"Yes, Father took me there before." Madara Uchiha had no idea why he was asking, so he asked in return, "Are we going to the battlefield?"
"We're going to the Senju encampment on the Land of Fire's border. There's a mine there that connects to the rear of the Moon Sea Plain Uchiha Outpost."
Since this lump of chakra was his reincarnation, Indra deigned to explain.
After two days of travel, Indra changed into attire from Asagiri Town, while Madara Uchiha changed out of the clothes bearing the Uchiha Clan Crest. The two entered the Land of Fire openly.
Indra had only two things to do: rake in money by day and rake in money by night.
Madara Uchiha also had only two things to do: gather intelligence and beat up the people Indra fleeced.
In short, the brothers kept tormenting the same bunch of people.
While gathering intelligence, Madara Uchiha wiped out a nearby bandit gang and sealed their money and provisions into a scroll. On returning to the inn where they were temporarily staying, he happened to pass someone with vacant eyes who was clearly under a genjutsu.
His fairly good mood instantly soured. He followed the man, kicked him into an alley, beat him half to death, and returned to the inn.
Indra was counting the money he had earned over the past few days. When Madara Uchiha returned with a faint smell of blood clinging to him, he asked, "How did the intelligence gathering go?"
"A Senju squad will be delivering supplies tomorrow. This is their encampment." Madara Uchiha pushed a map toward Indra. After several hesitant attempts to speak, he handed him a scroll as well. "Are you that short on money?"
Indra opened it and found a little over three hundred thousand ryo in assorted amounts. He raised an eyebrow and tossed it back to Madara Uchiha, offering a perfunctory explanation. "You don't have personal guards to support. I do."
Hearing that excuse, Madara Uchiha inwardly cursed his father. How could he be so heartless? His poor older brother.
Indra picked up the map to examine it, glanced at Madara Uchiha, and said, "Go clean yourself up. We move tomorrow."
He watched Madara Uchiha enter the bathroom. A ninja hawk landed on the windowsill, and he retrieved its message. After reading it, he conjured a flame in his hand and burned it, then gave the hawk another message.
[Host, Madara is a very kind person. Helping him is worth it. You need to keep a closer eye on him.]
"Yes. With even half my flair, he can't turn out badly."
Indra had great confidence in himself. Even if Madara possessed only a portion of his chakra, he could hardly turn out badly. During his thousands of years wandering the Shinobi World, he had watched Madara stir up trouble.
But the third incarnation of his chakra, Sasuke Uchiha, left him speechless. His mind had been normal at first, but later he had gone off the rails.
He vaguely remembered that, to preserve the purity of the bloodline, marriage outside the clan had been forbidden after the fifth generation. Even when choosing outsiders, they had to come from clans with bloodline limits, because all bloodline limits originated from his father, himself, and Asura.
If not for those people Asura had brought into being, there would never have been so much trouble.
...[Host, the wish-maker's feedback asked you to treat your younger brothers better. Uchiha brothers are different. You can believe in brotherly bonds again.]
Indra was utterly sick of younger brothers. Hadn't all his hard work back then been for the sake of protecting Asura?
He had wanted Asura to remain happy forever under his wing, without having to bear the pressures of ninshu.
Yet all he had received in the end was his father's rejection.
The younger brother he had loved and protected since childhood no longer needed him once he gained power, either.
"I hate younger brothers."
Unfortunately, Madara Uchiha happened to hear those words as he came out of the bath. His delight at carrying out a mission with his older brother plummeted, and he sat opposite Indra with an icy expression.
Bonfires burned in the Senju encampment, where several people sat drinking and chatting.
"Why hasn't that bunch brought the supplies over?" one Senju asked, roasting some game with an impatient look on his face.
"It's always around this time every month. Someone from the clan grounds will bring supplies tomorrow," another Senju replied with a dismissive laugh. They couldn't let the clan find out that they were enslaving bandits.
As the two spoke, another Senju hurried over and said in a low voice, "Bad news. Those people were killed, and all their valuables were stripped clean. Ninjas did it."
"Which clan?"
"We don't know. There were no traces of ninjutsu. Every one of them had their throat slit with shuriken."
Their expressions instantly grew grave.
"Stay alert for the next few days. Send a few people to meet tomorrow's supply squad. Make sure nothing goes wrong."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
More than a dozen dark figures appeared.
"Who's there?" The Senju ninjas immediately readied themselves for battle.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
The bonfires went out, obscuring everyone's vision.
Clang, clang, clatter.
Countless weapons clashed.
Several pairs of Sharingan darted through the darkness, mercilessly reaping the Senju ninjas' lives.
Moments later, the bonfires were lit again. The attackers disposed of the bodies, then transformed into the Senju ninjas.
Uchiha Fuliu sent a message out by ninja hawk.
One of the Kaguya ninjas who had come with her approached and asked coldly, "When will our lord make his move?"
This person belonged to Kaguya Hall, the force of death-sworn retainers left behind by Uchiha Natsu's mother to protect the young Uchiha Natsu. Indra had now taken command of them.
"Tomorrow. Asagiri Mountain needs people to raise pigs. Don't go too far this time."
Uchiha Fuliu's tone was hostile. Their two groups had never gotten along. If they hadn't both been serving Uchiha Natsu, they would certainly have fought each other to the death.
The following day, Indra donned a white, high-collared robe patterned with tomoe, hung his Ninja Sword from his belt, and brought Madara Uchiha to a road the Senju supply convoy would have to pass.
The two settled in a tree to lie in wait.
"There are thirteen people in this squad. Your job is to take the supplies. Don't get caught up in fighting." Indra laid out the plan. He would personally cripple them.
He still needed to take some care of Madara Uchiha. After all, he was the reincarnation of a portion of his own chakra.
As for Asura's descendants-hah. What right did they have to become ninjas? They could obediently go farm and raise pigs. They weren't worthy of possessing the power a god had left behind.
"This has nothing to do with driving the Senju ninjas away from the Land of Lightning's border, does it?" Madara Uchiha sensed that Indra was planning something big. He was excited, but not knowing the full picture also left him restless.
Especially after Nii-san had said he hated little brothers. He was only cooperating with him for the sake of the mission.
After they had waited for quite some time, a ninja squad appeared within sight.
Madara Uchiha turned toward Indra, intending to ask when they should strike, only to find that Indra had already drawn his sword and charged in. The move left him dumbfounded.
After a moment's hesitation, he followed right behind.
No traps, no tactics-just a head-on charge straight into the Senju supply squad.
That entrance was very Uchiha. He liked it.
"Uchiha! There are only two of them! Kill them!" a Senju ninja shouted.
Tachi in hand, Indra charged into the group, single-handedly surrounding thirteen Senju. Adult or adolescent, any ninja who came within reach received a combination of mental and physical attacks that left them unable to resist.
Madara Uchiha faced a ninja who looked about Izuna's age. Seeing that his older brother had spared their lives, he followed suit despite his confusion. He shifted the blade aimed at the boy's neck, striking his face instead, then kicked him into a tree and left him unable to move.
"Young Master Kawarama!" Seeing this, an adult Senju ninja immediately formed hand seals. "Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Before you continue