The Beginning (1)

Fire Temple, Shrine.

Boom--!

With a loud explosion, the Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall outside the Shrine, created by Nawaki using Wood Release Ninjutsu, shattered, and the entire Shrine collapsed under the violent Chakra flow.

Sarutobi Hiruzen leaped up, carrying the unconscious Naruto in his arms.

Black Zetsu, controlling White Zetsu's body, held a jet-black spherical object, nodded to Obito to indicate that he had succeeded, and then his body disappeared into the ground.

Seeing Obito, Obito understood that Black Zetsu had obtained the Nine-Tails Chakra.

"Lord Hokage!"

The Konoha Jōnin rushed to Sarutobi Hiruzen's side and protected him behind them.

Nawaki, his eyes fixed on Obito, called out to the back, "Lord Third Hokage, how are you? Is Naruto alright?"

"I'm fine, Naruto is fine too." Sarutobi Hiruzen laid the unconscious Naruto on the ground, then quickly Hand Seals to complete the seal.

The black Cursed Seal spread densely across Naruto's entire lower abdomen, gradually connecting to form a Uzumaki pattern.

Sarutobi Hiruzen handed Naruto over to Jōnin to look after. He had already sealed most of the Nine-Tails Chakra into Naruto's body. He only needed to hold on for a few more minutes to completely seal him.

However, at the crucial moment, he was distracted by the sudden appearance of Fire Style. Fortunately, Nawaki blocked the first wave of attacks and used Ninjutsu Wood Release to defend.

But to his utter surprise, just when he thought that Nawaki could buy him a few more minutes to finish the Sealing Jutsu, a humanoid creature with a yin-yang face suddenly appeared out of thin air and used a black spherical Vessel to steal the remaining small portion of the Nine-Tails Chakra.

Faced with this situation, Sarutobi Hiruzen shocked and furious, but for Naruto's safety and the successful transfer of the Nine-Tails Chakra, he immediately chose to stay away from the mysterious man, while also giving up a portion of the Nine-Tails Chakra that had been stolen, to help Naruto solidify the seal.

Everything was too dangerous. If the mysterious person had appeared any earlier, there might have been an accident during the Nine-Tails Chakra transfer.

Neither Naruto's death nor the Nine-Tails Chakra transfer was a situation he wanted to see.

Thinking of this, Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Obito with a solemn expression. Although there was Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall blocking the way, he could still hear Obito's narration from inside.

Uchiha Madara?

It is a name that inspires awe simply by being mentioned.

Although Sarutobi Hiruzen had heard of the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara's reputation since he was a child, he had never actually seen the two of them fight.

Even Uzumaki Mito Kurama, who sealed the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki, had never seen Mito's full power.

The only reference point for them was their teacher, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, who was hailed as the fastest Shinobi World.

Teacher Tobirama's strength amazed Sarutobi Hiruzen. Even disregarding the unpredictable spatial teleportation ability of the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, his terrifying Water Style, which were as powerful as tsunamis, made him arguably the strongest Shinobi World at the time.

If he hadn't been caught off guard and ambushed at close range by Kinkaku and Ginkaku, who were able to use the Nine-Tails' chakra, and hadn't stayed behind alone to hold off Kinkaku, Ginkaku, and dozens of radical Jonin from Kumogakure, Tobirama-sensei would never have died, given the mobility of the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Even so, when Teacher Tobirama mentioned the First and Madara, he admitted that he was inferior to them.

People of Sarutobi Hiruzen's generation only knew that Kurama Nine-Tails Chakra was terrifying, but they didn't have a clear reference point as to just how strong it was.

After all, no matter how strong the Kurama was, it was subdued by the First and Madara in turn, and then suppressed by Uzumaki Mito for decades, unable to cause any trouble.

It wasn't until Kushina unleashed the full power of the Nine-Tails Chakra, directly causing a change in the celestial phenomena, that Sarutobi Hiruzen realized how terrifying this was, standing directly opposite the Kurama.

At the same time, he could no longer imagine what level of strength the First, Madara, and Mito had actually reached.

How could Sarutobi Hiruzen not be shocked when the Masked Man in front of him claimed to be Uchiha Madara?

The crimson Mangekyō Sharingan beneath the mask unmistakably identified the person as a ninja from the Uchiha Clan.

"You say you're Uchiha Madara?! As far as I know, Madara was killed by the First Hokage at the Valley of the End. To impersonate someone who has been dead for many years, and even an ancestor of your Uchiha Clan, isn't that incredibly disrespectful to the dead? And how do you explain how Uchiha Madara knows the First Hokage's Wood Release?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen probed with his words.

Obito, Obito glanced at Sarutobi Hiruzen and said with interest, "You were that kid who followed Tobirama back then? So many years have passed, and you've grown from a kid into an old man. Time really is merciless. As for whether I am Madara or not, you can take off my mask and find out for yourself, if you have the guts."

Sarutobi Hiruzen. He was still very hesitant to take action against the ninja who claimed to be Uchiha Madara. After all, if it really was Madara, they had no chance of winning at all.

"Playing tricks!" Nawaki sneered. "If you were really Uchiha Madara, who was on par with my grandfather, why would you be sneaking around and afraid to show your true face? My grandfather was reminiscing about his past with you before he died. I don't believe Madara is a ninja like you who hides his face!"

With that, Nawaki shouted, and his Chakra surged. He formed hand Hand Seals, and life energy filled his entire body.

' Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!'

Numerous tender green buds rose from the ground, growing rapidly from the size of a palm. Countless roots and trunks broke through the soil, and in the blink of an eye, they grew into a dense forest.

The surrounding thick trees, driven by Chakra Nawaki's chakra, enveloped the Wood Release created by Obito and then tore it into pieces.

Obito, however, remained calm and stood motionless.

Seeing his arrogance, Nawaki became serious and controlled the surrounding trees to launch an attack on Obito.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

With each lash of the massive tree trunk, huge craters were smashed into the ground, sending sand and dust flying everywhere.

"This is."

"How is this possible?!"

Why did this happen?!

As the smoke and dust gradually dissipated, the scene that was revealed inside stunned all the Jōnin.

The Masked Man stood unharmed at the edge of the crater. If it weren't for the huge pit in the ground, leaving behind trenches that stretched for dozens of meters, they would have thought that Nawaki's Wood Release Ninjutsu attack had missed.

Moreover, even if it didn't hit directly, being caught in the blast of such an attack would inevitably result in injury, especially since the opponent's clothes weren't even dusty.

Faced with Nawaki's terrifying Wood Release attack, they knew they absolutely could not withstand it.

Although he knew that Nawaki had awakened the First's Wood Release and was very powerful, he mostly used Water Style and Earth Release when carrying out missions, and rarely used Wood Release Ninjutsu.

Even Nawaki Sarutobi Hiruzen had never seen Nawaki use Wood Release to its fullest extent before. After such an attack, even Kushina and Shiraha would not be able to stand still and deal with it. No matter how strong a ninja is, they are still just mortals.

Could it really be Uchiha Madara?!

Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes widened, and his heart sank.

"I told you, your Wood Release is far inferior to Hashirama's," Obito said calmly.

The strange occurrence before his eyes even made Nawaki waver, but he was unwilling to give up and once again manipulated the trees to attack Obito.

This time, however, he was manipulating vines as thick as his forearm. The soft vines that were dancing in the air suddenly became as hard as spears and thrust towards Obito.

Whoosh whoosh!

A series of fine, whistling sounds echoed through the air.

This time, Nawaki controlled the vines to launch attacks in sequence, trying to see how the opponent dodged the attacks.

The next second, Nawaki's eyes widened!

The spear-like vines pierced straight through—no, they went right through!

"I wasn't under Genjutsu? So, this is Space-Time Ninjutsu?!" Nawaki realized.

"That's right." Obito admitted directly. Taking advantage of Nawaki's stunned silence and the moment he stopped attacking, his body twisted and he used Kamui to teleport.

Nawaki did not intervene. The other party's abilities, identity, and combat strength were unknown. Since the other party was leaving on its own initiative, it would be unwise to try to stop it, especially since he probably couldn't stop it from leaving anyway.

"Lord Third Hokage, should we return to the village immediately and check? There are only a handful of the Uchiha Clan ninjas who have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan; they should be able to..."

A Anbu from the Anbu reminded Jōnin that he was an elite member of the original Root organization. After Danzo was Death Cell and sentenced to life imprisonment, Root was disbanded on the spot, and he was transferred to the Third Hokage's command because of his skill in Sealing Jutsu.

"Don't make this public!" Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his Teuchi him.

Currently, it is known that four members of the Uchiha Clan have awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan: Uchiha Fugaku, who remained in Konoha, and Chiho, Shisui, and Issei, who left Konoha and joined the Land of Whirlpools.

Each ninja's abilities are crucial to their survival. If their abilities and information are known to others, targeted battle plans can be devised.

Each pair of Mangekyō Sharingan has a different Dōjutsu. Currently, Sarutobi Hiruzen only knows that Shisui's Dōjutsu is Kotoamatsukami, and he knows nothing about the Mangekyo Dojutsu of Fugaku, Chiho, and Issei.

Since Kushina herself was the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki, and she and Shiraha were arguably the two strongest Shinobi World, it seemed unnecessary for Chiho, Issei, Shisui to launch a sneak attack.

The only thing Sarutobi Hiruzen could pose a threat to Kushina and Shiraha was the S-Rank Sealing Jutsu ' Reaper Death Seal '. However, this Sealing Jutsu originated from the Uzumaki Clan, and Kushina still knew how to undo it. Kushina also took back the Death God Mask.

This Sealing Jutsu can only have a deterrent effect at most. Even though Sarutobi Hiruzen has now recovered his peak strength, he knows that it is difficult to contend with Kushina and Shiraha at present.

Thinking about it that way, Fugaku, who remained in Konoha, was left.

Anbu Jōnin understood the meaning of the Sarutobi Hiruzen perfectly: he suspected Fugaku.

After Danzo's sneak attack on Shisui and the departure of most of the Uchiha clan from Konoha, the conflict between the Uchiha remained in Konoha and the village intensified. However, Fugaku showed unusual restraint. Sarutobi Hiruzen initially thought this was due to his maturity and composure, but now he couldn't help but think more about it, because Fugaku was acting too cooperatively.

However, this is a special time, and we cannot draw conclusions without evidence.

As for asking Fugaku to explain his Mangekyo Dojutsu abilities and prove his innocence, Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't bring it up, as it would be tantamount to openly stating his inner suspicions and doubts.

"Return to Konoha immediately!" Sarutobi Hiruzen ordered the people behind him, then looked at Jiriku: "Jiriku, Konoha will compensate for all the losses of the Fire Temple. Thank you so much for your help this time."

"Lord Hokage, you flatter me." Jiriku clasped his hands together.

June, Konoha Year 56.

The Land of Whirlpools, an underground laboratory.

Puff!

A muffled thud was heard, and the eyeball floating in the Culture Dish suddenly deflated as if air had leaked out.

"It seems like getting the Mangekyō Sharingan is going to be very difficult."

Shiraha stroked his chin, lost in thought.

In just over six months, he has mastered Cloning Technology and has begun to attempt to Mangekyō Sharingan using his own cells and Eye Power as samples.

However, each time the eyeball is formed, it either shriveles up like this, bursts open, or its Eye Power disappears completely, turning into an ordinary eyeball.

Having obtained the Mangekyō Sharingan from another world, Shiraha successfully synthesized the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, but in his opinion, the increase in Eye Power was not a qualitative leap.

Clearly, Cloning Technology has some flaws, and it is at least very limited for organisms at a certain level.

However, this was within Shiraha's expectations.

After all, if Cloning Technology is really that advanced, is it possible to clone someone else with the same bloodline level and purity as him?

Bloodline and Chakra do not appear out of thin air.

The Mangekyou Sharingan brought back from the parallel world was too weak, not even comparable to Bai Yu's three-tomoe Sharingan state.

Clearly, during the process of cloning the Mangekyō Sharingan, the Eye Power was constantly decreasing.

Of course, this is not to say that Shin Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan has no value.

Conversely, when combined into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, its spatial capabilities are slightly enhanced, making it highly valuable for development and utilization.

If it could be combined with the [Teleportation Spell, it could serve as the core of an ultra-long-distance Teleportation array, and even enable inter-world teleportation.

Thinking of this, Shiraha looked at several Byakugan floating in another Culture Dish. These were eyeballs cloned using Hideto cells and Hizashi cells.

As an old friend, when Shiraha sent Hizashi Hyuga to Konoha to carry out clandestine activities, Bai Yu immediately removed Hideto's Caged Bird Curse Seal. As a result, Hideto's Byakugan purity was increased, making him Shiraha's top priority for cloning.

"Given this level of Eye Power power, it would probably require thousands of Byakugan. The Hyuga clan clan would have to relocate to obtain enough clone samples."

Shiraha decided to wait for Hizashi's good news, and then turned his attention to the last Culture Dish. The huge Culture Dish contained only a piece of meat the size of half a palm, which was Urashiki's body tissue.

During this period, Shiraha attempted to use Urashiki's body tissue to improve his bloodline purity and cell activity. However, after conducting the transplantation experiment, he discovered that his bloodline purity had decreased by 0.07%. Although his Chakra had increased significantly, Shiraha still stopped the Cell Transplantation.

After all, for him, the purity and quality of bloodline are the most important things, and he cannot put the cart before the horse.

Shiraha himself hadn't expected that, in terms of bloodline purity alone, he was even higher than Urashiki, a true Otsutsuki Clan Member.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Urashiki Cells are useless to him. At least they can be used to improve the bloodline purity and chakra of Kushina, Hikari, Taichi, and Chakra incarnation. Before that, Shiraha needs to purify the remaining cells of Urashiki.

"Kashin Koji".

After turning his gaze away, Shiraha called out to the empty laboratory.

"Lord Shiraha." Kashin Koji appeared in front of Shiraha in a flash.

"Let's go, prepare to summon the Samadhi Fire."

"Yes."

Shiraha was the first to walk towards the next room.

Kashin Koji followed without expression. He had become numb during this time. Every now and then, Shiraha would have him summon the Samadhi Fire to burn his body, just like getting regular health care.