Uchiha Madara stood atop the moonlit shrine, cloak fluttering in the breeze, his declaration echoing like thunder:
"Three days. I will destroy Iwagakure myself."
Pride. Arrogance. Certainty.
He wasn't bluffing.
He didn't need to strike from the shadows. A sneak attack might've made it easier — but such tactics were beneath him.
What did it matter if Iwagakure prepared for him?
Against absolute power, preparation is meaningless.
A frontal assault — swift, overwhelming, and suffocating — would leave behind only silence and ash. No survivors. No whispers of revenge. No inheritors of the Will of Stone.
Only the memory of defeat, etched into the land itself.
Mu, still recovering from the shock of Madara's display, clenched his teeth.
"Is this an official declaration of war from Konoha?"
Madara didn't even blink. "This has nothing to do with Konoha. I act alone."
"You are part of Konoha—!"
Madara's eyes narrowed. "That's your assumption, not my concern. In this world, the strong make the rules."
Mu's heart sank.
The last sliver of hope — that this might be a bluff — vanished.
This man meant every word.
Uchiha Madara wasn't warning them. He was already marching.
"…Then let me confirm one last time," Mu said through gritted teeth. "In three days, you will come to Iwagakure — alone?"
Madara's reply was immediate. "Alone."
Mu bowed stiffly.
"Then I, on behalf of the Hidden Stone, await your arrival. We will not run."
Without another word, he lifted the unconscious Ōnoki and vanished into the night.
Back to Iwagakure.
Back to sound the alarm.
Whether they would survive or fall, history would decide.
But this confrontation, win or lose, would make their name echo across the Five Great Nations.
As soon as the two figures disappeared from view~
Kai appeared silently beside Madara.
As usual, the Uchiha didn't flinch. At this point, he no longer bothered to question Kai's sudden arrivals. The man moved like a ghost.
"…You're really going to take on an entire village by yourself?" Kai asked.
"I don't need anyone else," Madara said without hesitation.
"You've never considered failure?"
"There is no such possibility."
"Hashirama might try to stop you."
"He won't. By the time he knows, it'll already be over."
"…You put them under illusion?"
Madara gave a quiet scoff.
"Of course."
Mu and Ōnoki had fallen under his Genjutsu the moment they looked into his eyes. Subtle. Undetectable.
He didn't command them. He simply nudged them — ever so slightly.
A suggestion: "Tell no one in Konoha."
That was all it took.
To the outside world, Madara might seem like a madman — violent, unhinged, arrogant.
But in truth, he was meticulous.
Every move is calculated.
Every risk was weighed.
He had never underestimated his enemies. He had only ever lost to one man — Senju Hashirama.
And even then, never twice.
Kai stared at him calmly.
"You do realize that if you go through with this, the entire shinobi world will see you as an enemy?"
"I don't care."
Madara's tone was flat. Unshaken.
This wasn't bravado. It was a statement of fact.
Destruction was the price he'd offered in exchange for Kai's help — for the chance to travel to the future, to see the world his Moon's Eye Plan might create.
If that was the price, he would pay it.
"And what if I lied to you?" Kai asked, eyes glinting faintly.
"Then I'll kill you too," Madara said coolly.
"Fair enough."
They stood in silence.
Kai continued, "Konoha may be dragged into this. Are you prepared for that?"
"With Hashirama alive, Konoha won't fall."
Madara spoke as if it were obvious.
But Kai didn't stop.
"…What about the Uchiha clan?"
That gave Madara pause.
He frowned slightly, eyes narrowing in thought.
He hadn't considered them.
He didn't fear becoming the world's enemy himself — but the Uchiha?
They were not him.
They couldn't stand in the open and defy nations alone.
They needed missions, coin, development. If they were branded as pariahs — if every enemy village targeted them — they'd wither.
One generation of isolation might be survivable.
But two?
Maybe an Extinction will follow.
"…So," Kai said casually, "the moment you destroy Iwagakure, you'll have no choice."
Madara turned his head.
"What are you suggesting?"
Kai smiled faintly. "You'll have to choose: continue forward… or turn back."
"Once you attack a major village alone, you'll be seen as a threat to the world. The only path left will be conquest."
"Unify the world — or be hunted by it."
Madara stared hard.
His Mangekyō spun slowly.
"…Was that your goal all along?"
"To push me to this edge?"
Kai didn't answer.
Instead, he reached into the [Universal Pouch] on his belt and casually tossed something to Madara.
Clink.
A can.
Madara caught it mid-air, confused.
Kai opened one of his own and took a sip.
The sharp hiss of carbonation filled the night air.
Madara examined the strange silver object. Then, with a flick of his chakra, he popped the seal.
Fssshh—!
He took a cautious sip.
Then coughed violently.
"What is this?"
"Sugar," Kai replied. "And bubbles."
"…It's ridiculous."
He drank again.
It was sweet.
And cold.
And strange.
But it wasn't bad.
If anything, it made his blood hum just a little.
"You trying to bribe me with this?"
"No. I just thought it would be more fun to share."
Madara snorted.
He didn't trust easily, but if Kai wanted to kill him, he'd have done it already.
"…You're insane."
Kai smirked.
"Coming from you?"
The two stood in silence again, sipping their drinks.
Then Kai spoke—voice low, but heavy:
"The Rinnegan can perform a forbidden technique… one that lies beyond the Six Paths."
Madara's eyes narrowed.
"…What are you talking about?"
"The Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique."
Madara froze.
The name struck something deep within him.
Kai's next words were slow, deliberate.
"It can bring the dead back to life."
Madara's grip on the can tightened.
His breathing stilled.
His voice was quiet.
"…You're sure?"
Kai looked him in the eye.
"Positive!"