"There are plenty of clans around here. Fighting is nothing unusual." Uchiha Naoto lightly patted Kaguya Jun Wuji's shoulder and took a few steps forward, stepping on something in the grass. "Is this a Sarutobi Clan corpse?"
"The Sarutobi ninja are our targets. Are we continuing the mission?" Madara Uchiha also examined the area. Noticing blood on the bushes, he felt an inexplicable surge of panic. Following the blood trail, he discovered another corpse, this one an Uchiha. "Uchiha Hiko."
He swiftly pressed his fingers to the man's neck. The body was already cold.
"There's a Senju corpse over here too," Kaguya Jun Wuji called out. "Looks like a free-for-all. And judging by the tracks, they were chasing someone? Sir, shall we go fight and swoop in while they're distracted?"
He was already itching for action. Mining and the like offered him no enjoyment at all.
That same uncontrollable panic surged through Madara Uchiha again.
He took a few steps forward and discovered another Uchiha clansman, whose eyes had been gouged out.
The sight filled him with fury.
Indra stood steadily on a branch, his eyes lowered in thought. He already had a plan: use this opportunity to make Madara awaken his Sharingan on the spot.
The corners of his mouth lifted in a faint, ambiguous smile. "Looks like they're hunting someone down. Might be an Uchiha. Let's take a look."
"Mm." Warmth welled up in Madara Uchiha's heart. Perhaps his older brother did not hate him after all. He had only been caught up in the fallout of his father's actions and shunned because of it.
But he had no time to dwell on anything else now. He focused entirely on following the signs of battle.
At last, beneath a tree, he spotted a familiar figure. Once he could make out the face, he recognized a fellow Uchiha-and he was still alive!
"Uchiha Hachishaku!"
Indra came up beside Madara Uchiha and saw him repeatedly shaking the man, who barely had a breath left. Looking down at the half-dead Uchiha, he felt an unexpected flicker of familiarity and spoke up.
"Stop shaking him. Shake that last breath out of him and he really will die."
Indra took a Healing Talisman from his Ninja Tool Pouch and flicked it onto Uchiha Hachishaku's forehead. Emerald light enveloped his entire body, and the man who had been barely clinging to life slowly opened his eyes.
Seeing Madara Uchiha and Indra, Uchiha Hachishaku looked bewildered. "Are we all dead? Well, at least we can still kill Senju together."
"Hey, Hachishaku, why are you here? What happened?" Madara Uchiha grabbed his collar, trying to bring him back to his senses. "How many more of our clansmen are nearby?"
"Young clan head-ah, damn it! Young masters Xing and Yue are still being hunted! Hurry! The Senju and the nearby ninja clans have joined forces to hunt them down. Liuhuo is protecting them, but I..."
The shaking brought Uchiha Hachishaku much closer to his senses. He immediately stood up and discovered that most of his injuries had healed. Able to move again, he urged them to hurry and rescue the others.
Before he had even finished speaking, Madara Uchiha stopped listening. Chakra burst from his feet as he raced after the trail of battle.
"Bring him and follow." Indra thought this was an excellent opportunity to awaken the Sharingan. Surely he could get at least two tomoe out of it. Wouldn't losing two younger brothers produce greater ocular power than awakening it over a breakup?
As he darted through the woods, Madara Uchiha kept checking his surroundings. Hearing fighting, he unleashed chakra through his feet. When he saw one of his two rebellious younger brothers drenched in blood and the other about to be killed with a single slash, he hurled a barrage of shuriken, blocking the fatal strike.
"Hmm? Another Uchiha brat. Looks like this trip's quite a haul." The Senju ninja had an honest, good-natured face, but his words were the complete opposite of his appearance.
Indra and the other two arrived at an unhurried pace and dispatched several enemies. Kaguya Jun Wuji and Uchiha Naoto had just stepped forward to deal with the men surrounding Madara Uchiha when they suddenly shuddered and stole a glance behind them.
A pair of half-lidded eyes stared coldly at them. Their minds, never much given to thinking, instantly cleared. Each grabbed a man and leaped into the trees, shouting arrogantly, "Kill! Dance, you scum!"
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
Uchiha Naoto clamped a hand around a Senju ninja's throat and pinned him against a tree trunk, repeatedly driving his blade into the man's body. When his victim fell silent, he delivered a heavy slap, briefly jolting him back to life.
"Shout! Scream! Your cries for help make my blood boil!"
Kaguya Jun Wuji was a little more rational than Uchiha Naoto, but not by much. He merely prowled around Madara Uchiha, sneaking in to steal a kill. His Bone Blade became a barbed hook, which he drove into a Senju ninja's head and swung around with fearsome vigor.
Madara Uchiha only felt the pressure on him ease, though more and more blood covered his body, all of it sprayed over him from Jun Wuji's direction. He had no time to complain. He knew the most important thing right now was to kill every enemy ninja.
Watching Madara Uchiha from the perimeter, Indra felt he was still just short of it. One more push would surely awaken his Sharingan.
His sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters had never had this much trouble awakening theirs. Either a pet died, or they awakened their Sharingan during a fight.
I've never seen it take this much effort. Even now, why haven't his eyes awakened? Is the stimulus not enough?
What else can I do to provoke him?
Let those two rebellious brats die?
Indra grabbed a ninja and pinned him to a tree with a stab of his blade. Activating his Sharingan, he met the man's eyes and asked coldly, "Why are you here? What is your objective?"
The ninja pinned to the tree answered word by word, his eyes vacant. "We were searching for the clan head's son, Senju Kawarama. We encountered a squad searching for the Uchiha Clan Head's sons. Fighting broke out between us."
Splat!
Lightning flashed, leaving him charred outside and tender within.
The Senju ninja's head lolled sideways, and he went off to seek his great-grandmother's ninja way.
Indra joined the fight, killing one man with each stroke. He knew Asura all too well, and knew the fighting style of his lineage just as well. He did not even need to think as he fought; the muscle memory was still there.
All the Senju ninja fell. The one remaining Sarutobi ninja and two Shimura ninja voluntarily dropped their weapons and raised their hands in surrender.
Before you continue