"Hmph! You're blind to what's right in front of you! Don't regret this!"
Indra's face turned icy. With an angry snort, he swept his sleeve aside and left.
A fierce gust swept across the floor as he strode through the hall doors without a backward glance. His proud, resolute figure vanished behind the corridor pillars in an instant.
Inside the great hall,
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo slowly furrowed his brow.
His gaunt fingers tapped lightly on the table. A flicker of conflict crossed his eyes... then gave way to certainty.
"It seems I made the right choice..."
Hagoromo spoke under his breath.
He had never expected his eldest son to be so stubborn. Yet that flash of violent rage only confirmed that Hagoromo's choice had been right.
Indra possessed unmatched talent. Through his own power, he had created the Ninja Sect's techniques and united its people. But his heart held only domination and conquest, never bonds or compassion.
If Hagoromo handed him the Ninja Sect, this sanctuary founded on a dream of peace would sooner or later be forged into a blade of war, plunging the world back into flames.
His mind was made up.
Hagoromo raised his eyes to Asura, whose sturdy frame and gentle features stood before him.
"Asura, from this day forward, you are the rightful heir to the Ninja Sect!"
Hagoromo's steady, commanding voice rang through the hall.
The declaration struck like thunder. Every gaze turned to Asura, some expectant, some uneasy, and some bewildered.
Asura froze. Shock filled his gentle eyes, followed by a tangle of emotions too deep to untangle.
He had followed his elder brother since childhood. All he had ever wanted was to protect the Ninja Sect and support his father, then support his brother once he took over. He had never thought of fighting for power. Now, thrust into the spotlight, he did not know what to do. His fingers curled slightly.
"Haa..."
Hagoromo saw every trace of his hesitation and sighed inwardly.
Indecisive. In that respect, Asura was just like Hagoromo had been in his youth.
When his mother Kaguya had terrorized the world, his love for her had remained, and he had turned a blind eye to her atrocities.
Only after Haori died at his mother's hands had every scrap of tenderness and hesitation vanished. Only then had he killed his own mother.
Hagoromo steadied himself. His voice grew heavy, each word striking Asura's heart like a hammer. "Asura, the survival of the Ninja Sect rests on your shoulders. You cannot afford to waver anymore!
"If you are too softhearted, if you keep second-guessing yourself, you will only hurt everyone who trusts you and destroy the Ninja Sect's foundations!"
Asura shuddered. He looked up at his father's grave face, then at the expectant faces of his people. His turmoil suddenly settled.
He drew a deep breath and nodded firmly.
"Father, I understand. I won't let anyone down, and I won't let the Ninja Sect go astray!"
Resolve finally settled in Asura's eyes.
Night spread across the mountains like spilled ink. A cold wind swept dead branches through a desolate valley.
Inside a hidden cave,
there was no light but the faint flame of a crude candle beside the cave wall.
Indra slumped on a stone seat at the center of the cave, his crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan fixed on the space ahead.
"Why!? Why!?"
Indra threw back his head and roared. His voice shook with resentment and rage, sending pebbles pattering down from the cave roof.
He was the eldest son of the Otsutsuki clan, a prodigy born, the creator of the Ninja Sect's techniques. He had made the sect flourish through his efforts alone!
He had poured his heart into building a powerful Ninja Sect, only for his father to cast him aside and hand leadership to Asura, who could do nothing but talk about bonds and had no edge at all!
He would never admit he had lost. Not even a little!
He had not fallen short in strength, talent, or devotion to the Ninja Sect. He had lost only to his father's outrageous favoritism!
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, his so-called father, had favored and protected Asura, wiping away everything Indra had worked for!
That bastard was no father of his!
He was only the man who had fathered him.
Indra pressed a hand to his forehead, veins bulging at his temples. Candlelight flickered across his contorted face, making his Sharingan look all the more bloodred and terrifying.
Outside, the night was deep and utterly silent. Only his ragged breathing echoed through the cave.
That night, he sat on the stone seat, restless for hours, turning over everything he had spent half his life building and defending.
He had improved Chakra, spread hand-sign techniques, and helped the Ninja Sect establish itself and earn respect far and wide. Was this all his effort had earned him?
He could not accept it! He could not!
"What... am I supposed to do...?"
Indra's murmur was hollow and despairing.
Slowly, he raised a trembling hand and brushed his fingertips over his burning eyes, touching the Three-Tomoe Sharingan that represented supreme power.
The instant his cool fingertips touched his burning eyes,
a surge of savage fury and murderous intent erupted from deep within him, swallowing all his hurt and resentment!
What was he supposed to do?
Kill. That was the only way!
Only kill!
Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!
Only through overwhelming power could he take back everything that should have been his!
Indra sprang to his feet. Chakra exploded from him like a tidal wave, its violent force sweeping through the cave and snuffing out the candle in an instant.
Purple-blue Chakra surged from his body, forming the enormous skeleton of Susanoo layer by layer. Armor, arms, and a massive blade took shape with a roar. Its terrifying pressure swept through the valley, making the earth tremble.
The towering Susanoo stood beneath the night sky like a demon god descended to earth. Indra stood at its brow, his crimson eyes fixed on the distant Ninja Sect hall. His cold, resolute voice rang through the night:
"Then I'll seize power by force!!!"
Meanwhile, in the Quiet Room deep within the Ninja Sect,
the place where Hagoromo usually secluded himself to train had become a private meeting place for father and son.
Hagoromo dismissed every attendant. Only he and Asura remained in the spacious room.
He looked at Asura, whose expression still held a trace of unease.
"Asura, I will transfer all the Chakra and sage power I have cultivated over my lifetime to you. Only then will you have the strength to stand against Indra."
The faint purple ripples of Hagoromo's Rinnegan shifted as he spoke with grave concern.
"Father!"
Asura jerked his head up, shock filling his eyes. Before he could speak, Hagoromo raised a hand to stop him.
"Indra has long since been consumed by obsession and rage. He has fallen into darkness, and the threat he poses to the Ninja Sect is imminent."
Weariness weighed on Hagoromo's voice.
"My life is nearly over. If Indra attacks the Ninja Sect after I'm gone, remember this: if you cannot stop him, contact Mount Myōboku at once and find our Grandmaster, the Sage of Six Paths. Only he can put an end to the disaster Indra will bring."
At those words, Asura's expression grew impossibly conflicted. His throat worked, but for a long while he could not speak.
He had never imagined that he and his own brother would come to blows and fight until one of them died. Nor had he imagined his father would place so heavy a burden entirely on his shoulders.
Before he could collect himself,
Before you continue