Farewell with My Younger Brother

After lunch, Tang Hao was unusually silent. He did not go out drinking as he usually did.

From time to time, Tang Hao glanced at Tang San, then at Madara, as though he were making a difficult decision.

Madara seemed to have seen through Tang Hao's thoughts. After the meal, he did not return to his room, instead silently sitting on a stool nearby.

Still hesitating? But you had clearly made up your mind long ago!

Madara sat there, watching the shifting expressions on Tang Hao's face as he thought to himself.

Tang San, who habitually cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks after meals, clearly had no idea what was about to happen.

I have to give him a push. After all, this concerns my little brother's future!

Madara could no longer hold back and asked bluntly, "Xiao San, do you really not want to become a powerful soul master?"

Tang San froze. After hesitating for a while, he shook his head and said, "Big Brother, you should go. I'll stay home and take care of Father."

Madara frowned and shouted, "Xiao San, do you want to become a soul master or not? Tell the truth!"

Tang San paused, then, after a struggle within himself, nodded with little confidence.

Tang Hao sighed, his face seeming to age even further. "In the end, you still chose to walk this path!"

Tang Hao said nothing more. He gave Madara a meaningful look, then returned to his room to rest.

"At least, you allowed it!" Madara called out at Tang Hao's retreating back. "Right?"

Tang Hao seemed not to hear him and continued walking. Yet what Tang San and Madara could not see was the expression on his face—half disappointment, half relief.

Madara understood that Tang Hao had tacitly agreed.

He had not only agreed to Tang San going away to study, but also to Madara not studying and instead wandering the world freely.

Because of his injury, Madara did not help Tang San. Instead, he returned to his room to recuperate.

As he passed Tang San, he murmured softly, "Xiao San, work hard! Go walk your own path!"

The words were as soft as a mosquito's buzz, but they could not escape Tang San's ears, sharpened by his cultivation of the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

Tang San's small body suddenly trembled. He immediately looked up, but all he saw was Madara's carefree departing back.

The days that followed passed like flowing water. Tang San's family continued living peacefully, and nothing seemed to change, yet their parting would come in three months.

During those three months, Madara continued cultivating diligently without the slightest slackening. Tang San still rose early every day to train, rain or shine. The drunkard Tang Hao remained as he always was, working sporadically and idling most of the time.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The lump of iron Tang San had hammered while drenched in sweat had now become the size of a human head.

Meanwhile, Madara used the bellows nearby to train his arm strength while chatting with Tang San, multitasking with ease.

"Cough, cough!" A cough came from behind them. Madara did not need to turn around to know that Tang Hao had arrived.

"Father." Tang San looked toward his father, and the hammer in his hand unconsciously stopped.

Madara merely nodded slightly without speaking.

In truth, Madara was still quite displeased with Tang Hao. If he wanted Xiao San to forge iron, then he should teach him properly. How could he assign a task and then go slack off? That was utterly irresponsible!

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang...

"Stop for a moment," Tang Hao said.

So it was as I thought? Madara did not believe that Tang Hao could truly remain indifferent toward the son who was about to leave home to study.

Tang San set down his hammer, breathing slightly heavily.

"Go on, then. What method are you planning to teach?" Madara leaned against the wall and asked with great interest.

Tang Hao's body stiffened for a moment. The words he had been about to say were swallowed back down, and he turned to glare fiercely at Madara.

He then began teaching them the techniques for exerting force while forging, even demonstrating them himself.

When Madara saw Tang San strike the iron with the new technique, his eyes lit up. He even activated his Sharingan, watching with rapt attention.

"Your martial soul is a hammer, isn't it?" Madara asked without looking away.

Tang Hao gave a derisive snort and did not answer. Then he went back to drowning himself in drink.

A powerful hammer martial soul wielder? At the very least, he's shadow-level! It seems I'll need to pay special attention in the future when I venture out into the world.

Time passed like a galloping white horse, and the day of parting had arrived.

As usual, Madara accompanied his younger brother Tang San to the top of the small hill to cultivate, though this might have been their last time.

When they returned home, Tang San felt a faint sense of loss at the sight of the still-closed door. But he quickly adjusted his mood and thoughtfully prepared breakfast for his father.

Old Jack had already arrived. Perhaps because they were going to Nuoding City, Old Jack had specially put on a new set of clothes today, making him look even more spirited.

"Xiao San, Madara, let's go. Forget that lazybones!" Jack got down from the carriage as well and said angrily.

Even now, Old Jack had yet to get over being rebuffed by Tang Hao.

"Got it, we'll be right there!" Madara replied.

Tang San, meanwhile, looked reluctantly at the place where he had lived. Every object and every corner here carried too many of his memories. This was his home.

At last, Tang San looked once more at Tang Hao's room, whose door remained unmoving. His father was in there.

Goodbye, Father! Remember to eat your meals!

"Are you really not going to come out and see him off?" Madara raised an eyebrow after Tang San left.

There was no movement at all from inside the door.

What neither of them knew was that after they left, the room door creaked open, and a disheveled figure emerged from within.

"Xiao San, you're about to leave! Remember, if anyone bullies you—" Madara instructed him worriedly.

"Don't worry, Brother! You know what I'm capable of. I'll fight them to the bitter end!" Tang San interrupted him helplessly.

Madara knew all about Tang San's many extraordinary abilities, and they had even tested each other before.

But that had only been arm-wrestling, a contest of strength. Tang San had the Mysterious Heaven Skill, while Madara had Chakra, so it usually ended in a draw.

But in a real fight, Tang San would still be at a disadvantage. After all, raw strength alone did not represent combat power. For example, Madara would lose to Tsunade in an arm-wrestling match, yet in actual combat, he could beat the Five Kage like dogs.

Madara raised a finger and said unexpectedly, "No! If you can't beat them, then swallow your pride for now!"

Tang San stared at him in surprise. "That's not your style, Brother!"

"Then when your brother comes back, I'll wipe out his entire family for you!" Madara revealed a faintly bloodthirsty smile.

"..." Tang San did not know what to say.

Though Madara's words were bloody and domineering, the concern for his younger brother within them warmed Tang San's heart.

"Oh, right!" Tang San turned around and took a cloth bundle from his bag. Smiling gently, he said, "Brother, I prepared a gift for you!"

"What's this?" Madara accepted Tang San's gift and examined it in surprise.

Tang San scratched his head. "I picked it up when you killed that lynx last time!"

When the cloth bundle was opened, it revealed two Kunai—the very two Madara had asked Tang San to forge back then.

Only, they had now changed dramatically in appearance. Some unknown process had colored them, one red and one blue, making them strikingly beautiful.

The circular rings at the ends of the two Kunai handles were set with a red and blue stone sphere respectively. The red stone was carved with a bloody eye, looking ferocious and domineering. The blue one bore Blue Silver Grass patterns, appearing gentle and profound.

Madara immediately understood Tang San's intent. They symbolized Madara's Sharingan and Tang San's Blue Silver Grass respectively.

He picked up the blood-red Kunai and struck it against the blue Kunai in Tang San's hand.

In an instant, sparks flew everywhere.

"Hahahahaha!"

The two brothers laughed in mutual understanding. Everything went without saying.

This was also the happiest Madara had laughed since coming to this world.

"Brother! Goodbye!" Tang San waved to Madara and climbed onto the carriage under Jack's urging.

No matter how reluctant he was to part, Madara still respected Tang San's choice. After all, this was his own path!

"Go, Xiao San. Walk your own path. Don't end up like Izuna." Madara folded his arms and watched the carriage grow farther and farther away, the corner of his lips lifting slightly.

Madara had a feeling that Xiao San, this fledgling eagle, was about to spread his wings and soar through the skies.

"It's time for me to dance as well!!!" Madara looked up at the azure sky, an aura of disdain for the world rising from him.

When Madara returned home full of ambition, he found Tang Hao weeping as he held the pot and drank every last drop of the porridge.

What was I supposed to eat?