Madara tried to slack off

There was no side effect a little genjutsu couldn't fix.

His jet-black eyes turned scarlet, three tomoe appearing as he cast a Hypnotic Genjutsu on Madara Uchiha.

Madara Uchiha, who had been anxious just a moment ago, promptly collapsed into a deep sleep.

Indra laid him down beside himself and continued reading.

Only after midnight did he blow out the candle.

The morning sun rose, and the mist dispersed.

Madara Uchiha slowly opened his eyes and realized he wasn't in his own tent. His eldest brother sat beside him, meditating and cultivating chakra. He recalled wanting to talk to his brother last night to calm himself down, but somehow, he had fallen asleep.

His brother seemed to have spent the entire night training. No wonder he was weaker than him.

Hearing him stir, Indra slowly opened his eyes and reminded him, "Change your dressing and eat something. We're moving out."

"Mm." Madara Uchiha felt no fatigue at all and was much more relaxed, aside from the unhealed wound between his thumb and forefinger. "Brother, what if the clan finds out what we're doing?"

"Then they find out. It's not like I haven't robbed them before." Indra didn't care in the slightest. In his original host's memories, he had stolen plenty of Uchiha resources-outright robbery, leading men in and taking both the goods and the people.

"Ah, uh! Didn't they find out?" Madara Uchiha felt his entire worldview shaken. His brother really had robbed them? Their father must have covered it up. At least he had enough of a conscience to help his brother hide it.

"So what if they found out? It didn't fall into our enemies' hands. Would they send ninja to kill us? They won't make a deal that costs them more than they gain."

Indra sat at the low table eating pastries, drawing on every last scrap of patience to explain things to Madara Uchiha. He didn't want this lump of chakra to remain clueless about clan affairs after all his teaching, acting as though he had no brain outside of combat.

"For a power to flourish, strength alone isn't enough. It also needs financial backing."

Back then, he had possessed not only great strength but overwhelming wealth, standing on equal footing with the nobles. Yet now, these unfilial descendants of his had been reduced to tools.

The thought left him feeling as though his brain stem had been deprived of oxygen. He wanted to faint.

"Hasn't your father taught you any of this?"

Seeing the innocent look in Madara Uchiha's eyes, he realized the question had been pointless.

Indra decided he needed to beat that unfilial descendant, Uchiha Tajima, when he returned to the Uchiha.

If he was raising Madara Uchiha to be the next clan head, why wasn't he teaching him these things? Indra himself had suffered back then because he trusted his father and brother too much.

He had believed strength alone was enough, only to be outmaneuvered in the end.

Without his father's approval, he could never become the heir, no matter how strong he was.

"No." Madara Uchiha shook his head and focused on eating his pastries. Food was scarce during the Warring States Period, and treats like these were almost impossible to come by.

"What has that useless fool been teaching you?" Indra practically ground his teeth.

"To train and get stronger." Under his brother's oppressive gaze, even Madara Uchiha lost confidence in his own words. He had the unsettling feeling that his father had taught him all wrong.

"One powerful person can make a clan flourish and make every other power fear it, but he can't keep the entire clan from ever declining. Whatever that useless fool teaches you, from now on, you listen only to me. Remember every word I say."

"Oh. But aren't you here, Brother? If I can't do it, you can."

Madara Uchiha slowly ate his pastries. Since his brother understood all of this, he could inherit the clan in the future. Madara would only need to go to the front lines and kill enemies.

Wish System: [Host, I think something's wrong with him. He seems to be planning to slack off.]

Indra: [I think so too. Is it because his brothers haven't all died?]

"Is there a problem? You're stronger than me, you know more than me, you're exceptionally talented, and you're the eldest son. You'd have no trouble becoming clan head."

Seeing Indra's dark expression, Madara Uchiha didn't know what he had said wrong. Thinking of his brother's attitude toward their father, he explained, "You don't need to worry about Father. The next clan head can only take over once the previous one dies in battle."

"I will not become the Uchiha Clan Head."

Indra's face turned livid. He began wondering whether his teaching methods were wrong. During all those years he had drifted through the Shinobi World, Madara Uchiha hadn't been like this.

Could this chakra have become dependent on him after meeting its original owner?

He still hadn't figured it out by the time they left. In the end, he decided Madara simply needed a beating and planned to give him one after the mission.

For this operation, Indra brought Uchiha Naoto and Kaguya Jun Wuji. Once they caught someone, one would control the captive with genjutsu while the other dragged them back.

He would take Madara Uchiha to ambush the Senju ninja and make sure none of them left the Land of Lightning.

"Madara, do you have a dream?" Whether they built a village or a nation in the future, the Land of Fire remained the best location. Its abundant resources were beyond anything the Land of Lightning could offer.

He had only chosen the Land of Lightning as his base back then because Asura was in the Land of Fire.

Looking back now, he had been naive. Why hadn't Asura been the one to leave?

"A dream? I want peace, so children no longer have to go to war," Madara Uchiha answered as they traveled.

Uchiha Naoto let out a rare, normal laugh. "Hahaha! Young clan head, you're a little naive. Peace is impossible unless we wipe out the Senju and make every other power submit."

Kaguya Jun Wuji didn't know what to say. The Uchiha's young clan head was far too naive. As long as people existed, war was inevitable. Still, he was a little kinder than the other Uchiha, who were all about fighting and killing and mocked people the moment they opened their mouths.

Then again, their two clans were equally bad. They could pick a fight even while riding pigs.

"Sending children to war just proves the adults are incompetent, doesn't it?"

"That's a good dream. Plan it out properly, and you can make it happen." Indra wanted him to face reality, but Madara Uchiha's earlier attitude had genuinely baffled him. Better to give him some encouragement, lest this lump of chakra's thinking go astray.

"Huh? My lord, you actually agree? That's not like you." Uchiha Naoto slowed down and stared at Indra, wondering whether someone was impersonating him.

"Peace is simple. Erase every voice of opposition." Indra revered strength. Winning people over with love was bullshit. In the end, hadn't his father and Asura achieved peace through strength too?

"Hahaha! Now that's the lord I know!" Uchiha Naoto stopped laughing and quickened his pace to catch up with Kaguya Jun Wuji. He had been terrified that his lord might suddenly develop a bleeding heart.

"Then I need to hurry up and get stronger." Delighted by his brother's approval, Madara Uchiha also picked up his pace, hoping to finish the mission early and return to training.

Suddenly, Kaguya Jun Wuji, who was out in front, stopped. He landed on the ground to examine the traces left behind, pinched up some dark red soil, and held it beneath his nose.

"My lord, there was a battle nearby not long ago."