The Demise of the Ape Tribe

"Meow?"

"Meow!"

"Lord Takeyasu, where did you run off to?"

With a flicker, Uchiha Takeyasu's figure vanished, and Tachibana, freed from his warm embrace, landed lightly on a branch, her cat face full of bewilderment.

She had still been thinking about watching her master grind that ugly gorilla into dust, so she could brag about it to the other ninja cats later, meowing anxiously without stop.

"Master's call is here, meow."

Suddenly sensing the pull of a Summoning Jutsu, Tachibana leaped excitedly, following the summoning formula into the void, and in an instant went from a lush green forest to pouncing into her master's arms, her cat eyes curiously glancing around to find they were on a great mountain.

The mountain was full of peach trees heavy with fruit, ripe peaches hanging thick from the branches.

On the thick branches stood fierce-faced gorillas of various colors, some bare-handed, others wielding swords, spears, and axes, surrounding the one man and one cat in a tight circle.

"Uchiha Takeyasu!"

Before he could use the Summoning Jutsu to contact the Sarutobi Clan, Enma stepped forward from the crowd, his monkey face dark and unsettled, a great unease and panic rising in his heart, his lowered voice tinged with a hint of alarm.

"This is Monkey Mountain, beyond the reach of the mundane world. What business do you have here?"

"Beyond the reach of the mundane world? Do you take this for one of the Three Sacred Lands?"

"As for what business?"

If the other party had been a stunning beauty, Uchiha Takeyasu would have blurted out "to do you," but facing a brawny ape, he grudged the extra effort.

"Disaster enters through the mouth, calamity exits through it."

"Though you are but beasts, This Humble One, having studied the Analects of Fist, is still willing to teach you the way of being human."

"No need to worry about tuition—it's just your monkey lives."

"First lesson: Benevolence!"

"Benevolence, the character shows a person and a two, meaning the skill of splitting a man in half."

With the words spoken, Uchiha Takeyasu calmly drew his katana and cleaved a hairy, ferocious ape in two with a single stroke.

"Second lesson: Righteousness."

Uchiha Takeyasu, teaching the apes the way of being human through action, manifested his Susanoo. The red half-body skeletal giant slammed a palm down, smashing three cornered apes into meat paste.

"Righteousness is the power to hammer another's head into their chest."

"Master's control of that power is poor—my apologies."

"But I think the great truths of benevolence and righteousness have already sunk deep into your hearts and carved themselves into your souls."

"Your tuition was not paid in vain."

Watching Uchiha Takeyasu speak so glibly, Enma's dark monkey face flushed red with rage, his eyes bloodshot. He let out a long howl and led the elite of the ape clan in a fierce charge.

Then, to their despair, no matter what attack they launched or what sacrifice they made, the red half-body skeletal giant still strolled leisurely through their ranks, slaughtering their kind.

Blood spread, flesh and bone paved the ground.

As their leader Enma was caught in the giant's palm, the remaining apes stared blankly at him shrieking miserably in the air. Then, from one of them, a terrified cry rang out, and the broken-spirited apes scattered in all directions.

"Please... spare... them..."

As the Susanoo's hand slowly closed, like a python coiling tighter, Enma's muscles and bones creaked all over, and he pleaded in broken gasps.

"They... are innocent..."

Pfft!

A mouthful of blood sprayed out. Enma's tall, powerful body finally fell from the Susanoo's palm like a limp noodle. Uchiha Takeyasu withdrew his calm gaze and dismissed the Susanoo.

Facing the remaining rabble, none even at jonin level, it was enough to maintain the holographic map in his left eye to avoid ambushes and traps and find the hiding apes; anything else was wasteful, using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Monkey Mountain's territory wasn't large, estimated at about five hundred hectares. With Uchiha Takeyasu's speed, he covered it all in about thirty minutes. He already regarded this place as his private reserve, and every ape was killed.

Stopping, Uchiha Takeyasu tossed aside the blunted, chipped katana. His killing intent was nearly tangible, and with his blood-red Sharingan, he looked like a merciless executioner stepping straight out of hell.

The icy aura made Tachibana in his arms show a frightened expression, her whiskers trembling.

Sensing Tachibana's unease, Uchiha Takeyasu said softly, "Tachibana, how do you feel?"

"Lord Takeyasu, this cat is a little scared."

Tachibana answered honestly, her cat eyes shifting as she carefully watched her master's expression. "The Lord Takeyasu just now felt like he'd gone berserk."

Uchiha Takeyasu's face was expressionless, making Tachibana shrink her head—a master who showed all his emotions, laughing and raging, was the normal master.

This kind of silent, blank-faced master was too scary for a cat.

After a long while, with her little heart pounding, Tachibana finally heard Uchiha Takeyasu speak with feeling.

"...I did go a little berserk."

"That thrill of life slipping away in my hands, even if it's just monkeys, is intoxicating."

"So, Tachibana, let me take a sniff to calm down."

Deactivating his Sharingan, Uchiha Takeyasu pulled the calico cat into his arms, stroking her smooth, soft fur as he lowered his head and took a deep breath, easing his overexcited nerves.

(With the Three Tomoe unlocked, killing people was as easy as killing chickens. With the Mangekyo unlocked, he'd nearly become an emotionless fishmonger.)

(Once he took down Senju Tobirama, the biggest roadblock, he'd have to rein himself in. He didn't want to become a mindless killing machine.)

(After returning to Konoha and becoming the Third Hokage, it was time to cultivate his character for a while. Or maybe he could find a pretty girl to cuddle up with—he wasn't getting any younger.)

(Dammit, he'd transmigrated too early. Tsunade should have just graduated from the Ninja Academy this year, still an adorable little loli.)

(Wait, had he ever met Tsunade's mother?)

Nothing could match the realm of a great demon putting down his butcher's knife and instantly becoming a Buddha—aside from forced brainwashing, only the Sage Mode that followed a good romp.

Understanding how to solve the root of his bloodlust problem, Uchiha Takeyasu was in high spirits. He placed Tachibana, who was panting from his sucking, into his arms and began to channel his chakra.

"Earth Style: Earth Core Movement."

Uchiha Takeyasu controlled the land, raising and lowering it, adjusting the terrain while burying all the blood beneath the earth.

In a way, ninjutsu was incredibly powerful for farming and construction.

"Tachibana, this place will become the Uchiha Clan's paradise from now on."

Uchiha Takeyasu hadn't yet decided what to use this land for, but that didn't stop him from slapping the Uchiha Clan's label on it.

At the very least, this place could serve as the Uchiha Clan's final retreat.

Already considering the Uchiha Clan his own possession, Uchiha Takeyasu thought to himself.

"It's also a paradise for cats."

Tachibana, thoroughly pleased by Uchiha Takeyasu's sucking, had a blush spreading across her cat face, which made Uchiha Takeyasu deeply uneasy—even a ninja cat was starting to look cute to him. If he didn't find a female companion soon, his tastes might just break down.

(Can Tachibana turn into a catgirl?)

(Hmm, worth looking forward to.)

"Cough, Tachibana, be serious. We need to go."

Under Tachibana's gaze, once again that of a woman looking at a scumbag, the one person and one cat vanished from the paradise.