Chapter 10 Planting Trees During the Ninja Clan Era (10) The Sage of Six Paths' Stink...
When Indra woke up the next day, he realized for the first time that he could black out when he was drunk.
“Brother, have I done anything strange?” Indra asked with a serious expression.
Thousand Hand Bamboo also shook his head.
Indra breathed a sigh of relief and watched as Senju Takeya took a comb out of the cabinet drawer and handed it to him. As Indra took the comb, he looked at Senju Takeya's perfectly straight, long black hair that never got messed up, and realized that he had never seen the other party take care of his beautiful black hair.
"Brother!"
Thousand Hand Bamboo also looked at Indra with a puzzled expression.
Let me help you comb your hair!
Hearing Indra say this, Senju Takeshi subconsciously touched his hair. He had just washed his hair yesterday, and it was so smooth that it shouldn't be messy. But since his younger brother said so, it must need to be combed.
So Senju Takenori obediently sat down on the edge of the bed and watched Indra busy himself.
In a short while, the two strands of hair hanging down in front of Senju Takeya's face were tied up by Indra with a thin white ribbon, and the rest of his hair was tied up at the back with the same ribbon.
Senju Takeru also waited with his hands neatly placed on his knees. When Indra finished styling the hair and moved to the front, he found that his brother had transformed into a dignified yet elegant shrine maiden, and he was momentarily stunned.
Perhaps it's because Senju Takeya herself possesses an inviolable divinity and has a somewhat androgynous appearance that she can be mistaken for a shrine maiden simply because she tied her hair up.
Indra also tied his hair like that, but he never had this problem.
It turns out that all it takes to turn a brother into a sister is to tie his hair up.
The older brother with long, straight black hair is a world-class treasure! He's also his younger brother's absolute favorite!
"?" Senju Takeshi didn't understand why Indra was looking at him like that, but he felt a little uncomfortable because of it, so he subconsciously wanted to pull off the hair tie that held his long sideburns to solve the source of his discomfort.
Indra immediately stopped him, grabbing Senju Takeya's hand and saying with utmost sincerity, "It suits you perfectly! It's incredibly beautiful! It suits you perfectly, elder brother! It's absolutely gorgeous!"
Upon hearing this, Senju Take hesitated for a moment but still lowered his hand and looked at the ever-silent Shirojin.
The little platinum stretched out its front paws and, with unwavering determination, twisted them into a thumbs-up gesture.
His assistant Rabbit has this attitude... so there's definitely no problem.
Thousand Hand Bamboo also breathed a sigh of relief.
If my younger brother likes it, then let him keep it tied up like that.
Indra quickly tied up his hair. Thousand Hand Bamboo's family had plenty of hairbands, all prepared for Indra, since the child had frizzy hair and it would be difficult for him to work if his hair wasn't tied up after it grew long.
Thousand Hand Bamboo also went to make breakfast.
While tidying the blankets, Indra couldn't help but look at Senju Takeya, who was wearing an apron and cooking, and whose husbandly aura was becoming stronger. His heart was beating fast for no reason, and he had a strange feeling that a door was opening for him.
My older brother feels like...my mother.
Thinking of this, Indra couldn't help but look away and glance at Little Platinum. He saw that the expressionless rabbit was completely immersed in the pink bubble atmosphere, openly enjoying the new world after the door opened.
Male mothers are a sign of good civilization!
That line of text is practically written on the rabbit's face.
Indra: ...
After a moment of reflection, Indra also openly and honestly began to act like a brother-watching fanatic.
Staring at by two pairs of burning red eyes, Senju Take couldn't help but tense up the muscles in his back; the presence behind him was simply too strong.
After having breakfast, Qian Shouzhu decided to go down the mountain. Although there were trees and plants as eyes and ears, Qian Shouzhu would still occasionally go down the mountain himself to patrol Xilin Village in order to avoid the sight of others.
There's not much work left for Indra to do on Mount Xilin now. The saplings are still so small, and Senju Takeda needs to nourish them with natural chakra every day. It's probably just patrolling and guarding left. But Indra just got home, and Senju Takeda refused to let the child help much, wanting him to rest.
Indra frankly stated, "I just want to spend more time with my elder brother."
The figure of the grown-up boy seemed to overlap with that of the child who once rushed into his arms without making a sound when crying, causing Senju Take to sway involuntarily.
Senju Take also nodded silently, ultimately prioritizing his younger brother's own wishes.
Indra and Thousand-Hand Bamboo also went down the mountain together.
Then, as soon as he came down the mountain, Qian Shou Zhu regretted it.
Accompanied by the lively music of gongs and drums, the dancers playing the forest danced wildly on the altar, mimicking the swaying of the forest in a hurricane yet remaining unmoved, while the dancers playing the hurricane shoveled wildly towards the 'forest' as if wielding invisible shovels, and the villagers cheered around the altar.
Upon witnessing this scene, Indra's mind inevitably went blank for a moment.
When did this custom originate in Xilin Village? Indra's knees are a little sore from the dampness.
The two stood at the outermost edge of the crowd, as if frozen in time, forgetting to hide their presence.
Faced with this scene, even though Senju Takeshi knew that the villagers didn't have much artistic talent and wouldn't dance as solemnly and sacredly as the shrine maidens dancing Kagura, he didn't expect the villagers to be so wild—they even dyed their hair green with plant dye.
It was even wilder than the last time, comparable to those "emo" videos that I've seen before, it was simply a chaotic mess.
These dances were all devised by the villagers with great effort. They are lively and cheerful, probably because they saw the mountain god's quiet loneliness. So they clumsily added a touch of life and human warmth to the mountain god who protected and cared for them in their own style and way.
What could Senju Takeshi possibly say about this?
This wasn't the first or second time; it had become an excuse for the villagers to gather together for a lively rest after spring planting and autumn harvest each year. Thousand-Hand Bamboo had gotten used to it and let it go, but this time Indra just happened to stumble upon it.
Under his younger brother's gaze, the sense of shame welled up again. Senju Takeshi subconsciously wanted to replace the swear word "Damn" with "Merlin's stinky socks," but adhering to the principle of "when in Rome, do as the Romans do," the words that were about to slip out became: "The Sage of Six Paths' stinky socks."
The Sage of Six Paths' smelly socks?
Does my father have smelly feet?
Indra's thoughts began to drift away. He didn't know the answer to this question, or perhaps he didn't remember. In any case, since his most reliable and steady older brother had said so, it was probably true.
After the two left, the villagers began to whisper among themselves, starting from the outermost part of the crowd.
"What?! The Sage of Six Paths' socks are smelly?!"
"If even the Mountain God has said so, then it must be true!"
"If even the Sage of Six Paths' socks smell bad, then it's perfectly normal for mine to smell bad too!"
"You're talking nonsense! If immortals also have smelly feet, then their power must be far greater than ours! Even the Mountain God can't stand the smell! Don't you know how precious our Mountain God is with words!"
"That's right!"
...
"What?! The Goddess of the Rabbit was knocked out by the stench of the Sage of Six Paths' socks?!"
...
Black Zetsu, hiding in the village and afraid to approach Mount Xilin, exclaimed: "What?! The Sage of Six Paths can rule the ninja world with stinky socks?! What kind of damned ninjutsu has this unfilial son learned this time?! He has no bottom line at all! He has no Otsutsuki-like prestige whatsoever!"
Enraged, Black Zetsu momentarily lost its ability to conceal itself, and a chill instantly crept over its entire body.
Black Zetsu: !!!
After a week of rest at Mount Xilin, Indra, whose skin was so moisturized it seemed to glow, was about to return to the Ninja Sect. If he didn't go back soon, the birds that delivered messages to his younger brother would soon fill the roof of his tree. Those message birds were truly captivating; they would help Ashura because they were close to him, and they would also become permanent residents of Mount Xilin because they wanted to be close to Senju Takeya.
Then, seeing too many bird droppings on the roof of his treehouse, Indra smiled kindly, captured all the offending birds, and roasted them over a fire until their feathers curled up as a warning.
Sinful Bird: I was wrong! I was wrong! I'll never poop on your roof again! My gut just won't stay in my place, it just popped out while I was standing! For the sake of me delivering a letter to your brother—Gah!!!
Indra: Enough said! You've already done it, and now you think you can just run away after offending me, Otsutsuki Indra?! My brother's matter is one thing, let's keep it separate!
Regarding his younger brother's act of roasting birds, Senju Takeya, unaware of the reason, only offered two suggestions: first, it's best to pluck the feathers before roasting the birds; second, he recommended a honey-glazed flavor.
It's obvious which is more important.
Senju Takeya is also a hunter; the words "top of the food chain" are practically written all over his face.
Therefore, Indra understands why animals are close to and trust Senju Takeya, but dare not approach him as easily as they would approach Ashura—except for the young, because Senju Takeya does not harm the young when hunting.
Besides, the Thousand-Hand Bamboo is also like a link in the food chain of nature. It will ruthlessly eliminate old and weak animals, and those eliminated will naturally become meat on its table. However, the Thousand-Hand Bamboo rarely hunts actively. Most of the animals are either tributes from villagers or dying animals that come to it on their own.
The few times he actively hunted were because Indra came, but there was no meat at home.
He gave all the dried meat he had made to Indra, and Senju Take watched Indra leave again. Looking at Indra's grown-up back, Senju Take thought of his best friend again, wondering how his best friend was doing.
The soft rustling of leaves caught Senju Takeya's attention. Looking at the sapling that had remained unchanged for years, he sighed, bent down, and nourished it with a large amount of natural chakra. He didn't know what conditions the sapling was lacking to grow, as its growth was so slow.
Fortunately, his time was frozen, allowing him to slowly wait it out.
Now, what Senju Takeya hopes for is that the flow of time on his best friend's side won't be the same as his. He doesn't want his best friend to wait in vain. That person must live a bright and free life... even if he's no longer here.
Gently stroking the leaves of the sapling, Qian Shouzhu lowered his eyes slightly. He didn't know what the sapling was waiting for or what it needed, so he could only clumsily give it more of what he had.
The sapling gently pressed its soft branches against Senju Takeya's palm. It was incredibly docile and loyal to its grower. Only this boy could freely pick and use its branches and leaves without paying any price. To give the lonely grower some companionship, it was even willing to feed its noble leaves to a rabbit of inferior race.
In the future, as long as the required gene intake conditions are met, it will immediately produce the sweetest fruit for growers.
The sapling believes that future is not far off.
A note from the author:
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[Mini Theater]
The Sage of Six Paths: Indra, have you ever considered this: I have never met Senju Takeya, and conversely, he doesn't know me and understands me even less.
Indra: Yes, Father, I understand.
Sage of Six Paths: So—
Indra: But I will listen to my elder brother!
Ashura: (Suddenly bursts in) What?! Did Father's socks really stink so badly that Grandma fainted?!
The Sage of Six Paths: ...
Indra: Ashura, you're wrong. Even if the socks are smelly, they wouldn't be so smelly as to make an Otsutsuki faint, especially not someone of the level of the Goddess of the Rabbit. That's unrealistic.
Ashura: I'm sorry, brother, I understand... So how smelly are Father's socks?
The Sage of Six Paths: (died of anger at the hands of his rebellious son)
Senju Takeya: I'm sorry, I just felt that I shouldn't swear in front of my younger brother.
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