The battle in the Land of Grass could be seen by the Iwa shinobi who had invaded the Land of Fire.
But for Uchiha Kei, who was much closer to the battlefield, he hadn’t merely seen it.
He had felt it quite clearly.
The earth was being torn apart.
Fear surged in every direction.
The air was thick with dust and chaos.
"What is Granny Gen doing?"
"We’re supposed to be a peacekeeping force. How did this turn into a war to destroy an entire country?"
Kei waved a hand in front of his face, complaining.
It wasn’t that he minded Granny Gen making such a huge mess.
He was simply annoyed that the chaos she had created was making it difficult for him to breathe.
The battle on his side had already caused the rainforests of the Land of Rain to wither.
Now the battle in the Land of Grass had covered the Land of Rain in dust.
The natural environment of the shinobi world was being destroyed.
Environmental activists were going to come after them sooner or later!
Kei felt that he had gone a little too far himself.
He had just killed a demigod on one side, and now an even greater disturbance had erupted on the other.
It was really messing with people’s heads.
The entire shinobi world’s heads, in fact.
Kei had only just been thinking about making something big happen, and something even bigger had appeared.
At this rate, the death of the demigod would barely qualify as major news.
His subordinates really did understand their superior’s intentions too well!
"Do you think Granny Gen has hit menopause?"
"Why does everything she does always end up being so unexpected?"
Kei was simply making conversation.
He also took the opportunity to complain about women.
Tsubame’s departure was still bothering him.
"Women... especially older women. Never provoke them."
"Especially women who are capable themselves and are cherished by capable men."
"So many conflicts and wars have erupted because one of these women suddenly lost her temper."
"Once that happens, things become completely uncontrollable."
There was clearly more meaning behind Kei’s words.
Uchiha Cha followed beside him, however, and was far too excited to pay attention to what Kei was actually saying.
At this moment, a palm-sized salamander was coiled around his shoulder.
This proved that the Salamander Clan had completely become an appendage of the Red-Eyes.
"My lord, don’t put it that way."
"As your strategist, Granny Gen knows her limits."
On the surface, Kei was talking about Granny Gen.
In reality, he was talking about Tsubame.
Since his subordinate had misunderstood him, Kei did not bother correcting him.
"Knows her limits?"
"If she knew her limits, the Third Hokage wouldn’t have died so casually!"
"Cha, you need to be careful too."
"Beautiful women are the best at playing with people’s hearts."
"Never trust what a beautiful woman says!"
After killing Hanzo, the violent edge in Kei’s heart had diminished considerably.
Now that the dust had settled, matters of romance and affection had begun creeping back into his thoughts.
That woman, Tsubame, really had been ruthless after getting what she wanted.
She had simply walked away after using him, without even giving him time to adjust.
She had left him hanging in an awkward state, so all he could do was amuse himself by killing people.
Sure enough, power without restraints would eventually run wild.
Who could have imagined that Uchiha Kei’s moral boundaries would become so flexible once no one was around to restrain him?
Kei’s words were also a warning to Cha.
Playing with people’s hearts was something women did.
A real man should do less of it.
Unfortunately, Uchiha Kei’s advice went completely over Cha’s head.
He innocently replied:
"But Granny isn’t beautiful either!"
Joseph, who was standing nearby, was horrified.
"Shut your mouth!"
"Granny Gen was a beautiful woman when she was young too!"
"Watch what you say."
"That old vinegar jar Danjō already doesn’t like you!"
Joseph was the sort of man who mocked Heaven above and Earth below.
There was almost no one in the shinobi world who could frighten him anymore.
Except old man Danjō.
Damn it!
Who could have imagined that a man in love could become so pathetic?
Ever since getting married, he had proudly proclaimed himself the strongest fighter in the shinobi world.
Who would dare disagree?
And yet, when facing Danjō, the leader of the Iga Group, he couldn’t win.
He couldn’t even overcome Danjō’s ridiculous tendency to challenge his superiors!
Who would believe it?
That old man with one foot in the grave was already so old, yet he had somehow lowered himself so completely in matters of love that he could practically cancel out all of Joseph’s debuffs.
"Entering the flower garden in his old age, forgetting his years in the height of his delight."
When a man reached a certain age and suddenly became infatuated, it was like an old house catching fire.
Once it started burning, there was no saving it.
Joseph, who could defeat the Third Hokage with one hand, was himself beaten by Danjō with one hand.
Uchiha Danjō had been bragging about this accomplishment for a long time.
Every now and then, he would even visit the Third Hokage’s grave just to boast about it again.
After all, he had once been one of Konoha’s leaders.
Even in death, Hiruzen still had a place to rest.
But Kei felt that Hiruzen would hardly be happy about it.
That man whom Granny Gen had once praised couldn’t even leave the dead Third Hokage alone.
Whenever he had nothing better to do, he would go to the grave and mock him.
And so, the little excursion party continued forward amid laughter and banter.
They had originally planned to kill Hanzo and return, leaving the aftermath for the Akatsuki to clean up.
But they never expected to encounter the most famous organization in the shinobi world along the way.
At this time, the Akatsuki was still a passionate, idealistic mercenary organization that wanted to bring peace to its homeland.
Its leader was still the energetic young Yahiko.
With yellow hair, a love of peace, and a smile that seemed capable of infecting everyone around him with optimism, Yahiko dreamed of changing the Land of Rain.
He wanted to build a bridge toward world peace through communication between people.
He was essentially a trainee Savior who had only been practicing for two and a half years.
A textbook protagonist template.
And the Akatsuki being called an "organization" certainly didn’t mean that it consisted of merely seven or eight people wearing black cloaks decorated with red clouds.
It represented all the shinobi in the Land of Rain who were dissatisfied with Hanzo’s rule.
Nagato Uzumaki had lost his homeland and was still an impassioned young man.
He had lost his family and wandered into the Land of Rain.
Fortunately, he found friendship and compassion there.
He understood the pain of losing one’s country.
Therefore, he became even more determined to protect the Land of Rain, the place that had given him somewhere to live.
His friends loved their country.
Nagato did not want them to experience the same suffering he had endured.
Unfortunately, the empty-handed Nagato was little more than a background character in Kei’s eyes.
Kei ignored Nagato’s questioning and instead looked at Yahiko with great interest.
"There is a legend."
"Before the arrival of the Holy Son, a false Holy Son will descend into the world first, intending to replace the true one."
"He will confuse humanity with love and benevolence, causing their faith to drift until they are no longer devout toward the gods."
Kei did not answer any of the Akatsuki’s questions.
Instead, he casually spoke these inexplicable words.
Then he walked past Yahiko, casually patting him on the shoulder as he went.
That simple gesture caused the power of Fear to spread across the entire area like an overwhelming tide.
Everyone present became completely unable to move.
After killing Hanzo, Kei’s confidence had increased tremendously.
If Fear could imitate Observation Haki, then perhaps it could imitate Conqueror’s Haki as well.
And the power of Fear had indeed produced such an effect.
Everyone was immobilized.
Yahiko immediately realized that he had acted recklessly.
Someone capable of causing such a tremendous disturbance on the territory of a demigod could not possibly be an insignificant figure.
Unfortunately, he could not even speak at this moment.
There was no way for him to explain or defend his companions’ actions.
Kei looked at their terrified expressions without concern.
He gently patted Yahiko on the shoulder.
"Kid, do you know something?"
"I actually saved your life."
"But I didn’t save you for free."
With that, Kei continued walking.
"I really want to see what kind of conflict will arise in a world where a False Child of Destiny like you and the true Child of Destiny exist at the same time."
"A story that doesn’t conform to the myths and prophecies is always the more interesting story."
"But you’re far too weak right now."
"Something this weak can’t possibly become the enemy of the Child of Destiny."
"I killed Hanzo."
"So the Land of Rain is yours."
"Do your best, interesting fellows."
Kei and the other Uchiha continued walking as they spoke, gradually disappearing into the distance.
Even after Kei had completely left, the power of Fear remained.
Only after Yahiko and the others had finally stopped being afraid did they break free from Fear’s restraints.
"What did that kid who called us ’kids’ say?"
Nagato was shocked after regaining his freedom.
"He said he killed the demigod!"
Those words were what truly terrified everyone even after Kei had disappeared.
"The mighty demigod has fallen?"
No one dared to believe it.
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