Hyuga Shin and Uchiha Madara!

A new day dawned, and the war mobilization order signed by the Hokage was issued.

Konohagakure was instantly plunged into the shadow of war. Everywhere, shinobi could be seen leaping and dashing across the rooftops, moving like clockwork machines wound tight.

The Mist Village, Cloud Village, and Rock Village also began preparing for war.

"It's time to change identities. If I keep living, those little brats in the Main Family will probably get impatient."

"Decided. After the war starts, I'll find a chance to die once. This decrepit look is due for a change." Hyuga Shin lay on a lounge chair in his courtyard, scheming silently to himself.

"The last embers of the Warring States Period are just you and me now, Madara. I wonder if you've realized you're stuck in a quagmire?"

Hyuga Shin decided to use this identity one last time to meet Uchiha Madara and confirm a few things.

Once he made up his mind, he acted. Hyuga Shin vanished from the courtyard, slipping out of Konohagakure like an invisible man, unseen by anyone.

He also missed the visit from Father and Son Dai that same day.

Hyuga Shin's sudden disappearance caused quite a stir among the high-ranking members of the Hyuga Main Family.

After all, his Byakugan wasn't sealed by the Caged Bird. If he died outside, it could easily lead to the Byakugan falling into enemy hands.

But it also made Hyuga Hiko realize his father was right—whether the old man had truly lost his power was still up for debate.

After leaving Konohagakure, Hyuga Shin's figure rose into the air, flying through the sky like Ōnoki of the Rock Village, and at incredible speed!

There was no trace of a man on the verge of death.

A dozen minutes later, Hyuga Shin landed on a relatively flat mountaintop and pulled a small tuft of black hair from his pocket.

"Let me see where you're hiding, Madara."

"Trace Origin!" Hyuga Shin said calmly, holding the hair between two fingers.

A mysterious force surged between his fingers—it seemed like Natural Energy, yet different.

This was a research result Hyuga Shin had developed after reaching the Union of Man and Nature, inspired by the Impure World Reincarnation.

It was a method of locating a host's original body by using personal information as a medium and Natural Energy as a resonance.

This technique required an extremely high level of mastery over Natural Energy to execute.

"Near the northern border of the Land of Fire. So that's where you are."

"Madara! I'm coming!"

Hyuga Shin took to the air again, speeding away.

An hour later, Hyuga Shin descended from the sky. His figure instantly hunched over, reverting to the decrepit state he'd maintained in Konohagakure.

"Hiding underground, huh. As expected. With that many White Zetsu, it looks like you've already entered the game."

Using his own power to simulate Earth Release, Hyuga Shin burrowed into the earth.

In the dim underground cavern, the massive Demonic Statue of the Outer Path loomed behind Madara, his body withered to skin and bones.

His cheeks were sunken, and branches extending from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path were embedded in the back of his head.

That was what kept him alive.

Deeper underground, a sea of White Zetsu hung like fruit from the branches of a vast root system.

"Who's there!" Uchiha Madara, who had been sitting on a stone bed with his eyes closed in feigned sleep, lifted his eyelids. His crimson Mangekyō Sharingan spun silently.

"Madara, long time no see!" An aged voice came from the darkness.

Hyuga Shin dragged his withered body out of the shadows. The dim light source instantly brightened.

"You? Hyuga Shin!" Madara's aged voice carried a note of disbelief.

"It's me. What, surprised to see an old friend?"

"A little. But how did you find this place?" Madara was indeed somewhat surprised.

Surprised both that Hyuga Shin had found him and that he was still alive!

"I have my ways."

"What do you want with me? Don't tell me you came just to catch up." Madara's tone was cold.

"Even someone as proud as you, Uchiha Madara, fears death?" Hyuga Shin glanced at the tubes behind Madara's head and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, his words laced with mockery.

"Hmph! My affairs are none of your concern. I have my own plans. And aren't you about to die too!" Uchiha Madara snorted coldly, ignoring the jab.

"True. When a man's about to die, he gets nostalgic. Otherwise, I wouldn't have thought to come find you and reminisce."

"How did you know I wasn't dead!" Uchiha Madara's expression turned serious as he pressed the question.

"Knowing you as I do, you never fight a battle you're not sure of. And later, when your corpse went missing, it confirmed my suspicions." Hyuga Shin, who had long seen through the truth, spoke with unwavering confidence.

"Even if I wasn't dead then, how could you be sure I'd survive until now!" Uchiha Madara's demeanor grew stern, and a powerful aura radiated from him.

"Have to say, Tobirama Senju was a genius. Before he died, he invented a Forbidden Jutsu called Impure World Reincarnation. That's how I confirmed you were still alive." Hyuga Shin shamelessly pinned the blame on Tobirama Senju.

Then, returning to the original question: "How did you find this place?" Madara was still confident in his hiding spot.

"I have my ways." Hyuga Shin repeated himself bluntly, refusing to answer.

Uchiha Madara's face turned cold. His blood-red Sharingan locked onto Hyuga Shin, glinting with a dangerous light.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward for a moment.

"Hyuga Shin! Do you want to die early?" At this point, Madara had murderous intent toward this riddle-talking Hyuga Shin!

"Do you think I'd do something without being sure of it? Madara." Hyuga Shin showed no fear, the corners of his mouth curling up, the creases on his face bunching even fuller.

"As I thought, the news of you losing your power was false. You even managed to fool Tobirama Senju." Uchiha Madara's curiosity toward Hyuga Shin deepened, yet the killing intent in his eyes receded.

Hyuga Shin neither agreed nor refuted—let him guess. Riddle-talkers were the best at keeping secrets.

"State your purpose. I don't like guessing riddles." Madara's poker face hadn't changed in decades, his tone still as cold and hard!

"Madara, do you still remember your original dream?" Hyuga Shin's expression seemed to drift back to his younger days.

"You came here to ask such a trivial question?"

"It's important!"

"A trivial and childish question. I've long seen through the illusions of this world. You're nothing but a thick branch on this filthy tree." Madara's aged voice dripped with disdain.

Since you won't say it, I'll say it for you.

"You once said you wanted peace in the world, no more war."

"You also said that only by unifying the Shinobi World could this goal be achieved, and I supported your idea."

"Even Hashirama, under the persistence of us both, once decided to unify the Shinobi World and create peace."

"Why is that? Because we all experienced the cruelty of the Warring States Period."

"From the age of four or five, we trained to kill. Before even ten, children were sent to the battlefield. The average lifespan was barely thirty!"

"Clans fought each other, bloodlines leaking out was common."

"The Byakugan, due to its strategic value and low side effects, was gouged out so often that clans had to use Sealing Techniques to protect themselves."

"Those captured as breeding stock had to personally exterminate their own bloodlines."

"Many small clans were wiped out because of this."

"Even the Sharingan, a bloodline with considerable side effects, wasn't spared from being stolen."

"For this, you set aside your grudges and joined hands with your enemy, aiming to build a peaceful world."

"At the same time, you promised the joining clans: you would demand the mutual return of stolen bloodlines and secret techniques, and help recover those that had been stolen."

"You formed an alliance of mutual defense, forbidding internal feuds!"

"Add to that your and Hashirama's overwhelming strength, and that was what attracted many clans to join and establish Konoha."

"Later, on Tobirama Senju's suggestion, the Konoha Ninja Academy was founded, mandating that no one could graduate before age twelve, to give children a proper childhood."

"After that, other villages followed Konoha's policies and were established one after another. The Warring States Period ended, and the era of one village, one country arrived."

"But we all knew—though villages were built, the one-village-one-country system was just a reprint of the Warring States."

"Sooner or later, war would come again. The tragedy of the Warring States would repeat."

"You proposed the idea of unifying the Shinobi World. I supported it, because only by becoming one collective could the chance of war be reduced. You were overjoyed, and we talked late into the night."

Hyuga Shin recounted each matter, one by one.

"Enough! I don't want to hear this boring past." Uchiha Madara was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, furious beyond measure!

"Let me finish. You can be angry after." Hyuga Shin continued his speech, pulling Madara's memory back to the past once more.

"But everything changed overnight—changed into something I didn't recognize."

"Hashirama abandoned the idea of unifying the Shinobi World, and absurdly distributed the tailed beasts as a balancing measure to the other villages."

"You also abandoned your ideals, abandoned your clan, and exiled yourself."

"When did you die, Madara?"

"I once went to the Valley of the End, trying to stop your falling-out, to see if you two had truly changed."

"But why did both you and Hashirama try to kill me?"

"We were friends on the same path!" Hyuga Shin's words were full of emotion as he continued to spar with Madara.

"Enough! That was nothing but a foolish, laughable ideal—impossible to achieve!" Uchiha Madara bristled again.

"Then, Madara, can you tell me why, back at the Valley of the End, both you and Hashirama wanted to kill me?" Hyuga Shin still carried a deep dread from that time! He had nearly lost himself completely!

"Hmph! Who told you to meddle beyond your station?" Madara's answer to this question was rather forced.

"Is that the only reason? Have you asked your own heart?"

"I don't believe that the Madara who once talked freely with me about grand ideals would kill a comrade for such a ridiculous reason."

"Even if that's true of you, what about Hashirama? He and I had a decent relationship—surely he wouldn't try to kill me for that same laughable reason." Hyuga Shin wore a faint smile on his lips, clearly not buying Madara's excuse.

Uchiha Madara fell silent, as if something had occurred to him, but he said nothing.

"Madara, have you seen yourself clearly? I hope you wake up soon and become yourself again." Hyuga Shin said calmly, then turned and walked into the deep darkness, gradually disappearing.

"Sometimes, death is not necessarily not a rebirth." Uchiha Madara heard the voice from the depths of the darkness and fell into a long silence.

Emerging from underground, Hyuga Shin's expression shifted instantly—nothing like the man burdened by grief, worrying for a friend, or clinging to ideals and beliefs.

He vanished on the spot, disappearing into stealth and taking off instantly.

"Tch! Damn it, at my age, still out here trying Talk-no-Jutsu on the younger generation. Who knows if it'll even work—after all, I don't have the Uzumaki name." Hyuga Shin felt like he'd sullied himself.

But one thing was certain: besides carrying Indra's spiritual Chakra as a reincarnate, there was something else affecting Madara's mind and will. What exactly, probably had to do with his Kekkei Genkai.

Still, the seed was planted. Who cared if it bore fruit or not?

He'd spend the remaining time wandering the Shinobi World. It had been years since he'd last been out and about.