Third was prepared to pit six Kage-level combatants against three pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan to fight a clean war of annihilation, Kei decided to cut off one of his arms and then manufacture the ruse of having four pairs of Sharingan, just to see if the Third could scrape together eight Kage-level fighters.

Winning over Orochimaru, pulling Fugaku onto his ship, and then demonstrating the strength of the Uchiha clan to all of Konoha—this would not only keep Konoha in check but also increase the cohesion of the Uchiha. Why wouldn't he do it?

Kei had no intention of starting a war with the Third just yet. If he were to fight, he would wait until his own strength had improved—not necessarily to become invincible, but at least to ensure his own survival.

Do not be fooled by Kei's aggressive posturing; his goal was simply to buy time.

Therefore, one should not listen to what a person says, but watch what they do. No matter how loud Kei's slogans were, his true purpose was merely to secure a period of mutual apprehension with Sarutobi, leaving enough time to elevate his personal strength.

A battle of life and death allows for no carelessness.

If a real fight broke out, Sarutobi would not show mercy just because Kei was an Uchiha elder; on the contrary, he would specifically target Kei for being such a thorn in his side.

Yet, life is so unpredictable; you never know whether tomorrow or an accident will arrive first.

A military parade had turned into a nuclear test.

Kei had thoroughly botched the situation, and only the future would reveal the chain reaction that would follow.

Kei and Fugaku, realizing that things had spiraled out of control, sat in the main hall of Naka Shrine, staring at each other in silence.

One could figure out with their eyes closed that the impact of today's scene would not be easy to clean up.

The anomaly in the sky had been seen by the entire ninja world. Until they figured out exactly what had happened to the Uchiha clan, the eyes of the Five Great Ninja Villages would never leave Naka Shrine.

The Uchiha clan, having lost the title of the premier noble family, once again stood at the center of the ninja world's storm.

Fugaku, already conflicted, sat across from Kei, his mind in total turmoil.

Why was being a clan head so difficult? He had finally seen his people grow strong, only to invite an even greater risk.

They finally had the strength to challenge Konoha, yet they now had to face the scrutiny of the entire ninja world.

How was he supposed to solve this? He truly had no experience!

Fugaku opened his mouth several times to speak, wanting to discuss it with Kei, but seeing the pained expression on Kei's face, he didn't know what to ask.

But what must be faced must be faced. Fugaku felt he had to hear Kei's opinion; only by reaching a consensus and standing united could they have the confidence to face the various probes to come.

"Kei-kun, what are you thinking about?"

Kei kept his eyes tightly shut in agony, seemingly distressed over the future of the Uchiha.

Seeing that Kei did not answer, Fugaku pressed him.

"Kei-kun, speak up. Your thoughts are very important to me."

Unable to dodge Fugaku any longer, Kei finally spoke.

"Haha, Lord Fugaku, I was just thinking: since your ocular technique is 'whoever you glare at gets pregnant,' does the child born belong to you, or to the clan?"

Uchiha Fugaku nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. How could Uchiha Kei be so unreliable? He really shouldn't have talked to him today; even at a time like this, he was thinking of such nonsense.

In the future, he would be better off finding Tenshen and Danjō; children were just too unpredictable. If it weren't for Kei egging him on today, they wouldn't have caused such a world-shaking commotion.

Fugaku was so stifled he couldn't even speak, while Uchiha Itachi was furious.

"Uchiha Kei, do you have any idea what you've done today? Do you know what our clan will face after this? Do you really think the current Uchiha has the strength to withstand the prying eyes of the Four Great Nations? This is a moment of life and death for the Uchiha, Kei! I hope you can understand that! Can you be serious? Think carefully about what conditions we can offer to make the Hokage compromise and help us survive this crisis!"

"Please act in a manner befitting your status as an Uchiha elder, Kei-kun!"

An innocent man is innocent, but holding a treasure is a crime. With the Uchiha clan reduced to only a thousand people, having caused a stir like all nine Tailed Beasts going mad at once, no ninja village would be at ease without an explanation.

At a time like this, seeing Kei still acting so flippant, Itachi was naturally dissatisfied.

And the only solution he could think of was to leverage Konoha's power to protect the Uchiha.

Hearing Itachi's dissatisfaction, Kei didn't even open his eyes, merely sneering.

"Hmph, what could possibly make Konoha feel more at ease than my head? Itachi, do you want to trade my head for Konoha's support?"

Itachi froze. Subconsciously, that was exactly what he meant. He hoped Kei was a sensible man who would make a sacrifice for the Uchiha. If he were in Kei's shoes, he would certainly do it.

But he hadn't expected Kei to say it outright. He lacked the courage to admit that was his intention.

"I didn't mean that. I just hope..."

Before Itachi could finish, Kei waved his hand to stop him, sighed, and lowered his head to stroke his own sword.

"My foolish little brother, from the day you were born, the entire Naka Shrine has been whispering this name: Uchiha Itachi."

Pride! When Kei spoke the name Uchiha Itachi, it was with infinite pride. The intensity of his expression made even Fugaku wonder if, had Kei not been too young, Mikoto might have done something to betray him.

Having smoothed over the restless Amenotokotachi, Kei's tone gradually shifted from pride to admonition.

"My brother, I have watched you grow day by day with pride, becoming the embodiment of justice. Remember, the Uchiha clan has always dominated the ninja world through strength and pride."

Qi's tone grew increasingly stern.

"Itachi, I hope that in the future, you will use your formidable power with caution. But I also want you to remember that true victory lies in inspiring hope within our clansmen."

"One day, your father's life will reach its end. And you, you shall be crowned king!"

As Qi finished speaking, Itachi stood frozen. Ever since he had first met Qi, he had felt that the attention he received from his father was always diverted toward Qi. As his father's pride and joy, he had always lived in Qi's shadow.

Compared to the empty praise of the Hokage's ideology, Qi's achievements were always tangible and grounded.

Yet today, he was at a loss. He had never imagined that this brother he so disliked held such high expectations for him.

Fugaku was equally stunned, though a weight lifted from his heart. The rivalry between Qi and Itachi had always been a dark cloud hanging over him.

After all, there was only a five or six-year age gap between them. Fugaku dared not imagine what might happen between his brilliant son and the formidable elder once he grew old and could no longer keep the peace.

Who would have thought that today he would receive such a declaration from Qi? It turned out that he, too, held such great expectations for Itachi.

Perhaps things were not as dire as he had imagined. A united Uchiha Clan would surely weather any storm.