Hiss!
Everyone was stunned after hearing Uchiha Kai's words.
Good grief.
He was planning to throw all pretense aside and force-feed Sarutobi Hiruzen dung!
Whether Hiruzen believed it or not didn't matter.
What mattered was: I've defected to you.
And if Hiruzen didn't want to damage his reputation and risk misunderstanding other clans, then even if he felt sick to his stomach, he'd have no choice but to pinch his nose and accept it—while offering them benefits on top.
"This… is that even possible?" Fugaku frowned, speaking first.
"Other clans aren't idiots, are they?
Won't they see through something so simple?
I really doubt it.
Sarutobi Hiruzen isn't stupid.
If he's sure Shisui is a spy, there's no way he'll agree to this."
Yes.
To Fugaku, Kai's idea was pure fantasy.
The Hokage wasn't a fool.
If he knew someone was a double agent, why would he still reward him?
Shisui nodded repeatedly.
He too felt this scheme was unreliable—and far too humiliating.
He'd know he was a spy.
Hiruzen would know he was a spy.
And yet he'd still have to act loyal, putting on a show right there in the Hokage's office?
The very thought made his skin crawl.
He'd rather charge an enemy head-on than do something this ridiculous.
"Kai, let it go.
With the Uchiha's current strength, as long as we develop steadily, we'll rise again sooner or later.
We might even contest the Hokage seat in the future.
There's no need to risk everything on something so disgraceful."
Shisui spoke firmly.
Clearly, if he had any choice, he wanted no part of this plan.
It was just too shameful.
But before Kai could respond, Aburame Shibi suddenly interjected.
"No—you're both wrong.
The Uchiha have lived at the top for too long.
You don't understand how the other clans think.
Sometimes, right and wrong mean nothing to us lesser clans.
What matters most—
is credibility!
When a clan decides to pledge allegiance to someone or some faction, whether that person is good or bad doesn't actually matter.
For us, the need is simple: survival.
For any clan smaller than the great ones, survival is incredibly hard.
Choose the wrong side, and you risk annihilation.
Choose the right side, and you might still be abandoned as cannon fodder.
So when it comes to choosing allies, what we care most about is whether the one above us has credibility.
Since Shisui chose to 'defect' to Hiruzen, and even fought Kai for real—costing some actual lives—then whether he's truly a spy or not, Hiruzen cannot abandon him.
If he does, the Hokage's credibility collapses.
Even if Hiruzen claims Shisui's betrayal was fake, we smaller clans would never dare put our trust in him again.
The reasoning is simple:
In the power struggles between great forces, truth and lies are impossible to discern.
What matters is this: if we pledge to Hiruzen, will he one day forge evidence against us, call us spies, and discard us the same way?
That is the real question.
Which is why Kai-kun's plan actually works.
Even if Hiruzen knows it's fake, he must still acknowledge it.
Otherwise, no clan outside the Elder Council and his tight inner circle would ever dare approach him.
Not even the Ino–Shika–Cho trio—because none of us can afford to gamble.
For ninja clans, one wrong bet means extinction.
We need one hundred percent certainty.
Ninety-nine percent… is not enough."
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Fugaku and Shisui were both dumbstruck by Shibi's explanation.
They had never imagined that this was how medium and small clans thought.
Even ninety-nine percent trust wasn't enough to make them move.
…
The two fell quiet.
This was far beyond anything they had imagined.
No wonder.
No wonder no clan had dared approach the Uchiha all these years.
Only once Kai rose in power, defeating the Hokage's faction multiple times and even proposing to amend the laws, had any clan dared make contact.
And even then—it was only the Aburame.
And why?
Because Danzo's exploitation had been too ruthless.
Even Aburame Ryoma, the clan's heir and a rare genius, had been brainwashed and shoved into Root.
Their very survival was at stake.
That was why, when Kai's Uchiha began winning and Sarutobi started showing weakness, Aburame finally took the gamble and joined.
Otherwise, even if the Uchiha had stayed strong for years, they would never have taken the first step.
And the Inuzuka?
The only reason they were even in contact now was thanks to Shibi's efforts.
Only someone who truly understood the plight of small clans could grasp what they valued most.
Otherwise, no matter how powerful the Uchiha seemed, expecting others to flock to them was pure nonsense.
The Uchiha's unreliability was infamous throughout Konoha.
It was only Kai's emergence that had begun to change things.
Otherwise—ha.
Fugaku: "…"
Shisui: "…"
The two exchanged a glance, both sinking into silence.
They now understood clearly why their clan had been so isolated.
Especially Fugaku.
He remembered when Shibi had first approached him—and he hadn't even dared to offer a single promise.
He wanted to slap himself.
What kind of clan head was he?
He used to think their hardship came from their bad reputation.
But the truth?
He had never even bothered to understand what the other clans truly cared about.
In the end, all he could do was sigh: "Our name is too tainted."
Damn it.
Now he realized—whether their name was tainted or not, the other clans didn't even care.
Good grief.
This revelation made him want to just give up altogether.
"Mm, excellent." Kai finally spoke, his voice calm but firm.
"What Clan Head Aburame said is exactly what I meant.
The Uchiha's core problem is our mindset.
Fifty years have passed since the Warring States era.
But the Uchiha still cling to those outdated notions.
My friends—times have changed.
Now that Aburame has explained it clearly, I needn't say more.
Shisui, the rest is up to you.
This grand performance—
you are the lead actor."
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