The 4th Company had done well. Reports flooded in—Gaara's sand barrier had neutralized much of the damage from Rasa's gold dust and the other Kage's large-scale techniques. Mu, the Second Tsuchikage, had been sealed after a long and difficult fight; Gengetsu and the Third Raikage were still giving the Fourth Company hell, but progress was steady.
As I sat in the central command tent, the candlelight flickered across the tactical maps sprawled before me—battlefronts marked with chakra signatures, red for our enemies, blue for allied forces. My eyes, however, were sharper than any ink on parchment. With my Sharingan, I could see more than just troop positions. I could sense the chakra patterns shifting across the continents like tides before a storm.
"Report," I said quietly.
A sensor ninja kneeled. "Sir, the Fourth Company has successfully neutralized Mu and Rasa. However… the Third Raikage remains active, and Gengetsu's mirages are delaying sealing teams."
I nodded, my expression calm but my mind racing. "And the Fifth Company?"
"They're engaging Edo Tensei shinobi near the coastline. But…" His voice trembled slightly. "A massive chakra signature has appeared near the mountain ridge between the Second and Fourth battlefronts. It's—"
I already knew. My eyes narrowed, Mangekyō spinning slightly. That chakra was ancient, cold, and impossibly heavy. It pressed against the world like a suffocating stormcloud.
Madara Uchiha.
I took a slow breath. "So… it begins."
The command room fell silent. Even the hardened ANBU around me tensed. The legends they'd grown up hearing were about to become reality.
I stood, my cloak brushing the floor. "Mobilize the reserve forces. Reinforce Gaara's front immediately. I'll join the battlefield myself once I confirm the identity of this chakra."
"Sir, if you go—" one of the captains began, but I raised a hand.
"If it truly is him, no one else can stall him long enough. And I won't risk our forces being wiped out before we can regroup."
The room erupted into motion—messengers running, communication seals glowing, squads being redirected. I remained still for a moment, staring at the map.
Madara Uchiha. The man whose shadow I'd lived under for years. The man whose name had terrified generations of shinobi.
But I was not the same Itachi he once might have mocked. I had the Eternal Mangekyō. I had Konoha's forces, the alliance, and even an army of superhuman soldiers brought from another world under my command.
Still… something deep inside whispered that even all that might not be enough.
I stepped out of the tent, the cold wind of war brushing my face. Chakra flared across the horizon like lightning.
"So you've finally come back from the dead, Madara," I murmured. "Let's see if the world still has room for two Uchiha legends."