Early the next morning, Madara Uchiha was already up and starting his daily training.
Uchiha Naoto and several of his companions took turns fighting him, only stopping when Indra came out.
"My lord, have you come to whip me into shape? My body can hardly wait."
There was something sick about Uchiha Naoto's voice. His scarlet eyes, each bearing three tomoe, stared wildly as he begged for a beating. A single day without fighting left him uncomfortable all over.
"No! My big brother promised to spar with me." Madara Uchiha had gotten up early to wait for Indra. Now that he was here, there was no way Madara would let anyone steal him away.
But as soon as he said that, silence fell.
Even Uchiha Naoto quieted down. Tilting his head, he pointed at Madara Uchiha, then at Indra. The three commas in his eyes looked ready to turn into question marks.
"Young clan head-is it all right if I call you that? Are you trying to steal my beating?"
The others' expressions turned strange. Uchiha Fuliu could no longer even maintain her fake smile.
Indra stared at Madara Uchiha. He felt that this lump of chakra was getting far too full of himself, actually trying to challenge the original.
"Jun Wuji, give him a blade."
A Bone Blade appeared in Kaguya Jun Wuji's hand. He tossed it to Madara Uchiha with a sympathetic look that even held a hint of gloating.
They might have been sworn to die for their master, but their master was already dead. Who the fuck would keep playing that role? Wasn't fighting fun?
Yet they were still obediently serving as death-sworn guards. Had no one considered what that implied?
Everyone said the Kaguya were brainless, but the Uchiha weren't very bright either. Their master was an exception, of course. Two negatives made a positive, after all.
Uchiha Fuliu quietly went to fetch a medical kit and waited nearby, terrified that the young clan head would die at their young master's hands.
After all, their young master even wanted to kill his own father.
With his hands tucked away, Indra walked unhurriedly up to Madara Uchiha. He wanted to find out just how cocky this reincarnated lump of his chakra had become.
"Begin!"
Madara Uchiha put his earlier confusion aside and swiftly readied himself for battle. Although he knew he was no match for Indra, he wanted to understand the gap between himself and his big brother.
For several exchanges, Madara Uchiha did all the attacking. Indra dodged with his hands still tucked away, offering a pointer or two now and then. It almost felt like those childhood days when he had played around with Asura.
Only this time, he wasn't putting on an act to spare the other boy's pride.
The Bone Blade in Madara Uchiha's hand failed to cut so much as a strand of Indra's hair. The distance between them remained constant throughout, and most importantly, Indra still hadn't taken his hands out.
"Hey! Are you refusing to attack because you look down on me?"
"As you wish." As Indra passed close to Uchiha Naoto, he snatched the short blade from his hand and met Madara Uchiha's incoming Bone Blade.
In an instant.
Madara Uchiha felt the web of his hand go numb from the impact. The Bone Blade flew out of his grip and embedded itself in the ground, the blood on its hilt painfully stark.
His entire arm had lost all feeling and hung limp at his side. Blood from the torn web of his hand dripped from his fingertips onto the ground.
With a casual flick, Indra sent the short blade flying back into Uchiha Naoto's sheath.
Clutching his now-useless arm, Madara Uchiha stared fixedly at Indra, disbelief written all over his face. I couldn't even block a single strike?
"Treat him," Indra instructed. Without paying Madara Uchiha any further attention, he headed toward the mine tunnel.
Uchiha Naoto immediately followed, madness gleaming in his eyes. "My lord, may I write the Uchiha Clan Head a letter saying his son has been kidnapped? Then we can bring him to Asagiri Town. Heh heh heh heh heh..."
"Go play somewhere else." Indra pushed his head away and began setting up a Barrier around the entire mountain to prevent a sneak attack.
"Hehehehe, yes, my lord." Since Uchiha Naoto hadn't heard a refusal, he took that as permission. He ran into the tent, put pen to paper, and dispatched the letter by hawk as an urgent message.
Uchiha Tajima had just received word that the branch garrison had seen neither of his two unfilial sons when news arrived that Madara Uchiha had been captured.
His head began to spin, and he abruptly passed out.
"Clan head! Clan head, are you all right?"
Several elders hurried over to check on him as soon as they heard.
"Clan head, can you still manage? If not, we should elect a new clan head."
The Second Elder had coveted the position for a long time. If Uchiha Tajima dropped dead, he could take over. He might not have been the strongest elder, but the strong ones were all stationed elsewhere. Only the few of them remained in the clan compound.
"I'm fine. Just exhausted." Uchiha Tajima was far too ashamed to admit that his eldest son had kidnapped his second son and was demanding a fucking ransom-or payment in flesh.
Unfilial son!
Unfilial son!
Unfilial son!
If the boy even wanted to kill his own father, why wouldn't he hurt his brother?
I miscalculated.
"Tajima, the branch garrison at Tsukiumi Plains hasn't received Madara and Xia. Has something happened to them?"
The elders each had their own intelligence networks. As long as it wasn't classified, they could uncover some of the same information Uchiha Tajima received.
The Uchiha Fourth Elder crouched on the desk and spotted a ransom letter. After skimming it, he rubbed his eyes, activated his Sharingan, and carefully read through its contents.
He began to feel rather sorry for Uchiha Tajima.
"Clan head, since your eldest son kidnapped your second son, this is a family matter, so we won't interfere. But should their mission continue?"
"What? Xia kidnapped Madara? Where did he take him? They're only two years apart. Can't Madara rescue himself?"
Even at his age, the Uchiha Second Elder had never encountered an Uchiha older brother kidnapping his younger brother.
This was absurd beyond belief.
Their Uchiha brothers were so loving toward one another.
"Second Elder, don't forget that the two of us together couldn't subdue that child. He even stabbed me clean through," the Uchiha Fourth Elder mercilessly stated, leaving everyone present silent.
"Tajima, you were the one who wronged that child, after all. It's understandable that he bears a grudge. Why don't you... go kowtow to him?" The Uchiha First Elder was Uchiha Tajima's older brother. Bringing that child back into the clan would come at a price.
For such an outstanding Uchiha, they would gladly sacrifice some resources to bring him back.
Even if he refused to belong to the clan, what about his descendants?
The offspring of such an outstanding ninja were bound to be powerful too.
"That child is already fourteen. It's time to find him a good marriage match. Once he has a wife and children, he should settle down." The Uchiha First Elder reminded everyone present that they couldn't let the Kaguya get there first.
"Yes, he has indeed reached the age to start a family. I'll leave that matter to you. I need to plan how to rescue Madara."
Uchiha Tajima promptly dumped the responsibility on them. Whoever wanted to negotiate with that unfilial son could go ahead. He had no habit of volunteering to be cursed at.
Besides, the boy had grown up in Asagiri Town. Whether he was even still interested in women was hard to say. After seeing enough of them, they might all seem much the same.
"As for Tsukiumi Plains, let's wait. There's no need to rush."
Meanwhile, Uchiha Naoto held Madara Uchiha down on a stool while Uchiha Fuliu manually pushed his dislocated arm back into place. The pain made him break out in a cold sweat.
Holding Madara Uchiha down, Uchiha Naoto wore a deeply deranged smile. "Young clan head, forgive the impertinent question, but do you enjoy being whipped into shape too? How about we do it together tomorrow? You stab me, I stab you, and whichever of us survives gets our lord tomorrow?"
Before you continue