The Uchiha Turn Kaguya

Madara Uchiha swiftly retreated while forming hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

The instant the two ninjutsu collided, steam obscured a huge swath of their vision.

"Nicely done." Indra activated his Sharingan and praised the reincarnation of this clump of his chakra. With visibility obscured, no one was a match for him.

Then, as the steam spread, he darted through it, taking down one Senju after another, leaving them incapacitated but alive.

Curses and screams rang out one after another.

Having earned that praise, Madara Uchiha darted some distance away and folded his arms. Being praised by Nii-san put him in a wonderful mood. His Fire Release really was impressive.

As the mist cleared, figures landed in the trees. The Kaguya Clan's ninjas had finally arrived, and one kicked Senju Kawarama back just as he was trying to sneak away.

At the sight, Madara Uchiha immediately drew a kunai and took a guarded stance.

Indra, however, sheathed his sword and ordered coldly, "Take them away."

"My lord, isn't this too many people?" Kaguya Hall glanced over the thirteen Senju below. His bone blade was already itching for blood. "I'd like to kill a few first to liven things up."

Indra fixed his three-tomoe gaze on Kaguya Hall. He did not object, but his voice was icy and utterly emotionless. "If we run short of people to raise pigs and till the fields, you'll take their place."

"Yes, my lord."

Although Kaguya Hall wanted blood, the thought of having to farm instead of fight would make every bone in his body ache.

His manners left much to be desired, though. He delivered two hard kicks to the Senju at his feet, then told the others to follow the usual procedure: drive bone spikes through their shoulder blades, tether them together, and take them away.

Before leaving, he glanced at the wary Madara Uchiha and flashed a crazed, bloodthirsty smile.

Once the Kaguya group had gone far enough away, Madara Uchiha put away his kunai and walked over to Indra. "Who are they?"

"Deathsworn my mother left behind." Indra offered that cursory explanation, then surveyed the supplies scattered over the ground. He sealed the useful things into a scroll and left the rest on the cart.

"Sorry." Madara Uchiha cursed Uchiha Tajima again in his heart. Not wanting his older brother to be upset, he quickly changed the subject. "What should we do with these supplies?"

"Take them to the mine outpost guarded by the Senju." Indra sat on the cart and motioned for Madara Uchiha to stop dawdling, get on, and drive.

"Hey, you're not planning to make me pull you along, are you?" Madara Uchiha's mouth twitched. He did not want to hear the answer, but his older brother seemed to have exactly that in mind.

"Get on. Use Wind Release to propel it. If you want to pull the cart, though, I won't object."

Indra discovered that his descendants really were a little dim-witted. The entire clan could not muster a single brain between them.

He was beginning to wonder whether, when people produced offspring, their intelligence was diluted generation after generation, just like chakra.

"Who wants to pull your cart?" Madara Uchiha sprang onto it, then stared at Indra, waiting for him to teach him the ninjutsu. He had mentally labeled Indra a poor soul with a sharp tongue and a soft heart.

Wind appeared in Indra's hand. Without using any technique, he began propelling the cart forward.

Madara Uchiha stared wide-eyed at the Wind Release appearing in his hand. He did not understand it, but he was deeply impressed. It had no offensive power, yet it was very practical.

"What is that?"

"A system based on chakra application. Once you've learned it by watching, get started."

Indra explained it to Madara Uchiha. He believed that, with his instruction, Madara would certainly never have his heart gouged out again.

Madara Uchiha tried gathering his chakra and only succeeded after several attempts. Now he had gone from the Uchiha's genius ninja to a cart driver.

When they reached the mine, Uchiha Fuliu and the others greeted them, though they were all somewhat surprised to see Madara Uchiha.

They also silently marveled at their clan leader's nerve. He had actually sent his own son here. Wasn't he afraid that the unpredictable Young Master Xia would kill his favorite son?

As far as their young master was concerned, there were only two kinds of people: useful and useless.

He would kill his own clansmen without so much as blinking.

The last time the clan leader had been gravely injured, she had genuinely feared their young master would finish him off.

"Madara Uchiha, your clan leader's son. Get him settled."

Indra wasted no words upon meeting them and took over the mine directly. Once he confirmed that what they were digging out was gold, his mood improved considerably.

Hearing footsteps, the Uchiha turned around, his face wearing the same expression as the Kaguya. "Young master, we checked last night. This mine is a dead mine. Should we find more people to enslave-no, to work here?"

His name was Uchiha Naoto, an Uchiha picked up during a mission. At first, he had been defiant in every possible way. After several months of being disciplined by Kaguya Hall, he had gradually turned Kaguya, practically wanting to pull out his own bones to liven things up whenever he encountered an enemy.

"There used to be a band of mountain bandits nearby, but some idiot with something wrong in his head wiped them out. Now we can only go enslave the neighboring Sarutobi Clan."

Listening to Uchiha Naoto's report, Madara Uchiha's mouth twitched. He suspected that the idiot with something wrong in his head was him.

"Are we going to wait here for our clansmen to take over?"

"No. This mine is mine. Kill anyone who tries to lay a finger on it."

A faint killing intent radiated from Indra as he spoke. These were his resources.

"Hehehehehe, eldest young master, you haven't contacted the clan, have you? Ahh~ I wonder what the clan leader's son's blood tastes like when you kill him."

Uchiha Naoto covered half his face with his hand, his revolving three tomoe visible between his fingers. He looked utterly deranged, as though he might devour Madara Uchiha at any moment.

Madara Uchiha backed up several steps and stood beside Indra, as though getting too close would make it contagious.

"Sorry. A bone stabbed him in the brain while he was training with the Kaguya."

Uchiha Fuliu hooked an arm around his neck from behind and gave Madara Uchiha a sheepish smile that was polite but undeniably awkward.

Indra: ...

He now strongly suspected that the real reason Uchiha Natsu had never been taken back to the Kaguya Clan was that the Uchiha and Kaguya combined could not muster a single brain between them. He was like a rabid dog.

In the memories he had received, Uchiha Natsu had been exactly that sort of person. He had a rather pitiful background, a vicious temper, an obsession with cleanliness, and a fanatical love of battle.

His feelings toward Uchiha Tajima were extremely complicated. He wanted Tajima to kneel and atone for his wrongs, yet he also wanted the satisfaction of killing him.

He was more than a little unhinged.

"These clansmen..."

Madara Uchiha had never seen such deranged members of his clan. People like these were completely unsuited to ordinary missions. At that thought, he cursed Uchiha Tajima again.

"These Uchiha were sent by that useless fool to spy on me. Now they're my subordinates."

Indra was quite patient with Madara Uchiha. After all, he was the reincarnation of his own chakra.

"Father has gone too far."

Madara Uchiha practically forced those words through clenched teeth. With a clansman this deranged, surveillance was hardly the issue. If his older brother had not possessed sufficient strength, he might have been killed during one of the man's fits.