Chapter 3 Planting Trees During the Ninja Clan Era (3) My Elder Brother Doesn't...

Indra knew he couldn't indulge in his whims for long; he needed to return as soon as possible.

But because he had also developed a certain dependence on and attachment to the Thousand Hand Bamboo, he thought about waiting a few more days, staying a few more days.

Qian Shou Zhu also wrapped the dried herbs in oil paper according to the proportions, then wrapped them together in cloth, and wrote the effects on each package. Yin Tuo Luo carried the basket containing the herb packages on his back and helped Qian Shou Zhu deliver them to the village at the foot of the mountain.

"I'm going out!" Indra ran a few steps and then looked back. The boy stood quietly under the tree watching him go. Indra couldn't help but smile. He waved to Thousand Hand Bamboo and hurried down the mountain.

It rained again last night, making the mountain muddy. Thousand Hand Bamboo saw Indra almost stumble because he was running too fast. Fortunately, the child was agile and had excellent balance, and he regained his balance before losing it. To others, it was impossible to tell that Indra had made any mistake. But Thousand Hand Bamboo also had amazing eyesight. When he observed others, he could perceive their breathing and muscle contractions with a sense that was almost like a sixth sense.

Therefore, in Senju Takeya's eyes, Indra was still a child who was too immature and needed to be worried about.

Once Indra disappeared from sight, Senju Takeshi lowered his eyes to look at the rabbit that had run to his feet and was munching on a clump of philodendron. The little rabbit, no bigger than a human palm, had snow-white fur, its ears standing up alertly, and its round, ruby-like eyes looking at him earnestly.

Qian Shou Zhu didn't ask where it had been all these days. Instead, he squatted down, took out a triangular scarf from his waist pouch, and tied it around the rabbit's head.

Two years ago, this little rabbit gained sentience after eating a leaf from a sapling and became Senju Takeya's little helper. It is loyal to Senju Takeya and is good at managing household chores. It also has exceptional talent in herbal medicine and combat, so it is also responsible for helping Senju Takeya process herbs and manage the order of the forest animals.

Because this little rabbit's abilities were so outstanding, even to the point of being omnipotent, Senju Taken secretly called it "Platinum Rabbit," and nicknamed it Little Platinum.

These past few days, Little White Gold hadn't appeared, and Thousand Hand Bamboo had assumed that his little assistant had finally decided to set sail and explore the vast world outside.

Perhaps because of the small sapling leaves, the Platinum Rabbit grows extremely slowly. It hasn't grown much in the past two years and is still only about the size of a human hand. But that's okay. It's cute even though it's small. Many strong people are stuck at 1.6 meters tall and can't grow any taller. This shows that concentration is the essence.

Indra was distributing the medicine packets from house to house when, halfway through, he suddenly froze as if he had seen something unbelievable.

His younger brother, carrying a bundle covered in mud, with messy hair and disheveled clothes, looked as if he had rolled around on the ground. When he saw him, his eyes lit up and he ran towards him like a puppy wagging its tail wildly.

"elder brother!"

"Asura! Why are you here?!" Indra looked at his younger brother and felt at a loss, but he still picked the twigs and grass from his brother's messy hair first, and then straightened his clothes to make them look neater.

"My brother went missing, so I came out to look for him." Realizing he looked rather pathetic, Ashura became somewhat flustered in front of his brother. "Then I sensed my brother's chakra nearby and came after him..."

Ashura asked his father where his brother had gone.

His father told him not to worry, that no one else in the world could harm Indra. Although Indra created the 'seals' that allowed everyone to use chakra, only Indra could use the 'seals' flexibly at present.

Ashura, of course, believed that no one else in the world could harm his strong, reliable, and excellent older brother, but he still couldn't help worrying. Things like the cold weather, the rain, and the slippery roads. He also remembered his father saying that the world outside the Ninja Sect was chaotic, with bandits and wicked people everywhere...

My brother is so gentle and kind, won't he be deceived by bad people?

Worried about and missing his brother, Ashura packed his bags and secretly ran away from the Ninja Clan to find his brother.

However, Ashura had no idea where his brother had gone and got lost. After wandering around for two days, Ashura calmed himself down and began to look for a way to find his brother. His father said that chakra is the ability to connect people, so he calmed down and tried to figure out his own chakra, just like his brother had.

So, in order to find his brother, Ashura created his own ninjutsu—Wood Release.

Wood Release is really useful for finding people! The plants will tell him which direction the boy wearing the same clothes as him went!

Finally, Ashura found the right direction and encountered an adorable little white rabbit. Its red eyes reminded Ashura of his brother's Sharingan, and thinking of catching it to show his brother, Ashura became completely obsessed and chased the rabbit all the way here.

Instead of catching the rabbit, Ashura tripped and fell several times. By the time he got up, the little rabbit was gone.

However, every cloud has a silver lining. Ashura sensed that his brother's chakra was within this range. He excitedly followed the chakra's direction and finally saw his brother, who was unharmed and full of energy. Ashura immediately forgot all about his disheveled state over the past few days and happily ran towards his brother.

Indra knew that the Asuras were more powerful in terms of perception than he was.

He was too relaxed and at ease around Takeya-san, and he didn't pay much attention to sensing the thoughts and actions around him, so much so that he didn't notice Ashura until he appeared in his field of vision.

"It's good that my brother is alright!" Ashura said, her eyes sparkling. "Let's go home together!"

As soon as Ashura finished speaking, Indra hugged him tightly.

"Brother?" Ashura looked up.

“Thank you, Asura.” Indra released his hand and withdrew, a soft smile on his lips and a gentle voice. “Let’s go home together.”

Ashura smiled brightly and immediately tried to pull his brother home, saying, "Let's go now!"

"...No, go to the village chief's house first, take a bath and change your clothes, then wait for me to deliver the herbs, okay?" Indra paused, then restrained his overly lively younger brother. "By the way, Asura, do you have any money with you?"

Ashura suddenly paused, then began to stammer, "The money... I forgot..."

Ashura could be described as growing wildly in the natural environment. If his brother didn't care about him and let him live in the primeval forest, he would become a pure savage in less than a month.

All I can say is that hybrid Otsutsuki are indeed easy to raise; their vitality and adaptability are terrifyingly strong.

Indra chuckled and took out a string of copper coins from a small pouch at his waist—this was the pocket money his brother, Takeya, had given him. He handed the coins to Ashura and pointed to a spot for his dusty-faced younger brother. "That's the village chief's house over there. His child is about your age, and he has clothes you can wear. You can tell him that I asked you to go and borrow hot water and clothes to take a bath. Remember to give him the money back. Don't come home all dirty; Father will worry."

In the past few days, Indra has been helping Thousand Hand Bamboo deliver things and do chores, so everyone in the village knows his name. Seeing that Thousand Hand Bamboo also likes and trusts Indra so much, the villagers also love him and his dog.

“Okay!” Ashura immediately agreed and obediently took the money his brother gave him to go to the village chief’s house.

Indra watched Ashura leave, and after confirming that he had not gone to the wrong place, he quickly delivered all the herbal medicine packets in his hand, and then rushed up the mountain. For some reason, he did not want Thousand-Hand Bamboo to meet Ashura as well.

Seeing that Senju Takeya was infusing the sapling with natural chakra as usual, Indra slowed down.

Thousand Hand Bamboo also stood up and looked at Indra.

“Takeya-nii… um…” Indra subconsciously raised his hand to clutch the scarf around his neck, pulling it up slightly. “I have to go…”

As Indra spoke, his voice lowered and his head followed. He saw the boy walk up to him, and the boy gently placed his warm hand on his head and rubbed it. His tone was so calm it was almost indifferent: "That's great."

Indra paused, then abruptly raised his head and gazed into the boy's deep, dark eyes, which seemed capable of swallowing all emotions. The boy's eyes were like a still, windless night sea, yet they instilled a growing fear of the unknown.

“Your family has come to pick you up.” The boy repeated, genuinely happy for Indra. “That’s wonderful, Indra.”

Indra then realized that he had just held his breath. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, and his heart, which had just sank heavily, began to leap again. "Can I come to see Takeya-nii again in the future?"

"As long as you still call me brother, I will still be your elder brother." Senju Takeya's voice was gentle but firm. He patted Indra's head again. "Your brother's home is your home. You can always come back anytime."

Indra's eyes lit up.

Senju Take also paused, feeling a strange heaviness pressing down on him as he was looked at by those eyes.

"Are you sure it won't bother you?" Indra's voice was no longer weak after receiving a reply from Senju Takeya.

“Hmm.” Senju Take also put his hand down. “Because I really like Indra, I won’t.”

“Then…” Indra’s eyes seemed to sparkle like stars, and he called out to Senju Takeshi with a strong voice, “Brother!”

The way they addressed each other suddenly became very formal, but it didn't feel awkward at all. On the contrary, the "Zhu Ye Ge" they used before felt more polite, like a close friend calling the uncles and aunts buying vegetables at the market "Big Brother and Big Sister".

It didn't matter how Indra called him "brother," it was all the same as addressing him as "older brother," so Senju Take nodded in agreement, "Are we leaving now?"

“Yes! My younger brother is already waiting for me at the foot of the mountain. We’ve been away for so many days. Unlike me, he’s still young, and Father must be very worried about him,” Indra said with a smile. “I will come to see my elder brother often!”

Thousand Hand Bamboo nodded again, then told Indra to wait, went up to the treehouse, and came down after a short while. Indra looked at the white cloth in his hand and hesitated, "This is... pants?"

If it was trousers, then this was the first time Indra had ever seen trousers that were so short.

“Indra, birds can’t be too free.” Senju Takeya’s expressionless face looked unusually serious. “Your brother won’t allow you to let the bird fly. You have to wear your underwear… no, I mean, your underpants.”

During the days they lived together, when Senju Takeshi was washing and drying Indra's clothes, he noticed that none of the children wore underwear. Senju Takeshi knew that this was the norm in ancient times, so he didn't blame Indra.

Indra: ...?

Indra: !!!

Brother! He wears a loincloth!!! He's not like Ashura, who likes to let his little bird fly with its crotch exposed!

Wait a minute! The fabric of these boxer shorts looks so familiar, isn't it the loincloth that went missing?! He thought it had been blown away by the wind while he was hanging it out to dry!

When Indra thought about how Thousand-Handed Bamboo had personally altered his loincloth into boxer shorts these past few days, his face began to flush and his toes started to dig into the ground.

"If you don't wear it, you'll be embarrassed." Senju Takeya's eyes were resolute. He held the underwear by the waistband with both hands, making sure it was held straight. He fully demonstrated his three years of learning the language of another world to coax the child, "Rubbing your butt."

"Don't say such things so calmly, elder brother!" Indra really wanted to kneel down before Thousand Hand Bamboo.

Indra, his face flushed, put on the underwear and came out of the treehouse. Facing the seemingly unchanged but actually gratified look in Senju Take's eyes, he couldn't help but ask, "Did you mean the 'shaking underwear' that you mentioned earlier, brother?"

Indra, mimicking Senju Takeya's accent, awkwardly uttered the word "shaking pants".

“Hmm, my hometown dialect.” Senju Take also took out an identical pair of boxer shorts to show off, and very enthusiastically gave his new adopted brother a lesson in the dialect of this other world, “‘Shaking pants’.”

Indra closed his eyes, feeling his ears burning. He couldn't help but complain, "Brother, how come you still have that?!"

Qian Shouzhu also said, "Wash and change." Unfortunately, the piece of cloth was only enough for him to make two pieces. After all, he had never done this kind of tailoring work before, and he was very clumsy. Even his best friend didn't have this kind of treatment. He had only ever knitted scarves for his best friend in winter.

Indra carefully packed away the boxer shorts that Senju Takeya had made for him, and carried the slightly heavy bag that Senju Takeya had packed for him. Inside, in addition to daily necessities such as clothes to change into and a tinderbox, there were also many dried foods such as dried meat, dried fruit and rice balls made by Senju Takeya.

Qian Shou Zhu also slipped some gold and silver inside. He knew that Indra could handle and use these valuables well. Children's allowances should not be skimped on. Children raised in poverty are prone to lack of love and being deceived. Moreover, their suppressed desires are very likely to erupt after they become independent in the future.

To give children enough love and support, they can grow up to be more confident and free to venture out into the world, daring to try new things and not afraid of failure, because they know that their family will always be behind them, and no matter their success or failure, their family will always be their support and safe haven.

Qian Shouzhu doesn't really know how to raise children.

But he learned how to love someone from his best friend.

Thousand Hand Bamboo also felt that Indra was very much like his best friend. Love could become the driving force and support for them to move forward without fear, allowing them to unleash powerful energy.

They are the same kind of people—Senju Take also realized this long ago.

He couldn't do anything with people like them; they were too dazzling, like a warm, burning flame.

Qian Shouzhu also hopes that people like this can be happy. There is not much he can do, but he will do everything he can with utmost seriousness.

"Brother, I'm leaving." Having come empty-handed, Indra solemnly bid farewell to Thousand-Hand Bamboo.

Thousand Hand Bamboo nodded slightly. He looked at Indra quietly without saying anything, but that was enough to make Indra show a radiant smile.

Indra kept turning back every three steps. When he was almost far away, he saw that Thousand Hand Bamboo was also standing there motionless. He couldn't help but raise his arm and wave to him. The boy also raised his hand and waved back in response.

He will keep watching him.

Silent and gentle, like a prayer, almost unconditional and without distraction.

Indra was clearly aware of this.

My brother, who is almost perfect and only exists in his fantasies, where do you come from? What is your hometown? Will you continue to watch over him like this in the future? Do you have other, deeper bonds with him?

Indra stopped looking back when he could no longer see Senju Takeya. In the boy's bloodshot eyes, the black three-tomoe Sharingan quietly and slowly rotated. His complex emotions and the surging undercurrents in his heart flowed out silently with those silent Sharingan eyes.

A note from the author:

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Indra: I'm not an Asura, I'm not that free :)

Ashura: I feel like my brother cricketed me, but I don't know what he cricketed me for.jpg