"Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato, step away from the Jinchūriki. Otherwise, this child won't live past the next minute."
The man in the tiger-patterned mask launched a sudden, devastating attack, instantly taking down the two guards at Lake Biwa.
Cradling infant Naruto in his arms, he leveled a chilling threat at the Fourth Hokage.
Naruto clenched his fists, eyebrows furrowed in fury. He looked like he could punch straight through the screen to land a hit on that masked man.
"Who the heck is that guy?!"
Kakashi's face was equally grim.
That ghost-like phasing ability… it felt eerily similar to that of Tobi from the Akatsuki.
Was it him?
Could he really still be alive?
Had the Akatsuki already begun their plans so early? What were they even after?
The masked man tossed baby Naruto high into the air. Clutching a kunai, he took aim. If the baby fell, the blade would strike deep.
Minato flickered forward, catching Naruto just in time—but hadn't expected a trap.
Attached to the baby's blanket were three explosive tags. With no choice, Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport away once again.
But it was all part of the masked man's ploy—to lure Minato away from his real target.
The scene shifted suddenly.
"ROAR—!"
The guttural cry of the Tailed Beast shook the air, nearly splitting eardrums.
In a flash, chaos engulfed the village.
With a swipe of its claw, buildings vanished into dust, reduced to rubble in an instant.
Nine blazing red tails whipped and thrashed wildly, as if hell itself had erupted in the middle of the village.
Terrified villagers scattered, screaming as they fled in panic.
The ninja forces quickly regrouped under the Third Hokage's command, rushing toward the epicenter of destruction.
"As the Hokage, I must protect my village—my family."
The Fourth stood atop the Hokage Rock, cloak billowing, his expression ice-cold with determination.
"We can't let him rampage any longer."
Suddenly, the Nine Tails opened its maw wide, unleashing an earsplitting roar.
A massive sphere of dark purple-black energy began forming in front of it.
That was… a Tailed Beast Bomb!
Minato rapidly weaved hand seals, channeling his chakra into a marked kunai.
"Space-Time Barrier!"
The village-leveling Tailed Beast Bomb was intercepted at the last moment and transported away through the barrier.
"We need to report this to the Third immediately!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a hand landed on his shoulder from behind.
Minato instinctively spun and stabbed with his kunai—but it passed right through, striking nothing.
The masked man's hand suddenly became solid, grabbing Minato's wrist.
A spiraling vortex opened from thin air, trying to suck Minato in.
Minato barely escaped by teleporting away using Flying Thunder God.
"You won't get far."
The masked man reappeared directly in front of Minato, tilting his head slightly to reveal a single blood-red Sharingan behind his mask.
Minato's eyes narrowed sharply.
'He can use space-time ninjutsu too.'
'He must've used this power to abduct Kushina so quickly.'
'This man assassinated the Third's ANBU squad, bypassed our top-secret security barriers, knew that the seal would weaken during childbirth…'
'And he broke the Nine Tails' seal—tamed it even. He slipped in and out of Konoha like it was nothing. As far as I know… there's only one person capable of that.'
A figure flashed through his mind—draped in crimson Sengoku-era armor, wild hair flowing, a man who once subdued the Nine Tails.
"You're… Uchiha Madara?!"
Warring States Era
The Uchiha and Senju clans were about to leave when an unknown force suddenly froze them in place.
None of them could move a muscle.
Madara raised his head in surprise when he heard his name. "Me?"
Tobirama sneered, "As expected, the Uchiha clan's no saints. Even if we built a village together, they're still a threat that must be watched."
He'd confirmed it now—Konoha was definitely founded by both the Uchiha and Senju.
The space-time jutsu Minato had used was clearly a refined version of the Flying Thunder God technique Tobirama himself was developing.
Seeing how far it had progressed, Tobirama couldn't help but feel secretly pleased, though he kept that to himself.
Hashirama shot Tobirama a glare. "How can you say that? Everyone wants peace. That guy can't be Madara. His voice is similar, but…"
"Madara isn't the kind of man who hides in the shadows."
Tobirama crossed his arms with a pout. "Even if it's not him, it's definitely another Uchiha. That guy had a Sharingan."
Izuna Uchiha was clearly unhappy. As expected, Senju and Uchiha would never get along.
"Maybe this is all just a plot by your clan," he scoffed. "Hmph!"
Fourth Hokage Era
Inside the conference room, chaos erupted.
"Madara?!"
The name hit like a plague.
The older generation of village elders turned pale with fear the moment they heard it.
Danzo's expression tightened, eyes flickering with unease—part fear, part loathing.
"I didn't think he was still alive…"
The heads of each clan sat silently, faces grim, lost in their own thoughts.
Minato frowned deeply. "If Uchiha Madara is still alive, he should be ancient by now. But the man in the video looks more like a young adult… Could it be some kind of soul-swapping forbidden jutsu?"
Everyone began talking over each other, the room descending into disorder.
Fear of Madara overrode all reason.
[Live Comments Streaming Below the Screen]
[Monkey D. Luffy: Whoa! That's one big fox! Can ninjas summon monsters that huge? So cool~~]
[Tony Tony Chopper: Aaaaahh—scary!!]
[Kaido: That ninja is nothing like that useless Orochi. This one's the real deal.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Orochi? You mean Orochimaru? That creep who bit Sasuke?!]
[Tenten: ...Definitely not the same person. Orochimaru is one of the Legendary Sannin. But I'm shocked too—Madara's still alive? He's a legend, said to be on par with the First Hokage. The books say he died in the Valley of the End.]
[Neji Hyuga: Books can be inaccurate. They never mentioned the Nine Tails attack was caused by some mysterious masked man either.]
[Onoki: Are you kidding me?! That devil of the Shinobi World is still alive?!]
Onoki's heart nearly stopped from the shock.
[Naruto Uzumaki: Madara or not, I'll defeat him for sure!]
[Danzo Shimura: Yet another Uchiha… They truly are a cursed clan.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Who even are you, old man? What's this got to do with Sasuke? Madara is Madara, stop dragging others into it!]
[Sakura Haruno: …Naruto.]
[Ino Yamanaka: It really has nothing to do with Sasuke, but, um… did someone even mention him?]
[Kakashi Hatake: Alright, enough arguing. Focus on analyzing the masked man. Maybe we can still track him down.]
[Jiraiya: He passed through solid rock. Space-time ninjutsu? Or maybe some spirit-body technique?]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Doesn't matter. He's obviously a huge villain!]
[Monkey D. Luffy: Ninjas are so cool! If you can phase through walls, stealing food from a fridge must be super easy!]
[Sanji: You idiot. That's seriously all you think about?!]
Back in the Warring States era, Madara looked like he was about to explode.
"What's with everyone up there?! They're making me out to be some ultimate evil!"
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100 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter