Indra's scarlet Sharingan swept coldly over his surroundings. Then he flashed before the nearest elder, the First Elder, at astonishing speed, sending savage wind blades slashing toward his chest.
Faced with the sudden attack, the First Elder's pupils contracted sharply. Having just been caught in the Lightning Release attack, his body was a fraction too slow to react.
That single second was enough for the blades to slice through his outer robe and the flesh of his chest. The tremendous impact sent his body pitching backward, inadvertently saving him from a fatal blow.
"I'm your uncle!" the First Elder roared hoarsely, enduring the searing pain. He regretted his earlier rashness.
The moment those words left his mouth, a sharp crack came from his chest.
Indra planted a foot on the First Elder's chest. As his ribs snapped, blood spurted from his mouth.
"What? How is that possible? The eldest couldn't even dodge a single attack!" Nearby, the Third Elder stared at the horrifying scene in disbelief, his face filled with terror.
The next second, before the Third Elder could react any further, he was sent flying like a kite with its string cut.
With a tremendous crash, his body slammed into the ground, gouging a deep crater into the hard earth and sending dust billowing up.
Still haunted by the stab wound he had suffered earlier, the Fourth Elder surrendered immediately when he saw things going south. He was proud, not stupid. He could fight enemies to the death on the battlefield, but if he fought this lunatic and ended up gravely injured, there would be no one to appeal to.
Those little brats might even accuse the elders of bullying the clan's younger members.
But before he could lower his sword, his face took Indra's fist head-on.
He spun several times like a top, his head ringing, then dropped straight to his knees.
As for the Second Elder, Indra merely glanced at him. He remained rooted to the spot throughout, his face full of terror, as though he were experiencing something agonizing.
The fight took only a minute from start to finish.
Izuna ran over to Indra with the Gunbai in his arms. Like a busy little bee, he fanned him with it, his words sweet as honey. "Big brother, you must be tired after fighting for so long! Let me fan you. What should we do with these prisoners-no, elders?"
"Whatever you like." Indra folded his arms and surveyed the men before him with cold superiority, his eyes filled with disdain and contempt.
A bunch of grown shinobi, and they weren't even as good as Madara. Utter trash!
"Yes, big brother." Izuna handed the Gunbai to Indra, then ran over to the elders and thoroughly searched them, leaving them only their trousers to preserve a shred of dignity.
Then he dragged the elders before Indra and forced them onto both knees.
Seeing that the Second Elder remained trapped in the genjutsu with no sign of waking, Izuna gathered chakra in his palm and gave him a straightforward slap.
The Second Elder jolted awake, gasping for breath, sweat rolling down his forehead. Faced with surroundings that seemed both familiar and strange, he first looked around in bewilderment. When he realized he was kneeling before Indra, rage overwhelmed him, and he toppled over stiffly.
Izuna swiftly grabbed the Second Elder by the hair and pressed hard beneath his nose, shouting, "Second Elder, don't die! My big brother hasn't given you permission to stop breathing yet!!!"
Although the other elders felt humiliated, they were all gravely injured and had no room to resist. They could only bow their heads and accept their bad luck.
Had it been the Senju, they could have fought to the death. But this was their Clan Head's unfilial son. They could only endure it and take their anger out on Uchiha Tajima later.
Revived by that little brat Izuna's pinching, the Second Elder glared at Indra, snorted coldly, and turned his head away.
"What do you want?" asked the Fourth Elder, who was the least injured.
Seeing the four men kneeling crookedly, Indra's compulsive need for order flared up. He gave each of them a kick and ordered, "Kneel properly, all of you."
Hurt yet again, the elders knelt ramrod straight, hoping to bring this utterly humiliating day to an end as quickly as possible.
"Did you come looking for me just to get beaten up?"
Indra thought there was something wrong with these unfilial descendants' brains.
By comparison, it almost made sense that a useless man like Uchiha Tajima had become Clan Head.
The quality of his descendants was simply too poor.
Some could not even awaken the Sharingan.
The elders exchanged glances, finally settling their gazes on the First Elder.
Still bleeding, the First Elder gritted his teeth and spoke for them all. "We wanted to discuss that healing technique of yours... could you donate-no, sell it to the clan?"
The agony of his wounds reminded him that they could not get it for free. Perhaps they could buy it instead.
Indra remained silent. Their words sounded like human speech, yet he could not understand them.
Seeing the confusion in his big brother's eyes, Izuna immediately stepped forward to explain. "Big brother, they mean the talismans you used to heal us. You stick one on someone, and their wounds heal just like that."
"Hm? You don't know how?" Indra frowned, his expression darkening as he scrutinized the Uchiha before him.
He remembered that the instructions for drawing Healing Talismans were written in some of the records. Even if they did not know how, couldn't they at least copy the examples?
Weren't these the most basic supplies?
The Uchiha didn't have them?
Then what did they rely on when they were injured?
Just toughing it out?
In that instant, he felt that what had been diluted in the Uchiha was not their bloodline, but their brains.
The Uchiha elders exchanged looks and turned their heads away, refusing to meet Indra's eyes. That question was rather humiliating. If they knew how, would they still be subjected to repeated humiliation?
Silence was their last shred of dignity.
"They don't know how." Still serving as everyone's spokesman, Izuna answered for them.
He made no mention of himself whatsoever. After all, if his big brother knew how, that meant Madara knew how, and if Madara knew how, that meant he knew how too.
In short, Nii-san would never leave him without any to use.
Indra was speechless. ...Useless!
"It's in the Uchiha records. If you don't know how, go read." Indra had no desire to teach them. The food was already at their mouths. Who did they think they were?
He could feel no pull of kinship from these people. Or rather, their bloodline had become so diluted that none of his blood remained.
If his own children were like them, he would absolutely drag them out and beat them to death.
"Big brother, the Uchiha's books are all in the ancestral shrine. Normally, only those with military merit are allowed inside. They..." Izuna glanced at the elders, his meaning unmistakable. It was as though he were saying they did nothing but find fault.
Indra, who had already been about to leave, suddenly stopped and ordered coldly, "Kneel here for three hours and reflect. Then find the answers yourselves in the ancestral shrine's books."
"We're all elders. We have many duties." The thought of reading gave the Second Elder a headache, and he immediately tried to dodge the issue by claiming they were busy with clan affairs.
"Duties? Is your duty to sit at home barking nonsense? Or to shout orders when you have no strength to back them up?"
Indra spared them no dignity whatsoever. Even he had to pose as a courtesan in Asagiri Town to gather intelligence, yet these men lived in pampered comfort. They all needed to go to the battlefield.
"Once you've finished reading the books in the ancestral shrine, go to the battlefield. The Uchiha don't keep useless people."
Before you continue