The shortsighted Konoha High Command

After Sasuke was born, Madara Uchiha's once-dull life became much livelier, as though someone had added a dash of seasoning.

Normally, a newborn would cry and fuss, wearing out whoever cared for him, but Sasuke Uchiha was exceptionally well-behaved. Whenever Madara Uchiha looked at him, the child always answered with a bright smile. Even Mikoto and Fugaku said it was obvious that Sasuke loved this Older Brother of his the most.

Although Madara Uchiha claimed not to care about being Sasuke's favorite, he never realized that whenever Sasuke smiled at him, a faint smile appeared on his own face as well.

Before he knew it, several months had passed in the blink of an eye. As Madara watched Sasuke Uchiha grow, another piece of news reached his ears.

The child of Minato Namikaze, who had been chosen as the Fourth Hokage, would soon be born.

If Madara Uchiha remembered correctly, Minato Namikaze's child was Naruto Uzumaki. That father-and-son pair had certainly caused him considerable trouble when they fought him together.

Should I kill the brat before he has a chance to grow up?

Madara Uchiha patiently tested the temperature of Sasuke Uchiha's milk, then gently brought the bottle to his lips, all while planning how to deal with Naruto Uzumaki. What he did not know was that a pawn named Obito Uchiha, driven by the remnants of his consciousness, had also set his sights on Naruto. Or rather, Obito Uchiha's true target was Naruto's mother, Kushina Uzumaki, the current jinchūriki.

On a night with a full moon, Madara Uchiha finished his day's training and stayed home to look after Sasuke. His father, Fugaku, was out working, and his mother had also gone out on an errand. Watching Sasuke do nothing but grin foolishly at him, Madara Uchiha felt his taut nerves relax a little. Suddenly, a cold wind swept past, and Sasuke, who had been lying peacefully in his arms, began to cry. With an explosive crash, nine crimson tails unfurled into the sky at the edge of Konoha. Moments later, earthquake-like tremors reached Madara Uchiha as he held Sasuke.

The instant the Nine-Tails appeared, Madara Uchiha sensed its enormous chakra. He did not know how the Nine-Tails had appeared in Konoha, but right now, this tailed beast he had once controlled so easily was an extremely dangerous presence even to him.

Without hesitation, Madara Uchiha carried Sasuke toward open ground. He could not understand why the Nine-Tails had suddenly appeared in Konoha, until he saw the Sharingan markings in the Nine-Tails' eyes.

That idiot!

Although Madara Uchiha had not seen Obito, no one in the Uchiha Clan would attack Kushina Uzumaki, and Obito Uchiha was likely the only one with the ocular power to control the Nine-Tails. Madara easily deduced who had orchestrated this incident.

Without a doubt, Obito Uchiha had acted on his own initiative. In Madara's plans, gathering strength and delivering a single fatal blow was the safest course. By attacking Konoha outright like this, Obito would never be able to take the Nine-Tailed Fox away. At most, he would whittle down Konoha's fighting forces, which Madara considered utterly meaningless. Instead, it would provoke needless suspicion within Konoha. On top of that, the Sharingan in the Nine-Tails' eyes was a death warrant for the Uchiha Clan. Obito's actions had endangered not only himself, but the Uchiha Clan as well.

Although the Uchiha Clan had once abandoned Madara Uchiha, he had still been their clan leader. Seeing Obito disregard the clan's safety merely to vent his anger only deepened Madara Uchiha's displeasure with him.

The only thing about this incident that benefited Madara was that it helped confirm that another version of himself, still being deceived by Black Zetsu, likely existed in this world. Otherwise, with Obito's abilities, he could never have extracted a tailed beast from its jinchūriki right under the Fourth Hokage's nose on his own.

The earth cracked and heaved, and countless houses shattered as the Nine-Tails moved his body. Rubble hurtled toward Konoha's villagers with crushing force. As Madara Uchiha ran, he spotted Uchiha Fugaku standing guard near the village with a grave expression.

"Father, go help bring the Nine-Tails under control. I'll look after Sasuke. He'll be fine."

Although Obito Uchiha was the one controlling the Nine-Tails with his Sharingan, everyone else would see it as the Uchiha Clan controlling him. As for who exactly was responsible, who could say for certain?

Madara Uchiha was still young. If the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha Clan escalated too soon, his living conditions might deteriorate. Although Madara Uchiha himself did not particularly care, the thought of Sasuke still being an infant who needed feeding made him reluctant to see the relationship between the village and the clan grow too hostile.

"I knew you'd be all right. I'm counting on you to look after Sasuke, Itachi. Our Uchiha Clan isn't allowed to go forward and help. The Military Police Force is responsible for protecting noncombatants. Those are the village's orders, so we can't intervene."

Looking at the sensible Madara Uchiha, Uchiha Fugaku let out a helpless sigh. His son was so outstanding. Perhaps, if he were in Fugaku's position, the Uchiha Clan would have a brighter future.

Madara Uchiha frowned when he heard Uchiha Fugaku's reply.

He knew there was bound to be a rift between the village and the Uchiha Clan, but Madara had never imagined it ran so deep. With the Nine-Tails rampaging, wasn't the Uchiha Clan's ocular jutsu one of the best ways to control it? Yet, out of fear that the Uchiha Clan might cause trouble, the village's leaders had actually discarded such valuable fighting strength and assigned the clan only to protect noncombatants.

Perhaps the rift was one factor, but the Konoha High Command's shortsightedness and lack of confidence were the real reasons behind this decision. Even if the Uchiha Clan really had caused the Nine-Tails' Attack, the fact that they had not rebelled and were still helping evacuate civilians clearly showed that many members of the clan remained willing to help the village, didn't it?

The pathetic Konoha High Command had abandoned the entire Uchiha Clan simply because they suspected a few individuals. Madara found such leaders laughable.

So be it. Not everyone has Hashirama's generosity of spirit.

"Then I'll take Sasuke to the shelter first."

Madara Uchiha was deeply curious. With relations between the clan and the village this terrible, what had Sasuke Uchiha been thinking in his previous life when he ultimately helped Konoha's people fight him?

The rumbling sounds of battle kept echoing in Madara Uchiha's ears. In Madara's eyes, this generation of Konoha's leaders was rotten to the core. How could such weak, cowardly men deserve to lead the Konoha that he and Hashirama had worked so hard to build?