Ōnoki flew out of Iwagakure with a grave expression. Although sensing was not his specialty, he could still feel the despairingly vast chakra outside the village.
And from the frightened expression of the sensor ninja, Ōnoki knew that this uninvited guest's chakra was not only immense, comparable to a tailed beast's, but also brimming with destruction and brutality.
At that thought, Ōnoki's heart sank further. His expression hardened with resolve as he led the others toward the intruder.
When Ōnoki saw that the man was floating in the sky just as he was, his sense of foreboding deepened.
Before he could make out the intruder's face, Ōnoki asked in a low voice.
"May I ask who you are, and what important business brings you to Iwagakure?"
Madara Uchiha hovered high above them with his arms folded across his chest, looking down at Ōnoki and the others.
Upon hearing Ōnoki's words, Madara Uchiha's chakra surged even more violently. An unrestrained smile spread across his face as he said to Ōnoki:
"Ōnoki, do you really not recognize me?
Or do I need to remind you of how pathetic you were back then?"
As he spoke, Madara Uchiha laid his murderous intent bare, unleashing its overwhelming force without restraint.
At the sound of that voice, Ōnoki's heart lurched. His eyes locked onto Madara Uchiha's face, and that utterly brazen expression in particular made him feel as though he had stepped into a nightmare.
Madara Uchiha? How could this be? Didn't the First kill him long ago? How could he be here?
Ōnoki felt as though he had been plunged into an ice cellar.
In truth, Ōnoki was one of the few people left in the shinobi world who knew just how terrifying Madara Uchiha's strength really was.
Back when the villages had just