Chapter 314 – Terrifying Destructive Power
Uchiha Kei had never intended to pressure the Hyūga clan through such extreme means.
He preferred precision over blunt force — leverage, not intimidation.
But the Hyūga were not the Uchiha.
Within the Uchiha clan, authority was shared only between him and Fugaku.
Together, they effectively ruled the clan — the council, the operations, even the flow of information.
Once upon a time, Uchiha Shin had been a powerful figure, an elder whose influence ran deep.
But after Kei's discreet "visit," the bamboo forest behind the compound had erupted into a roaring inferno.
That night, one pillar of Uchiha power collapsed in flame —
and another, sharper and far more dangerous, rose in his place.
Now, only a few remnants of the old guard remained — men like Uchiha Jin, still clinging to scraps of authority.
Yet even they had learned to bend with the wind.
They'd proven it themselves when they leaked information about Shisui Uchiha — a gesture of submission disguised as cooperation.
Kei had once considered wiping them out entirely.
Now, it seemed unnecessary.
The old order was devouring itself without him lifting a finger.
By comparison, the Hyūga clan was a different beast entirely — divided by rigid hierarchy, burdened by tradition, and dominated by competing interests between the main and branch families.
Letting Ayaka deliver his ultimatum to them was enough.
Whatever chaos followed wasn't his concern.
If they lost face, so be it.
He'd given them three days — a generous grace period by his standards.
Had he been truly ruthless, he might've given them one.
But Kei understood pressure.
It wasn't just force — it was art.
Apply too much, and they'd turn desperate; too little, and they'd forget who held the leash.
He didn't need the Hyūga's support.
He wanted their obedience — or, at the very least, their fear.
So he would give them time to choose.
But not enough time to think they had power.
After finishing his conversation with Ayaka, Kei left the lab.
He couldn't shake the feeling that she'd been acting… strange today.
A little distant. Distracted.
Then again, he mused, maybe it was just one of those "certain weeks" women had — even kunoichi weren't immune to biology.
Either way, it wasn't his problem.
He'd done enough for the day.
It was time to rest — he was technically on vacation, after all.
Kei's return to Konoha didn't stir much noise.
Very few people even knew where he'd gone or what he'd done.
But among those who did know… the news hit like a thunderclap.
The following morning, a hawk circled over Konoha and descended onto the Hokage Tower.
The message it carried was marked urgent.
Within hours, the classified report reached the Hokage's desk, the Anbu Command, and even the Administrative Department.
Under normal circumstances, such sensitive information would never be distributed so broadly.
But this time was different.
Because what had happened in Kirigakure bore an uncanny resemblance to what Konoha had endured months earlier.
And that meant everyone who mattered had to see it.
Minato Namikaze read through the report quietly, his expression calm.
He'd already received Kei's personal debrief — the battle details, the encounter with Orochimaru, and the outcomes.
But the official Anbu report told a far bloodier story.
Kei, as usual, had understated everything.
According to his account, he had "eliminated a few dozen" Mist-nin in the course of his mission.
A small skirmish, nothing more.
The Anbu analysis, however, told a different tale.
Over three hundred confirmed kills, with the number still rising as bodies were recovered.
More than a thousand wounded, ranging from light injuries to crippling trauma.
It was the kind of damage entire battalions couldn't inflict — yet Kei had done it alone.
Minato set the papers down slowly, his fingers tapping the desk.
He had always known Kei was powerful — frighteningly so —
but this…
This bordered on godlike.
While Minato processed the implications, another man received the same report — Nara Shikaku.
He had been sipping tea in the Administrative Office when the courier handed him the sealed dossier.
The document had been marked urgent, and its header alone made Nara Shikaku's brow twitch:
["Suspected identification of the assailant who attacked Konoha."]
The moment he opened it and read the first few lines, his hand froze midair.
The teacup slipped slightly, porcelain clinking against the table.
"Lord Hokage… this—" Shikaku stammered, hurrying into the Hokage's office, his face still pale.
"Is this report true?"
Minato sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as if the weight of the whole village sat there.
"Yes," he said helplessly. "It's real. The last line even mentions it—'two suspected accomplices appeared and used a space-time ninjutsu to extract the suspect.' One of those two was me."
Shikaku blinked. "…Right. And the suspect—was Uchiha Kei?"
"Correct."
For a moment, the room fell silent.
Then Shikaku's composure cracked completely.
"Kei caused that much damage?!" he blurted, eyes wide. "He even controlled the Three-Tails? That's the Fourth Mizukage's beast! Why was none of this reported to me earlier?"
Minato gave a weary sigh. "He only controlled it because Yagura entered the battlefield himself. Kei had summoned me in advance, but the distance was too far—the signal took too long to reach. He had no choice but to act."
He opened a folder and slid Kei's battle report across the desk.
It was written with typical precision—concise, orderly, utterly detached.
"Kei submitted this yesterday," Minato said quietly. "He detailed everything—his confrontation with Orochimaru, the engagement with the Mist forces. I just… didn't expect the scale of destruction."
Didn't expect the scale?
That was an understatement.
What Kei had done wasn't "damage." It was a massacre—a humiliation so severe that it had ground Kirigakure's pride into the dirt and stomped on it for good measure.
And he'd done it alone.
The fact that he had controlled a tailed beast, even temporarily, left Shikaku's head spinning.
If Kei hadn't been under direct observation by the Hyūga brothers during the Nine-Tails' rampage—
if not for that unshakable alibi—
Shikaku would have started wondering whether the man had been behind that disaster, too.
From the outside, the attack on the Mist seemed like a desperate escape mission.
But Shikaku knew Kei too well.
This wasn't running.
This was retribution.
He had recreated Konoha's nightmare within the Mist Village—a mirror image of the Nine-Tails' night, only this time, the blood had fallen on their streets.
And unlike Konoha's tragedy, which had mostly claimed civilians…
Kei's victims were shinobi.
Hundreds of them.
Three hundred confirmed dead.
Over a thousand more injured.
This wasn't just vengeance—it was a strategic strike against the Mist's military backbone.
Konoha had lost its civilians in the Nine-Tails' attack, the heart of its population.
Kirigakure had lost its soldiers, the spine of its power.
And from a strategist's perspective… that was far worse.
"Training one shinobi already costs a fortune," Shikaku muttered under his breath, scanning the casualty breakdown. "But ANBU operatives? They're priceless. And half of theirs are dead."
Without them, the Mist's elite structure—their image, their authority—was shattered.
That image was what secured mission contracts, which in turn kept their economy alive.
Kei hadn't just killed men.
He had crippled their economy and undermined their politics in one stroke.
The loss of those "few hundred lives" represented millions in lost revenue, political power, and military stability.
Shikaku finally exhaled and looked up, his expression hardening.
"Lord Hokage," he said gravely, "I'll ask just one question. Has his identity been exposed?"
Minato's eyes sharpened, his voice turning serious.
"It shouldn't have been. Kei's show of strength was… overwhelming. The bloodline clans he dealt with will think twice before opening their mouths.
If they expose him, they'd face revenge not only from those loyal to the slain shinobi, but from the Mizukage himself. And externally…" Minato paused. "They'd have to fear Kei personally. None of them will risk that."
Shikaku nodded slowly, but his mind was already moving to the next concern.
"And what about the one beneath us?" he asked softly.
Minato's gaze flicked up.
"The one buried deep underground—the 'Phantom,' as we call him. Will he cover the trail completely? Erase all evidence linking this back to Konoha?"
Minato hesitated only a moment before nodding. "You can rest easy. I've met him."
At that, his expression softened.
"He's… someone I can trust. Kei's subordinate, but also someone I've chosen to believe in. He knows what needs to be done."
He didn't need to say the name.
Both of them knew.
Uchiha Obito.
That last encounter had left Minato quietly shaken.
Obito's apology—his voice trembling with guilt—had struck something deep in his heart.
The boy who once brought disaster to Konoha now seemed determined to atone for it.
And Minato… chose to believe in that spark of redemption.
"I could sense it in his chakra," Minato murmured. "He's still a Leaf shinobi. Still someone who once dreamed of being Hokage."
Shikaku studied Minato for a long moment, then finally nodded.
"…I see. In that case," he said, his tone sharpening into something cool and deliberate, "leave the rest to me."
Minato blinked. "Oh? What are you planning, Shikaku?"
The Nara strategist folded his arms, a sly, tired smile crossing his face.
"Well, since the Mist and we have now suffered 'similar tragedies,' it's only polite that we offer them our sympathies."
He looked out the window toward the setting sun, voice low and measured.
"After all," he said softly,
"we're victims too."