Little Brother × Impostor

"Uh, well..."

Izuna's heart pounded in his chest.

"I just... got used to it, that's all." Izuna blinked. "Tobirama's research wasn't going very well, so I practiced for it. That's why I'm fine with just one eye. I'm just used to it."

He knew that, in the eyes of these ninja, his behavior all this time must have been full of holes.

He was supposed to be playing Izuna from a parallel world, but most of the time, he had actually just been his own guileless college-student self.

He couldn't act. Even with the knowledge Izuna was supposed to have in his head, he couldn't put it to use.

A person's actions and personality couldn't become entirely different unless they went through something major.

A guileless college student simply couldn't pretend to be as shrewd and decisive as Uchiha Izuna.

His only chance was to play the family card and use the rhythm game to barely hold together the empty shell called Uchiha Izuna.

For the past few days, he had been secretly reviewing everything and observing.

He had noticed how the look Madara gave him had gradually changed from cold scrutiny and uncertainty into something more complicated, more weighty.

There was still curiosity in it, but there was more acceptance, even... a kind of almost indulgent acquiescence.

Especially today.

Even he thought what he had said was a little absurd. Although he really hadn't felt any pressure, how could those middle-aged men, with scars on their faces and hands and a murderous air about them, possibly be weak?

He knew his rhythm-game assistance system was a little overpowered and that his real abilities weren't as strong as he had boasted, but Madara had chosen to accept it.

It's like... he's already decided I'm Izuna.

Izuna pondered this to himself.

Then the most crucial question now was what kind of "persona" he should create.

In the parallel world he had originally constructed, Uchiha Izuna was a calm, wise, and ruthless second-in-command.

Even after suffering the setback of losing his eye in that backstory, he had quickly adjusted. With his tenacity and exceptional intellect, he had not only worked with Tobirama to "grow" a new eye, but eventually used it to awaken Susanoo, fought alongside his comrades, and even personally helped put an end to Black Zetsu's scheme.

Izuna was supposed to be strong and dependable, a formidable figure who could face Tobirama Senju across the negotiating table and cover each other's flanks with him on the battlefield.

But Izuna knew he couldn't do it.

Perhaps the system and this body's instincts had given him extraordinary fighting power.

But imposing presence wasn't something he could fake with acting and system prompts.

Deep down, he was still that guileless college student who was a little socially anxious, habitually avoided trouble, and just wanted a peaceful life.

And because of his own disability, a fatal flaw, the biggest problem—being "used to seeing with one eye"—urgently needed solving.

He had to find a reasonable explanation for his "abnormality" and account for this new part of his "backstory."

So an image of Izuna as someone who had been overprotected and even a little "spoiled" seemed to follow naturally.

Look, everyone! This is a happy Izuna! He has an incredibly strong big brother who dotes on him unconditionally, a cheerful Brother Hashirama who takes him everywhere to have fun and teaches him skills, and maybe even a childhood friend who's expressionless but quietly indulges him and would even conduct forbidden experiments for him!

Growing up under such dreamlike care, would Izuna still need to be so shrewd and work so hard?

Of course not!

He can naturally retain a little innocence, a little dependence, and a little of that "guileless stupidity" that comes from being pampered.

Eye broken? Get Tobirama to fix it! Clan business too troublesome? Big Brother and Hikaku can handle it! Run into trouble? Brother Hashirama will encourage me!

Off-the-charts fighting power? That's just the result of good talent and training from my brothers!

Used to seeing with one eye? Maybe... maybe the eye "broke" relatively early, and I gradually got used to it?

Izuna quickly built the framework for this new persona in his head, trying to encourage himself: Right, that's it! A happy Izuna with immense fighting power but a relatively simple mind, who grew up surrounded by love!

Brother Madara, please believe I'm just this kind of little brother who needs you to keep spoiling him!

"That's right! I'm just used to it!" Izuna repeated with confidence.

Yet contrary to what Izuna had expected,

Madara didn't think so.

He believed the person before him was Izuna. There was no longer any need to question that.

Those unconscious little gestures that only Izuna would make, the way he showed concern and did things, and his fighting habits all told Madara plainly that this was Izuna.

Madara could see that Izuna always seemed happy around him, and that he was happy to see Hashirama and Tobirama too. That pure joy, as well as his unconscious admiration and dependence, couldn't be faked.

All those reactions proved that what he had said about the four of them being close was true.

Izuna was happy, relying on them unconsciously like a spoiled child.

Yet Madara had felt a persistent pang of unease.

Because of the abnormalities Izuna had shown.

His overly seasoned battlefield instincts and ruthless decisiveness on the training ground.

The fleeting, unreadable looks that occasionally flashed through his eyes.

The way he unconsciously avoided the subject of "going home"...

None of these could be simply explained away as him being "spoiled."

If that world was truly as wonderful as Izuna made it seem, full of love and peace, then after accidentally ending up in this obviously strange world, shouldn't Izuna's first reaction have been to search urgently for a way back?

Why, despite already noticing that something was wrong, was he willing to shut himself away in this almost-but-not-quite "home," unwilling to touch the truth even if he had nothing to do?

Unless... that "wonderful world" had never existed in the first place, or it had once existed but was now gone.

The proof was his sheer strength.

Madara himself had fought his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. He knew all too well what it took to become strong enough to anticipate even attacks from his blind spots, as Izuna did.

What was more, if what Izuna said about his eye being practically an ornament a few days ago was true, that meant he had dealt with those attacks that morning with vision in only one eye.

Izuna, what exactly have you been through? Madara looked into Izuna's innocent eyes. Even I couldn't defeat those battle-hardened warriors using only Taijutsu after losing half my field of vision.

But you did it. Was it because the battlefields in your world were even more brutal?

Is that why you were so dissatisfied with the clan members' "laxness," because you know how cruel real combat can be?

And when you insisted on using only Taijutsu, was it because, in your memories, there were enemies who could only be defeated with Taijutsu?

And then there's "I'm used to it."

Unless your left eye had been like that long enough for you to fully adapt to seeing with one eye, how could you have said you were "used to it" so naturally?

That isn't a habit you can develop in a few months, or even a year or two.

It takes longer than that, long enough to change the way a person thinks and lives.

The conclusion made Madara's heart clench as though gripped tightly by an invisible hand. How did you get through that time? And where was the "me" of that world...? Why couldn't he protect you?

Countless questions and heartache churned in Madara's heart.

He looked at Izuna's face, at the "easygoing" expression he was trying to maintain, and at his eyes, always bright, yet occasionally crossed by a barely perceptible trace of tension.

In the end, Madara sighed softly to himself.

Forget it.

Since you don't want to talk, since you'd rather pretend you don't know anything and play the part of a spoiled child...

Then so be it.

Madara's gaze softened.

Big Brother will be here.

No matter what happened in that world, no matter what kind of past or secrets you have.

You're here now.

Big Brother will take care of everything for you. If you want to be a carefree little brother, then be one. If you want to hide, then hide.

The storms outside, the disputes within the clan, the undercurrents in Konoha... Big Brother will shield you from everything that could hurt you or make you uneasy.

All you need to do... is stay by my side, just like you are now.

Just as Madara's stare had Izuna breaking out in a cold sweat and squirming in his seat, wanting to turn tail and flee,

Madara reached out and gently ruffled Izuna's hair.

"Don't worry too much about your eye." Madara's voice was low and steady. "That Tobirama guy is annoying, but his skills are reliable enough. He'll find a way."

He paused, looked at Izuna's slightly widened eyes, and added, "As for everything else... you have me."

Izuna froze.

Madara's reaction was a little different from what he had expected.

Once again, he had accepted everything unconditionally.

That left the plan Izuna had prepared to "wheedle and bluff his way through" completely useless, and instead an indescribable feeling welled up inside him.

It was a little heartbreaking, because this was a privilege that belonged only to Uchiha Izuna, but the real Uchiha Izuna was already gone.

The only one here was an impostor like him.

"Brother Madara..." Izuna opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

"Let's finish eating." Madara withdrew his hand. "Go rest after the meal. If anything happens to your eye again, tell me right away. Understand?"

"...Okay, I understand, Brother Madara."