[Sasuke Uchiha: "So we're finally moving on to the next spotlight…"]
[Hashirama Senju: "By the way—who's next?"]
[Tobirama Senju: "Hmph. If it's Uchiha Madara, I'm not watching."]
[Izuna Uchiha: "You're an idiot, Tobirama. Don't watch then. Just sit there while my big brother reaches Six Paths and wipes the floor with you clowns!"]
[Madara Uchiha: "Also—why did Obito's video cut off without me at the end?"]
Madara looked genuinely puzzled.
Why wasn't he there?
A Six Paths–level Madara shouldn't lose, right?
[Obito Uchiha: "Enough chatter. I'm using the Rinnegan to revive everyone in the shinobi world!"]
With a surge of power, Obito revived the Uchiha clan en masse.
Minato and Kushina returned as well.
The two looked at Obito, eyes complicated.
After all the stupid things he'd done…
"I'm sorry, Sensei Minato, Sister Kushina," Obito said quietly. "From here on, I'll atone in my own way…"
He'd already chosen a path—
like Itachi, watching over the shinobi world from the shadows.
[Mikoto Uchiha: "Sasuke, I finally get to see you again…"]
[Sasuke Uchiha: "Mom… what about Dad?"]
[Itachi Uchiha: "Father is with me."]
[Fugaku Uchiha: "Sasuke, I need to speak with your brother."]
[System: "Selecting the next spotlight target…"]
["Selection complete!"]
["Now tallying the most respected ninja in the Naruto Mobile game…
who is also the Uchiha clan's strongest—Uchiha Madara!"]
A hush fell over the new generation.
They'd been roasting Madara a while ago—
and now this?
[Madara Uchiha: "Good. It's finally my turn… Time for me to dance."]
[Hashirama Senju: "Madara, your schemes won't succeed!"]
[Izuna Uchiha: "Naïve! My brother becomes Six Paths in the future. How could he possibly fail?"]
[Boruto Uzumaki: "If we're spotlighting Madara… which era are we starting from?"]
[Sarada Uchiha: "Same! I'm kind of excited to see our ancestor…"]
[Inojin Yamanaka: "Question—was Madara really the Uchiha's strongest?"]
In the Boruto era, Inojin barely finished before Boruto cut in, scowling:
"Inojin, enough. Sasuke-sensei is the strongest!"
"Is he? Because I'm not feeling it…"
Inojin sweat-dropped. This guy hyped Sasuke every waking minute.
If you didn't know better, you'd think Boruto was Sasuke's actual son.
And Sarada was no better—always praising the Seventh…
The new gen sometimes joked Naruto and Sasuke's kids got swapped at birth.
[Fourth Raikage A: "So who is the strongest Uchiha?"]
[Boruto Uzumaki: "No contest. Sasuke-sensei!"]
[Izuna Uchiha: "Absolutely my Nii-san!"]
—Bodies lay strewn across the earth.
War fed on war, and children barely seven or eight were dragged to the front lines.
By a lakeshore, a boy sat alone—Madara.
He palmed a small stone, weighed it, then whipped it across the water.
No matter how he threw, it fell just short of the opposite bank—
always by a hair.
Just as Madara's frustration peaked, a stone whistled past his ear.
It skipped the surface—tak-tak-tak—and glided neatly to the far shore.
Madara turned, guarded. "Who are you?!"
"When you throw, lift your angle a touch, and then—"
The bowl-cut boy smiled as if sharing a secret.
"Shut it. I know that much. I asked who you are," Madara snapped, irritated.
"I'm Hashirama. I won't say my surname—for… reasons." The mushroom-headed boy chuckled.
"Fine. Watch me. This time, I'm making it across."
Madara rolled his shoulder, took aim, and let fly.
Hashirama's face grew oddly serious.
"That hand motion… Just as I thought—shuriken form."
The stone skipped a few times—
and still failed to reach the far bank.
Hashirama glanced at Madara, deadpan.
Madara bristled. "You! You stood right behind me on purpose, didn't you? Trying to make me mess up?"
"I'm… extremely sensitive. If someone stands behind me, I can't—" Madara scowled, grasping for words. "—I can't perform, all right!"
Hashirama squatted down, hands laced behind his head, looking like a dejected mushroom.
People watching the sky-screen blinked in confusion.
These two would become the God of Shinobi and the Demon of the Shinobi World?
[Izuna Uchiha: "Nii-san, so this is how you met Hashirama…"]
[Tobirama Senju: "Hmph. This is when that wicked Uchiha began luring my brother astray!"]
[Boruto Uzumaki: "So that's what friendships were like in the Warring States era…"]
[Sarada Uchiha: "I thought our ancestor was all stern dignity as a kid…"]
[Hashirama Senju: "Hahaha! Madara, that takes me back!"]
[Madara Uchiha: "Hmph. Hashirama—now I can throw to the other side."]
[Hashirama Senju: "Seriously?"]
Their little back-and-forth had everyone grinning.
Hashirama sulked, then threw in a snarky comment;
Madara snapped, glaring;
Hashirama pouted harder…
Then a corpse drifted down from upstream.
Both boys froze.
If there was a body here—
that meant their clans were fighting nearby.
This place wasn't safe.
Madara glanced back at the boy and left a name. "I'm Madara."
He didn't offer a surname either.
In the Warring States era, names could get you killed.
If the other side learned your clan, things escalated fast.
In just a few minutes, the new gen sat stunned.
So many bodies… so casually…
And the legendary Madara?
Not a stiff, icy tyrant at all—but brash, prickly, even… funny.
[Boruto Uzumaki: "I can't believe the First Hokage was like that as a kid…"]
[Sarada Uchiha: "Their chemistry is hilarious—Madara keeps roasting the First, and the First gets all insecure."]
[Iwabee Yuino: "Then Madara apologizes, and Hashirama pops off with some sassy one-liner, hahaha!"]
[Chōchō Akimichi: "If I remember right… weren't the Uchiha and Senju sworn enemies back then?"]
Author's aside: I was going to start from "kicking the coffin," but then Madara's screen time would've been too short. The Warring States memories aren't long—two chapters should bring us to the founding era. (Also… if you're enjoying this, show some love—Grandpa's dialysis bills are still short. (ó﹏ò｡))
—And in that brief meeting by the water, two boys walked away without exchanging surnames.
Behind them, the lake carried a silent witness to endless feud.
Hook: In the trees across the lake, two masked figures watched their retreating backs—one with a fan crest, one with a swirling leaf. When blades and banners meet at dusk, will "Hashirama" and "Madara" still be just boys… or enemies fated to kill?
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