A Village in the Clouds Divided in Two

Far north along the border of the Land of Fire, near the coast, lay a vast, unclaimed basin—the Mountain Graveyard.

Once feared by the villagers in the surrounding mountains, who wouldn't dare go near it, the Mountain Graveyard had often been prowled by large beasts. But over the past few years, the villagers had suddenly come to regard it as a sacred place of worship, offering carefully prepared clothes and food there every day.

At the basin that served as the entrance to the Mountain Graveyard lay the enormous bones of a beast.

The surrounding cliffs were riddled with cave entrances of various sizes. Anyone who followed one of the caves down would discover an astonishingly vast underground cavern beneath the basin.

Living quarters and other facilities had been built inside the spacious cavern.

At that moment, a man with thick hair, clad in a black robe and red armor, sat on a stone bed covered with soft mats, laughing with unrestrained delight.

"Heh heh heh. Hahaha. Hahahahahaha!"

"Senju Tobirama, so this is how it ended for you!"

"Too bad I didn't get to see you die with my own eyes!"

The man wiped away the tears at the corners of his eyes and strode cheerfully toward a side room where weapons were stored. Among the dazzling array of weapons and gear rested a weapon passed down from one Uchiha Clan Head to the next: a fan shaped like a gourd, adorned with a pair of Three Tomoe designs. It was hard yet supple, and possessed the terrifying power to repel Tailed Beast Balls.

"The Flame Gunbai..."

The man's identity was unmistakable. He was Madara Uchiha, the former Uchiha Clan Head who was said to have died at the hands of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, in the battle at the Valley of the End. He was hailed as the [Asura of the Shinobi World]!

"If I were still in Konoha, that kid would probably be your successor."

As he gently caressed the Flame Gunbai, which had accompanied him through a lifetime of battles, memories of the past flickered through Madara's eyes.

There had been stirring triumphs, unbearable grief, moments when he had wished for death, and the resolve to rise again from the flames.

"Everything that happened in the past is behind me."

"Now, I have only one goal!"

When Madara opened his eyes again, his dark gaze was clear. He pulled open the collar of his robe. A sword wound ran straight through his heart.

"Hashirama, you really were as hard-hearted as iron when it came to the Konoha I named."

Even now, the wound throbbed faintly. If Madara hadn't successfully revived himself using the Sharingan forbidden technique, Izanagi, at the cost of blinding one eye, he would have already returned to the Pure Land.

After Hashirama won that day-and-night battle at the Valley of the End, he died in Konoha not long afterward, worn down by his injuries and unable to recover from the strain.

Just as Madara had expected, Senju Tobirama became the next Hokage. The Uchiha who had refused to leave Konoha with him were living increasingly miserable and stifled lives.

Madara had once promised his younger brother, Izuna Uchiha, that he would take care of the Uchiha Clan. The thought filled him with both satisfaction and sorrow.

"At least I didn't come away empty-handed."

Madara picked up the Flame Gunbai and a sealed vessel beside it. Inside the vessel, filled with liquid, floated a bright red lump of flesh, as if freshly cut from a living creature, pulsing with vitality. His eyes burned with fervor, as though he were looking at the other half of his soul.

Beneath Naka Shrine in the Uchiha ancestral grounds stood a stone tablet that could only be fully read by someone with the Eternal Mangekyo. It recorded: [When two opposing forces unite, the power of All Creation is born]. It spoke of the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths—the Rinnegan!

"It's time to begin merging the powers of the Senju and the Uchiha."

To change the Uchiha, to end the endless wars of the Ninja World, and to bring true peace, Madara was determined to obtain the Rinnegan.

After packing his things, Madara set off on a journey. His first stop was the Land of Lightning. He was quite interested in the news that Kinkaku and Ginkaku had killed Senju Tobirama.

Another important reason was that he needed a laboratory where he could fuse the flesh he had obtained from Hashirama Senju with his own body and cultivate the supreme Rinnegan.

If the Land of Lightning didn't work, he would go to the Land of Wind or the Land of Water. Even the Land of Fire would do. With Hashirama Senju gone, Madara was the unrivaled Asura of the Shinobi World.

As for simply stuffing the lump of flesh into his body...

There were other ways. Madara wasn't foolish enough to resort to brute force.

Just as Madara set out, a shocking piece of news spread from Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning, stunning the entire Ninja World: one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Kumogakure, had been torn apart by a ninja rebellion!

The Unraikyo Gorge split the village in two. Kinkaku and Ginkaku established South Cloud Village in the south, while Third Raikage, the rightful successor to the original village, established North Cloud Village in the north. The entire Ninja World was in an uproar.

The Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning was furious. No one knew how many exquisite porcelain pieces he had smashed, all imported from the Land of Fire. Many of his songstresses and beauties also met their ends under his cruelty.

Meanwhile, a message came from the Feudal Lord's Palace: until the northern and southern villages were reunited, he would refuse to provide either with financial support. He also harshly reprimanded the leaders of both villages, ordering them to reconcile as soon as possible and not make the country a laughingstock in front of foreigners.

The message was utterly tactless, and its envoy had been haughty and overbearing. As could be expected, Kinkaku and Ginkaku, who didn't care who they were dealing with when their tempers flared, had their heads cut off. Even the delegation sent to Third Raikage at North Cloud Village was driven out.

For a time, the entire Ninja World laughed at the Land of Lightning.

The Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning flew into a rage and swore he would never provide another cent in aid. Kinkaku and Ginkaku of South Cloud Village responded in kind: if he could make the first move, they could make the second. They decided to go all the way, and brazenly led their men in a spree of looting.

Ninjas could cover great distances in a short time, and soon they were rolling in wealth. North Cloud Village watched enviously, practically drooling. Before Third Raikage could follow Kinkaku and Ginkaku's example, their brazen looting sent the Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning into a panic. What if Kinkaku and Ginkaku raided the Feudal Lord's Palace outright?

Concerned for his own life, he began sending supplies to North Cloud Village as though they cost nothing.

Looking at the mountains of supplies, Third Raikage sent out his ninjas while falling into deep thought. Had he found the Feudal Lord's weak spot?

If Kinkaku and Ginkaku of South Cloud Village kept hanging around, would North Cloud Village never run short of supplies?

Unaware that Third Raikage's resolve was beginning to waver, the Feudal Lord of the Land of Lightning watched the two villages keep each other in check and breathed a sigh of relief.

But he was also becoming dissatisfied. He planned to contact the feudal lords of the other great nations and discuss ways to control the ninja villages. He couldn't let these lowly tools get above their masters!

In just five days, the Land of Lightning had descended into chaos. Iwagakure in the Land of Earth, Kirigakure in the Land of Water, and Sunagakure in the Land of Wind all sent people to investigate, hoping to profit from the turmoil.

Nara Shikamei, stationed with the Konoha Military near the forests of the Land of Hot Water, saw that the Land of Lightning was too occupied with its own troubles to invade Konoha again. After consulting with Konoha High Command, he sent most of the troops back to the village, leaving only some behind to guard the border of the Land of Fire.

Having kept his role in the affairs of the Land of Lightning hidden, Uchiha Takeyasu once again set foot on the soil of the Land of Fire.

And so, the First Shinobi World War came to an end.