"Our eyes see all, but our scrolls preserve forever." This a wisdom guided the Uchiha feions. Among all ninja s, they were one of the few who systematically maintained archives of ninjutsu.

  The advanced Sharingan could decipher most ninjutsu, but its users were still limited by their physical abilities. Even if they analyze a teique, it didn't mean they could perform it.

  By rec these teiques in books, they passed them on to future geions, strengthening the the long term.

  This tradition allowed the Uchiha to develop their mastery of fire jutsu, shuriken trol, asu to an unparalleled level. Power wasn't just in the eyes, but in the accumuted wisdom of geions.

  During the Warring States period, Uchiha archives were ofteroyed as they relocated, yet each time, they rebuilt the archives without fail.

  "Even if we fall, our knowledge must survive," the elders would say, meticulously recopying damaged scrolls.

  After the founding of Konoha, the Uchiha's residence finally stabilized. Over decades, their archive colle became one of the most prehensive aailed in the shinobi world, ranking among the top three—even ting the Five Great Nations' libraries.

  When Masashi used Tobirama's water jutsu, most in the thought, "He must really like water jutsu!" after disc it in the archives.

  Even the wood jutsu of Hashirama has been doted by the Uchiha. Madara, with his unparalleled ocur power, analyzed all of Hashirama's teiques. Though he couldn't use them himself, he was a devoted leader, itted to leaving behind his knowledge and uanding for future geions.

  Alongside the jutsu records, he added his insights, hypothesizing potential developments for others to explore their own ideal jutsu paths.

  Masashi felt gratitude for this legacy, knowing that even after experieng this world a sed time, he wouldn't have mastered some teiques without Madara's tributions.

  Pying Madara? Let's see how long you keep this act up.

  As he looked at Obito, he felt genuine embarrassment on his behalf. Especially sihe guy kept insisting on his act.

  "Kid, you know a thing or two, but you're still pretty shallow," Obito tio pose as if saying: I'm your aor.

  "The mystery of the Mangekyō is beyond your prehension."

  "Are you really holding out with just this much power?" Masashi asked, his Sharingan spinning zily.

  "Every Mangekyō pair is synized. When you use it, Kakashi's eye ges, too. It may not dispy the full Mangekyō pattern, but it's enough to reveal who you are, Obito."

  "Obito? Is that someone important to you? Shame. I've never heard of him," Obito replied in an impassive tone, with a hint of impatience. His hand twitched slightly.

  "You're lost in the past, seeing ghosts where there are none. How disappointing."

  If he weren't masked, his face would've shown a wide range of expressiht now. The mask was ugly, yes, but it shielded his identity from all forms of dete—even the highest-level Byakugan couldn't see his face through it.

  But Obito was too distracted to care about that right now because…

  He! Had! Been! Identified!

  How could he know?

  Doubting that he was Madara was ohing; even if they had crete proof that he wasn't, he could always deflect with a grandiose "Names mean nothing," increasing his mystery. But this guy had called him by name.

  And with solid reasoning.

  How could he have read all those dusty records in our archives? All our family history? And what about the ninjutsu scrolls?

  No. I o stay calm. I'm not that person anymore.

  I'm Madara now.

  The past is dead. No one will see beh this mask—especially not this bastard. He'll just be another pawn. And after him... Shisui is .

  "Seems you're thickheaded," Obito suppressed a rising impulse within himself—irely uo his long-held desire to punch Masashi. "Let's see if your power matches your brain."

  "Getting cocky just because you've got the Mangekyō, huh, Obito?" Masashi's eyes fshed with the three-tomoe Sharingan.

  "Don't think you do whatever you want with just one eye. I'll find out what happeo you and have a tle chat."

  Obito ignored him. Nothing could shake his resolve any further. Besides, with his Mangekyō, even with one eye, he could do as he pleased.

  Both moved simultaneously, using the same teique.

  White smoke billowed from the activating seals, and waves of shuriken shot from the smoke, crashing midair with the sound of taut wires being pulled.

  Two figures shifted positions rapidly, occasionally g and sending sparks flying. Eaent was calcuted, her willing to waste energy on fshy dispys.

  Before their fight started, Zetsu had retreated to a safe distance, watg them from afar and p quietly.

  Something's off with Obito tely, he thought. Our inal pn tet potential Mangekyō users in the Uchiha is practically exposed now. And this Uchiha... could he be someone he once valued as a rade?

  "It's been a while since we sparred; you've really mastered shuriken teiques," Masashi ented, breaki another round of shuriken against Obito's.

  "But wearing that thing must make fire jutsu harder, doesn't it?"

  Throwing more shuriken, he formed a single-handed seal.

  "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

  The air in front of Obito ignited, each shuriken surrounded by a fiery bze, creating a dangerous glow as they spiraled down on him from all dires like a deadly shower of petals.

  The heat distorted the air, making the actual trajectories harder to track.

  "Such a poirick." Obito's eyes widened, dist the space around him.

  The bzing shuriken were sucked into the swirling vortex, leaving the area before him clear.

  A bde luoward his mask.

  Coldly smiling, Obito refrained from using his ocur power to nullify it. Wood branches shot out from his body, lunging at Masashi.

  The branches moved quickly, but Masashi seemed faster. Before they reached him, he vanished, his bde slig through arunk infused with wind chakra, chopping it into pieces.

  Splinters flew in all dires as the enhanced bde cleaved through the wood.

  The ground rumbled, dirt scattered as thorn-covered, oddly shaped trees erupted and coiled upward, with Obito standing atop the spiked forest, coldly gazing at Masashi.

  Yes, finish him! Zetsu inwardly cheered, then saw Masashi gn his dire from afar, something in that look making him unfortable.

  A small bde sliced Zetsu in two from below, leaving half of his body flying in the air. The cut was so it took a moment tister what had happened.

  He spotted a familiar mark fading from the shuriken that had struck him. What… the hell!? He mastered the Flying Thunder God!?

  Masashi looked at the dense forest of brambles chasing him.

  He quickly formed hand seals, chakra building in his core as his cheeks puffed up, and opened his mouth.

  "Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Fme."

  The chakra released from his mouth transformed into an overwhelmingly massive arroed fme, sweeping everything in its path.

  An urained sea of fire engulfed all around it. The formerly menag forest stood no ce against this catastrophic force. The earth burned, wave after wave of fierce fire raging as if it inteo devour everything.

  The heat was so intehat the air seemed to and twist.

  Once again, it proved that the strength of Wood Release wasn't truly about the Wood Release itself.

  "This guy… how is he this strong?" Zetsu struggled to rise from the scorched earth. Looking up at the t sea of fmes ahead, a bold idea suddenly struck him.

  Masashi was f seals once more. The Sharingan locked onto the unscathed figure in the raging inferno, trag every subtle movement.

  The earth trembled, answering his chakra's call.

  tless ice bdes burst from the soil, rising high to form t gciers. The chill extinguished the fmes, and the air filled with crag sounds as the ground's remains froze over. The sudden temperature ge created a misty barrier between batants.

  "Ice Release that surpassed even the Yuki ..."

  As the bitter cold radiated from the frozeh, Zetsu had no doubt. The teique before him was superior to that of the Yuki .

  In his memory, it seemed that even some Uchiha with Mangekyō Sharingan in history might not have been able to defeat the current Masashi.

  Aobirama, perhaps?

  With an age lohan ninja history itself, Zetsu had withe evolution of chakra in the hands of humanity ever sisutsuki Hagoromo fouhe Ninshū. Evesu had to admit ohing: humanity's potential was limitless.

  By the end of the Warring States period, ninjas, shaped by a millennium of evolution, had bee pure instruments of war. All ninja s had reached the point where their profi developing teiques surged forward.

  New ninjutsu emerged yearly, tless teiques cropping up in a stant flow. But before Hashirama appeared, the Uchiha 's Mangekyō Sharingan still reigned supreme.

  An Uchiha with the Mangekyō was a true Uchiha. Without that power, the Uchiha weren't necessarily strohan other ninja s.

  A thousand years ter, a ninjutsu prodigy was born who, through sheer talent, rose to the same heights and made Zetsu remember his name.

  That person was Tobirama.

  At a time when everyone was tirelessly developing new jutsu, his approach was unique.

  It rolific like a sow!

  This master of ninjutsu ended up achieving an astonishi.

  Without the chakra of Indra or Asura, he mao defeat a Mangekyō user in direbat.

  Other than the reinations of Asura, no one else had aplished such a feat. Tobirama transded not only his identity but surpassed tless past reinations of Indra and Asura.

  After all, not every reination was skilled enough to make the entire ninja world stop and watch them duel.

  And in Masashi, Zetsu saw a simir potential to Tobirama.

  Not in talent, but in possibility. Masashi's ability to develop teiques couldn't match Tobirama's, yet his mastery of jutsu for his age revealed aype of potential.

  Though it was only a possibility, it was worth testing.

  The tip of a bde pressed against Zetsu's face. But he didn't mind; after all, he couldn't be killed.

  "What a hassle... the Uchiha ."

  Sensing his oppo's strange power, unusual for an Uchiha, though not particurly strong, he raised his head to look at Masashi. Despite possessing only the three-tomoe Sharingan, he was formidable.

  Some ninjas could identify individual chakra, but in this, no oched Zetsu's innate gift. In his eyes, no two chakras were the same. Like souls, chakra was uo each person.

  "Are you training in Yang Release?" he asked, noting the distinctive flow of chakra.

  "Why 't an Uchiha train in Yang Release?" Masashi responded.

  After Hashirama's death, the old creature at his feet had bee the world's rgest Yang Release reservoir.

  And he had woven ag into his very being, alutting on a show. Even at this time, though he could've escaped upon nding, he chose not to, allowing himself to be captured.

  "So, you've learhe Fourth Hokage's teique?" Obito appeared in a spatial distortion, unharmed.

  "It's the Sed Hokage's, not the Fourth's," Masashi replied, sheathing his bde. "There's a difference. I ck the Uzumaki 's core heritage to replicate Fourth's version. Besides, it's about time you took off that mask so we have a proper talk."

  "Are you really that ed about this person?" Obito didn't react. "I'll wager he's dead by now. It seems you ck the talent to unlock the Mangekyō Sharingan; you're just a waste."

  Masashi noticed that Obito kept trying to steer the versation in that dire. This version of Obito felt quite different from the maniputor in the inal timeline.

  But it made sense. He'd only retly acquired Madara's legacy, so he was still retively inexperienced.

  The future battles in Kiri would be his true training ground.

  Falling into darkness ged one's ideals, but it couldn't suddenly grant experience or sharpen the mind.

  However, Masashi still had a trick up his sleeve. After all, they'd grown up together; who didn't know each other's tricks?

  As if struck by a sudden thought, he said, "Oh, by the way, before ing to the Land of Rain, I stopped by your home. Yrandmother made me some strawberry daifuku. Would you like to go bad eat some?"

  "You're lying!" Obito's anger exploded. "My grandmother passed away st year!"

  A loud cp of thunder echoed through the sky.

  Dark clouds gathered above, and rain began to fall, casting a white mist across the distant gciers. The droplets hissed as they hit the still-warm earth.

  The two Uchiha asu fell silent.

  Zetsu looked at Obito in disbelief, with so much to say yet no words to express it. Perhaps I chose the wrong Uchiha.

  Was it too te to switch sides now?

  After a moment, thunder rolled through the sky once again. The rain poured harder, washing away the st traces of ash and steam from their battle.