Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

Hagoromo Otsutsuki stared at Uchiha Taiga with a heavy expression. His Rinnegan seemed to carry a trace of sorrow, making him look more like a deeply worried old man than a sage standing at the pinnacle of the ninja world.

He let out a long sigh, the sound echoing through the quiet laboratory.

"Uchiha Taiga, you are an anomaly."

Uchiha Taiga's smile remained unchanged. His eyes were as bright as ever, and he still carried that same lazy demeanor.

With a flip of his hand, the cluster of Indra's chakra vanished from his palm.

Seeing this, Hagoromo Otsutsuki's expression shifted. He looked as though he wanted to say something but held back.

Uchiha Taiga ignored his reaction and spoke with a beaming smile. "Of course, I know I'm an anomaly. I've never denied it."

"I just wonder what your stance is on me."

He looked at Hagoromo Otsutsuki, his gaze perfectly calm.

Nagato stood to the side, unsure of what was happening. However, seeing Uchiha Taiga break free from the temporal stasis and observing his attitude toward Hagoromo Otsutsuki, Nagato knew exactly what he needed to do.

He took off his glasses, revealing his pure white eyes. He stared at Hagoromo Otsutsuki with obvious vigilance and an unsuppressible hostility.

Over the years, he had come to view Uchiha Taiga as a true comrade. He knew that despite Taiga's various personality quirks, whatever he said was always the truth.

The old man appearing before them might be the founder of Ninshu, the legendary Hagoromo Otsutsuki, but in Nagato's eyes, he was still a potential enemy.

Seeing this, the expression on Hagoromo Otsutsuki's face seemed to grow even more bitter.

He looked at Uchiha Taiga and spoke. "Actually, I have been watching you since you were very young."

Uchiha Taiga smiled and nodded, the curve of his lips unchanging. "Is that so? I'm honored."

Hagoromo Otsutsuki looked at him with a complex gaze. He shook his head and sighed.

"Child, you don't need to be so hostile toward me. In truth... we are not enemies."

"I only wish to guide you onto the right path, so that the ninja world can achieve true peace."

He spoke with a sincere tone; these words clearly came from the bottom of his heart.

But Uchiha Taiga merely smiled without saying a word, his gaze remaining calm as he looked at Hagoromo Otsutsuki.

He didn't know how others felt, but as for himself, he was wary of any Otsutsuki. This had always been his stance, and it wouldn't change just because the person in front of him was the forefather who created the ninja system.

Hagoromo Otsutsuki was an Otsutsuki, Otsutsuki Kaguya was an Otsutsuki, and those out in the starry sky were also Otsutsuki. They were all the same kind of people, flowing with the same blood.

Hagoromo Otsutsuki might have once fought his mother for the sake of the ninja world, but that didn't mean he was inherently right.

Because from Uchiha Taiga's perspective, Hagoromo Otsutsuki's actions were, to some extent, just treating the ninja world as his personal property.

It might sound extreme to say so, but one could see the signs just from the fact that he had been hiding in Yomotsukuni all this time, watching his two sons' chakra reincarnations fight to the death without intervening.

Accustomed to sitting high above, it seemed such matters meant nothing to him. As long as the ninja world wasn't destroyed, he didn't care about the trivial details.

But if one were to put themselves in the shoes of the weak, what kind of despair must that be?

Therefore, concluding that Hagoromo Otsutsuki treated the ninja world as his private property might be extreme, but it wasn't entirely unreasonable.

Seeing Uchiha Taiga like this, Hagoromo Otsutsuki could only shake his head slightly.

"Child, I truly mean no harm."

He lowered his voice. "Ever since you awakened the Sage's Eyes and the Sage Body, I have been watching you."

"I once thought you might be the one to change the ninja world."

His gaze lingered on Taiga's face for a moment.

"But in the end, I realized that you are not."

The curve of Uchiha Taiga's lips deepened. "And then you shrank back into hiding, right?"

His voice was as casual as ever.

He continued, "I remember during my first battle with Uchiha Madara, I took something from him. I originally thought it was Indra's chakra, but later I realized it might have been a failsafe you left behind. However, that thing eventually disappeared."

His gaze landed on Hagoromo Otsutsuki's face.

"Did you take it back?"

Hagoromo Otsutsuki remained silent for a moment before nodding.

"Indeed. That child had been deceived by Black Zetsu for far too long. I could no longer influence him."

Uchiha Taiga laughed. The sound wasn't loud, but it was crystal clear.

"I see. You were out of options, weren't you?"

His tone carried a hint of mockery.

Hagoromo Otsutsuki grew even more silent, like a stone statue. He neither refuted nor admitted it, but his silence was the best answer.

After a few seconds, he spoke again.

"Child, you should be able to sense that I bear no ill will toward you."

Uchiha Taiga nodded, the curve of his lips unchanging.

"True. Otherwise, I wouldn't be wasting my time here with you."

He paused for a moment before speaking again, his tone laced with curiosity.

"So, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, what is your purpose for appearing here now?"

He looked at Hagoromo Otsutsuki, his gaze perfectly calm.

"Is it just for your eldest son's chakra?"

Hagoromo Otsutsuki nodded.

"I came specifically for Indra's chakra."

He paused, looking at Taiga.

"He is, after all, my child."

The fatherly affection in his voice was genuine.

Uchiha Taiga scoffed. The sound wasn't loud but was very clear, carrying obvious sarcasm.

"That's a bit laughable, Hagoromo Otsutsuki. Do you not know what the chakra reincarnations of your two sons have brought upon the ninja world?"

He looked at Hagoromo, his gaze sharpening.

"Or is it that you know, but simply don't care?"

He paused, the corners of his mouth turning up.

"So this 'peace in the ninja world' you speak of... can it only be a peace under your control?"

Hearing this, Nagato's gaze toward Hagoromo Otsutsuki turned hostile.

His lifelong dream was to return the ninja world to peace. He had given so much for it, lost so much, and sacrificed even more. But looking at it now, this old man might be the true culprit behind the current state of the ninja world.

Hagoromo Otsutsuki seemed to have no words in response.

Uchiha Taiga looked at him, his smile unchanging.

"Do all of you Otsutsuki think that everything in the ninja world must be under your control?"

His voice grew louder, echoing throughout the laboratory.

"You are like this, your mother Otsutsuki Kaguya is like this, not to mention those Otsutsuki out in the starry sky."

He looked at Hagoromo Otsutsuki, his gaze perfectly calm.

"What, do you think the people of the ninja world are inferior beings who need to be manipulated by you for their entire lives?"

He chuckled, his tone turning icy.

"Or do you think that without you, the ninja world can never achieve peace?"

His tone was flat, but every word was like a knife, stabbing into Hagoromo Otsutsuki one by one.

The atmosphere fell into a heavy silence. Hagoromo Otsutsuki seemed unable to refute Uchiha Taiga's words.

And Uchiha Taiga didn't seem to expect an answer from him anyway. He continued, "I'll tell you plainly: I am not giving you Indra's chakra. The dead should stay quietly in Yomotsukuni. Instead, they use their chakra to influence the world of the living, with an old fossil like you watching over them from the shadows. It's utterly ridiculous."

Having said that, he glared at Hagoromo Otsutsuki.

"So, old man, if you have no other business, then leave. Otherwise, it's hard to say what I might do next."

Power Stones, reviews, and comments— really helps a lot

Want to read ahead? Get access to 50+ extra chapters on my Patreon:

/Aragai_Sama