Chapter 467 — The People Ayaka Acknowledged, and Those Who Acknowledged Her
Kei had genuinely begun to realize that he had far more things to deal with than he originally imagined.
Some problems had accumulated over time.
Others required immediate resolution.
It left Kei feeling helpless at times—
Yet strangely motivated.
Over the past four years, starting from the age of thirteen until now, he had refined every aspect of himself—his strength, influence, and power structure—to an astonishing degree.
And while it all seemed nearly complete on the surface, Kei knew it still wasn't enough.
People climbed upward just as water flowed downward.
He knew exactly what he needed to do to truly stand at the pinnacle of this world.
Even if it was only the pinnacle achievable by mortals—
That alone would already be enough to make him proud.
Not to mention…
He possessed memories of an even higher path.
All he needed to do was use those memories as references, choose the route most suitable for himself, and steadily move forward step by step until he reached the goal buried deepest in his heart.
Kei remained lost in those thoughts all the way until the small meeting ended.
Even afterward, he still hadn't entirely snapped out of it.
But he didn't care much.
If the meeting was over, then it was over.
There actually weren't that many things he truly needed to concern himself with.
No matter what, he was still merely the head of the Police Force.
Or rather—
He preferred to only handle matters within the scope of his own authority.
Sometimes he enjoyed interfering in broader affairs.
But most of the time, he deliberately restrained himself from crossing too many lines.
That rarely led to good outcomes.
Even if no one dared criticize him.
Even if no one wanted to criticize him.
Kei still maintained a considerable level of self-control.
Not because he feared others.
Nor because he feared consequences.
But because he firmly believed in one principle:
Specialists existed for a reason.
Unless absolutely necessary, those matters were better left to professionals.
Even when he personally involved himself, he preferred only to establish the general framework and leave others to refine and execute the details.
"Hey, Kei."
The moment they stepped out of the Hokage's office, Kenta hurried after him.
"In a rush?"
"Not really. Why?" Kei glanced back at him.
To his surprise, Kakashi was following as well.
"What's with you two?"
"If you're not busy, let's go hang out somewhere," Kenta said directly. "I've got something I want to ask you anyway."
"Seriously?" Kei rubbed his forehead helplessly.
"I only got home this morning. Then those Cloud ninja showed up and blocked my schedule. After that I got dragged into another meeting this afternoon."
"And now you're still looking for me?"
"My treat," Kenta grinned. "Want to invite Ayaka too?"
"Fine by me." Kei shrugged. "Might as well bring Kakashi and… Rin too. More people makes it more lively."
"Oh?" Kenta smirked teasingly. "I thought you'd only want Ayaka there."
Kei couldn't care less about the teasing.
After everything that had happened yesterday—even if the ending wasn't exactly ideal—something inside him had undeniably changed.
Truthfully, he understood very well that the relationship between himself and Ayaka Hyuga had always been impossibly complicated.
And their personalities only made it harder for either of them to openly acknowledge it.
What happened yesterday had already been close to the limit.
But deep down, Kei knew he wasn't satisfied with stopping there.
Still, no matter how dissatisfied he felt, he also understood they both needed time to adjust.
Ayaka had practically fled in embarrassment this morning.
Trying to invite her out alone again right now probably wouldn't go very smoothly.
So instead—
Using a group gathering as cover was the better option.
Let the awkwardness fade naturally.
Give her time to slowly adapt to the change between them.
No matter how he looked at it, that was far better than aggressively pursuing her one-on-one.
"Sorry," Kei glanced lazily at Kenta. "You shine too brightly. I can't stand it."
"Huh?" Kenta blinked. Then he immediately reacted.
"You mean I'm a third wheel?"
"When we're alone? Absolutely."
Kei nodded seriously.
"But under normal circumstances, you're not."
"Tch."
Of course Kenta understood what he meant.
And honestly?
He didn't mind.
"Alone" meant those two would probably be dating.
If he showed up then, he'd obviously become a giant inconvenience.
Kenta had no interest in doing something so tasteless.
As for "normal circumstances"…
That probably referred to all the time they spent together in the laboratory.
Honestly, Kenta had never particularly liked Ayaka's insane personality anyway.
Nor did he have any interest in interfering with the daily life of those two mentally unstable lunatics.
But as a collaborator—and more importantly, an ally—he sincerely approved of the two ending up together.
At the very least, Ayaka's biggest issue was now completely resolved.
That woman was simply too important.
Yes, she was crazy.
But her goals aligned perfectly with their goals.
And her experimental abilities, combined with the knowledge she possessed, made her indispensable to both him and Kei.
If she had eventually married some stranger completely outside their circle…
That would have been a massive problem.
Thankfully, Kei—the resident psychopath—seemed to have been attracted to the crazy woman.
And likewise—
Ayaka, the mad scientist herself, appeared to have completely tied her heart to Kei.
Kenta smiled as he looked at Kei.
Then he casually hooked an arm around Kakashi's shoulder and dragged him away.
The two of them would go find Uchiha Rin.
Kei could handle Ayaka himself.
Honestly, it probably would've been more efficient for Kei to fetch Rin instead.
But Kenta wasn't stupid.
Kei and Ayaka were practically inseparable right now.
He had no intention of doing anything annoying enough to ruin that atmosphere.
Besides, he seriously doubted Ayaka would even come out if he was the one inviting her.
And if Ayaka refused to show up, Kei probably wouldn't come either.
That would just become painfully awkward.
"Come on, Kakashi," Kenta said familiarly, grinning mischievously. "Let those two deal with their own problems."
"Y-Yeah, Kenta-senpai…"
Kakashi answered awkwardly before nodding.
"So we're heading to the Uchiha district?"
"Mm."
Kenta nodded and started walking ahead.
"To be honest, I really didn't expect those two to end up together."
"You never really know with these things," Kakashi replied honestly. "Personally, I think they fit together pretty well."
"Hah. Maybe."
Kenta suddenly glanced sideways at him.
"What about you? I remember you used to be pretty popular. Got a secret relationship going on somewhere?"
"H-How is that possible…"
Kakashi immediately denied it.
"Then what about you, senpai? Kei and Ayaka-senpai already got together. You were all on the same team—doesn't that make you the only single one left?"
"…I…"
Kenta's face darkened instantly.
At that moment, he genuinely wanted to punch the white-haired idiot beside him.
Because unfortunately—
Kakashi had hit the mark perfectly.
Kenta really was still single.
Even though countless girls in the Senju clan had subtly hinted at their interest over the years.
Even though his parents had repeatedly brought the topic up intentionally or otherwise.
Kenta himself had remained strangely unmoved.
Perhaps it was because he was focused on consolidating his authority.
Or perhaps because all his attention remained fixed on growing stronger.
Or perhaps…
Those two mentally unstable teammates of his had always been such enormous trouble that he simply never had the energy to think about romance in the first place.
But now, things suddenly felt very wrong.
Those two problematic teammates of his—
Or rather, his closest friends and most trusted partners—
Had somehow ended up together and resolved part of their emotional mess.
Meanwhile, he was still alone?
He had actually been overtaken on the curve by friends who were one or even two years younger than him?
Kenta sighed helplessly and began seriously considering whether he should also find someone suitable for himself.
But the moment the thought surfaced, hesitation followed immediately after.
Because he knew very well—
Anyone he chose would probably have a hard time fitting into their circle.
Their small group was far too secretive.
And the things they did…
Honestly, they weren't exactly the sort of things most people would approve of.
In the end, Kenta could only sigh again.
That kind of problem would have to wait for another day.
Even if he was destined to be disgusted by Kei and Ayaka acting lovey-dovey around him for a while…
He could only endure it.
"Come on," Kenta suddenly slapped Kakashi hard on the back before grinning.
"Instead of worrying about me, maybe you should worry about yourself, huh, Kakashi?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Kakashi rolled his eyes.
He already understood this senior of his well enough by now.
Kenta's personality wasn't particularly good.
But it wasn't especially bad either.
At the very least, Kakashi could tolerate it.
And more importantly—
He knew this was absolutely someone he needed to maintain a good relationship with.
Not only because Kenta was Kei's teammate and close friend…
But also because he was the head of Konoha's Mission Department.
Even if the ANBU and Mission Department didn't overlap much, both of them were still among Minato's most trusted people.
They were all core participants in those private meetings.
Naturally, maintaining good relations was important.
Kakashi sighed inwardly and followed after Kenta.
Truthfully, he was still a little confused about inviting Uchiha Rin along.
Why bring that guy?
His presence really didn't seem appropriate for tonight's gathering.
Kakashi could already guess what Kenta was probably planning to ask about later.
Still, he couldn't be bothered thinking too deeply about it now.
Since Kei personally invited Rin, there was obviously a reason behind it.
Besides…
Kakashi himself was actually happy about it.
Because deep down, he genuinely liked that guy.
It was difficult to explain.
The feeling itself made no logical sense.
Yet it undeniably existed.
Most importantly, Kakashi wanted to spend more time with him.
Because he knew—
That person probably wouldn't be able to remain in Konoha much longer.
—
"Head Kei?"
Outside the Hyūga clan compound, Kei stood silently before the gates, staring at the place he had only visited twice before.
Honestly, even he felt conflicted right now.
For the first time in a long while, he experienced something close to uncertainty.
Because he genuinely had no idea what Ayaka was thinking at the moment.
Still—
As a man, Kei understood one thing clearly:
Sometimes, overthinking was pointless.
Worst case scenario?
He'd just go with the straightforward brute-force approach.
Honestly, that was basically how he'd handled things all along anyway.
Just drag her out directly.
Problem solved.
But just as he was preparing to walk inside, someone suddenly called out to him.
Turning around, he discovered Hizashi Hyuga returning with a group of people.
All of them were members of the Hyūga clan.
And from the looks of it, they were all personnel affiliated with the Police Force.
The moment they saw Kei, expressions of respect immediately appeared on their faces.
Most of them were branch family members.
Their attitude toward him was only natural.
"Oh, Hizashi."
Kei nodded casually before smiling.
"Just got back?"
"Yes, Head Kei."
Hizashi immediately lowered his head.
Truthfully, he had never expected Kei to appear here.
Earlier, he had only noticed someone wearing Uchiha clan attire standing near the Hyūga compound gates, and hadn't thought much about it.
The relationship between the Uchiha and Hyūga clans was fairly good these days.
An Uchiha appearing here wasn't strange.
But once he got closer and realized it was actually Kei—
Hizashi was startled badly enough that he reflexively lowered his head at once.
"No need to be nervous," Kei said with a small smile. "I'm here looking for someone."
"Actually, I was just wondering how I should go about finding them, but now that you're here, it saves me quite a bit of trouble."
"I understand."
Hizashi immediately nodded.
Naturally, the person Kei came to see wasn't him.
Even though he was one of Kei's more important subordinates, Hizashi understood very clearly that he still hadn't earned Kei's complete trust.
And as for his older brother, Hiashi Hyuga—
Hiashi wasn't even in Konoha right now.
He had already departed for the frontlines together with Fugaku Uchiha.
Which meant…
There was only one possible person Kei had come here for.
Ayaka Hyūga.
The girl who once had no voice whatsoever within the clan.
The girl many people used to dislike.
And the girl whose existence very few people now dared openly oppose anymore.
Among the branch family members, Ayaka had practically become a legend.
Yet at the same time, she remained strangely isolated from the clan itself.
It was as though no one in the Hyūga clan was truly worthy of her acknowledgment.
And yet—
She had acknowledged one person.
And in return, she had also gained that person's acknowledgment.
That person…
Was none other than Uchiha Kei.
The man who now stood at the peak of Konoha's power, commanding the village's greatest armed force.