My Name! Uchiha Madara!

The storage room!!!

Why had the storage room been infiltrated?!

Danzo's mind was thrown into tremendous turmoil.

Root's storage room was practically one of Root's most confidential locations.

Too many important things were stored inside!

If anything had been stolen...

Danzo did not dare think any further.

He felt like his lifeline was about to be taken from him!

Ichiraku Ramen was some distance from Root's base, but with Danzo using the Body Flicker Technique at full power...

He arrived in an extremely short time.

"You bastard!"

Frantic with anxiety, Danzo violently slammed a fist into the storage room's door.

With a thunderous boom, dust and smoke burst outward, instantly exposing the space within to Danzo and the surrounding Root members.

As the smoke gradually dispersed, the storage room was already in complete disarray. The cultivation tank at the very center had been ruptured by a huge gash, its liquid spilling all over the floor.

The object inside had clearly vanished.

Danzo's eyes split with fury as blood vessels bulged across his eyeballs. He stared fixedly at the figure beside the cultivation tank.

The man was wrapped from head to toe in a black robe, with a tiger-striped mask covering his face. Only one scarlet Sharingan was exposed, watching Danzo with faint coldness.

"Who exactly are you? How did you get in?"

Danzo gritted his teeth and forced the words out through the gaps between them.

At that moment, his heart was filled with fury and confusion.

The storage room's defenses were among the tightest in Root, with sensory barriers spread throughout the surrounding area.

Normally, aside from himself and a handful of research ninja, no one else could possibly sneak in.

How had this masked man gotten inside?!

Amid the deathly silence...

The tiger-masked figure slowly spoke, his deep voice echoing through the entire room.

"Madara!"

"Uchiha Madara!"

The surrounding Root members' pupils trembled slightly, their eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

Uchiha Madara?!

How many years ago had that been?

How could he possibly still be alive?!

Just as the surrounding Root members were plunged into overwhelming shock, the masked man's body suddenly began to sink slowly, disappearing into the ground.

"Damn it! Stay right there!"

Danzo roared and immediately unleashed a Wind Release attack.

The wind blade seemed to pass straight through the other man's body before cutting into the machinery behind him.

The surrounding Root members also immediately came to their senses, swarming forward and fiercely attacking the masked man as he merged into the ground.

When the dust and smoke cleared, nothing remained but a devastated floor.

"D-Danzo-sama..."

The Root members looked at one another helplessly before turning to Danzo beside them.

This series of events seemed lengthy, but in reality, only a brief moment had passed from the discovery of the anomaly to the masked man's escape.

The air gradually fell silent. Danzo's bloodshot pupils trembled without stop.

After a long while, he finally let out a cold laugh. Combined with his current expression, it looked especially sinister.

"He infiltrated Root without a sound, then escaped by merging into the ground."

"Space-time ninjutsu. Only space-time ninjutsu could accomplish something like that!"

"Madara? Heh heh!"

Danzo's gaze gradually turned icy.

"Whoever you are, I will never let you go!"

"Are you full?"

Uchiha Mirai smiled at Naruto across from him.

Naruto cradled his round belly, burping contentedly. On the table beside him, porcelain bowls were stacked half a person's height high.

"I'm full, I'm full."

Naruto felt that after going back this time, he probably would not need to eat again until the day after tomorrow.

He had eaten more ramen today than he normally did in two months.

"Thank you for your patronage. Here is your bill."

Uncle Teuchi smiled as he handed a slip of paper to Uchiha Mirai.

Uchiha Mirai took it.

The bill came to 1,000 ryo.

A standard bowl of ramen cost around 60 ryo. Considering Naruto had eaten with absolutely no restraint and stuffed himself full, this price was already quite reasonable.

"Big brother, isn't this too expensive...?"

Naruto looked embarrassed and uneasy.

The stack of bowls beside him was taller than his head. So much ramen had to cost a lot of money, right?

Naruto reached for his flat wallet.

He wanted to pay for it himself.

But there were only a few coins inside that wallet.

"No, it's a very reasonable price. If Naruto wants to eat more, you can come by often in the future!"

Uchiha Mirai paid without hesitation.

He smiled at Naruto.

"Huh? Really?"

Surprise filled Naruto's eyes, and he was so excited he nearly jumped up.

"Thank you so much, big brother!"

I should be the one thanking you.

Uchiha Mirai smiled inwardly.

A few bowls of ramen had gotten him the Hashirama Cells stored by Root, and he had successfully pinned the blame on Obito.

Nothing could have been more perfect.

Hokage's office.

Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression was exceptionally ugly.

He had only just changed into a new pair of pants.

Then he received news that Root had been infiltrated.

"Danzo, are you sure you heard correctly? Did the intruder really call himself Uchiha Madara?"

"There is absolutely no mistake!!!"

Danzo's rough palm slammed down on the Hokage's desk. Blood vessels bulged in the lone eye exposed beyond his bandages as he glared fixedly at Sarutobi Hiruzen across from him.

"It wasn't just me. The Root members nearby heard it too!"

"And that bastard definitely possesses a space-time secret technique."

Sarutobi Hiruzen's head began to throb violently again. He pinched at his temples with his fingers.

Uchiha Mirai approaching the Nine-Tails jinchuriki had already been troublesome enough.

He had not expected another Uchiha Madara to appear, one who even possessed a space-time secret technique.

What the hell was going on?!

If Uchiha Madara had not died, why was he only showing up now?

Wait...!

Sarutobi Hiruzen's pupils suddenly widened.

"Danzo, is there a possibility—just a possibility—that the Uchiha Madara who infiltrated Root was the same person who released the Nine-Tails..."

Danzo narrowed his eyes slightly.

There could be no mistake that the man calling himself Madara possessed a space-time secret technique.

Otherwise, there was no way he could have entered the heavily guarded storage room without causing any damage.

And Danzo had personally witnessed the man suddenly vanish in the end.

The night of the Nine-Tails incident had also been extremely strange.

The barrier had not been breached, Kushina was suddenly attacked, and the Nine-Tails was released...

These two incidents really did seem to be connected somehow.

A flash of insight struck Danzo.

There was only one truth!

"It seems we really overlooked the existence of another person..."

Danzo clenched his teeth slightly.

Clearly, aside from Uchiha Mirai, a second mysterious Uchiha was lurking within Konoha.

And he possessed space-time abilities.

Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent.

For a moment, the Hokage's office fell quiet.

Just who was this mysterious Uchiha?

Could it really be as he had said...

Uchiha Madara?