At night, by the Naka River in the Uchiha clan's territory.
"Who's there? Show yourself!"
Uchiha Itachi spun around instantly, drawing the sword from his back as he prepared to face the intruder.
A few meters ahead, the air twisted into a vortex and began to spin. From the swirling void stepped a man clad in black, wearing an orange mask with a single eyehole shaped like a swirl. His spiky hair billowed in the wind.
"It's you!"
The moment Itachi saw the masked figure, his Sharingan flared to life, revealing three tomoe. He instantly recognized the man—this was the same individual who had slaughtered his two teammates during his very first mission.
He flipped backward to create distance, forming a hand seal with his right hand while drawing shuriken with his left.
"Fire Style: Phoenix Claw Jutsu!"
A barrage of flaming shuriken shot toward the masked man, trailing fire as they spun through the air.
"Useless," the masked man muttered.
His lone visible eye spun into a Mangekyō Sharingan shaped like a pinwheel. The flaming shuriken passed harmlessly through his body, striking the tree behind him and burning a hole straight through its trunk.
"Give up," he continued. "You can't hurt me."
He didn't move, but the confidence in his voice was undeniable—even through the mask. Itachi narrowed his eyes. This man had used some kind of space-time ninjutsu—likely a unique Mangekyō ability.
This was bad. At present, Itachi couldn't deduce the weakness of his eye technique. Even Amaterasu might not land a hit.
"What's your purpose in coming here?"
Itachi kept his composure. The masked man had clearly been monitoring him for some time to know he frequented this part of the Naka River.
"Itachi," the man said, his voice low, almost mocking, "your best friend's death must've made you realize how hollow the Uchiha clan's so-called 'honor' really is."
"Shisui killed himself because his own clan pushed him to the edge. Pathetic, isn't it?"
"Let's destroy the Uchiha clan. Only that way can we protect the village—stop them before they start a rebellion."
Itachi stared at him, bewildered. Was this guy insane? But then he adjusted his expression, deciding to play along for now. If he kept him talking, he might learn something useful.
"You may be right... But who are you? Why help me?"
"I am the ghost of the Uchiha... Uchiha Madara."
"I once tried to lead our clan away from Konoha, but those cowards clung to their illusions of peace."
"They betrayed me. I fought Hashirama and barely survived. Now, I want revenge on the Uchiha—on that weak, pitiful clan!"
Itachi looked at the masked man with a hint of understanding in his gaze, as if moved by his tale. This supposed "Uchiha Madara" claimed betrayal by the clan—something Itachi himself was all too familiar with.
The masked man seemed to believe he had successfully manipulated Itachi, that his words had struck a chord.
But inside, Itachi was already laughing.
Did this clown think he could pass as Madara? If the real Madara were still alive, he'd be well over a hundred. And someone like Madara wouldn't need to seek an alliance—he would have razed the clan to the ground already.
Whoever this impostor was, he'd gone to great lengths to impersonate a legend. An Uchiha with a Mangekyō, but not from the village… Itachi would have to report this to Uchiha Hikaru later.
But before that, he needed to keep this masked man occupied.
"Shisui's death calmed the clan—for now. It isn't the right time."
"I know," the masked man replied. "Danzo and I have already made arrangements. When the time comes, I'll act."
With that, his Mangekyō flared once more. The air twisted again, and the masked man vanished into the swirling vortex.
Itachi sheathed his blade and exhaled slowly.
"...This guy's intelligence is seriously questionable."
The next afternoon, Uchiha Hikaru was buried under a mountain of paperwork in the police department office.
Documents were stacked high on the desk, and Hikaru rubbed his temples in frustration. Lately, ninja had been flooding him with applications to join the department—nearly half the village was interested.
To be fair, joining the police force was a solid opportunity, especially for civilian ninja. Not only was the pay better than most missions, it also came with safety and status. Why risk your life on the frontlines, splitting mission bounties with teammates, when you could wear a badge, live comfortably, and gain authority?
Ever since Hikaru had announced external recruitment, he'd received waves of self-recommendation letters. Even after summoning two shadow clones to help, sorting through them all had taken the entire afternoon.
Worse still, he couldn't delegate the strategic tasks. He didn't trust others with execution and logistics. Everything had to go through him. Sometimes he felt like he was back at his first job in his previous life—working overtime, drowning in responsibilities.
And of course, the moment a shadow clone dispelled, its accumulated mental fatigue would crash into him like a wave. After dozens of hours of processing and planning, Hikaru felt like his brain had been wrung out.
Thankfully, Anko and Kurenai still visited once a week, bringing midnight snacks and fruit to lift his spirits.
Though lately, the two had started coming separately. It was a shame. Hikaru secretly regretted it—one snack wasn't enough, and the food somehow tasted better when they shared it together.
As he reviewed another letter and reached for the approval stamp, he was already thinking about how he'd train that evening.
Knock, knock, knock.
The sound snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Come in."
Itachi entered, still in full ANBU gear.
"Hikaru. I have new information."
"Already?"
After finishing his mission for the day, Itachi had come straight to Hikaru's office. He recounted everything that had happened the previous night—his encounter with the masked man who called himself "Uchiha Madara."
Hikaru couldn't help but smile. Obito was still as naive as ever. He'd probably shown up out of fear that Itachi might go off-script. Unfortunately for him, he was too late.
If he had appeared the night Shisui died, maybe—maybe—he could have twisted Itachi's resolve. But now? Now Itachi had already rebuilt himself. He'd seen the truth behind Hiruzen and Danzo with his own eyes.
Still, it was amusing. Itachi was learning how to lie and play a role, just like him. It was starting to feel like this father and son duo had been slowly assimilated into his way of thinking.
No... not assimilated. They were just learning from someone superior.
Was that it?
Was he simply too exceptional?
He sighed dramatically, smirking to himself.
"Damn it… this overwhelming charisma of mine is just too much to handle..."