Deep underground, within a vast stone hall, Uchiha Madara sat gaunt and still, waiting for word from Zetsu.
"Why has that fool not returned?"
"Did the plan fail?"
Madara opened his eyes and glanced toward the doors, a flicker of surprise crossing his face.
Up above, Zetsu darted anxiously through the earth around the palace's perimeter.
"Damn it. Does this brat have space-movement? He is staying right on me!"
If not for his own speed beneath the ground, Chiya would have already cut him off.
Zetsu reached the entrance and triggered the palace's trap network at full speed, then arrowed toward Madara.
Behind him, Chiya followed the trail of Zetsu's chakra to a peculiar junction of barriers. A faintly black film of chakra sheathed the spot.
"So this is the layer cutting off my sensing."
If he were not in a hurry to find Madara, he would have stopped to study it. Born of Kaguya's legacy, Zetsu's chakra might hold clues useful for understanding the Six Paths.
Chiya pressed lightly. The barrier parted. The dusky layer was for blocking perception only.
A subterranean palace unrolled in his senses.
"So that is how it is."
Chakra flooding smoothly through his frame, Chiya raced for the palace. Thanks to his wood release study, his earth and water release had grown as well.
"This should be Madara's hideout."
He touched down on the steps. The buried air held a heavy scent of loam. Two almost-dying torches painted the black doors in a weak orange.
"Not a bad place to hide."
Two faint signatures pulsed deep inside.
"At last, Madara."
He stepped through. Traps shrieked to life from every angle.
On the throne, Madara's face hardened. Someone had entered. It was not Zetsu. If they had found this palace, he was exposed, and the intruder had likely come for him.
Zetsu erupted from the floor. "We have to go. Someone is here!"
He lunged to wrap Madara and take control of his body to flee. It was the fastest way out.
"Oh? Someone found even you?"
"Seems the visitor is not talentless."
Madara knew Zetsu's stealth well. Anyone who could see through it would not be weak. As he was now, he had no chance of winning.
"Where is Uchiha Obito?"
His tone never changed. Weak or not, he would not show fear. That was a strong man's pride. The intruder worried him less than the plan.
"Unknown. We move first."
He had only seen the boulder hanging midair. After that, Chiya's sensing had found him.
Zetsu felt Chiya cross the threshold, fused to Madara, and bolted for a secret tunnel.
Madara gathered what little chakra he had and glanced back.
Wood Release, Wood Clone.
POOF!
A double identical to his aged body appeared on the throne.
"Go meet him for me."
Zetsu swallowed him whole and slipped into the passage. The tunnel pulsed with that same dusk-black barrier. For a time, even Chiya would not find it.
"Hm. Why is there only one signature left?"
Chiya stepped into the inner hall, but Zetsu had already spirited Madara away. The barrier masked the exit, and he did not see it at once.
"So you are the one meddling with my plan?"
Madara's voice rolled from the throne. He felt the quiet pressure rising off Chiya and frowned. He had once stood at the peak of the super-kage tier, then awakened the Rinnegan. The clone before him was only as strong as an average jonin, yet this boy's aura pressed on him. When had the ninja world produced such a young powerhouse?
"Wrong. Something is off about this Madara."
Leaving Zetsu aside, the aura itself felt wrong.
Chiya's eyes turned. Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan opened, scarlet pinwheels spinning. A breath later he saw it clearly.
"A wood clone."
He knew the technique well enough. If this was a fake, where was the real one?
"No wonder Zetsu panicked. You wield the Eternal Mangekyo too."
"Impressive."
Madara knew that aura the instant it rolled across him. "Your chakra stirs memories of Hashirama. Boy, your name."
He did not bother trying to run. He would not escape a foe like this.
Chiya swept the hall again, found no trace of any other chakra, and sighed.
"My name is..."
He paused. Lightning flashed. A bolt lanced the clone's throat.
"Remember this. Uchiha Obito is under my protection."
A dying clone's last sight would ripple back to the original. As for a name, being told to speak and obeying were not the same thing.
"You little whelp. Quite arrogant."
"You spoil my plan and I will remember you."
"We will meet again, junior of the Uchiha."
The clone unraveled, chakra collapsing into plain wood.
A faint, dusk-black seal crawled into view beneath the throne. Chiya knelt, brows knitting.
"Old fox. So the clone was only to buy time."
He studied the barrier. Nothing leaked. With a soft click of his tongue he produced a fresh scroll and sealed away a sample of the dusky chakra.
"Its color is not far from the Nara shadow arts..."
Far away, Zetsu hurtled through the earth with Madara in tow. A message brushed Madara's mind.
"An amusing boy."
"Eternal Mangekyo, hm."
"Until my plan is complete, entertain me."