The Great Fireball Technique Was Meant for Cooking

The Senju Clan Compound.

News that all the ninja dispatched by the Senju had been wiped out soon reached Butsuma Senju.

Hashirama Senju, who had been keeping a close eye on news of Senju Kawarama's whereabouts, had intended to speak to his father, only to overhear that all the Senju ninja had been annihilated.

Bang!

He kicked the door open.

"Father, are you going to give up on Kawarama?" Hashirama Senju demanded furiously. He could never abandon his own little brother.

Tobirama Senju, who had followed him, grabbed his older brother, terrified that he would get beaten again. He had already lost one brother; he couldn't let his eldest brother get beaten to death.

"Brother, calm down."

"You idiot, do you know what you're saying?" Butsuma Senju punched Hashirama Senju without holding back in the slightest.

His son's impressive strength had clearly come at the expense of his brains. He was always dreaming up unrealistic nonsense.

"Kawarama is only missing. We haven't found his body, have we?"

Even with his face battered and swollen, Hashirama Senju remained stubborn. He firmly believed his brother was only missing, not dead.

"Do you want the entire Senju clan to die with him?"

Butsuma Senju followed up with a flying kick, sending Hashirama Senju three meters into the air before he crashed back to the ground.

"Do you think Kawarama is the only one missing? There are Uchiha ninja missing too. They're also searching for someone."

"You mean the Uchiha weren't responsible for Kawarama's disappearance, Father? Someone important to the Uchiha has gone missing too?"

Tobirama Senju caught the crucial point and realized this would be difficult to handle.

If the Uchiha were responsible, they would be an enemy out in the open, and the Senju could devise a countermeasure. Now, however, they faced an unknown enemy.

That meant Kawarama might not be dead, but he certainly wouldn't be having an easy time. Other clansmen had very likely been captured alongside him as well.

"That seems to be the case. Those ninja sent back intelligence to that effect before they disappeared. We've lost contact with them now."

Butsuma Senju's temper eased somewhat. At least Tobirama still had his brains, unlike his eldest son, whose head seemed to be clogged with who knew what.

"In that case, should we find out whether ninja from other clans have gone missing?"

Tobirama Senju sank into thought. If the enemy was targeting the Senju and the Uchiha, perhaps there was still a chance to salvage the situation. He hoped Kawarama was still alive.

"I've already sent people to gather intelligence in secret. Neither of you is to leave the compound for the time being," Butsuma Senju instructed before going to summon the clan's senior members for a meeting. He paused as he stepped through the doorway. "Tobirama, keep an eye on your older brother. Don't let him run off."

"Yes, Father." Tobirama Senju hoisted Hashirama, whose head was now bloodied from the beating, and carried him back to his room. He placed him in a coffin-like tub, poured in water, sprinkled in medicine, and checked his breathing. "Brother, I'll go soak a bowl of rice for you."

That morning, Indra watched his foolish little brothers being whipped into shape by Uchiha Naoto and Kaguya Jun Wuji in turns.

Madara Uchiha had already been beaten into awakening two tomoe. His ability to take a beating was steadily improving, and even his insomnia had been cured.

Sure enough, little brothers were creatures that a good beating could always straighten out. If they dared resist, it simply meant the beating hadn't been harsh enough.

Thinking of Asura, he must have treated him too well as a child. The first person Asura had challenged after gaining power was him. A little brother like that deserved to be beaten to death.

Sitting in a rocking chair Kaguya Jun Wuji had fashioned from bone, he held a cup of tea and watched the three boys being beaten until they spat blood. His gaze softened a little. He drained his tea in one gulp, then went back to reading and developing ninjutsu.

He was very particular about ninjutsu. After all, these were techniques he had created himself, and the ninjutsu people used now was far too flashy.

Especially those Fire Release techniques. He had never imagined that the Great Fireball Technique, meant for lighting fires to cook meals, would be used in battle.

Had they really failed to notice after all these years that the thing couldn't burn anyone to death?

Fire Release techniques like Majestic Destroyer Flame were the ones intended for combat, yet the Uchiha had preserved very few of them and wouldn't even make them available to their clansmen.

He should have left behind plenty of ninjutsu, but what that unfilial descendant Uchiha Tajima had brought out now amounted to less than a tenth of it.

Many had been lost over the years.

Although the Uchiha had grown in number, they were pathetically weak compared with when he had led them.

"Unfilial descendants!"

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. The angrier he became, the deadlier the ninjutsu he developed grew. He picked up his brush and wrote down a combination technique-the Thunder God Ash Technique.

Fusing water and fire to their utmost limits produced a mist capable of melting everything. A Lightning Release technique followed, annihilating everything shrouded in the mist with lightning.

As for whether he might get struck himself, all he had to do was control his chakra. That wasn't even a problem.

Thoroughly satisfied with the ninjutsu he had developed, he walked over to the group giving and receiving the beatings. "I've just created a technique. Which of you wants to try it?"

Uchiha Naoto and Kaguya Jun Wuji exchanged a glance and swiftly backed away, leaving the three Uchiha brothers in their place.

"My lord, I'll go cook."

"My lord, I'll go make soup."

They vanished from Indra's sight with the Body Flicker Technique, leaving only the three brothers, their faces full of excitement.

"Want to try it?" Indra's gaze settled on the three. With Madara's talent, he should be able to learn it after watching a few times.

The three little ones nodded like chicks pecking at grain.

Hiding atop a hill, the other two whispered to each other. "Jun Wuji, why do you think our lord likes developing ninjutsu so much?"

"Isn't it obvious? Your clan won't give him any ninjutsu resources, and our clan barely has any resources at all. If he doesn't create his own techniques, is he supposed to wait for the Sage of Six Paths to visit him in a dream?"

Jun Wuji felt that the Uchiha could be rather brainless at times. Why even ask such a simple question? Who would cook for themselves if someone else served them food and drink?

Wasn't it all because circumstances forced his hand?

"You have a point. Honestly, our lord really is more talented than those weaklings in the clan head's family."

For once, Uchiha Naoto didn't argue. He knew how hard the eldest young master had it. But rather than growing despondent in the face of those hardships, he had chosen to go wild.

If you won't give me money, I'll earn it myself.

If you won't give me food, I'll grow it myself.

If you won't give me resources, I'll seize them myself.

If you won't give me ninjutsu, I'll create it myself.

Anyone else would have failed to survive in such a harsh environment.

"Of course. He has our Kaguya blood in him, after all. Lady Chihori was a powerful warrior who survived being surrounded and attacked by several clan heads. If not for her bloodline disease, she never would have been tricked by your clan head."

Kaguya Jun Wuji snorted. Just remembering that past made him angry.

Their lady had clearly been pursuing a Senju, only for an Uchiha to approach her while pretending to be one.

Fucking despicable!

Uchiha Naoto rubbed his nose and offered an awkward consolation. "Come on, our clan head was pretty good-looking when he was young. Your lady didn't exactly lose out."

"Besides, our lord didn't inherit your bloodline disease, did he? Round it off, and you could say Lady Chihori cured the bloodline disease."

"You not only cured the bloodline disease, but you also got a young Uchiha Clan Head for free. You came out ahead. If you're still upset, just go..."

"You make a very good point." Kaguya Jun Wuji nodded solemnly, realizing that it really did make sense.

Just as the two were discussing those dusty old affairs, an earth-shattering boom rang out nearby.