Obito, the Uchiha Meeting

In an underground cave, a man in a black robe and an orange tiger-striped mask appeared slowly, like a ghost.

His fingers dug into his palms. He seemed to be holding back his anger, on the verge of exploding at any moment.

"Madara, how did it go? Did you succeed?"

A figure, half white and half black, appeared and asked the masked man.

"No. Damn Minato Namikaze! He used the Contract Seal to sever my connection with the Nine-Tails."

"Tch, you were too careless, Madara. Still, we're lucky White Zetsu brought word that the Fourth Hokage is dead. That means one less obstacle."

"I saw a kid who looked to be in his teens, probably a few years younger than me. He had the Mangekyō Sharingan, but I'd never seen him among the Uchiha Clan before. Because of him, Konoha suffered far fewer losses. Even with the casualties, the village was practically unharmed. I have no idea where he came from. And he used Susanoo, so he must have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan quite some time ago. Otherwise, how could he use Susanoo? A teenager at Kage Level, and I saw him use the Uzumaki Clan's Adamantine Sealing Chains, too. Damn it!"

The figure froze. A Mangekyō Sharingan wielder barely into his teens? And he could use Susanoo? Neither Indra nor Madara Uchiha had been that powerful. And Adamantine Sealing Chains, too? Where had this monster come from? Wait...

"What did the kid look like?"

The masked man's eyes flashed, transforming into a pinwheel-shaped Mangekyō Sharingan. He activated his genjutsu.

After seeing the boy's face in the illusion, the figure let out a cackling laugh that sent chills down one's spine.

"Obito, this kid has quite the story behind him."

The masked man was none other than Obito Uchiha, the devoted disciple who would plunge the Ninja World into chaos and launch the Fourth Shinobi World War.

The identity of the strange-looking figure before him was just as obvious: Black Zetsu, the will of Kaguya Otsutsuki, the devoted son of a thousand years.

Obito was stunned when he heard Black Zetsu talk about the kid. Ever since Madara Uchiha's death, he had been impersonating him. To avoid giving himself away, Black Zetsu usually called him "Madara." Why was he using Obito's real name now?

"Heh heh heh. Because this kid is Madara-sama's own grandson—Uchiha Hise. You can also call him Uzumaki Hise."

Obito was stunned!

Madara Uchiha had a grandson? He'd thought Madara was all alone. And if he had a grandson, he must have had a son, too. So why had he asked Obito to keep an eye on Nagato?

As if he'd read the shock and confusion on Obito's face, Black Zetsu began to explain:

"Madara-sama had a child with a woman after an unexpected encounter. But for the sake of peace in the Ninja World, for the sake of this grand plan, Madara-sama chose not to stay by her side. He wasn't there when his child was born. He gave up everything for the entire Ninja World."

What a load of nonsense! Black Zetsu grumbled inwardly.

After Madara had left, he'd walked for half a day before turning around and heading back.

He returned to Senju Yeri and stayed with her for several months. During that time, they'd even shared a few intimate moments.

When he later discovered Yeri was pregnant, Madara had considered giving up his plans and staying by her side, living out the rest of his life in peace.

Black Zetsu, who'd been watching Madara from the shadows, had nearly spat up a pint of blood. Not that he had any blood.

He'd even considered secretly killing Yeri.

But Madara had stayed by her side every moment, protecting her. Black Zetsu hadn't had the chance.

Yeri seemed to have noticed Madara's hesitation. She urged him, "You told me this was your lifelong dream. Don't give up your ambitions for my sake. If you did, I'd look down on you. Besides, I'll wait here for you to return in triumph. You're Madara Uchiha. You'll succeed."

So, after holding a simple wedding with Senju Yeri, Madara left. Before he went, he used genjutsu to control several people and have them protect her.

Black Zetsu, hiding nearby, breathed a sigh of relief. He'd considered controlling those guards and ordering them to kill Senju Yeri, which would have made Madara Uchiha even more eager for Infinite Tsukuyomi.

But then he realized that Yeri's encouragement might be what motivated Madara, so he abandoned the idea.

After faking his death, Madara Uchiha made time to visit Senju Yeri and their child. But as the child grew up and learned that Madara had left his mother and him behind to pursue his own ambitions, his opinion of his father worsened and worsened. In the end, he wouldn't even call him "Father."

Thinking back to all those bitter days before Madara Uchiha had awakened the Rinnegan, when Black Zetsu hadn't yet made his formal appearance before him, he couldn't help but sigh.

While Black Zetsu and Obito discussed Madara Uchiha's descendants, the Uchiha Clan was in an uproar, too.

"Clan head, there's no one like this in the clan. One of our members said he saw this person come to Konoha today. He may be an outsider... He also saw the Third Hokage and Fourth Hokage go to meet him in person. But we haven't found out who he is or where he came from. It's hard to check his name, too, considering what just happened..."

Uchiha Fugaku, the Uchiha Clan's head, nodded.

"Good. You can go."

"What do you all think?"

After sending most of the Uchiha Clan's ninjas to help with disaster relief, Uchiha Fugaku immediately summoned the elders for a meeting.

"Let's wait and see. First, we need to confirm whether he's a member of the Uchiha Clan. We should make a decision only after we've established what happened earlier. There's no point discussing it at length without checking first. We should talk about what happened during the relief efforts instead... The higher-ups are growing more and more hostile toward us. The Sharingan pattern in the Nine-Tails' eye, the orders from the higher-ups... You all know what I mean. I'm afraid our days ahead will be even harder."