Shikigami * Little Brother

Izuna stood on the rooftop, brushing the dust off his sleeves, when he caught a glimpse of Mokushō silently appearing beside him.

The boy had his hands tucked into his sleeves, the red pupils on the paper glowing faintly in the night, and his Geta clogs made no sound as they stepped on the roof tiles.

"They really can't see you," Izuna said in a low voice, his gaze still fixed on the dark blue figure climbing down the cliff face. "By the way, where are you planning to stay tonight?"

Can't I come into your house?

"Of course not." Izuna glanced at Mokushō, "I can give you money; you can stay at an inn. By the way, are you going to eat?"

"Of course it's food. But I eat different things than you, so you don't need to worry about it." Mokushō waved his hand.

Seeing that Madara was almost down to the ground, Izuna quickened his pace. "Then come to my house, get the money, and leave."

After saying that, he jumped off the roof and headed towards Ban.

Madara landed on the ground, straightened up, and looked at Izuna walking towards him.

Madara landed on the ground, straightened up, and looked at Izuna walking towards him.

"I just saw light coming from your area," Madara asked. "Did something happen?"

"I tried something." Izuna walked up to him, her tone casual.

"Tried something?"

"Well, it didn't work out. It's no big deal, I didn't lose anything, so let's just leave it at that." Izuna waved his hand and started walking towards home.

"May I ask what you tried?"

"Call."

Madara paused for a moment, then asked, "Summon... the Uchiha Gunbai?"

Izuna turned around, his expression genuinely puzzled. "Why would I summon that?"

Ban nodded thoughtfully.

It's not that the Gunbai can be summoned, but rather why I need to summon it; therefore, it can be summoned.

He didn't press further, but quickened his pace to catch up with Izuna and headed home.

When Hashirama ran to the Hokage Rock, Tobirama was squatting on the ground, his fingers pressed against the rock surface, intently studying something.

He heard footsteps behind him, but without turning his head, he simply moved half a step to the side, making room for Hashirama to squat down.

"I just received a report that a white light suddenly appeared on the Hokage Rock. Everyone's afraid it's a new attack..." Hashirama crouched down next to Tobirama, peering cautiously in the direction he was looking. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. But Izuna was here just now."

"Izuna? He's awake! But why is he here?"

"Who knows?" Tobirama withdrew his hand.

Hashirama blinked, noticing that Tobirama's gaze hadn't left the ground. "Hmm? What are you looking at?"

Tobirama pointed to the rocky outcrop in front of him.

The top of the Hokage Rock is covered in dust and small pebbles. Due to the appointment of the first Hokage, the carving of a portrait on the Hokage Rock has recently been put on the agenda.

During the day, craftsmen chisel stones here, splattering gravel and mortar everywhere.

But the area Tobirama pointed to was surprisingly clean.

It was a near-perfect circle with sharp edges, as if someone had drawn a circle on the rock with a compass and then swept away every speck of dust within it.

Hashirama tilted his head and stared at it for a long time. Then he reached out and touched the edge of the circular area. His fingertips didn't touch any trace of Chakra left by the technique; it was just ordinary rock.

"This is?"

I don't know.

Hashirama grinned, patted Tobirama back so hard that Tobirama stumbled forward. "How come my all-powerful little brother suddenly doesn't know anything?"

Tobirama his eyes at him. "There are too few clues. How could I possibly know what's going on? You've already approved all the documents? I've been working myself to the bone these past few days, taking care of all your work. Do you know how sleepy I am right now?"

Hashirama, despondency.

"Sorry."

"I'm not blaming you. Hurry up and finish your work so you can get some rest. Honestly, where did that white bastard come from? He's made such a mess of Konoha, it's infuriating."

Tobirama straightened up, intending to leave, when his gaze was suddenly fixed on a mark on the ground.

A few steps outside the circular area, there was a faint mark, leaving a clear outline in the dust.

The imprint of a Geta, square at the front and with two parallel teeth marks at the heel.

The footprints were very small, only two-thirds the length of Tobirama's palm, like a child's foot.

Tobirama crouched down, his palm hovering above the footprints, but he didn't touch them.

He looked up at Hashirama, and the two exchanged a glance.

On this side, near the spot.

Izuna walked ahead, and everyone they met along the way nervously crowded around to ask him questions.

"Lord Izuna, what was that light over there?" "Why did you come out wearing only a single layer of clothing? Is something wrong?" At first, he patiently waved his hand and said nothing was wrong, but later he got annoyed by the questions, grabbed Madara's wrist, and jumped onto the roof of a row of houses by the roadside.

The moment Madara was pulled up, he felt a very slight buoyancy supporting his arm. It wasn't the explosive stomp Ninja uses when using leverage, but rather felt more like stepping into a soft, rising air current.

When he landed on the roof, most of the force had been dissipated, and the tiles didn't even make a sound.

Izuna released his wrist, turned around, and continued leaping towards the Uchiha Clan Compound's territory.

Ban followed behind him, and the more he looked, the more uneasy he felt.

Izuna's jumps didn't look like running; they were more like floating forward on the water.

Her body remained almost upright, her sleeves and hem fluttering gently in the night breeze.

When I landed, my knees barely bent, and the moment my feet touched the tiles, I had already floated several meters away.

Its posture was so elegant that it didn't resemble a Ninja at all, but rather some kind of bird that hunted prey while treading on the water.

Madara followed silently behind, his footsteps landing precisely and Ninja Footwork on the tiles, but his brows were furrowed.

When Izuna returned home, he visibly relaxed.

He kicked off his slippers and walked into the house, complaining without turning back, "There are too many people, I haven't even had dessert yet. Hey, do you have any Inari Sushi?"

Ban closed the door behind him without answering.

Izuna walked to the corridor and, not hearing footsteps behind him, was about to turn around when a sharp gust of wind swept over him from behind. He didn't turn around; his body reacted before his mind could process it.

He slid his left foot half a step outward, lowered his center of gravity, and used his right hand to parry the hand that was grabbing at his shoulder. Using the momentum, he flipped sideways and out of the way.

The hem of his single-layered shirt traced an arc in the air as his bare feet landed on the tatami mat without making a sound.

"Bandit?" Izuna looked at him, puzzled. "What's wrong all of a sudden?"

Madara stood in the middle of the corridor, his Sharingan activated at some point, the Mitsudomoe slowly rotating in the dim light.

His right hand was still in the position where he had just grasped at empty air, his fingers slightly curled and his knuckles white.

"You are not Izuna."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Who exactly are you?" Ban's voice was low, almost squeezed out from the depths of his throat, each word sounding as if it had been chewed up before being spat out. "Get out of my brother's body."

"What?! Madara-kun, what are you talking about?!" Izuna's voice rose, "Isn't that me?"

Ban didn't give him another chance to speak. He pushed off with his feet and lunged forward like an arrow.

His left hand feinted, while his right hand went straight for Izuna's throat, a standard Uchiha Style capture technique.

Izuna's body reacted before his mind could react. He tilted his head back to avoid the chokehold, grabbed Madara's wrist with his left hand and twisted it outwards, while taking a half step back with his right foot, intending to use the momentum to deflect Madara's charge.

The movements were so fluid that they didn't require any conscious thought.

But the moment he gripped Ban's wrist, his fingers suddenly froze.

This is Ban Ge's wrist; this move to deflect force will twist his shoulder.

Izuna abruptly stopped his strength, freezing in place. In that short time, Madara would have pinned him to the ground.

The moment Izuna's back hit the tatami mat, he choked.

Ban's knee pressed against his back, while his other hand twisted his wrist and pinned it to the floor, locking him firmly onto the tatami mat.

Izuna looked up and met Madara's Sharingan, which were almost touching his. The Mitsudomoe looked as red as if they were about to bleed in the dim corridor.

"Bandit," Izuna said, struggling to speak, "Can you be gentle? It hurts..."

"Don't call me by his voice." Ban's voice trembled.

Izuna paused for a moment, then he saw the expression on Madara's face.

Ban's eyes were red-rimmed, his jaw was clenched tightly, and the veins on his forehead were throbbing slightly, but his eyebrows were slightly downturned.

He was afraid.

Izuna felt a sharp squeeze on his chest, which was very uncomfortable.

He quickly recalled his actions, trying to figure out what he had done to trigger Ban's PTSD and scare him like this.

But to his surprise, he asked, "What's wrong, Brother Ban? Did I do something wrong?"

"What's wrong with your behavior?" Ban repeated his words, his voice forced out through clenched teeth, low and hoarse, "Don't you realize it yourself?"

Izuna tried to replay every detail of the past half hour in his mind, from waking up to growing wings, from flying to the Hokage Rock to tossing a coin to summon Mokushō, from jumping off the cliff to hopping and skipping home with Madara on the rooftop.

It does seem a little strange, but it's not his fault that he grew wings! Damn it, this cheat code really came at the worst possible time!

"Uh, I think it's perfectly normal. It's just... suddenly saying we want to go see the scenery is a bit crazy, apart from that--"

"You're not Ninja at all." Madara interrupted him, his eyes still red, but his voice was no longer trembling; instead, it carried an extreme chill. "Ninja doesn't jump off a cliff unscathed. Ninja doesn't jump like you. You're not Izuna."

"Hey! Wait a minute! What do you mean I'm not Ninja?!" Izuna struggled to turn his head under Madara's pressure, his face distorted by the tatami mat, his voice trembling, "Didn't I always jump around like that before?!"

The Mitsudomoe in Madara's eyes suddenly spun, and the Genjutsu pierced Izuna's consciousness like an invisible needle—then it was blocked by another pair of Sharingan.

Two identical pairs of eyes locked at extremely close range, Mitsudomoe facing Mitsudomoe, the Chakra ripples canceling each other out in the air, producing a muffled buzzing sound.

Ban frowned, Mitsudomoe in his eyes began to swirl and transform into Mangekyō Sharingan.

"So wait a minute!" Izuna's voice cracked with anxiety at his appearance. "Ah--I know, I know! I'll tell you! I've grown wings! That's why I'm trying to avoid you!"

Madara's Sharingan slowly stopped spinning, and a pure confusion appeared on his cold, iron-like face. "... Wings?"

Izuna buried his face in the tatami mat, took a deep breath, and silently chanted. "Wings, come out."

This time, things went so smoothly that it drove him a little crazy.

A familiar, relaxing sensation came from his shoulder blades, followed by a soft pop as a pair of jet-black wings sprang out from behind him, their wingspan almost filling the entire corridor.

One of the wings popped out at the wrong angle, hitting Madara who was still pressing down on him, and throwing him off Izuna's back.

Ban plopped down on the corridor floor, grimacing as he touched his chin where the wing had slapped him.

He looked up, staring blankly at the pair of black wings gently fluttering in front of him, the edges of the feathers still shimmering with an eerie iridescent Rainbow-colored.

After a couple of seconds, he didn't know what to say.

Izuna carefully got up from the ground, turned around, and moved very gently, as if afraid that her wings might knock away any more furniture.

He faced Ban, his wings slightly folded behind him, the edges of his feathers trembling gently with tension, his expression earnest.

Madara opened his mouth. "... Uh."

Izuna stared at him longingly.

"Um..." Madara's gaze shifted back and forth between Izuna's face and wings, clearly undergoing some kind of intense cognitive restructuring.

"So, growing wings... that's what it means?"

"You think it's weird too?!" Izuna suddenly couldn't hold back anymore, pointing to the wings on his back, his voice filled with a self-deprecating grievance, "Waaaaah, I've turned into Tengu, a Yōkai! Why did I turn into this..."

"Actually," a clear voice came from the corner, "You were originally Tengu, you just awakened now."

Madara abruptly turned his head, his Sharingan instantly locking onto the source of the sound.

Mokushō squatting in the corner of the corridor, his hands tucked into his sleeves. The red pupils on the paper were facing in their direction. It was unclear when he had come in or how long he had been squatting there.

"Who?!" Madara's hand was already touching the Kunai.

Izuna was startled, his wings bristling. "Didn't you say no one would notice you?!"

Mokushō dodged the Kunai threw. "Hey! Don't throw it! If you make a sound, people will notice! Hey! Don't throw it!"

Izuna grabbed Madara's wrist as he was about to throw the Kunai again. "Madara-nii! Madara-nii! He's someone I summoned!"

Madara's hand stopped in mid-air, and he slowly turned his head to look at Izuna, a smile appearing on his face.

It wasn't his usual gentle or helpless smile, but the kind that comes from extreme anger. Black energy emanated from his body, sending a chill down Izuna's spine and causing the feathers on his wings to bristle.

What else are you hiding from me?

"Just these two!" Izuna's wings stood straight up behind him. "That's all!"

"You still haven't explained why you were alright after jumping off the cliff."

"Uh..." Izuna blinked, his expression utterly innocent and sincere. "Shouldn't everything be alright?"

Ban opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know from which angle to refute him.

A normal person would be smashed to pieces if they jumped off a cliff, and even Ninja with Chakra protection would break bones. But saying this out loud seems a bit strange, as if he wanted Izuna to die from the fall.

"That's not what I meant!" That was all Madara managed to utter at the end.

Mokushō peeked half his head out from behind the paper door where he was hiding. "Oh dear, he's acting like that because of Tengu's instinct. It's normal that he doesn't realize the change."

"Did I ask you a question?!" Madara roared.

Mokushō quickly pulled his head back behind the paper door, and a muffled voice came from the other side of the door. "Wow! This person is unreasonable! So domineering! He's even more like Tengu than you!"

Izuna was bewildered. "So that's why I'm Tengu? Speaking of which, what exactly is Tengu...?"

"Are you really Izuna?" Madara's voice suddenly lowered, his gaze returning to Izuna's face. The Mitsudomoe in his Sharingan were still slowly rotating, but the redness around his eyes had faded a little.

Izuna gave him Dead-Fish Eyes: "How am I supposed to prove it? Besides, I'm starving. Even if you're going to punish me, you have to wait until I've eaten."

Seeing him like this, Madara felt a familiar sense of helplessness well up inside him. "Izuna."

"I'm not Izuna." Izuna turned his face away, his wing fluttering as a feather drifted down onto the tatami mat. "After dinner, I'm flying away and never coming back."

Ban sighed, "You can't entirely blame me for being paranoid. Your actions are just a bit..."

"Hmph, whatever." Izuna crossed his arms and tilted his wings upwards. "Anyway, Madara-nii, you'll have to pay me back."

"Okay, okay. What do you want?"

Izuna raised his finger. "Unlimited Three-Colored Dango for the next three months!"

"No way." Ban's face immediately hardened. "You can't eat anything after you finish eating, what would happen if there were no limits? This is the only thing I won't agree to."

"Mean!"

"This isn't about being stingy." Madara withdrew his Sharingan, his tone returning to its usual normal. "And you said that brat was summoned by you?"

Izuna nodded, and the wings on his back fluttered slightly.

Mokushō had already emerged from behind the paper door and was squatting in the corner of the corridor, carefully wiping the dust off his Geta with his sleeve.

Why did you suddenly think of summoning it?

"Well, it just suddenly occurred to me." Izuna's eyes flickered.

Madara crossed his arms, his gaze hardening. "Izuna, tell the truth."

"This was really a sudden idea!" Izuna raised his hands, his wings also rising. "I just realized I'd never tried summoning before, and I was bored on the Hokage Rock, so I thought I'd give it a try. That's really it!"

Madara stared at his face for several seconds, then slowly turned his gaze to Mokushō in the corner.

Mokushō felt his gaze, raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, and his sleeves slid down to reveal two slender white wrists.

"Don't look at me. I don't know why he summoned me either. Shikigami isn't a mind reader."

Ban narrowed his eyes slightly.

Strangely, he clearly saw the child and knew he was there, but when he stared at him, he always felt his attention involuntarily slip away, as if his vision itself was coated with oil, and every time he tried to focus, it would slide to the side.

This feeling of being cut off from his senses made him instinctively wary, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was causing his wariness. He could only stare intently at him, making Mokushō tremble uncontrollably, his arms wrapped around his chest.

"Alright!" Izuna clapped his hands, interrupting his thoughts. "I'm going to eat! We'll talk about this after we eat!"

Ban glanced at Mokushō one last time, sighed, and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

Izuna followed behind him. In the narrow corridor, his wings accidentally snagged the wind chimes. He hurriedly bent down to pick them up, but his wings knocked over the door panel. With a splash, the door panel tumbled into the pool and splashed water everywhere.

Izuna:.

Izuna looked at Madara: "Haha, I didn't mean to..."

Ban turned and looked at the mess on the corridor floor, then fell silent.

Now he was certain that this idiot was indeed his careless younger brother.