Obito felt a bit embarrassed by the old man's praise.
He was genuinely ashamed to admit that he was one of the rare Uchiha dead lasts in the clan.
Still, he confessed honestly, "Compared to me, that guy Kakashi is the real genius." Though he wasn't happy about it, it was the truth.
He hadn't expected that idiot Obito to bring him up.
Both Kakashis looked up at the young Obito Uchiha, who had just wiped the blood tears from his face.
Madara Uchiha's voice carried unmistakable arrogance—bordering on outright conceit.
"Compared to the Sharingan of my Uchiha clan, Hatake kenjutsu is utterly insignificant."
Obito hadn't expected his ancestor to say something so blunt, instantly leaving him awkward and flustered. He wanted to apologize to the young Kakashi beside him, but the boy only lowered his head and clenched his fists.
In young Kakashi's heart, his father Sakumo Hatake's swordsmanship was the greatest.
Yet that once-prosperous clan's final true warrior had met such a tragic end.
"Speaking of which, what's going on with Obito's eyes?" Minato asked, voicing the very question troubling the adult Kakashi the most.
Madara Uchiha: "His constitution is too ordinary. He can't handle his own talent."
"What?!"
Those from different eras froze in disbelief.
Jiraiya, Minato's teacher, also stared at Minato's student in shock.
He remembered Minato writing that this boy was a rare Uchiha with a Hokage dream and a strong belief in the village and his comrades. But… his bad habit of showing off and his mediocre grades often gave Minato a headache. Kushina, though, seemed to be quite fond of him.
But now this kid was being called a genius by the legendary Madara Uchiha?!
It was no wonder everyone was stunned.
Madara asked Obito, "Brat, how old are you?"
"Thirteen. Almost fourteen."
Madara nodded. "Indeed, a bit too young."
"Just say it, old man! Don't scare me—I can take it!" Obito clung to Madara's sleeve, begging him to explain whether he had some deadly illness and if there was still hope…
Madara had rarely seen a child unafraid of him—much less one who dared to cling to his sleeve and whine like this.
"First awakening… from nothing but a nightmare, and already two tomoe." Madara mused,
"Your eyes shed blood tears because your talent has already reached the threshold for awakening the Mangekyō. But your physique is too weak, limiting your ability to activate the Mangekyō Sharingan."
Itachi: "!!"
Minato stared at Obito in shock.
Jiraiya too had heard of the Mangekyō Sharingan, that rare, powerful dōjutsu possessed by only a handful of Uchiha.
But he never imagined that someone as young as thirteen or fourteen could already possess such talent.
"Mangekyō Sharingan…"
Sasuke's mind snapped back to the night of the clan massacre—Itachi's eyes had formed an eerie pattern.
He glared at Madara. "What is the Mangekyō Sharingan?! What's required to awaken it?!!"
Compared to the easygoing Obito and that blond brat, the presence of this Sasuke Uchiha before him inexplicably made Madara feel uneasy.
Though reluctant to admit it, the boy really did resemble himself.
Still, there was no need to argue with a child. Madara explained, "The Mangekyō Sharingan is a higher-tier dōjutsu. Every Uchiha who awakens it possesses a unique pattern and unique abilities."
Madara Uchiha then revealed his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
The strange pattern stunned both Sasuke and Obito.
Only Itachi remained expressionless.
But his heart was anything but calm.
Because the Mangekyō pattern of this Madara Uchiha…was completely different from the "Madara" he knew.
Sasuke: "That blue giant your chakra turned into earlier—what was that?! Is it an ability of your Mangekyō Sharingan?"
Minato Namikaze had seen it as well. When they were plummeting from the sky, Uchiha Madara had probably meant to catch them with that power.
"That's Susanoo. It's one of the abilities that comes with the Mangekyō Sharingan."
Obito's eyes sparkled. "Yeah! That ability was unbelievably cool! Will I be strong enough to do that someday too?!"
Madara, only twenty-eight at the moment, scratched his cheek under Obito's admiring stare. "Well… if you can find a way to toughen up your body."
But before Obito could get carried away imagining himself surpassing that clumsy Kakashi someday, protecting him and Rin even better, Madara shifted the topic.
"Awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan too early isn't really a good thing…"
He remembered how, during the war era, his own premature Mangekyō awakening had forced him to use that power constantly in battles against Hashirama. His eyesight had deteriorated rapidly, almost to the point of total blindness.
Otherwise, Izuna wouldn't have…
Sasuke pressed him. "So awakening the Mangekyō too early is bad?!"
He was certain he hadn't misread things back then.
Itachi had already awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan at that time.
And thinking back, Itachi had been even younger then than Obito is now.
Madara said nothing.
Hashirama, knowing Madara was thinking of Izuna again, explained for him. "Frequent use of the Mangekyō Sharingan causes irreversible damage to the eyeballs and the surrounding nerves. Eventually it leads to total blindness."
Sasuke: "!!!"
He jerked his head toward Itachi.
Everyone caught the implication in his reaction.
Madara's Mangekyō Sharingan fixed itself on Itachi. "Show me your Mangekyō."
"....." Itachi didn't respond to Madara's command.
Without the slightest hesitation, Madara reached out and grabbed Sasuke by the throat.
Before Naruto and the others could even process what was happening—let alone react to shield Sasuke—
Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan snapped open in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, Madara was dragged into the world of Tsukuyomi.
Everything here was black and red.
The entire world contained only five people: himself, Itachi Uchiha, Minato Namikaze, Hashirama Senju, and Tobirama Senju...
"Meeting you is the greatest unexpected development in my plan, Fourth Hokage-sama." That was Itachi's opening line.
Hashirama and Tobirama both froze for a moment, their expressions toward Minato shifting.
Minato said, "No… strictly speaking, I'm not the Fourth Hokage yet. We're from the time point of the Kannabi Bridge mission."
Madara looked mildly surprised. He hadn't expected this soft-spoken young man to be the future Fourth Hokage.
Itachi shook his head, choosing not to continue speaking with Minato. Instead, he turned toward Madara, Hashirama, and Tobirama.
"Madara-sama, it is an honor to meet the real you. And you as well, First Hokage-sama, Second Hokage-sama."
"......" Madara wasn't surprised by how Itachi addressed Hashirama and Tobirama.
He said, "I haven't forgotten what we were talking about."
That topic, of course, was Itachi Uchiha's eradication of the Uchiha Clan.
He would need an explanation for that. Deciding how to punish Itachi was the small matter. The real priority was how to change the future—and fulfill Izuna's final wish.
Tobirama Senju asked Itachi Uchiha, "Is this the ability of your Mangekyō Sharingan? People outside can't hear us talking, correct?"
"This is my Tsukuyomi space, the ability of my left Mangekyō Sharingan. Here, time, location, weight, and all five senses—and the sixth—follow my rules. Which means that even if we stay here for three days and nights, only a single instant will pass outside."
The power left Minato Namikaze and the others stunned. Even Madara Uchiha felt shaken.
He never imagined that after being impressed by that junior Obito's talent, this Itachi Uchiha—said to have wiped out the Uchiha clan—would possess an ability even more unbelievable.
And… Tsukuyomi…
Wasn't this almost identical to what was recorded on the Stone Monument at the Uchiha Shrine?
That—
"Infinite Tsukuyomi"!!
Tobirama Senju asked, "How old were you when your Sharingan awakened?"
"Thirteen."
"!!!"
He awakened his Mangekyō even younger than Obito Uchiha?!
"And what caused its awakening?"
"Shisui… someone who was like a brother to me… died right before my eyes."
Madara finally let out a quiet breath. At least Itachi hadn't said he slaughtered the clan just to awaken his eyes.
Minato's face darkened. "Shisui's cause of death… it's connected to the conflict between the Uchiha clan and Konoha, isn't it?"
Before Itachi replied, he added, "I've already heard from the Third Hokage. He ordered you to carry out the clan extermination."
"What?!" Madara's expression twisted. "You're telling me the Hokage ordered a Uchiha youth to wipe out his own clan?!! Why?!"
A coup…
Tobirama Senju abruptly remembered the word.
"Was it a coup?" he asked. "Did the Uchiha clan intend to stage a coup against Konoha?"
Madara stared at Tobirama in shock, then turned toward Itachi, who remained silent and offered no denial.
"Why?! Why did the Uchiha choose the path of a coup?!"
Madara's voice cracked with agitation.
Konoha had barely been founded. Such a future was a crushing blow to him and Hashirama.
Tobirama's expression stayed as cold as ever.
Hashirama's face looked far worse. Like Madara, he couldn't fathom how, in just a few decades, the future could end up like this.
Itachi had pulled them into the Tsukuyomi space for this very reason: to explain what happened back then, to reveal information about Akatsuki, and to share his plan for the future. He hoped they—especially the Fourth Hokage—would not interfere.
Because right now, Itachi still believed that his plan was flawless, the only method capable of stopping Akatsuki, preventing Pain and "Madara" from destroying the fragile peace of the shinobi world.
"According to the records in our clan…"
Itachi began to recount the future to those of this era.
"Not long after Konoha was founded, the daimyo ordered the village to choose a leader—the First Hokage."
And naturally, that First Hokage was Hashirama Senju.
Hashirama said, "Madara, I never wanted to become Hokage. I came to speak with you today because you've already lost Izuna, and I want you to treat everyone in the village as your brothers and become Hokage yourself!"
"Stop your ridiculous talk, Hashirama!" Madara fixed his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan on him. "Don't forget your brother would never allow an Uchiha to become the First Hokage."
"No, Madara!" Hashirama protested. "Tobirama would—"
"I support Madara Uchiha's right to run for Hokage," Tobirama said, dumping oil onto an already blazing fire. "However, the title belongs to the will of the people. As the village accepts more clans in the future, the leader should be chosen by collective vote."
"Tobirama…"
Hashirama felt his head splitting—his dear friend on one side, his younger brother on the other.
Why couldn't the two of them understand each other?
Both were so gentle at heart, yet together they were like two alpha wolves locked in a fight to the death.
Amid the rising tension, Itachi delivered another shocking revelation.
"The Senju clan had declined long before the Uchiha. The Uzumaki clan suffered even worse—they were hunted down by clans across the shinobi world. Only a few Uzumaki survived by taking refuge in Konoha. The rest, if not killed, scattered across the world, too afraid to reveal their surname."
"!!!!"