I surged forward, shadow armor amplifying every fiber of my body. My fist rocketed toward him, aiming straight for his jaw.
Impact.
Indra's head snapped back violently, his body spinning through the air before crashing to the ground several meters away. Dust and debris kicked up around him.
He landed on his side, letting out a low grunt, but his Sharingan never wavered. Cold, calculating, unyielding. He slowly pushed himself up, lightning crackling faintly along his arm, eyes locked on me with a restrained fury.
"You dare…" he muttered, voice colder than steel.
Lightning surged in his right hand, crackling with dangerous energy. My eyes widened.
No… he wouldn't—!
He rushed at me in a blur. I threw my shadows up in a desperate shield, but his lightning tore straight through. A sharp pain seared across my shoulder, forcing a cry from my lips.
"AHHHHHHH!"
The impact knocked me to the ground, clutching my arm as the last of my shadow armor flickered away.
Far off, Ashura, Shiraku, and Taizou froze in their tracks.
"What happened to Elder Brother Danava?!" Ashura gasped, fear gripping his chest.
"Shiraku, take Taizou and keep running—I have to see!" Ashura shouted, sprinting back toward us before Shiraku could stop him.
Indra slowly withdrew his hand, the faint crackle of lingering lightning fading into the air. His eyes, for a brief moment, widened slightly—a flicker of something like shock or even regret—but it disappeared almost instantly, replaced with that familiar cold, unyielding gaze.
I remained on the ground, one hand clutching my shoulder, my teeth gritted against the pain. My vision blurred slightly, but I could still see him standing there, turning his back to me. Rage, disbelief, and a bitter sense of finality swirled together in my chest.
I swear… from this moment on, you and I have no relation, I thought grimly, the words echoing in my mind. I'll leave the rest… the hatred, the path you've chosen… to my descendants and my reincarnation. I'm done trying to reach you.
I didn't speak. I didn't move. I just sat there, absorbing the weight of what had happened, my shadow armor flickering weakly around me, still trying to keep me upright.
Indra didn't say a word. No explanation, no apology, no glance back. He simply walked away, leaving the forest eerily silent behind him. The wind rustled the leaves, but it did little to pierce the heavy stillness that hung over me.
Pain throbbed in my shoulder, but worse than that was the hollow ache in my chest—the void left by the brother I once knew, now completely gone.
I finally exhaled, long and slow, letting the anger and shock simmer beneath my skin. My hand dropped from my shoulder, and I let the shadows envelop me once more, steadying my breathing.
The shadows around me flickered weakly as I collapsed fully to the ground, my body trembling from the pain. My shoulder burned with every heartbeat, blood staining the soil beneath me, but it wasn't the wound that broke me—it was the betrayal.
Tears streamed down my cheeks, blurring my vision as I clenched my teeth."Why…" my voice cracked, barely more than a whisper. "Why is this happening to me? Why did the elder brother I knew… the one I trusted… do this?"
I curled in on myself, clutching my shoulder tighter, my body shaking uncontrollably. The tears wouldn't stop, hot and endless, cutting through the dirt and sweat on my face.
"Why… why, Indra?!" I shouted hoarsely into the silent forest, my voice echoing out, raw and broken.
But there was no answer. Only the rustle of leaves, the faint chirping of crickets, and the heavy ache in my chest.
For the first time since I'd come into this world, I felt completely, utterly alone.
Ashura burst into the clearing, his breath ragged from running, and froze at the sight before him. His elder brother Danava lay slumped on the ground, clutching his bloodied shoulder, his face streaked with tears. The metallic scent of blood mixed with the heavy stillness of the forest.
"Elder brother!" Ashura cried out, his voice cracking as he rushed to Danava's side and fell to his knees.
Danava turned his head weakly, his eyes glassy with pain and betrayal. "...Ashura?" he whispered, his tears still sliding down his cheeks.
Seeing him in that state shattered Ashura's heart. His own eyes welled up, and he reached out with trembling hands, afraid even to touch him. "Wha–what happened? Who… who did this to you?"
Danava's voice shook as he forced the words out, his grief deeper than the wound itself. "It was… Indra. Indra did it…"
Ashura's body stiffened, his mouth falling open in disbelief. His breath caught in his throat."What? Elder brother Indra did this to you?"
He shook his head violently, as if trying to deny the reality before his eyes. The thought that Indra—his noble, proud older brother—could wound Danava so mercilessly was almost too much to bear.
But the blood soaking through Danava's hand, the anguish in his eyes, and the tears on his face… all of it told Ashura there was no lie in his words.
Ashura's hands trembled as he pressed them gently over Danava's bloodied shoulder.
"Wait, let me heal you, elder brother," Ashura said quickly, his voice breaking as he tried to steady himself. Closing his eyes, he channeled his chakra, threads of warm energy flowing from his palms into Danava's wound.
Danava winced, his face twisting from the sting, but slowly the pain began to ease. The torn flesh knit together under the glow of Ninshu, though faint traces of blood still stained his skin.
Ashura bit his lip, tears slipping down his face as he worked. "Why… why would elder brother Indra do this? To you of all people…" His voice cracked, his emotions spilling over as he poured more chakra into the healing.
Danava, still breathing heavily, looked at him with sorrowful eyes. He didn't answer, only placed his uninjured hand weakly on Ashura's arm as if to reassure him, even in his own pain.
The forest around them was silent, heavy with the weight of betrayal. Only the soft hum of Ninshu and Ashura's uneven breaths filled the air.
Danava's voice was low, almost breaking as he whispered,
"You know, Ashura?"
Ashura looked up from where he was still mending the wound, his eyes wide and wet with tears, waiting for his brother's words.
Danava turned his gaze to the side, his expression empty, broken. "I'm done."
"Huh?" Ashura blinked in confusion, his hands freezing mid-heal.
Danava's eyes, once filled with warmth, now looked hollowed, shadows clinging to them as if reflecting his inner despair. "Indra and I… no longer have any relation." His tone was heavy, final, a quiet severing of ties that echoed louder than any scream.
Ashura's lips trembled, his heart sinking at those words. "…Elder brother…" he whispered, his own tears falling freely now.
The forest wind stirred the leaves above, carrying the unspoken truth between them—one brother already lost to darkness, and another slipping further away, carrying only pain and sorrow in his chest.
Ashura's hands glowed faintly as his ninshu continued to knit Danava's torn flesh back together. But his own spirit felt like it was breaking. He didn't speak—didn't argue, didn't protest.
He only kept his head bowed, lips pressed tight, the grief in his heart darkening his usually bright eyes. Every word Danava had spoken echoed inside him, heavy and suffocating, but no reply came.
The silence between them was louder than any cry.
Ashura's fingers trembled as he pressed them gently to the wound, forcing the healing to continue even as his vision blurred with tears. Inside, he wanted to scream—that Indra wasn't truly gone, that their bond wasn't shattered—but the weight in his chest silenced him.
And so, beneath the quiet rustle of the night forest, two brothers sat—one with hollowed eyes, cutting ties, and the other silently breaking, his grief swelling in the darkness.
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