Chen's body blurred.
The instant Limbo: Border Jail struck—he twisted aside at an impossible angle and slipped past it.
Madara's eyes narrowed. "What?"
Chen leaned back to the very edge of balance, spine bent like a bow. So this is Madara… opening with Limbo right away. If I didn't have this, standing in front of him like this would be suicide.
Madara's surprise lasted only a heartbeat before it turned into cold, veteran scrutiny.
His gaze didn't track the Limbo shadow… so he can't actually see it? If he can't see it but still dodges, is it some sensory ability… like Naruto's?
No—too early to conclude. Test him harder.
The invisible strike curved back and snapped a second punch toward the back of Chen's head.
Chen moved again—still half-leaning—dropping his center of gravity and folding forward in one smooth motion.
He dodged it a second time.
"That was—" Madara caught the detail this time.
When the punch came within a hand's breadth of Chen's skull, the attack… slowed.
Not blocked. Not deflected.
Slowed.
He's making close-range attacks sluggish? But that alone doesn't explain how he's evading something he can't even see.
Madara's expression sharpened.
Then he raised the pressure.
Limbo: Border Jail.
This time, Madara used multiple shadows at once. Invisible blows hammered in from shifting angles—relentless, alternating, fast.
Chen felt the air around him thicken with lethal force.
He closed his eyes.
Not to surrender—
to focus.
Footwork slid, pivoted, re-centered. Hips and shoulders drove the body. Arms cut lines through empty space. His torso dipped and rose in precise rhythm, like a blade dancing through a storm.
Beneath the black Hokage robe, every lean muscle seemed to "read" the world on its own, making extreme movements that even elite taijutsu specialists would struggle to execute.
To anyone watching without context, it would look like he was dancing with the air.
But Madara did not see a dance.
He saw Chen moving inside Limbo itself.
"…So that's how."
Madara clenched his forearm, gaze heavy.
A personal barrier… surrounding his entire body.
About thirty-three centimeters thick.
It shifts shape with his movement, but never stops covering him.
Whenever Limbo touches the barrier's edge—no matter the direction—the strike slows.
That gives him the opening to evade.
And there was more.
When the barrier is contacted, it sends ripples inward—like waves.
Those ripples carry the exact point and direction of impact… all the way to his skin, as tactile feedback.
So he can't see Limbo. He can't directly sense it either.
But he "feels" the contact through those ripples—and reacts.
Madara's eyes narrowed further.
Limbo gives no warning. So that barrier must be constantly active while he maintains Mangekyō—similar in nature to Obito Uchiha's right-eye Kamui… but different.
And the real threat isn't only the eye technique.
It's his body—fast enough, precise enough, trained enough—to convert that indirect feedback into perfect evasion.
His physical ability, taijutsu, and Body Flicker Technique… they're all at a high level.
Madara's mouth curled slightly, not quite a smile.
Limbo is meant to be challenged only by the Rinnegan and Six Paths power… yet he's handling it with an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
That alone earns him the right to stand in front of me.
Madara cut Limbo off.
Chen straightened immediately—clean, controlled, with no wasted motion.
But inside, Chen knew the truth.
That was the limit.
Dodging four Limbo shadows at once—using only the barrier and his current body—was as far as he could push his reaction speed.
If there'd been one more shadow… or if Madara himself joined the assault… I'd have needed other methods.
And Limbo could use jutsu too.
Even Susanoo.
Madara hadn't gone all out. He'd been probing.
So Chen kept his own cards close.
He said evenly, "Are you finished testing my strength?"
Madara didn't answer directly. "That technique from your right eye. What is it called?"
"Umotaryu."
"Umotaryu…" Madara repeated, tasting the word. "A rare time-based ocular technique."
Chen's tone remained calm. "For you to recognize it at a glance… that's Madara Uchiha."
Madara's gaze stayed sharp. "Limbo isn't bound by normal physical laws. If it slows, it isn't a 'physical' slowdown. If it isn't time manipulation, then what is it? That barrier can't be all Umotaryu does."
Chen admitted it without hesitation. "It isn't. That's only the most basic function."
Madara lowered his arms from his chest, interest rising like heat off stone.
"Show me the higher level."
Even after his final defeat… that hunger for battle hadn't faded. If anything, it looked sharper—focused enough to set everything else aside for the moment.
Chen said, "I can. But before we go further… shouldn't you ask why you were brought back with Edo Tensei?"
Madara gave a short laugh, then his voice sank into something darker.
"If I ask, I might have to kill you immediately."
"If I don't ask… I can enjoy myself a little longer."
Chen understood perfectly.
Madara had reconciled, in his last moments, with Hashirama Senju—an uneasy century-long knot finally loosened. The Madara standing here was no longer a symbol of pure darkness.
If Chen truly planned harm against the shinobi world… Madara would execute him on the spot.
Madara stretched his arms and took a few steps, settling into the reanimated body like a warrior testing armor. There was no contempt in his posture—only the seriousness of someone acknowledging a worthy opponent.
After all…
Other than Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, how many people could even survive in front of Limbo?
Madara tilted his head, eager.
"Come on. I won't use Limbo this time. Attack me head-on. No holding back."
Chen didn't answer immediately.
He glanced at the mechanical watch on his right wrist.
7:58 PM.
Fine.
If I want Madara to actually listen, I'll have to satisfy his curiosity first.
Crackling violet lightning erupted across Chen's left palm and wrapped around his forearm, condensing into a dense, blade-like mass of electricity.
This was the lightning style Kakashi Hatake refined after the war—after losing his Sharingan—taking Chidori further and shaping it into something cleaner and more versatile.
Purple Lightning.
Madara watched the violet sparks reflect in his Rinnegan, voice casual.
"Purple lightning… an extension of nature transformation. The power should be respectable."
His expression sharpened with expectation.
"Now show me this—how will you use Umotaryu to make that strike land?"
Chen inhaled, then surged forward in a straight, aggressive charge.
Madara's eyes flashed.
Straight in? He's trying to slow my movement as he closes…
Too bad. I won't let you get close that easily.
Madara raised his hands and formed the Horse seal.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihil—"
In that same moment, Chen reached the exact spot where Madara had been standing just before.
Chen's right eye trembled, glowing deep crimson.
"Return."
Umotaryu.
Madara vanished.
Not with speed.
Not with Body Flicker.
Reality itself snapped.
A faint distortion—thin, dark lines shivering in the air—and Madara abruptly reappeared in front of Chen's hand, directly on the edge of Purple Lightning.
Back at his original starting point.
Worse—
Madara's hands were no longer in a seal.
His posture had been forced back into a relaxed, arms-crossed stance.
Even the fire chakra he'd condensed in his throat… was gone, erased as if it had never existed.
Madara's breath hitched.
His instincts screamed.
He tried to retreat—
But Chen had seized the initiative with time itself, and his follow-up was seamless, flowing like water.
Slash.
Purple Lightning carved through Madara's left arm before it could fully drop away, scattering it into reanimation dust—
and the cut carried across his chest, shaving away the features on the embedded face of Hashirama Senju.
Madara stopped.
Stared at Chen.
For a long moment, he didn't speak.
Chen didn't press the attack. He let it end there, dispersing the lightning and lowering his hand.
"Time reversal," Chen said. "That's a higher application of Umotaryu."
He met Madara's gaze without flinching.
"And even after being hit by it, you still avoided a fatal strike."
Only one person could do that.
"Madara Uchiha."
Reanimation dust swirled and rebuilt Madara's left arm, then smoothed the damaged features on Hashirama's face.
Madara finally spoke, voice controlled.
"How far can you reverse time?"
"About five minutes," Chen answered calmly.
Madara's eyes darkened.
Five minutes…
Umotaryu was unmistakably abnormal—more twisted than Kamui in mechanism—and time reversal likely wasn't even the full extent of it.
And it wasn't the full extent of Chen's eyes, either.
A man who awakened eyes like this could not be a nobody in any era.
Madara stared at him, serious now.
"Uchiha Chen… with strength like this, why were you absent in the Fourth Great Ninja War?"
Chen's thoughts surged—memories and bitterness moving like a flood.
Because we were still growing.
Because Jin and I only had Mangekyō back then.
Why waste our limited ocular power in a war that was already destined to be won?
My plan was simple: we each give the other one eye, awaken the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, then after the war, convince Naruto and Sasuke to form an alliance—prepare for the threats beyond this world.
But Jin died.
And he died in a way that didn't make sense.
Even Edo Tensei couldn't call him back.
And Naruto… wouldn't listen.
So I inherited Jin's eyes, inherited his power—
And rewrote the plan.
Chen let none of that show.
He only said four words:
"The time wasn't right."
Madara raised an eyebrow, staring harder.
The time wasn't right?
The Fourth Great Ninja War had united the five great nations. Obito and I absorbed the Ten-Tails and reached Six Paths. Black Zetsu betrayed me, and even Kaguya Ōtsutsuki descended…
And this man says the time wasn't right?
Then what… exactly… does he believe is coming?
Those four words were short, but they carried weight.
Madara's curiosity ignited.
"Then speak," he said. "Why did you use Edo Tensei to bring me here?"
Chen glanced at his watch again.
8:00 PM.
He lifted his eyes.
"Do you mind if we talk somewhere else?"
Madara had already noticed the watch earlier.
Interesting. He's strict with time.
Madara's voice held a faint edge of amusement. "Would it make a difference?"
"Yes," Chen replied. "This is my Edo Tensei site. It's cold, dark, and unpleasant. No proper light. No comfortable seat. No tea. No food. Two people talking here feels like we've both got a problem."
Madara's lips twitched—almost a laugh.
So he cares about space, too.
He decided to push once more.
"And if I refuse?"
"Then walk around," Chen said evenly. "Look at what the shinobi world has become. Tomorrow morning at eight, I'll come find you."
Madara tilted his head, genuinely thrown for a moment.
He's strong… disciplined… and he's giving me freedom?
He isn't afraid I'll do something reckless overnight? That Naruto and Sasuke will come after him for it?
After a beat, Madara shrugged.
"Fine. Where?"
"My home."
"Where is it?"
"One thousand kilometers away. The Land of Lightning."
Madara stared. "Walking?"
"No," Chen said. "Flying."
Chen stepped close and placed a hand on Madara's shoulder.
A black vortex burst from Chen's right eye.
The world folded.
They emerged into a bright, pale-white space—silent and endless—with countless square rooms suspended like compartments.
Madara's gaze swept the strange landscape.
"…Where is this?"
"The Umotaryu Time Zone," Chen said. "The internal space of Umotaryu. I use it as a transfer point. From here, I can move through space… and time."
Madara: "..."
The scene flipped again.
Night air. A gentle wind. Moonlight over a warm, quiet house.
A beautiful woman stood waiting at the entrance, smiling like she'd been counting the seconds.
"Welcome home, husband~"
Her eyes shifted to Madara, respectful but familiar, as if she'd already been told everything.
"And this gentleman beside you is… Uncle Madara, right?"
Hikari Uchiha.