Madara fell victim to his own jutsu

"My lord, I want to become a ninja."

Uchiha Chiri knelt before Indra, her body trembling slightly. Beneath her sleeves, her fists were clenched tight, as though that could ease her nerves a little.

She quietly awaited the fate about to befall her.

From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the young master opposite her, watching her with a cold, oppressive gaze.

In that suffocating atmosphere, Uchiha Chiri knew that any lie or concealment would cost her her only chance.

Now, Indra was the only lifeline she could grasp.

After a moment, Indra finally spoke.

"Understood."

A detailed set of notes on how to extract chakra appeared before her. Indra slowly rose and walked toward the door.

He opened it, then paused briefly. His cold, emotionless voice rang out. "You have one day to extract chakra."

"Yes, my lord." Uchiha Chiri dared not delay. She pressed her forehead to the tatami and thanked him respectfully.

Inwardly, she rejoiced at having seized her only chance to change her fate.

Indra arrived at the training ground, where Madara and Izuna were training.

Just then, Madara noticed Indra approaching. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and he swiftly formed hand seals, sending a Fire Release attack hurtling toward Izuna.

Yet Madara's hand seals were slow, as though he had deliberately slowed his movements, allowing Izuna to dodge sideways with ease. The Fire Release attack's true target was Indra.

Faced with the sudden attack, Indra showed no trace of panic. He chuckled. "Heh, you little rascal."

In an instant, a massive wall of water appeared before him like a blue barrier.

The moment the flames struck it, they dissipated into mist.

But Indra did not stop there. His hand seals shifted again, and the Water Release barrier turned into a thick column of water that surged toward Madara Uchiha like a powerful fountain.

It did little damage, merely soaking him to the skin.

Madara Uchiha spat out a mouthful of water. He pulled off his belt, then tore off his drenched shirt and flung it to the ground.

He stood bare-chested, his muscles clearly defined, though the unexpected turn of events had left him looking rather bedraggled.

Madara Uchiha swiftly formed hand seals. Lightning seethed around his hand as he charged toward Indra.

Indra, however, sidestepped him with ease.

At the same time, he gathered even more powerful lightning in his hand and seized Madara Uchiha's wrist, pinning him in place.

Then, forming hand seals with one hand, he activated Water Release.

Seeing Indra's Water Release hand seals, Madara Uchiha's pupils contracted sharply. This is bad! Without hesitation, he prepared to escape with the Substitution Technique.

But interference from Indra's genjutsu made him miss the best moment.

In an instant, a Water Dragon coiled around Madara Uchiha's body. The lightning in his hand surged back up his arm with a crackling hiss.

The current roared across the Water Dragon, making every muscle in Madara Uchiha's body twitch uncontrollably. He went rigid from the shock and fell heavily to the ground with a dull thud, his body twisted into an utterly bizarre position.

"Madara!" Izuna ran over in alarm. Seeing the Nii-san he had idolized since childhood knocked unconscious by his own jutsu felt like the sky had fallen. His idealized image of Nii-san shattered with a crack, breaking into countless pieces.

"He's fine. His jutsu just backfired on him."

Indra put on gloves, picked up Madara Uchiha, and tossed him through the window into his own room. Then he turned his attention to Izuna.

"B-big brother, why are you looking at me like that?" Izuna had a keen instinct for danger. The moment Indra looked at him, he sensed that something bad was about to happen to him-most likely the same thing that had happened to Madara.

"Your swordsmanship is good."

Indra was generous with his praise. In his eyes, Izuna's swordsmanship surpassed Madara's. Both his flexibility and his chakra control were far more refined; only his age and chakra reserves limited his performance.

"Huh? Really?" The sudden praise left Izuna at a loss. He could not shake the feeling that his eldest brother was up to something, as though he were being lured into a trap.

"Yes. Would you like to learn a new ninjutsu? I taught it to several of your older brothers, but none of them mastered it. I believe you can."

Indra embarked on his grand undertaking of teaching his little brother. Izuna had something of his own flair, so he was bound to do well. He was especially gifted at developing ninjutsu; his foundations were simply too weak.

"Really?" Izuna's eyes sparkled. His eldest brother said he could learn a jutsu that none of his other brothers had mastered.

"Yes. Come with me." Indra picked Izuna up and took him to a small river outside the Uchiha Clan Compound.

He had sensed Asura's chakra here before, but it had now vanished. Clearly, Asura was no longer there.

"Big brother, we left the compound without reporting it. Won't we be punished by having to face the wall?" Izuna clutched Indra's sleeve. He rarely left the compound on his own, not so much out of fear of being discovered by outside ninja as fear of his father punishing him.

Being made to face the wall did not simply mean being shut in a dark room. It meant being shut in a dark room without food.

"No. He won't be getting out of bed for the next few days."

Standing beside the river, Indra formed the hand seals slowly so Izuna could memorize every one. Then he explained how to link the different chakra natures, before cramming the jutsu's power and the kinds of battles it suited into Izuna's head.

"Huh? Big brother, are you sure I can learn this jutsu you developed?" Izuna stared blankly at Indra. Isn't he overestimating me? I really don't think I have enough chakra.

"Yes. Your chakra control is precise enough. You'll be fine," Indra assured him. "Go ahead. I'll watch you from here."

Izuna practiced the hand seals a few times, then channeled his chakra and swiftly performed them. Water Release and Fire Release combined into Lava Release, followed by Wind Release, then Lightning Release, with Earth Release to cover his body at the end.

By the Wind Release stage, Izuna's chakra was already nearly depleted. Still, for the sake of completing the jutsu, he forced out a little more chakra and barely managed to finish it, though he ultimately failed to perform the final Earth Release.

Standing a short distance away, Indra kept nodding. As expected, Izuna's age and chakra reserves limited his performance.

Once the miniature Divine Thunder Ashes Technique dissipated, Izuna lay on the ground, his face deathly pale.

"Hmm? He passed out?" Indra swiftly went to his side and checked his condition. His chakra had been drained all at once; it was nothing serious. Indra took out a Military Rations Pill, dissolved it in water, and poured it into his mouth.