Small Buddha Hall

Setsuna was hauled into the Small Buddha Hall and tossed inside by Toshihi.

Before he could lift his head, a gray cloth robe hit him square in the face, blocking his vision.

Then the wooden door slammed shut in front of him, followed by the dull click of the bolt sliding into place.

"Setsuna, I'll let you out when you've realized what you did wrong."

The second elder's gentle voice drifted through the door, but his words cut deeper than an icy wind.

Setsuna snorted.

His face was flushed red, but his back remained ramrod straight and his lips pressed into a thin line. He was stubborn to the last.

The moment they returned from the Hagoromo Clan Territory, Toshihi had hauled him off to the Disciplinary Hall without a word.

Who would have thought the head of the Disciplinary Hall was the gentle-looking second elder, Uchiha Izumo? His expression hadn't changed once as he listened to Toshihi's report before deciding Setsuna's punishment. He had even administered it himself, and he had hit hard!

Only after the footsteps faded and silence settled over the Small Buddha Hall did Setsuna's tense expression finally crumble.

Grimacing, he sat cross-legged and turned his soles upward-

The bamboo paddle had beaten his soles into great swollen lumps, with dark purple bruises spreading across his entire feet.

He tried putting his heels on the floor, but the instant they touched, he sucked in a sharp breath. No good-he couldn't stand at all!

Now he could only shuffle along on his knees or simply crawl across the floor.

Great, now I really am crawling all over the place! Setsuna lamented, looking skyward.

What the hell kind of punishment is this?!

The second elder looks so gentle, and he even smooths things over for me at clan meetings. How does he turn into a completely different person in the Disciplinary Hall?

He really didn't hold back at all when he hit me!

Worse still, the second elder hadn't just struck his soles a dozen-odd times. He had also ordered someone to shave Setsuna's head bald.

Setsuna rubbed his freshly shaved scalp, mourning his sea-urchin hairstyle that had matched Megumi Fushiguro's.

Once everything had gone quiet, he shook out the gray robe. His gaze lingered on its patches and loose threads before he draped it over himself.

Trying to find some amusement in his misery, he thought, If the Planner saw me like this, they could release a new Setsuna skin-

How about "Uchiha Setsuna: Ascetic Novice"?

Probably wouldn't sell much. I'm only a worthless C-rank ninja they give away for checking in, after all.

Ha! That thought kept Setsuna laughing for a while, abandoned as he was to silence and boredom.

But that was only making light of his misery, and Setsuna really wasn't the type to sit still.

He had only been lying on the floor for a few minutes before he felt as though insects were crawling all over him.

The swollen bruises on his soles still throbbed, and his back rested against the icy floor, yet that restless heat kept seeping out from deep within his bones.

He rolled over, then rolled over again, and finally started rolling back and forth across the floor.

Just as he completed his third roll, light footsteps sounded outside the door.

Setsuna froze and looked toward the sound.

A little hatch at the bottom of the door slid open. It was the opening used to pass meals to people confined in the hall.

A soft, fair little face appeared on the other side. It was Kagami.

The little curly-haired boy leaned against the doorframe, his round eyes full of worry as he looked in.

"Setsuna, are you all right?"

At that, Setsuna immediately sat up and assumed a meditation pose, holding one hand before his chest and lowering his eyelids, the very picture of someone who had renounced worldly attachments.

"Amitabha. This humble monk is on his way to the Western Paradise. What guidance might you offer, benefactor?"

Kagami looked at his gleaming scalp, then at his enlightened-monk act. He held it together for half a second before bursting into laughter.

"If you still have the energy to play monk, I can stop worrying."

Kagami passed a small porcelain bowl through the hatch. "Here, this is for you. My mother made this ointment. It works really well."

Setsuna rolled over to the door and took the bowl. A layer of greenish-brown paste coated the bottom, giving off the mingled smell of herbs and some unknown grease.

With pain stabbing through his feet, this was exactly what he needed. He didn't turn it down.

He spread the ointment over his soles. A cool sensation seeped through the swollen skin, and the burning pain did ease a little.

"Thanks," Setsuna said, accepting it without fuss.

"I heard clan members locked up here only get one rice ball a day," Kagami said earnestly. "I'll give you mine when the time comes, so you won't go hungry."

"No need." Setsuna spread the ointment evenly without lifting his head. "I recover fast. I can survive without eating."

"Without eating? Wouldn't that make you an immortal?"

Setsuna raised one finger with an air of profound wisdom. "I'm not an immortal. I'm an alien."

He thought of Naruto's lore-

Kaguya Otsutsuki, the ancestor of all ninja clans, came from beyond this world. Doesn't that make her an alien?

As Kaguya's descendants, it's perfectly reasonable to call the Uchiha aliens too.

Perfectly reasonable!

He nodded in affirmation.

His ridiculous argument had Kagami laughing nonstop.

Another set of footsteps sounded in the distance.

Kagami turned to look, then told Setsuna, "I have to go train too. I'll come see you again tonight."

"That won't do." Setsuna frowned. "Won't you have surpassed me by the time you're done?"

"I'm the big brother. Of course I should be stronger than my little brother," Kagami said as though it were obvious.

"You're not stronger than me now. You should call me your big brother."

"You're the little brother. You're younger than me."

"Why should age decide it?" Setsuna protested.

"Age is exactly what should decide it." Kagami was surprisingly stubborn on this point.

Setsuna puffed out his cheeks.

That wasn't how it worked in the game. When his players wanted resources, they shamelessly put on sweet voices and called people big brother or big sister. When they won in the arena, they made the losers kneel and call them Dad.

Age? What's that? Does it boost combat power?

"Then I'll call you big brother," Setsuna said, struck by inspiration. "And you can call me Dad."

Kagami was stunned. His mouth fell wide open, and he couldn't speak for ages. Even his little curls trembled. "Y-you..."

"Why not?" Setsuna demanded.

But Kagami's eyes reddened. His lips moved, and his voice was very quiet. "I have a dad."

Setsuna froze. The words lodged in his throat, and he couldn't get a single one out.

Only then did he realize he seemed to have touched a sore spot.

Kagami always spoke about his mother and never mentioned his father. He had probably also...

I really went too far.

Setsuna felt a tightness in his chest. He pressed his lips together, then quietly forced a few words out of his throat. "...Big Brother Kagami."

Kagami went still.

He hadn't expected Setsuna to actually say it.

His still-reddened eyes blinked, and a smile slowly spread across his lips.

He reached through the little hatch and stroked Setsuna's smooth scalp, his voice unbelievably gentle.

"I'll take good care of you from now on, Little Brother Setsuna."

Setsuna didn't dodge his hand, but he still huffed. "You'll have to be stronger than me first."

"Say it again." Kagami's eyes curved into crescents.

"No. It's way too embarrassing." Setsuna turned his head away.

Kagami's clear laughter rang out from the Small Buddha Hall, audible even halfway across the courtyard.

Standing beneath the veranda, Toshihi and the second elder relaxed their brows a little.

Hearing the boy still trading barbs with Kagami at least meant his spirit hadn't been beaten out of him.

Following behind the second elder, Toshihi voiced his confusion about Setsuna's punishment. "I understand beating his soles, but why shave his head? Isn't that a little excessive?"

Toshihi didn't consider shaving someone's hair a corporal punishment, but shaving their head completely bald was a very real humiliation.

Setsuna might have been young, but he was proud. Who knew what sort of uproar he would cause after being humiliated like that?

The second elder shook his head. "That foul-mouthed little brat needs a lesson he'll remember. Who is he to insult Lord Madara? Aren't Lord Madara's ancestors the ancestors of us all?"

Toshihi nodded.

That was true. The Uchiha Clan shared a common ancestor. Cursing eighteen generations of Madara's ancestors meant cursing eighteen generations of ancestors for the entire clan.

At best, it showed disrespect for his elders. At worst, it insulted the entire clan's bloodline.

The second elder turned his head. "Besides, that devious Tobirama Senju has met Setsuna and seen his talent. He may well decide to kill him."

Toshihi's footsteps faltered.

"A young Uchiha will grow up to become an opponent of the Senju." The second elder's voice remained low. "Using this opportunity to change his hairstyle for a legitimate reason is also a way of protecting him. Once his appearance changes, assassins given his physical description won't know where to look."

Toshihi fell silent for a moment. He hadn't considered that.

Tobirama Senju had seen Setsuna with his own eyes within the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique-a five-and-a-half-year-old with one-tomoe eyes, using an unprecedented technique in absolute darkness.

Given Tobirama Senju's methods, it wouldn't be long before Setsuna's physical description appeared on the Senju Intelligence Network's highest-priority list.

Setsuna's sea-urchin hairstyle was far too distinctive. Shaving it off was as good as rendering the assassins' portraits useless.

"You really have thought of everything, Second Elder."