Naruto: The Beautiful Uchiha is Actually Me?

Chapter 36 Punishment...

Fojian was furious. He never expected that his youngest son, who seemed introverted and not good at speaking, would secretly do such a thing.

Rescuing and letting go of the enemy chieftain's son is tantamount to betrayal and has crossed the line in Buddhism.

Seeing Itama kneeling on the ground, tears streaming down his face, Butsuma felt a fire burning in his heart.

"What are you crying for! What right do you have to cry! Are you questioning me? Or are you shedding tears for that damned brat?"

Butsuma's expression kept changing. If an ordinary clansman had been caught doing this, he would have been executed. In the history of ninjas, betrayal was absolutely intolerable.

But... even though Itama had greatly disappointed him, he was still his own son, the child he had given birth to. How could he bear to let him die?

Fortunately, he is the only one who knows about this, but the inner torment he is experiencing is in stark conflict with his long-held beliefs.

He still doesn't know if the Senju clan's information has been leaked, or how much has been leaked... but right now, he must deal with the traitor in front of him.

Should they strictly adhere to the clan's standards, or quietly suppress the matter...?

The Buddhist monks were suffering immense torment.

"..."

Butsuma stood there in the courtyard, with Itama kneeling before him. Tobirama and Hashirama didn't dare utter a word, fearing that if they pushed their father too far, he would kill their younger brother...

My younger brother is so young, how could he possibly withstand the force of his father's beatings?

Tobirama was extremely anxious and was about to say something when Butsuma acted first once again.

He slowly walked up to the stall owner, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him up...

"Look me in the eyes! Tell me, what are you really thinking? You knew perfectly well that the other person might be an enemy, or even a member of the Uchiha clan, yet you still kept it from me..."

Itama was being choked and was having some difficulty breathing, but her eyes revealed no emotion.

Now that things have come to this, he's numb. He doesn't even know what fear feels like anymore; all he feels now is deep regret...

Was my father going to kill me...?

That's true, after all, he had already betrayed the family, and his father had never tolerated any dissent...

A feeling of suffocation washed over me, and my vision gradually blurred...

Buddha's face was extremely grim. He had just lost his third son, and now he was forced to kill his own son with his own hands—he still couldn't bring himself to do it...

With a loosening of his wrist, he fell directly to the ground.

He lay on the ground, panting heavily, his tear ducts seemingly completely out of control; despite his expressionless face, tears continued to stream down his face.

Hashirama couldn't take it anymore. He'd rather die than watch his brother die.

"father..."

Just as Hashirama was about to speak up to stop him, Tobirama grabbed his elder brother's hand and said, "Brother...please don't upset Father!"

Hashirama's eyes were full of anxiety, but he calmed down a little after hearing Tobirama's words.

Although the father made a big fuss this time, he didn't seem to actually punish his younger brother much, which means... the father might be trying to secretly suppress the matter?

Hashirama, whose mind usually doesn't think so much, suddenly became unusually quick-witted in this critical moment...

The two older brothers finally breathed a sigh of relief, but before they could relax for even two seconds, the Buddhist voice once again pierced their hearts like an ice pick.

"Hashirama, this is none of your business, don't meddle... Tobirama, you should know the seriousness of this matter..."

Butsuma stood with his back to Tobirama, preventing Tobirama from seeing his father's expression...

"Your good younger brother has committed a serious crime, so it's up to you to discipline him personally..."

While the Buddha's words seemed to show mercy, Tobirama's heart tightened in shock.

To educate oneself? That's just...

Sure enough, as soon as the Buddha finished speaking, he turned and walked to a small bamboo grove in the courtyard. With a swift movement, he broke off several bamboo stalks and separated them into individual bamboo planks...

Tobirama understood without needing to be told.

This was the father's punishment for his younger brother, and also a punishment for himself.

The ninja clans of the Warring States period... didn't have many principles to teach them; this world itself wasn't a world of reason.

The simplest way to discipline a son is often through physical punishment. The pain of physical injury is straightforward and direct, because even the Buddha himself went through it that way.

Tobirama dared not voice any objections. He knew his father too well; for the honor of the clan... he might even have killed his own son with his own hands. The current situation was already the best possible outcome...

......

"Waaah... Ah!"

Itama knelt naked in the center of the courtyard. His once smooth and fair back was now a bloody mess, and his screams made his throat almost hoarse... but Tobirama dared not stop what he was doing.

Seven or eight bamboo planks have already been broken, leaving only two or three...

The father watched from the side, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

Tobirama's heart was bleeding. This was the meaning behind his father's decision to have him personally discipline his younger brother... He had helped Itama conceal these things, so this punishment was actually psychological torture for Tobirama...

Although Itama was the one in pain, Tobirama was the one suffering the most.

By the time the moon had begun to sink low and all the bamboo slats had snapped, Tobirama had no strength left...

His younger brother, Itama, was nearly unconscious, lying on the ground with his fingers clawing at the floor until they were bloody and mangled.

The undershirt was stained crimson with blood, a truly gruesome sight...

"Let's leave it at that... but his mistake won't end so easily. Let's apply the medicine first!"

Looking at the scene before him, Buddha casually tossed out a sentence and turned to leave.

Hashirama watched from the sidelines, his patience reaching its limit.

Tobirama was right... If I had actually gone up to stop my father, my brother might have been killed.

He felt that given his father's cold-heartedness, he was absolutely capable of doing it. And... this time, Itama was truly in the wrong; after all, this was a grave crime of betraying the clan, and Hashirama knew best what the consequences would be...

After Butsuma left, Tobirama lost his balance and fell to his knees. Before he could even catch his breath, he scrambled to Itama's side...

"Itama... I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry..."

Seeing the wounds he had inflicted on his younger brother, Tobirama, who almost never shed a tear, could no longer bear the pain in his heart, and tears welled up involuntarily.

Hashirama, too, immediately ran over and supported Itama, tears streaming down his face. He didn't even dare to reach out and hug him, afraid of touching his brother's wounds...

......

That night was practically a nightmare for the subdistrict office.

Then came several days of persistent high fever, almost no part of his back was unscathed, and he was on the verge of a mental breakdown...

All of this was constantly tormenting this young, innocent boy.

He knew he was wrong, but he didn't understand why he was wrong.

She simply saved a boy of similar age by chance, and even something as simple as wanting to become friends with him was not allowed.

Just because the other person is an Uchiha, and he is a Senju...

Despite having no hatred between them, they were forced to bear the shackles imposed on them by their families.

Although I wanted to bury those memories in the end, my third brother's death and my own wavering brought these things to light.

This was the first time Itama had ever hated his surname and family so much.