Beneath Hokage Rock, Konoha awakened in the morning light. Compared with the Konoha from Neji's original timeline, this village led by Madara Uchiha possessed less warmth and more solemn severity and order. The buildings were sharply angular, the patrolling ninja marched in uniform steps, and the Uchiha Clan's flame fan crest could be seen everywhere. The air carried an inwardly restrained yet powerful presence.
Inside the Hokage Office, Madara Uchiha was reviewing reports on unusual movements by Sand Village and Iwagakure along the western border. He wore a white Hokage robe, with the Uchiha flame fan emblazoned on its back. His Rinnegan remained deep and unfathomable, but there was less of his former obsession and madness, replaced by the composure and majesty of a ruler. Since his battle with Hashirama, he had accepted some of Hashirama's ideals, yet he still believed that true "peace," as he defined it, could only be achieved through his absolute strength and will.
Suddenly, the fingers turning the documents paused.
It was not that he had sensed any clear hostility or chakra, but rather a faint tremor originating from the level of his soul. It was as though an invisible stone had been dropped into a placid lake. The ripples were slight, yet they shook the very "existence" of the entire lake. His brow furrowed slightly as his Rinnegan activated unconsciously. He swept his gaze across the room, yet found nothing.
"An illusion?" Madara murmured, but immediately rejected the thought. At his level, no anomaly in perception could possibly arise without cause.
The very next moment he focused his senses and went on guard—
The space in the center of the office rippled without warning. It was not the familiar spiraling distortion of space-time ninjutsu, but a deeper, more primordial fluctuation, as though space itself