A falling-out (1)

"Brother, let's try to kill them before our eldest brother finishes off those ninjas, or else..." Izuna glanced at Indra's battle. One slash, one kill-faster than slaughtering chickens.

At Izuna's reminder, Madara Uchiha's scalp prickled. He raised his tachi and charged at Hashirama.

Refusing to back down, Hashirama picked up the tachi on the ground and met him head-on.

The instant their blades collided, the web of Hashirama's sword hand went numb from the impact. Through his shock, he realized they had both held back during their sparring matches by the stream.

After that single exchange, both sprang backward, putting distance between them.

"Your little brother just called your eldest brother... Invincible. You really broke my heart." Hashirama grew serious too. He needed to stall and give Tobirama a chance to escape. "Don't tell me your name was fake too!"

"Right back at you, Hashirama. Didn't you pass your little brother off as your little sister?"

Madara Uchiha saw through his intentions, but as long as Izuna could keep Tobirama occupied and buy their eldest brother some time, that would be enough.

Once that underhanded Senju died, there would be one fewer person who knew he had made his eldest brother dress as a woman. Maybe he could avoid receiving special attention from his brother when they got home.

"No, perhaps I should call you Senju of the Forest."

"Heh, so you're the second Senju son. Didn't expect to run into you here." Tanto in hand, Izuna charged at Tobirama Senju, blocking his path.

As long as they bought their eldest brother enough time, they would surely take down every Senju here.

And then they wouldn't get scolded for sneaking out of the clan grounds, either.

Their eldest brother would take care of everything for them.

He could already imagine his eldest brother telling their father, "Trash. You think you have the right to meddle in my affairs?"

Just thinking about it excited him.

"Uchiha! You're damned Uchiha! Damn it, you actually fooled us!"

Tobirama Senju's expression was grim. The moment that boy unleashed such a wide-ranging Fire Release attack, he had confirmed their identities.

That familiar Fire Release, that arrogant expression-they were the evil Uchiha.

They had deliberately led him to suspect they were someone else.

Damn it!

"Hmph, I saw you, you underhanded Tobirama Senju! You wore a slip dress to seduce both my brothers!"

Izuna refused to yield an inch. When it came to arguing, even the entire clan put together couldn't outtalk him.

If his father weren't always punishing him by locking him in a dark room, he could even argue things out with him. Stalling an underhanded Senju would be a piece of cake.

The two traded barbs as they fought, each focused on stalling.

As Hashirama fought Madara, he realized he had no way to overpower him or create an opening for Tobirama to escape. All he could do was leave his little brother to find a way himself.

Then he looked back and saw Tobirama trading insults with the other boy's little brother. He nearly coughed up blood and called out anxiously, "Tobirama, get out of here!"

"Hmph. No one's leaving today." Indra had already finished his battle and was walking slowly toward them, carrying a tachi with blood still dripping from its blade.

At the sight, Hashirama immediately disengaged from Madara and moved to Tobirama Senju's side, trying to cover his retreat.

"Tobirama, why didn't you retreat? Don't you understand that I can't protect you like this, and you'll only distract me?"

"Eldest brother, do you think I didn't want to? I couldn't!"

Tobirama Senju was angry too. This wasn't his fault.

That damned Uchiha had deliberately stalled him, and he was no weakling.

His opponent hadn't used any chakra-consuming ninjutsu throughout their fight, relying solely on taijutsu to drag things out.

More importantly, his swordsmanship was excellent, on par with Tobirama's own.

"Three against one! We've got this!" Izuna raised his sword, so excited he could barely keep from dancing. He had known everything would be fine with their eldest brother around.

"You two still haven't finished them off after all this time. Looks like I've been far too lax with your training."

The two boys, who had just been basking in the joy of victory, immediately heard alarm bells. Without warning, they raised their swords and charged.

Hashirama had never expected a single sentence to send them charging at him like madmen, fighting as though they had no regard for their own lives.

He had no way to withstand both of them alone, while Indra, now free, naturally turned his gaze to Tobirama Senju.

"You..." Once Indra fixed his sights on him, Tobirama Senju couldn't move at all. He caught sight of the nine adult ninjas' corpses from the corner of his eye, and cold sweat soaked his clothes.

The Uchiha had actually kept someone like this hidden. He had to find a way to send this information back. Even if he and his eldest brother died, the intelligence had to reach the clan.

"Die!" Though he had no respect for those unfilial descendants and didn't care whether they lived or died, disciplining them was his prerogative. It wasn't anyone else's place to scheme against them.

From the Senju Clan's perspective, Tobirama's actions weren't wrong. But Indra wasn't a judge. Right and wrong had nothing to do with him.

Indra raised his sword and brought it down without hesitation.

In an instant, several shuriken and kunai collided. A tachi flew in midway, and the three sets of weapons struck one another, ricocheted, then hit Indra's descending blade.

The impact didn't knock his sword away. Instead, it altered the direction of his slash, shifting where it struck Tobirama.

"Aah!" Tobirama Senju clutched his lower abdomen and screamed.

When Indra saw where his blade had wounded him, the corner of his mouth twitched. That really was...

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

More than a dozen figures appeared on either side.

"Uchiha Tajima!"

"Butsuma Senju!"

Butsuma Senju had thrown the kunai when he saw his son about to be cut down. Uchiha Tajima had thrown the shuriken to intercept them, while Hashirama Senju, seeing his little brother about to be killed, had hurled the tachi from his own hand.

As a result, the three uncoordinated sets of weapons collided, ricocheted, and struck Indra's sword.

Normally, Indra's sword would have been knocked from his hand, but the successive collisions had already drained the force of the impact, causing only the blade to veer off course.

The slash aimed at severing Tobirama's neck went astray, leaving a deep wound running down from his lower abdomen.

Butsuma Senju glanced at his gravely wounded second son. Fortunately, his life had been saved. He would simply have a harder time fathering children in the future.

Hashirama sighed with relief when Tobirama was saved, but the sight of his father arriving with their clansmen filled him with dread. "Father, why are you here?"

"Hmph. A clansman saw you leaving the clan grounds with Tobirama." Tobirama Senju and the clansmen behind him stared fixedly at the Uchiha before them.

Izuna asked Uchiha Tajima the same question.

"Hmph. Naturally, someone saw you running out alone."

Though that was what Uchiha Tajima said, his main concern was Madara's safety.

He had once believed his unfilial son wouldn't lay a hand on his own brothers. Then he discovered that the boy slaughtered his clansmen as easily as cutting grass. After making that unfilial son dress as a woman, he couldn't guarantee Madara would return alive.

Butsuma Senju's gaze fell on Indra, his eyes sharp and his lips curling into a smile. "Uchiha Tajima, I heard you had another son. Is this him? Why is he so effeminate?"