Seeing his father—the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki—lost in deep thought while poring over the latest intelligence from Konohagakure, Loess grew increasingly uneasy. His father hadn't spoken for several minutes. Driven by a mounting sense of uncertainty, Loess finally broke the silence.
"Father, is there something wrong with the information?"
"There's not just something wrong," Ōnoki responded, his voice low and tight. "There's a serious problem."
Pulled from his contemplation by his son's inquiry, a glint of dread flickered in Ōnoki's eyes as he answered without hesitation—his tone laced with disbelief and a faint edge of fear.
"What? That serious? What on earth happened?"
Startled by the rare strain in his father's voice, Loess leaned forward, eyes wide. He instinctively knew this wasn't ordinary village gossip or minor reconnaissance. There was real weight behind his father's words.
"Uchiha Madara." Ōnoki's voice dropped as he uttered the name that defined dread itself. "You should be familiar with that name. But what if I told you… that this so-called 'Uchiha Yue'—a boy who appears no older than ten—has reached a level comparable to Uchiha Madara at his peak?"
"Uchiha Madara?! The same Madara who rivaled the First Hokage Senju Hashirama? The one who fought him at the Valley of the End, whose battles carved the very land?" Loess's face paled as the name struck like thunder. "That Madara… is that boy really comparable to him? But isn't Uchiha Yue just a child? Even Madara himself wasn't that powerful at ten!"
Ōnoki closed his eyes for a moment, recalling the overwhelming presence that had once paralyzed him on the battlefield during the Warring States era. "You underestimate the Sharingan, and you underestimate what it means to awaken the Mangekyō… let alone evolve it into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan or the Rinnegan."
"I know the legends may sound exaggerated, but I faced Madara in person during the Third Shinobi World War—at least his reanimated body—and that alone was enough to crush an entire division. The man summoned meteorites like rain. And what's worse…" Ōnoki continued grimly, "this Uchiha Yue… from the information we've gathered… he summoned a complete Susanoo—a chakra avatar over a hundred meters tall. That's a feat we only ever saw from Madara himself."
Loess swallowed hard. The Susanoo was no ordinary jutsu. Only those who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan in both eyes could even begin to manifest it. To summon one on that scale at such a young age was… unthinkable.
"And then there's Sarutobi Hiruzen," Ōnoki added, his tone darkening. "The 'Professor' of Konoha, the man hailed as the strongest Hokage of his time. His battle prowess in the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars was legendary—he mastered all five basic chakra natures, wielded Enma the Monkey King, and was feared across the continent."
"Yet even he… was effortlessly defeated by Uchiha Yue. Captured, humiliated, and ultimately killed—reportedly without resistance. That is the gravity of what we're dealing with."
Loess felt his stomach twist. He had heard of Sarutobi's might. Even Ōnoki, though no friend to Konoha, had always acknowledged Hiruzen's strength.
"Then what do we do?" Loess asked, his voice steadier now despite the dread in his chest. "Are we just going to sit by while this monster grows stronger in the middle of Konoha's civil war?"
Ōnoki's eyes narrowed, but Loess pressed on. "Even if he's already as powerful as Madara, it's unlikely he can maintain that level of chakra output for long. He's still young—his body may not be able to handle it. The combat reports show that his use of Susanoo was brief. That's a critical weakness."
At that, Ōnoki finally nodded, absorbing his son's assessment. "Yes… that's a good point. The Mangekyō has drawbacks—vision loss, massive chakra drain. Uchiha Yue may have reached terrifying heights, but he's still constrained by a mortal body. At that age, the strain must be immense."
"And Father," Loess added, striking while the iron was hot, "this time Konoha hasn't kept the situation under wraps. The other villages—Kumo, Suna, Kiri—must've also received this intel. If we move swiftly, and coordinate with the others, we may have a chance. Yue may be formidable—but not invincible. Not yet."
"Hmph." Ōnoki grunted thoughtfully. "You're right. The time to act is now. If we allow him to stabilize, gain followers, and grow into his full strength, we may be dealing with a threat greater than even the original Madara or Obito with the Ten-Tails."
He looked at his son firmly.
"Send everything we have to the other Hidden Villages. Details on Uchiha Yue's Susanoo. The death of Sarutobi Hiruzen. Any connection to Uchiha Madara's combat data from the Fourth War. If we want them to take this seriously, we need to show them exactly what we're facing."
"Yes, Father." Loess bowed and departed swiftly, already preparing transmission seals and scrolls.
With that decision, Iwagakure made its move.
And so, as the wheels of war turned again, the other Great Nations—Kumogakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure—received their own warnings. A name once only uttered in legend was being reborn in a child of the present.
The countdown to an early Fourth Shinobi World War had begun.
Meanwhile, far from Iwagakure, within the now-unstable core of Konohagakure, Uchiha Yue sat calmly in a quiet training field. His eyes flickered with an ominous glow as he absorbed the chakra essence of a recently fused material, the very air around him shimmering with raw power.
Suddenly, a message scroll was handed to him by Uchiha Tianyin, who bowed respectfully before vanishing.
Yue opened the scroll, his Sharingan scanning rapidly. His brow furrowed.
"Four of the Five Great Nations moving simultaneously?" he muttered. "In the original timeline, not even the Uchiha Massacre caused a response like this."
"Could it be… the death of Sarutobi Hiruzen triggered such panic? Or is it just the sheer dread of the Madara name echoing again through the shadows?"
He chuckled softly. "So much for the plot."
Rolling the scroll closed, Yue's expression turned cold. "It doesn't matter. The Shinobi World has always chosen fear over reason."
"Let them come. Let all the great villages unite. I am not the one who should tremble."
His aura surged with crimson chakra, the faint outline of a skeletal Susanoo forming behind him.
"Since they're so eager to walk the path of destruction… I'll grant their wish."
And with that, Uchiha Yue stood at the center of a storm only he could control.
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