Chapter 6

When Mingye and Izuna secretly returned to the clan compound, they saw Madara coming out of a house alone, looking as if he were in a terrible mood. Mingye grinned mischievously and waved the scroll containing the sealed giant bear in front of him.

"Big Brother, the meat in here is bear meat. Want to try some?"

"Hmph! I'm not in the mood!"

Madara shoved Mingye aside, then walked toward the edge of the compound with his lips pursed and his face set in a scowl. Izuna caught Mingye before he could fall over from the shove, then looked at their older brother's retreating figure in confusion. Mingye, meanwhile, complained aloud, clearly unhappy with the way Madara had treated him.

"Did he take the wrong medicine? He doesn't even want meat!"

Izuna glanced at Madara, then back at their father's study. He shook his head and sighed. "Maybe Father scolded Big Brother again!"

Mingye knew there was only one person who could put his brother in a sulk: their father, Uchiha Tajima, head of the Uchiha Clan. He tossed the scroll to Izuna and said, "Then I'll go check on Big Brother. Take the meat to Father and ask him to get things ready. There's so much of it, so we'll have to divide it up carefully!"

Izuna nodded. He knew Mingye was worried about their brother, so he promised, "Yeah! I'll save the best piece for Mother and Xiao Si!"

"Mother, Xiao Wu's already a month old!" Mingye thought about it. Their mother had just given birth to another boy. With Xiao Si, who was almost five, he now had five younger brothers. Even in this chaotic era, the strength of family ties made him feel happy and blessed.

"Hahahaha! I can't wait. Once Xiao Wu grows up, the five of us brothers will roam the Ninja World together. We'll be invincible!" Izuna laughed heartily, picturing the five brothers making their way across the Ninja World, with no one in the world daring to challenge them.

"Pfft! Keep dreaming. I'm going after Big Brother!" Mingye shook his head at Izuna's foolish laughter. Standing next to him at a time like this was just too embarrassing, so he quickly finished speaking and headed off in the direction Madara had disappeared.

Thump... thump... thump... thump.

By a river, Madara had propped up his robe with a branch. He picked up a stone and began skipping it across the water. Maybe it was because he was in a bad mood, but no matter how intently he focused, he couldn't get the stone to bounce four times and make it across the river, which was less than ten meters wide.

Just then, a stone flew from behind him, crossed the river, and landed in the woods on the other bank. Madara turned and saw Mingye smiling at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"The shortest path between two points is a straight line. Big Brother, skipping stones is a game, but if you can't get your stone across after three or four tries, why not try a different approach? Maybe you'll find it easier." Mingye had watched from nearby as Madara repeatedly tried and failed to skip stones across the river. He'd finally lost patience, picked up a stone, and thrown it straight to the other bank. Then he walked over to Madara and tossed another stone into the grass on the far side as he spoke.

"How do you know I don't want to try a different way of thinking? But what can we do right now?" Madara looked at the stone in his hand, his expression downcast.

"What's wrong?" Mingye had never seen Madara so dejected before. He was curious about what had happened.

"Have you heard of the Takigawa Clan?" Madara walked to the riverbank and asked as he watched the fish swimming freely in the clear water.

"I think so. Ah, right—the small clan that wanted to join us? I heard they had quite a few members." Mingye nodded. Because of him, Madara had told Tajima everything he'd been thinking. Tajima seemed to have decided to adopt some of Madara's ideas: gather smaller clans and put them to use, so the Uchiha Clan's ninja would suffer fewer casualties. Of course, it was a distorted version of the plan, and Tajima had cut away most of Madara's original proposal.

The first clan to take the plunge seemed to be the Takigawa Clan, a force with more than thirty ninja. Though they had a decent number of ninja, they had only one Jonin; all the rest were at Genin level. Compared to the Uchiha Clan, with more than ten Jonin and even Chunin whose Sharingan could let them challenge Jonin, they were nothing but a bunch of ants.

"Father just gave the order. We're to wipe out the entire clan tonight!" Seeing that Mingye remembered the Takigawa Clan, Madara grew agitated again. He gritted his teeth and clenched the stone in his hand, as if he wanted to crush it to pieces.

"You've got to be kidding!" Mingye had been listening to Madara with a smile, but the moment he heard that Tajima intended to wipe out the Takigawa Clan, his face turned serious. It made no sense. Why would Tajima want to destroy a clan that had willingly offered its allegiance? Were they spies? That didn't seem likely either. Including their ninja, the clan had more than a hundred people. Who would pay such a high price to send them all beneath the Uchiha Clan's blade?

"Heh. I wish I were!" When he saw that Mingye didn't believe him, Madara gave a bitter laugh. His ideal was to bring peace to the world, but when he'd spoken of it, the father he respected most hadn't supported him in the slightest.

"Why?" Mingye looked at Madara and knew he wouldn't lie to him. He sat down on the ground and asked in a low voice.

"Father wants me to see reality! In this world, no one outside the clan can be trusted. Everyone outside the Uchiha Clan should be slaves who obey our orders!" Madara wanted to roar at the sky, but it was as if something were caught in his throat, and he couldn't get the words out no matter how hard he tried. His heart was in turmoil. He wanted to escape all the confusion, but he didn't know how to take the first step.

"Big Brother, have you ever wondered why we can't change Father's mind?" Mingye asked again as he watched the river flow past.

"What do you mean?" Madara looked at Mingye in confusion, hoping for an answer.

Mingye expressionlessly tossed a stone toward the opposite bank and explained, "Maybe it's because we're not as strong as Father."

"Then wait until you're strong enough to accept other clans and fearless of their betraying you at any moment. After that, do what you want to do!" "That's right! As long as we become stronger, we'll be able to do whatever we want!"

Madara looked Mingye in the eye, then silently repeated those words to himself. Afterward, he threw another stone.

"Hahahaha! As the eldest brother, you can't even skip a stone properly. Idiot! Idiot!" When he saw the stone bounce three times before sinking into the water, Mingye froze for a moment, then clutched his stomach and pointed at Madara, laughing loudly.

"Mingye, you're asking for it!" Madara kicked Mingye to the ground, then glared at him.

"Idiot! Idiot..."

Clack... clack...

Mingye was about to keep making fun of Madara when a stone shot between them, bounced across the water several times, and flew to the opposite bank. They both turned and saw a boy with a Bowl Cut, who looked exceptionally honest.

Perhaps Mingye's intense stare made him uncomfortable. The Bowl Cut boy instinctively sidestepped farther away from him, then spoke shyly. "When you throw it, you have to flick your hand upward. Look, like this!"

As he spoke, the Bowl Cut boy picked up another stone and quickly threw it under Madara and Mingye's watchful eyes. Sure enough, just as he'd said, it bounced across the water several times before landing on the far bank.

Madara cared deeply about his pride. He could put up with his little brother teasing him; he was used to it and had grown immune. But how dare some strange, seemingly foolish kid from outside look down on him and lecture him? Scowling, he picked up another stone and rolled it in his hand, saying loudly, "I know how to do something this simple! If I really tried, I could throw it across too!"

He was just about to throw the stone when he suddenly realized something was wrong. Why was he getting worked up over a stranger? Then he remembered that these woods were within the Uchiha Clan's territory. He was certain he'd never seen this boy among the children of the poor families who lived in these woods. Raising an eyebrow, he gave the boy a sidelong look and demanded, "Hey! Who are you?"