Impure World Reincarnation, Uchiha Madara!

Smoke and dust filled the sky over the wilderness.

It was not morning fog, nor was it the darkness of night—it was dust in broad daylight. Explosions on the distant main battlefield came one after another, flinging up sand and ash like a heavy curtain that obscured the sun into a hazy halo. The air was thick with the smell of burning, mixed with grit and blood, tightening the throat.

On this land torn apart by war, atop a concealed cliff face far from the main battlefield, Mu's clone hovered in midair.

His body was half the size of its normal state, his bandage-wrapped torso flickering in and out of view through the dust like a walking mummy. Cracks from the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu spread from his forehead to his neck. His ashen skin blended into the gray-white haze, making him nearly impossible to spot with the naked eye.

This was a level of concealment only he could achieve.

Mu had once dominated battlefields with Dustless Perception and his invisibility. This clone had inherited all of his sensory abilities, yet no ninja had detected his presence—because no one was looking at him at all. Everyone's attention was fixed on the main battlefield, on those Kage-level powerhouses who had been sealed away, on the perilous strike delivered jointly by the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki and the Raikage.

No one noticed that the true protagonist of the war was about to make his entrance.

Mu descended onto the cliff face. The rock beneath his feet had been loosened by artillery fire, and a fine layer of dust rose with his landing. He looked up at the sky—the sun was hidden by the haze, leaving only a sickly white disc that cast a pallid light.

"Kabuto."

His voice was low and calm. His hands