Black Zetsu: Aaaaaah, a living Indra

Indra's gaze settled on a certain part of Tobirama Senju's body. Should I satisfy my curiosity and try a slash?

If he's female, I'll find an Uchiha without Uchiha blood to marry him.

If he's male... he'll have sullied my eyes. I'll kill him.

As soon as that thought arose, Indra calmed down. Why had he entertained such a ridiculous notion? Uchiha Natsu's memories must have influenced him.

Madara Uchiha noticed where his Nii-san was looking and followed his gaze.

Because of the difference in their heights, his eyes landed on Tobirama Senju's chest. His lips twitched uncontrollably. Surely Nii-san doesn't like this type!

He promptly stepped forward to block his Nii-san's view, classifying Hashirama's little sister as yet another person trying to seduce his older brother.

The Senju were planning to victimize both him and his brother.

In that single instant, he had already devised a complete strategy for striking back at the Senju.

Hashirama jogged over, slung an arm around Tobirama's shoulders, and gave him two hearty pats. Grinning, he introduced him. "My little sister, Tobi... sss... mmph... Tobi..."

Before he could finish, a piercing pain shot through his foot. He hastily corrected himself. "Fuko! My little sister, Fuko. Invincible, isn't she cute?"

A sinister smile appeared on Tobirama Senju's icy face, so much like an Uchiha's, and his gaze turned hostile as he regarded the "sister and brother" before him.

He cursed inwardly. If not for those two, how could he have ended up like this?

"Your sister's flatter than my little brother." Madara Uchiha folded his arms across his chest and curled his lip in disdain, giving Hashirama a sidelong look. Although he addressed Hashirama, the words were meant for Indra.

"He's still young." Hashirama took no offense. Tobirama wasn't really his little sister anyway, and his friend wasn't wrong. His gaze remained fervently fixed on Indra as he persisted. "Miss, when are you getting divorced? You could consider me first."

Hearing his older brother utter such shameless words, Tobirama Senju nearly exploded on the spot. His eyes widened as he roared at Hashirama in disbelief. "Brother, have you gone mad?"

These two "siblings" might well have come from some minor clan with marriage ties to the nobility.

His brother was the dignified Senju Heir. Why should he take over someone else's castoff?

Aaaaaah, did Father beat my brother senseless?

He made up his mind. There could be no marriage alliance. He had to stay with the clan and keep an eye on his brother.

"Ah, Tobi... Fuko, I just wanted to give her a home." Hashirama sighed, feeling his newly stirred heart settle again.

Yet his emotions departed as quickly as they came. A few breaths later, he was laughing again and competing with Madara at skipping stones.

Today, however, Madara Uchiha looked like a proud rooster fresh from victory, his head held high and a spring in every step.

At the sight, Indra's tense expression softened a little. He couldn't help thinking, Little brothers really are adorable when they're young.

Tobirama Senju kept his eyes firmly fixed on the "woman" before him. For some reason, he felt as though they had met somewhere before. There was something familiar about him.

Once that thought took root, his shinobi instincts drove him to start gathering information.

"Have we met somewhere before?"

Indra's lips curved slightly. Concealing the lower half of his face behind his folding fan, he replied calmly, "Have we? Perhaps you've mistaken me for someone else. I only arrived here recently. I spend most of my time in the Land of Fire."

He had indeed spent most of his time in the Land of Fire and had only recently arrived among the Uchiha.

At that answer, Tobirama Senju nodded, looking as though his suspicions had been confirmed.

"Big... sister~" While Indra and Tobirama Senju were talking, Madara had already seated himself beside Indra to express his displeasure. Why was Nii-san smiling at this bandit when he hadn't smiled at him or Izuna?

Indra stiffened at that form of address and turned his head slightly. Their eyes met, and each understood what the other was thinking.

Suddenly, Indra's expression sharpened, and he looked deep into the woods across the stream. His folding fan concealed his face, preventing the Senju brothers on his other side from seeing it.

Black Zetsu, who had just poked his head out deep in the woods, froze completely. He had come to check how things were progressing between Madara and Hashirama, only to see-what the hell was that?

Indra!

Indra, who had been dead for a thousand years!

And a fucking female Indra at that!

For a moment, Black Zetsu even forgot to hide. His upper body protruded from the tree trunk like a mushroom. After a long, stunned pause, he rubbed his eyes and carefully sensed again.

That was fucking Indra!

A living Indra.

Others might not know, but how could he not?

He had manipulated that fellow since childhood and had even watched him die.

Why had he appeared a thousand years later, and why was he mixed up with Madara, the reincarnation of his chakra?

Aaaaaah...

What was going on?

What had gone wrong with his plans?

The instant he sensed a gaze turning toward him, he hid again, merging his entire body into the tree and disappearing.

Now that Indra had appeared, he couldn't be certain that Indra hadn't discovered something over the past thousand years and come to settle the score with him.

As Black Zetsu vanished, a wicked smile curled Indra's lips.

Madara Uchiha noticed something was off with Indra and followed his gaze, but saw nothing. Casually, he urged, "It's getting late. Since you so rarely come out, why don't I take you around the nearby town?"

Then he looked apologetically at Hashirama and his little sister. "Sorry, Hashirama. I'm taking my big sister into town. Let's skip stones together another time!"

"Tobi... Fuko, let's go along with them! We haven't been there in ages!"

Seeing his friend leave, Hashirama suspected neither of them. After all, they had told him where they were going. If they really harbored ill intentions, they wouldn't have said anything.

"Brother!" Tobirama Senju folded his arms and stared at his older brother, but... it did no good.

Under the onslaught of Hashirama's persuasive chatter, and afraid his stubborn brother would follow them only to be played by these "siblings," he went along to the nearby town.

He wasn't as naive as his older brother. Throughout the journey, he secretly scrutinized the pair. His instincts told him there was a plot, though he couldn't work out what it was. Still, there were Senju clan members in town, so he wasn't entirely opposed to coming along.

In his view, taking a woman out onto the streets was unsafe.

After all, the town had civilians, but shinobi also appeared there. If someone targeted them, it would be difficult to escape.

Meanwhile, Madara was already prepared to have the two of them die.

Under the influence of Indra's nightly heart-to-heart genjutsu, he and Hashirama were drawn to each other, but there was little friendship between them.