"The changes in the Uchiha clan's territory are truly drastic." Madara remembered that back then, Konoha was still small. In fact, at the very beginning, houses were built directly within the forest.
At that time, the entire village consisted of just one street. The Senju clan was in the north, the Uchiha clan in the south, with a single road in between.
It was simple, walk down the road, and you'd have seen the whole village. As more and more ninja clans joined, the village gradually expanded, and the original mix of houses and forests was transformed.
What are you thinking about? Black Zetsu followed Madara, watching as the man strolled along as if he were simply taking a casual trip home. His heart was filled with doubt.
The Madara he knew never did anything without purpose, with decades of consistency.
Under the escort of a group of Uchiha ninjas, Madara arrived in front of a house he found all too familiar. This house was one that he and Hashirama had built together.
Now, the Uchiha territory was no longer in the location he had known, and this house had clearly been relocated, bearing marks of disassembly.
However, the people who moved it had preserved it to the greatest extent possible, it was clear they had put in a lot of effort.
This had once been his residence in Konoha.
But as someone who had awakened the Rinnegan, his eyesight was exceptionally sharp. At a glance, he noticed a plaque standing beside the door, which read: "Konoha Historical and Cultural Heritage Site. Please Do Not Touch."
Below it was another line of text:
"Konoha Planning and Natural Resources Committee Office."
Madara, who had lived from the late Warring States period to the end of the Third Great Ninja War, had never heard of such nonsense in all those decades.
"What is this?" he asked.
"This was Masashi-nii's suggestion," an Uchiha ninja quickly responded. "He said that failing to study history is a sign of disrespect to our ancestors, so the village designated certain historically significant buildings for preservation."
"He also said that different historical buildings require different methods of maintenance and restoration. Their preservation should be categorized based on architectural style, historical function, and period."
"…What's the point of this?"
Now he was genuinely curious. The Uchiha were a ninja clan, they had always preserved various ninjutsu and the research findings of their predecessors. He himself had contributed plenty to the clan's archives.
But historical buildings? What kind of logic was that?
"It's so that the children can understand the hardships of their ancestors," the young ninja explained.
This young man was actually Tetsuka's younger brother. The same little kid that had once caused him to constantly skip work to pick him up from school was now a chunin.
"Wasting time on useless things," Madara sneered. "Fine. Open the door, I want to take a look."
Black Zetsu had nothing but praise for Masashi. Every word he spoke carried the same underlying message—"Let's replace you with him instead."
But even when he was alive, Madara had never thought much of others. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone his own way.
Back then, choosing Obito was out of necessity, he had no other choice. If he hadn't picked a successor, he would've died with no one to carry out his will. Obito might have been a complete fool, but he was still Madara's choice. How could he be replaced just like that?
He needed to observe first.
"Yes." The ninjas quickly opened the door.
Madara stepped inside. His expression softened slightly after just one glance. Even the placement of the furniture was exactly the same.
Though his ambitions had long since surpassed the limits of the Uchiha clan, and he no longer saw himself as bound by them, he was still born an Uchiha.
That said, he was genuinely surprised that the Uchiha clan had survived. Even though he had been outside the village, he had still kept an eye on Konoha's general situation. Just as he had predicted, Tobirama's successors had continued to suppress the Uchiha.
From the moment Tobirama took power, the Uchiha clan's extinction had been a matter of time. Yet unexpectedly, the Senju clan had disappeared even faster.
According to Black Zetsu, after his death, the Uchiha clan suddenly began to thrive again. Now that he was here, taking a closer look was as good a way as any to pass the time. At this point, it was possible that these younger Uchiha would one day become obstacles to his plans.
But given today's circumstances, he was willing to offer them a choice. Just as he had back then.
He stepped into his old bedroom. Even the bedding was placed exactly where it had been. He walked over and lifted the blankets on the tatami.
No mistake, it was still the same set from back then.
Black Zetsu, watching from the side, was growing increasingly anxious, but he couldn't show it. He had brought up Masashi in hopes that Madara would take an interest in him and pull him into their camp. Not so that Madara would start bonding with the Uchiha clan.
The sheer shamelessness of the Uchiha was beyond his expectations. He could clearly sense Madara's attitude toward them softening.
Back then, he had taken so much effort to make this man sever ties with his clan completely. Yet, while Black Zetsu was growing increasingly anxious, Masashi was heading south.
---
All the Kiri ninjas who had infiltrated the Uchiha territory had been wiped out. It seemed that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and Konoha were simply fated to be enemies, this time, they were completely annihilated.
To be fair, this generation of the Seven Swordsmen wasn't weak.
Kisame aside, even Zabuza was no pushover. The remaining two, Ameyuri and Chōjūrō, had also been standout figures in the Fourth Great Ninja War of the original timeline.
That last attack was likely the Naraka Path ability of the Rinnegan.
Masashi examined the four lifeless bodies, deepening his understanding of how souls truly functioned in the shinobi world.
Whether they were actually dead or not was one thing, but all four of them had had their chakra extracted. Their state resembled something more akin to having their very "information" stripped away.
He had conducted similar experiments during his life as Muzo. The reincarnation technique he had painstakingly studied back then was, at its core, a chakra reincarnation technique. After all, souls were such an elusive concept, there was no concrete way to study them. It was like mythology, everyone could talk about it, but no one could really explain it.
This time, however, since the enemy had used Edo Tensei, it presented a perfect opportunity for him to investigate further. But first, he had to drive out the Kiri ninja from the south, he couldn't allow them to continue causing trouble.
With Suna as an ally, fighting on three fronts was something Konoha could still manage, as long as the village itself was no longer on the frontlines.
As he hurried south, he suddenly sensed a familiar chakra.
"Hmm? Just one person? That bold?" He was momentarily stunned, it didn't seem real.
Then he remembered, he had sealed away all seven swords in a storage scroll.
That explained it.
Since that was the case, he'd gladly accept the chakra of the Three-Tails!
His figure twisted midair, changing direction. Soon, his Sharingan locked onto a familiar chakra signature.
Jinchūriki chakra always stood out in his Sharingan's vision because they contained two distinct chakra sources. And the person he was seeing now was Yagura.
As the Mizukage, he was anything but weak. The reason his chakra was surging right now was because he was currently engaged in battle with Shisui.
At this point, Shisui was undoubtedly at Kage-level. His strongest abilities remained Body Flicker Technique and genjutsu.
As Masashi approached, he could already sense from a distance that Shisui had used a genjutsu.
However, Yagura was still moving freely, engaging in battle with his immense jinchūriki strength, throwing debris around like a wrecking ball.
All Kage-level ninjas received specialized training to resist genjutsu. If they trained specifically against Sharingan illusions, the effect was even stronger.
In the original timeline, Deidara and Ōnoki had undergone specialized training to counter the Sharingan.
It was clear that Yagura had done the same.
Because of this, regular Sharingan-based genjutsu had no effect on him. If Deidara and Ōnoki could achieve this, then Yagura, who could fully control his tailed beast's power, certainly could too.
Shisui's ocular power was still growing, it was clear he was preparing to use his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Masashi couldn't let that happen. Shisui was not like him, he couldn't regenerate Yang chakra to counterbalance Mangekyō usage.
"Shisui!" Masashi called out, surging forward with lightning chakra crackling around him. At the same time, Yagura broke away from the fight.
And his method of escaping? Brute force.
A powerful gust strong enough to disperse even Hidden Mist Jutsu blasted through the battlefield, launching Shisui into the air.
Simultaneously, Yagura began transforming into his tailed beast form. At this point, the situation was a full-blown war. He had no reason to believe that Masashi would hold back.
And he wouldn't.
As Yagura began his full transformation into the Three-Tails, Shisui landed on a nearby rooftop. From his vantage point, he watched as a massive figure began to rise.
"Leave this to me, return to the frontlines!" Masashi called out as he dashed past Shisui, heading straight for Yagura.
Ahead, in his full tailed beast form, Yagura had already formed a Tailed Beast Ball.
In response, a white chakra aura erupted from Masashi's body.
The energy quickly condensed into a Susanoo arm, reaching out to grab the Three-Tails.
This was the Uchiha territory, Masashi had to end this fight fast.
His curse mark activated, and Matatabi's chakra flowed into him. His Sharingan evolved into the Rinnegan.
The Three-Tails fired its first Tailed Beast Ball.
Susanoo arm shot forward, catching it mid-air, but in the next instant, the sheer force of the explosion sent shockwaves rippling through the arm, threatening to reach Masashi himself.
Without hesitation, he activated the Guiding Thunder.
The Tailed Beast Ball vanished.
Masashi had just teleported it, right to where Gaara's forces were fighting.
A battlefield full of Iwa ninjas? Perfect target.
At the same time, his chakra flared even more intensely. This was the first day of the war.
Time to kill a Kage.