When Gen'nosuke woke from unconsciousness.
He found himself securely bound in a courtyard far from the sound of other people.
What... just happened?
He endured the dizziness in his head and the pain from the brutal beating he had taken.
He struggled to steady his breathing and recall what had just happened.
He remembered.
He had used the Uzui Family's Secret Technique, intending to defeat his elder brother once and for all.
But then...
The moment his opponent changed his breathing, his strength underwent an earth-shattering transformation.
Strange golden light seemed to flash with the slashes of those two peculiar, enormous blades.
"What exactly... was that light?"
Even a nearly emotionless killer like him could not help feeling a trace of curiosity.
Yet Flashy Bro did not answer him.
He merely walked over, holding a flask of water.
"Want a drink?"
After using Sound Breathing to defeat his younger brother.
He had carried him and his wife all the way to this secret hideout from his childhood.
Gen'nosuke tried to struggle free of the ropes.
But after he moved a couple of times, the specially made Steel Wire Rope only tightened further.
It was a special Ninja Tool from the village.
"You've already betrayed the village, yet you still have the nerve to use its technology?"
But Flashy Bro said, "The world outside is vast."
"So what?"
Flashy Bro said, "Whether it's Ninjutsu, or the Breathing Style and swordsmanship I just used."
"They're all just... an insignificant part of this world."
"The age of ninjas has passed."
"But we can still live as [people]."
He looked at his sole surviving, his only, his last brother.
"Gen'nosuke, leave the village with me."
Yet all he received in response was a disdainful snort from Gen'nosuke.
"Traitor."
His refusal could not have been