Beneath the thunderous roar of a towering waterfall high in the mountains, Madara stood alone.
The biting mountain winds whipped at his robes, his tall, lean frame unmoving like an iron pillar. Though his features still carried a striking handsomeness, his eyes were heavy with age and battle-weariness. His long black hair, tied loosely at the back, streamed in the wind while a few stray locks drifted across his face.
Madara stripped off his garments, stepping under the cascading water to wash. He was not one to indulge in the bustling bathhouses of towns, socializing was never his nature.
Isolation suited him best.
Yet even here, mid-bath, his instincts stirred. His brows furrowed.
"…Someone's watching me?"
For a brief moment, suspicion tightened in his chest. Then he dismissed it with a shake of his head.
No one alive could possibly threaten him. Not unless it's Hashirama himself.
The rest were ants. Ants that even Susanoo's smallest step could crush.
What Madara didn't know was that, at this very moment, beyond the mountains and forests, a coalition of enemies was assembling, plotting his death.
---
Within the shadowed hall of an old mountain temple, the leaders of every great village sat together for the first time.
"Iwagakure has sent thirty elite shinobi."
"Kirigakure has sent thirty."
"Kumogakure, twenty."
"Sunagakure, another twenty."
"Uzushiogakure, thirty sealing masters."
"And Konoha has dispatched thirty from the Senju clan."
For the first time in history, shinobi from across the great nations, leaders who would one day be known as the Second Generation of the Five Kage, gathered as one.
Had they already worn the mantle of Kage, this summit would have gone down in history as the First Five Kage Summit.
Mu, wrapped in his bandages, cleared his throat and rose to speak.
"Cough… let's begin. We're here for one purpose. We have to decide how we'll kill Madara."
The room was silent for only a heartbeat before heads began nodding.
Tobirama was the first to share his knowledge of Madara's techniques, his experiences, his tactical assessments. Mu followed, recounting his battles with the man.
One by one, Gengetsu, the Second Raikage, and Shamon of the Sand added their own ideas, pooling strategies together.
By the end of it, a plan was formed: strike swiftly, precisely, and ruthlessly. If they could hit Madara before Susanoo emerged, there was a chance of finishing him in a single blow.
"Good," Mu said, rising. His voice was calm, but it carried a dangerous edge.
"That's our course. Remember this, our blades are not for personal gain, but for the peace of the shinobi world."
"For the peace of the shinobi world!" the others echoed, though their voices carried more calculation than conviction.
In truth, every man in that hall bore his own ambitions.
None of them trusted the others. But for now, the enemy of their enemy was their ally.
---
Meanwhile, along a forested trail, Madara walked with his massive gunbai fan and scythe slung across his back. His face was expressionless, his scarlet Sharingan eyes dimmed to a simmering glow.
Then, he froze.
Leaning casually against a great tree ahead of him stood a figure he recognized instantly.
That face. That bandaged silhouette.
Madara's eyes narrowed to slits, rage burning in their depths.
"…You?! You bastard, you're still alive?!"
Mu smiled faintly, his voice mocking.
"Well, well, look who it is. Lord Madara himself. Tell me, making a fortune lately?"
"Shut your mouth!" Madara snarled. His voice cracked like a whip, his killing intent pressing down like a storm. "You should have stayed gone!"
He inhaled sharply.
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!!"
A torrent of searing flames erupted from his mouth, engulfing the forest in an inferno.
The ground shook. Trees splintered. The sky itself seemed to catch fire.
And still, Madara wasn't satisfied.
His eyes gleamed, and he raised his gunbai, swinging it in a powerful arc.
"Burn!!"
The inferno swirled into a massive flaming tornado, ripping across the land like a force of nature itself.
"Die here, worm!" Madara roared, his voice drowned in the roar of fire.
But from above, a mocking laugh floated down.
"Since when did you get so hot-headed, Madara?"
High in the sky, Mu hovered effortlessly, cloaked in the black haze of his chakra.
Madara blurred forward with a body flicker, appearing at Mu's flank, his kick smashing down with earth-shaking force.
Boom! Smoke and rubble billowed upward.
"Earth Release: Golem Technique!"
A colossal stone giant rose from the earth, swinging a massive fist at Madara.
But a spectral arm of Susanoo materialized instantly, colliding with it.
Crash! The golem's forearm shattered into rubble.
"Die!" Madara roared, flashing in front of Mu with his war-scythe.
But as the blade cut through, Mu's form dissolved into a swirling murder of crows, feathers scattering into the air.
Madara's Sharingan spun violently, tracking every detail.
"Behind me."
He turned just as Mu reappeared with a kunai aimed at his back.
Madara smirked. He'd seen it coming.
"And behind you."
Mu's pupils constricted, Madara vanished, only to appear at his rear in the next instant.
Mu flicked a kunai backward without hesitation.
Madara tilted his head, easily avoiding the throw. His brow furrowed slightly. 'Such a basic attack?'
Then, his eyes widened. The seal etched into the kunai. He knew that pattern.
"…Flying Thunder God?"
Madara's voice deepened with fury. He would never forget that jutsu. His own brother had fallen to it. Only Tobirama wielded that cursed technique.
'How... how did this man have it?!'
Before he could destroy the kunai, a figure materialized in front of him, Tobirama, blade flashing.
"Flying Thunder God Slash!"
Steel cut through air. A strand of Madara's hair fell.
At the same time, his scythe carved into Tobirama's armor, shattering the chest plate.
Both men leapt back, resetting the distance.
Tobirama landed beside Mu, breathing heavy.
Mu muttered flatly, "Not bad, Tobirama..."
Across from them, Madara's expression darkened into shadow. His killing intent spiked.
"Tobirama," he growled, voice like grinding steel. "You dare conspire with an outsider to assassinate me? Were it not for Hashirama's sake, I would have ended you long ago."
Tobirama's face remained calm, his tone cutting like ice.
"Madara, it was my brother who sent me. You've become a danger too great, even for Konoha. For the sake of the village… you must die."
At that, Mu's hidden grin widened beneath his bandages.
Perfect.
The words struck like daggers. Madara's eyes widened, his breath catching.
For the first time, the iron certainty in his gaze faltered.
'Hashirama… sent him to kill me?'
The thought echoed in his skull, stabbing into the very core of his pride and faith. His chest tightened, a hollow pain spreading like frostbite.
Those scarlet eyes dimmed, just for a heartbeat, robbed of their usual ruthless brilliance.
______________
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