Madara Uchiha, just a twelve-year-old boy, stood in a forest dripping with blood, fire, and chaos.
Yet at that moment…He felt invincible.
A surge of raw, primal power exploded through him, flooding every muscle and nerve. His senses sharpened to impossible clarity. The world slowed. Chakra glowed through the trees like threads of light.
He could see everything.
A whisper in the air.A flex of chakra.A twitch of muscle.
When one of the remaining enemy ninjas lunged at him from behind—
Madara slid aside effortlessly, his body reacting faster than thought.
It was instinctive.It was perfect.It was terrifying.
His eyes, now blood-red with a single black tomoe, were the source of his newfound perception.
The Sharingan had awakened.
Not wasting a breath, Madara formed the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
POOF!
A duplicate appeared beside him, immediately engaging the nearest enemy with sharp, precise counters. The clone's movements were almost flawless, clean, fast, coordinated, thanks to Madara's new sensory clarity.
With the enemy distracted, Madara stood still.
Calm.
Focused.
His hands began weaving seals faster than ever, almost a blur.
This wasn't just his genius.This was Ishiki's Genius Helmet at play; the short exposure to it had sharpened his theoretical understanding of ninjutsu far more than he realised.
Hand seals finished, Madara inhaled deeply.
"Katon: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!!"
The forest turned red.
A colossal, intricately-shaped dragon head made of roaring flames erupted from his mouth, massive jaws, whipping mane, spiralling heat.
The two enemy ninjas locked in combat with the shadow clone never saw it coming.
The fiery dragon collided with them.
BOOOOM!
The explosion swallowed one whole. His scream didn't even fully form before he was carved apart by flame.
Madara exhaled slowly.A small, tired sigh.
The jutsu had taken a toll, but the threat was gone.
He glanced toward the deeper forest, where Hashirama and Ishiki were.
"I'm going to Hashirama," he muttered.
And with a single burst of speed, he left the charred clearing behind.
On the opposite side, Hashirama Senju was locked in his own deadly game of survival.
Three ninjas were on his tail.
He inhaled steadily, forming quick seals.
"Wood Clone!"
A perfect copy split off from him, sprinting in the opposite direction.
The tactic worked instantly,One ninja stayed with Hashirama.Two peeled off to chase the clone.
Hashirama grinned slightly.
Good. Divide and conquer.
He cut through the forest, chakra pulsing through his legs.
The lone jōnin relentlessly chased him.
Hashirama spun mid-air, slapped both hands to the ground,
"Earth Release: Bottomless Swamp!!"
The soil liquefied under the pursuer.
SPLASH, GURGLE!!
The jōnin sank waist-deep into a thick, treacherous mire.
"W–what,?!"
He struggled, flailing, but the swamp dragged him deeper.
Hashirama stepped forward.
"Sorry."
He struck the jōnin at the temple, clean, controlled, enough to knock him out.
One down.
Hashirama sprinted toward his Wood Clone.
He found the two enemy shinobi mid-battle, a chūnin and a jōnin, fighting fiercely against the wooden duplicate.
Hashirama appeared behind them, hands flashing through seals.
"Water Release: Gunshot!"
High-velocity water bullets blasted forward.
The jōnin reacted instantly, leaping out of the way.
But the chūnin,
CRACK!
He was hit straight in the chest and thrown backwards, knocked out cold.
The Wood Clone dissolved into splinters from a slicing wind blade,Vacuum Sword, the jōnin's signature technique.
Now only Hashirama and the jōnin remained.
Hashirama vs. the Jōnin
The jōnin charged.
His sword slashed with deadly precision.Wind chakra sharpened the blade into a shimmering arc.
Hashirama barely blocked with a kunai,CLANG!
He gritted his teeth.
This jōnin was skilled.Too skilled.
Hashirama ducked, rolled, countered, parried,But every exchange pushed him backwards.
I can't drag this out…
He leapt away, forming seals at lightning speed.
"Wood Release: Great Forest Technique!!"
THRRRUMMMM—
The ground beneath them erupted.
Massive tree branches burst upward, thick, coiled, and impossibly fast. They wrapped around the jōnin instantly,
SNAP!
immobilising him, crushing his weapon, pinning him in place.
Hashirama approached and delivered a sharp knock to the jōnin's head.
Unconscious.
He exhaled heavily, wiping sweat from his brow.
"That… was too close."
Just as he lowered his hand, a familiar presence appeared.
Madara stepped out from the treeline.
Hashirama blinked.
Seeing its, Madara, Hashirama gave a soft smile.
"Looks like you won, too."
Madara surveyed the fallen enemies.
"Six followed us," he reported. "And we killed or incapacitated them."
He looked toward the village.
"But the others… they went toward your village."
A heavy silence fell.
Both boys felt the danger spike like a blade at their backs.
Without a word, they broke into a sprint, racing through the forest at terrifying speed.
Their exhaustion forgotten.Their pain is irrelevant.Only one thought burned in their hearts,
Ishiki.The villagers.The threat we couldn't stop.
Leaves whipped past their faces as they darted through the undergrowth, the forest blurring in their desperation.
Hashirama clenched his fists.
"We drew off as many as we could… but they're still too close to the village."
Madara's Sharingan flared.
"Then we kill the rest."
Their footsteps thundered like approaching storms.
Two future gods.Two children caught in a war.Two friends running toward destiny.
Sarutobi Shino and his remaining men entered the village searching for Ishiki.