Madara Uchiha had no intention of concealing his chakra.
Instead, he strode openly through the streets of Konohagakure, making no effort to hide his overwhelming presence as he searched for the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki—Uzumaki Naruto.
In Madara's mind, there had only ever been one man capable of standing against him.
One man who could block his ambitions.
Senju Hashirama.
That fierce rival, his closest friend, had long since become part of shinobi history.
He would not be appearing before him again.
Which meant, in this world, there was no one left in Konoha who could obstruct his plan.
No one who could prevent the great destiny he sought to claim.
"Truly… without you, this world is unbearably dull."
With each passing step, Madara dispatched the Leaf shinobi who dared to rush him, his movements almost casual. His voice carried both lament and arrogance—a complaint that this was a world without Hashirama.
But because Madara made no attempt to suppress his chakra, countless shinobi across Konoha quickly sensed his presence. One after another, they converged on his location with all possible speed.
The first to arrive were members of the Hyūga clan.
"So… the Hyūga brats, is it?"
Madara's crimson eyes settled instantly on Hyūga Hiashi and his brother Hizashi.
The Byakugan gave their identity away at a glance.
"You're… Madara Uchiha?"
The instant the two brothers laid eyes on him, their pupils widened to the point of disbelief.
Never had they dreamed they would stand face to face with a man who belonged to legend itself.
And hadn't Madara Uchiha been dead for decades?
"Could it be the Impure World Reincarnation?" Hizashi muttered, recalling how not long ago Orochimaru had summoned the First Hokage back from the grave with that forbidden technique.
"…It doesn't look like it," Hiashi replied grimly, shaking his head.
There was a vast difference between the dull, muted aura of an Edo Tensei corpse and what stood before them now.
Madara, overhearing, let out a quiet scoff.
"Impure World Reincarnation? That crude forbidden art? Hardly."
He knew well enough the technique's limits—souls bound to decaying shells, given endless chakra and immortality, yes, but never able to reclaim the true strength they had in life. Such revived husks could never serve as the Ten-Tails' vessel.
If he had been brought back through Edo Tensei rather than through the true Rinne Tensei resurrection, it would indeed have been a problem.
Fortunately, his revival had been absolute.
The Hyūga were undeterred. Around them, both main family and branch members spread into formation, their eyes all snapping open in unison.
"Byakugan—activate!"
"Byakugan—activate!"
Dozens of pale eyes flared.
"I never thought I'd see this day…" Hiashi shouted, chakra surging as he stepped forward. "But as the head of Konoha's strongest clan, I swear I will defeat you here, Madara Uchiha!"
He lunged, his palms a blur, releasing the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. His strikes spread out in a wide circle, aiming directly beneath Madara's feet.
No matter how powerful the enemy, once their chakra points were sealed, they would be nothing to fear.
But Madara only laughed.
"Konoha's strongest clan? Is that what you call yourselves now?"
The world truly had changed while he slept.
Had the Senju dwindled to nothing?
The Uzumaki wiped away?
Even his own Uchiha clan bled dry of greatness?
For a Hyūga boy to shout such words—it was absurd beyond measure.
Yet still they came, the Byakugan users rushing in from every side.
Madara did not even retreat. He simply wove a casual string of hand seals.
"That sequence—Fire Style!" Hiashi and Hizashi recognized it at once.
Of course—the Uchiha were renowned for their fire release techniques.
Dozens of Hyūga struck in unison, all they needed was one perfect hit on his tenketsu, one clean strike to end it all.
But their hopes ended the instant Madara exhaled.
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
A sea of fire poured from his mouth, swelling outward until it spread dozens of meters wide, consuming the battlefield in an instant.
Hiashi froze mid-strike, his eyes widening in horror.
This… this wasn't a mere B-rank jutsu.
The Majestic Destroyer Flame was supposed to be a technique of moderate scale—yet here it had blossomed into a blazing inferno far beyond his comprehension.
"Damn it!"
He spun desperately, chakra surging as he performed Kaiten, his body spinning like a top to repel the waves of fire.
It wasn't enough.
In a single overwhelming assault, countless Hyūga collapsed, their bodies scorched and broken. Hiashi and Hizashi remained barely standing, their arms badly burned, clinging to what little strength they had left.
"To still be standing after taking my fire head-on… impressive," Madara said calmly as the flames receded, offering them faint praise.
But he had no interest in wasting time. His goal was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki—he would not linger with these children.
If they could not withstand even a B-rank fire release, then what right did they have to face him?
His foot shifted slightly. With the smallest flick of his toe, he sent a pebble flying toward the brothers.
A pebble was enough.
Its speed was blistering. In their condition, Hiashi and Hizashi could never evade.
But before the stone could strike—two figures dropped from above.
"Kaiten!"
"Leaf Hurricane!"
One white, one green—Hyūga Neji and Rock Lee intercepted in perfect timing, deflecting the pebble away.
Hiashi and Hizashi looked up, recognition flaring.
Then a storm of weapons rained down from above, kunai and shuriken falling like a tempest toward Madara.
But it wasn't even enough to make him take a step back.
At his feet, roots burst upward, a towering tree shielding him with ease as the weapons clattered uselessly away.
"Damn it…" muttered their comrade as she landed beside Neji and Lee. It was Tenten of Team Guy, weapon scroll still in hand.
"Well done, all of you," praised Might Guy, landing moments later. He had felt the disturbance and rushed to aid them with his team.
But his brow furrowed as he looked at their enemy.
The man's chakra… his aura… this was no ordinary foe.
Still, Guy's honest nature couldn't help but slip out.
"Who is this guy? His hair's so long… I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."
The silence that followed was almost painful.
Was he serious?
"Your memory… do you have the brain of a goldfish?" Hiashi managed between gasps, finally collapsing to the ground with a dull thud. His burns left him too weak to stand any longer.
Medical-nin had yet to arrive.
"This man…" Tenten began, her voice tight with disbelief at her sensei's ignorance.
But before she could finish, another voice cut in—deeper, heavier.
Uchiha Fugaku had arrived.
"That man is Madara Uchiha—the legendary warrior of the Uchiha clan."