A few days later, deep inside an underground cavern in the Land of Grass.
The massive Outer Path Statue stood like a silent mountain in the center of the cave. Thick, root-like tubes stretched from its body, wrapping around the withered figure at its base like veins or vines.
The figure barely looked human anymore.
An old man with long gray hair that nearly touched the ground. Skin stretched tight over bone, wrinkled like ancient tree bark. Several thick tubes pierced his back, locking him in place against the statue. His head hung forward, motionless, as if he had been dead for years.
Only the slow drip of water broke the silence.
"Lord Madara! Lord Madara!"
A white figure burst out of the rock wall. White Zetsu, wearing its usual carefree grin.
"Something huge happened in Konoha!" it said, voice bright with excitement. "Like, super huge!"
The dried-out corpse twitched. Eyelids fluttered.
Uchiha Madara slowly opened his eyes.
Those eyes were still Sharingan—crimson and eerie—but clouded with age and exhaustion. Even so, a shadow of the man who once dominated the shinobi world still lingered behind the haze.
"What happened?"
War again? The thought crossed his mind.
White Zetsu's answer caught him off guard.
"It's Higashino Shinichi!"
White Zetsu waved its arms excitedly. "Lord Madara, remember that kid from Konoha I mentioned before? The little brat named Higashino Shinichi!"
Higashino Shinichi?
Four years later, hearing that name again made Madara pause. His thoughts drifted back, unbidden, to that summer four years ago.
It had been a brutally hot summer.
Even buried in this lightless underground cave, the heat seemed to press in. The air felt thick and suffocating. Water drops kept falling, steady and relentless, like a countdown on his rotting body.
He was too old.
Too old to remember how long he had been down here. Too old for his skin to stay attached to his bones. Too old to do anything but cling to the last scraps of life through the Gedo Statue.
He was dying.
Madara knew it. This body wouldn't last much longer. But his work wasn't finished.
The Eye of the Moon plan. Infinite Tsukuyomi.
A world without war or pain. A world only he could create.
Nagato.
The Uzumaki boy carried the eyes Madara had given him. When the time came, Nagato would collect the Tailed Beasts, revive him with the Rinnegan, and help finish the plan.
But one executor might not be enough. Madara needed someone to watch over him. A guide. Someone who could keep the plan on track even after Madara was gone.
So he sent White Zetsu to Konoha to check the Uchiha clan for any promising children.
"Lord Madara! I'm back!"
White Zetsu popped out of the wall, grinning.
Madara opened his eyes. "The Uchiha?"
White Zetsu scratched its head. "The Uchiha… I checked. Nothing really special. Just average kids."
Madara's brow furrowed slightly.
No suitable candidates?
"But Lord Madara!" White Zetsu's voice suddenly rose with excitement. "I saw this really interesting kid at the Ninja Academy!"
"What kid?"
"Higashino Shinichi! He just started school, but you won't believe it—he carries this huge rock to class every single day!" White Zetsu gestured wildly. "Bigger than he is! He just runs with it, back and forth!"
Madara stayed silent for a moment.
"That's it?"
"There's more! At lunch he doesn't play with anyone. He just stands in the training yard swinging a sword, over and over. Super serious! I watched him for so long my eyes got tired, and he was still going!"
"Finished?"
White Zetsu stopped.
Madara closed his eyes, sounding tired. "Next time, just watch the Uchiha."
"Oh… okay, Lord Madara."
Days passed.
"Lord Madara, I checked the Uchiha again. Still nothing special."
"Mm."
"But Lord Madara! That Higashino Shinichi kid did something else interesting—"
"Shut up."
White Zetsu shut up.
"Next time, only watch the Uchiha."
"Okay…"
More days.
"Lord Madara, the Uchiha really don't have anyone worthwhile."
"Mm."
"But that Higashino Shinichi, he—"
"Get out."
White Zetsu vanished with an awkward look.
Another time.
"Lord Madara, I actually paid attention to the Uchiha this time. There's a kid named Uchiha Shisui who seems talented, but he's still too young. Hasn't even entered the Academy."
"Mm."
"But Lord Madara, remember Higashino Shinichi? He—"
"Enough!"
Madara opened his eyes and stared at the white figure. For once, those cloudy eyes held clear annoyance.
"I told you to watch the Uchiha."
"I did! I did!"
"I didn't tell you to keep tabs on that brat."
"I know, I know."
"Then why do you mention him every single time you come back?"
White Zetsu scratched its head, looking genuinely confused. "Because he's really interesting, Lord Madara! I don't know why, but I feel this weird sense of familiarity when I watch him. Like… what's the word humans use? Kinship? I just can't help going to see him, and then I end up wanting to tell you about it…"
Madara fell silent.
A being that wasn't even human or animal felt kinship toward some random Konoha orphan?
He was too old to waste energy on strange things like this. Too old to argue with this empty-headed creature.
But he had reached his limit.
"From now on," Madara said, voice low and deliberate, "when you go to Konoha, you do one thing only. Watch the Uchiha. Look for any talented, useful children. Everything else—don't look. Don't listen. Don't care. Don't remember. And don't come back here talking about it."
"But that Higashino Shinichi—"
"There is no Higashino Shinichi."
White Zetsu opened its mouth, then closed it after seeing Madara's expression.
"Okay, Lord Madara."
It sank back into the rock and disappeared.
Higashino Shinichi.
The name had wormed its way into Madara's mind that hot summer four years ago and refused to leave, no matter how many times he tried to shut it out.
He had never met the boy, but White Zetsu's constant reports had painted a clear picture: a kid who ran with rocks every morning and swung a sword alone at noon like exhaustion didn't exist.
Water kept dripping in the cave.
Madara sat motionless, eyes closed, pulling his thoughts back to the present.
"Speak."
His voice was hoarse and heavy. "What did that Konoha brat do this time?"
Might as well hear it. Something to pass the time.
White Zetsu perked up immediately. "Oh man, Lord Madara, you have no idea. It was wild."
Madara listened quietly as White Zetsu described the arena fight in excited detail.
Sword against sword. Halberd against halberd. Seal-less Fire Release. That strange absolute defense. Both fighters showed strength far beyond their ages, especially the boy.
None of it moved Madara.
Until the final part.
The promise of a future battle to decide the true strongest.
"The strongest, huh?"
Madara closed his eyes.
By the time he revived, that Higashino Shinichi kid would be grown. If he was still alive. If he was actually worthy of the title…
A faint smirk touched the corner of Madara's mouth.
Then he would test him himself.
He would see exactly what kind of man this Higashino Shinichi had become.
And whether he deserved to be called the strongest.