The War Was Really Over

"Kazan!"

"Miya!"

In the dark cave, Jing Uchiha screamed until his throat was raw.

He knelt on the ground, his tears long since spent.

He had watched his most trusted friend kill his younger sister.

He felt as though he were dying. He could barely breathe, and pain that seemed to come from his very soul swept through his body.

"Mist Ninja, Konoha... I'll make you pay for Miya's life!"

Hatred consumed him. He had no tears left to shed, and blood ran from his crimson eyes.

"Do you see it now? The true face of this world."

Madara Uchiha walked over calmly. His life was almost spent, and nothing remained of the Asura of the Ninja World he had once been.

He seemed to have expected this all along.

Only by witnessing the death of someone they loved could a member of the Uchiha Clan unleash their true power.

"Who are you?"

Jing Uchiha stared at the man before him like a wild beast.

He was no fool. If anything, he was clever enough to sense that he had been manipulated. It was all too convenient.

"I am Madara Uchiha!"

Madara Uchiha dropped the revelation without warning.

He did not seem worried that Jing would uncover the truth. From the beginning, he had only wanted Jing Uchiha to recognize how cruel this world was.

"Impossible! Madara Uchiha died long ago. The First Hokage killed him!"

"That is merely what you chose to believe."

Madara Uchiha was at the end of his life. Even standing left him exhausted.

He found a place to sit.

"Would you like to hear my story?"

He asked, but began before Jing Uchiha could answer. He told him how he had met Hashirama Senju, how they had fought, and how they had eventually founded Konoha