Land of Rivers.
At this moment, Uchiha Madara—Impure World Reincarnated, shovel in hand, face twisted with fury—was digging at the earth, chakra trembling at the edge of explosion.
He still couldn't see through this absurd reality.
So...
"...Nice to meet you," Madara muttered coldly.
He could no longer endure this humiliation. His fingers trembled as they hovered over the cursed seal tags etched across his chest and limbs—bindings etched with Uzumaki sealing formulas that disrupted even his immense chakra.
When Itachi first sent word, Madara had doubted every syllable. How could someone like him be treated this way?
In the distance, a disturbed Obito sat on the edge of collapse. His mind was flooded with the memory of Uchiha Itachi gleefully soaring through the air, carrying Rin like a princess. The flashback haunted him.
"I... you...!" Obito choked. (Brother Zhuzi's voice trembled.)
Madara's condition didn't worry him as much anymore.
Black Zetsu leaned close to Obito and whispered, "The Guard's going on inspection in the Land of Fire... A 'team-building activity,' apparently."
He sighed. "This world's falling apart."
Obito stared.
"Even if you were at your peak," Black Zetsu muttered, "you still couldn't storm into Konoha now without getting dragged into whatever insanity Bai Ye's cooked up."
But the real shock was Madara's situation.
Bai Ye watched the commotion with a blank face before scoffing, "You dare lay a hand on my number one horse boy, Uchiha Bai Ye's Rin-mounting legend? You're unworthy."
Black Zetsu paused.
He knew the rumors were true.
The world had shifted.
A noble, graceful man had turned into... this. A laborer.
Black Zetsu's eyes sparkled with frustration. "The entire Shinobi world has been overturned."
Obito stared in disbelief. "So... Itachi learned to ride Rin because Bai Ye really did ride Rin?! And then shared his feelings...?"
He shivered. "That's how he understood the essence of 'Rin-riding'...?"
"You threw Madara Uchiha into a labor camp because of that?"
Bai Ye responded like it was the most natural thing in the world. "He assaulted a police officer. Fines. Charges. His identity certificate is void."
"Justice must be served."
Obito wheezed. "But... I got the intel you wanted."
Suddenly—
Boom!
At the outskirts of Konoha, inside the tomb that once belonged to Uchiha Madara, smoke rose.
"Obito! Madara-sama's been captured—by the Konoha Guard!"
Obito coughed blood.
Meanwhile, Bai Ye rolled his eyes and waved at Itachi, who was adjusting the bindings on Brother Cong's arms.
Even with just 1% of Bai Ye's power, Brother Cong could flatten an army.
Obito's wounds reopened as he prepared to cast Impure World Reincarnation again.
He had dared to entrust Project Tsuki no Me to Orochimaru... And now?
"I represent the Guard," Bai Ye declared, "and the will of the Uchiha."
Laughing, Bai Ye stepped forward confidently.
Efficient.
The Impure World Reincarnation's chakra began to swirl. Madara's body restructured again.
Black Zetsu walked to Obito's bedside and kicked him without hesitation.
"It's the only way we can integrate the 'dead' more thoroughly into society. We register them, confirm identity, erase missing-nin status... and send them to coal duty."
Pity flashed in his eyes for a second.
Then—rage.
Madara exploded in fury.
"Itachi said," Brother Cong muttered, "that Madara's body has been modified using Uzumaki clan chakra partitioning—each part sealed separately. A precaution."
Inside a coal yard lit with flickering torches, Itachi sighed. "It's strange to see him like this…"
Madara looked at the shovel in his hands, disgusted. He had just finished reassembling himself.
Brother Cong crossed his arms solemnly.
He knew.
It was confirmed: the Forbidden Technique—Impure World Reincarnation—used by Second Hokage was the method of Madara's return.
With his pride, Madara must have been seconds from a rage eruption.
Obito twisted under his sheets, howling.
But Brother Cong didn't care.
Uchiha Madara, outside this village? A terror.
Inside this camp? Just another inmate.
Chakra surged violently. Obito jumped from the bed like a rabid dog.
Captured without damage.
Madara. A test subject.
People in the coal yard whispered. "He's got the worst hairstyle I've ever seen…"
Madara, meanwhile, frowned as he scanned his surroundings.
Bai Ye had warned him. "Your power's real, but your identity is fake. No documentation. You're a threat."
The Impure World Reincarnation body tensed, chakra shifting uneasily.
Brother Cong's voice echoed in Madara's ears. "He didn't have a Konoha ID. He just yelled, 'I'm Uchiha Madara!' That's textbook missing-nin delusion."
Stories spread: once in the Guard's interrogation room, not even nerves come out the same.
Bai Ye smiled. "You really are my little brother. Your logic's beautiful."
Itachi nodded solemnly. "This rogue Uchiha—clearly suffering from delusions—needs full reform. Let him experience the warmth of Konoha through labor."
"Let him build our future."
Itachi paused. "Captain Cong gave him a chance."
The man saluted with respect.
And over there—Madara held the shovel again, staring at it like it held the secrets of his downfall.
"Captain Cong is wise," murmured someone nearby.
But the world had changed.
Madara's pride, once towering, now burned with humiliation.
Qi Lin's techniques. Rin's legend. And the Konoha that embraced prisoners through "rehabilitation."
Brother Cong eyed Madara.
"You dare mess with The Guard?!"
Simple. Safe. Effective.
He gazed at Uchiha Satoshi, filled with complex emotions.
To Brother Cong, Madara was just a prisoner—nothing more.
"You don't get it, do you?" someone shouted at Madara. "You really think the name 'Uchiha Madara' means anything anymore?!"
This kid Bai Ye kept blowing his mind.
Even Sarutobi Hiruzen had praised him (allegedly).
"Let me tell you something," Bai Ye added, pointing at Madara, "not just Itachi and I—Sasuke rode Rin too! Danzo tried to before he died!"
No reaction.
Uchiha Madara... was back.
"Too much credit," Bai Ye shrugged. "Just another day on the job."
"Obito, wake up."
Thud!
Black Zetsu sighed.
"He's got nothing but wasted jutsu paper on him," Itachi reported.
Madara... Was he really going to survive Konoha Guard's interrogation?
Torture might not work—his body was dead.
But the psychological damage?
Unparalleled.
Black Zetsu stared at Obito, stunned.
Itachi bowed politely.
Black Zetsu still couldn't process it all.
He had sensed the Mangekyō flaring, but never expected it meant capturing Madara.
"Some nobody without a license, yelling 'Uchiha' in public? Might as well be a bandit."
No nerves walk out unchanged from that room.
"You're sharp, little brother," Bai Ye smirked. "You really are."
"A delusional missing-nin with chakra issues—perfect candidate for Konoha's Intimacy Reform Initiative."
Itachi nodded again.
"The Captain gave him a chance."
And now...
There stood Madara, in prison uniform, reorganized yet again, staring blankly at the tool in his hand.
Brother Cong saluted. "For Konoha's future."
All the emotions inside Madara—shame, fury, disbelief—converged into hatred.
From far away.
He chewed over Bai Ye's words... and swallowed them.
Obito gasped, devastated.
Madara's body continued glowing faintly from the constant seals activating again and again.
Now labeled.
Shackled.
Rin still being ridden.
Madara... resurrected at last—just to suffer this?
Bai Ye met his eyes, grinning wide.
"Let's begin, prisoner."
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