What canon says about Indra Ōtsutsuki
Indra Ōtsutsuki is the inventor of ninjutsu and the first human to bear the Sharingan, making him the ancestor of the Uchiha Clan.
He has just three appearances in the entire manga, all of which are from secondhand sources.
1. Our most direct source on Indra is his father Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths, in chapters 670-671:
Hagoromo goes on to talk about the beginnings of his sons’ reincarnation cycle:
As well as the prior generation of incarnates:
He also makes one intriguing mention of how Indra anticipated the reappearance of the Rinnegan, which requires Indra and Ashura’s chakra to fuse together in one vessel:
Since we have no corroborating testimony elsewhere, assessing the accuracy of Hagoromo’s story requires us to examine it for bias.
It is worth mentioning that Indra shares the Sharingan with his grandmother Kaguya, who was sealed away by Hagoromo and his brother. This likely had a negative effect on Hagoromo’s view of his son, as he seems to distrust the Sharingan’s power:
Hagoromo connects his mother and his son in other aspects, as shown in the panels below where Hagoromo describes his own views on power compared to Kaguya's. His description of Kaguya’s hunger for power resembles his earlier description of what he claims are Indra’s views.
If you need further proof that Hagoromo negatively equates his mother and his son, despite the two never having met, look no further than the panel below:
In short, Hagoromo says the world of the Fourth Shinobi World War is Indra’s (and Kaguya’s) world. Hagoromo blames his son, and his son’s refusal to accept Ashura, for the current war. This seems a curious thing to assert, since Hagoromo never states outright that Indra killed or even harmed anyone, despite the panel of Indra in armor. He only says that, “Indra turned upon Ashura.”
One final note on the Sage’s story. In a great irony, at some point the historical record credited Hagoromo with the creation of ninjutsu, instead of Indra himself:
Once more, Hagoromo outright equates his son with war, and accuses his son of being a warmonger.
We have to question Hagoromo’s knowledge of his son’s internal motivations, especially since we have no evidence except Hagoromo‘s own testimony. Inventions can be used outside of their inventor’s intended purpose. Ninjutsu being used in war does not automatically mean it was made to create war. Was this really what Indra intended, or is this Hagoromo‘s own assumption after the fact?
2. Black Zetsu also knew Indra firsthand, and briefly mentions him in chapter 682.
Despite being an enemy, Black Zetsu can be considered a fairly reliable source. He recounts his story to Naruto and Sasuke while Kaguya is draining their chakra. With the two already immobilized and helpless, there’s no need for manipulation. Zetsu gains nothing by lying to them.
Crucially, Hagoromo’s story never once mentions Black Zetsu. Hagoromo appears to know nothing about Zetsu’s influence on Indra and Indra’s descendants. Hagoromo claims to have precognition and the ability to read signs (670) and also claims to have watched his children fight throughout history (671), but Zetsu gives us direct evidence that Hagoromo’s omniscience is fallible, and his story is far less authoritative than it seemed on the surface.
Hagoromo is missing important pieces of the narrative, though he is not aware of it. His ignorance calls his testimony about Indra’s nature, Indra’s motivations, and the true sequence of events further into question.
3. Our last source is Obito, who tells a mythologized version of Indra’s story in chapter 462.
This version has the most questionable accuracy. Rather than direct testimony by someone who knew Indra, it’s a story passed down over generations.
Another complicating factor is the context in which this story is told. Obito (pretending to be Madara) tells the story to Naruto and Kakashi with the aim of convincing Naruto that Sasuke’s desire for revenge is genuine. Obito is lying about his identity; it is possible that Obito is further altering the story to manipulate his listeners.
Hagoromo made no mention of any curse in his story. Did he just leave it out? Is this a misinterpretation of Hagoromo’s belief that power drives people mad? Or did later generations invent the idea of a curse?
Obito, in his Madara persona, claims his battle with Hashirama was destined and that Naruto and Sasuke are equally destined to be enemies. Obito’s intent to influence Naruto makes the way he also casts Indra and Ashura as implacable enemies somewhat suspect. But that doesn’t mean Obito’s version is a complete lie; there’s probably a grain of truth in the basic events.
One question worth asking: who does the seed of this myth belong to? Is it from Konoha? The Uchiha?
Consider instead: who is famous for calling the Uchiha a cursed clan?
Senju Tobirama. He is the oldest character to call the Uchiha cursed; a manga chapter is even titled after this exact quote from him (619). The way Obito’s story equates the Uchiha with hatred resembles the rumors Tobirama related to Hashirama prior to the Hokage election (625).
This fact, plus the unflattering portrayal of Indra, makes me believe Obito might actually be telling the Senju version of events.
4. What final conclusions can we draw about Indra’s character from these three portrayals?
The narrative insists Indra believed in power and blames him for the current war...but we have little to no corroboration for this. The only crime directly attributed to Indra was from Obito’s mythology version, where he attacked his brother after being passed over for inheritance.
The anime chose to make Indra into an a villainous character, but without much basis. There’s a lot of room for fandom to question, re-interpret, and develop new portrayals.
His invention of ninjutsu, for example, must have been extraordinary for its time, but is consistently cast as a negative achievement. His relationship with his father is another point worth re-examining.
In the end, what do we know?
Indra was born with strong chakra to a father who believed no one person’s chakra should be much greater than any other's. He was hailed as a genius and inherited the power of his grandmother’s eyes, which his father distrusted, but still chose to create his own techniques. Ninjutsu was Indra’s most lasting legacy, but one he never received credit for. He became a ghost in Shinobi history - and also a ghost of the narrative.
