At this moment, Fugaku Uchiha was facing the Masked Man alone…
Earlier...
Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline had found Fugaku Uchiha on the streets of Konoha, maintaining order while non-combatants were being evacuated.
Because of the Third Hokage—more precisely, because of Danzō's forceful orders—the Uchiha weren't just mistrusted, they were outright barred from joining the front-line battle.
Even though many clan members begged Fugaku to let them fight, he refused, wary of the measures Danzō might take afterward.
That was when Minato Namikaze found him and told him about the Masked Man.
"His accomplice called him… Madara," Minato said.
Fugaku Uchiha frowned. "Impossible. Someone must be impersonating him."
Madara Uchiha had been the clan head generations ago, dead for over forty years, and personally buried by the First and Second Hokage. How could he still be alive?
"I think so too," Minato replied. "Has the clan lost any Sharingan recently?"
Fugaku looked at Minato. "In the past few decades, among all clan members who died in battle, the only Sharingan we never recovered was Obito's."
He was telling Minato that because of Obito's last wish, and for the sake of the bigger picture, he hadn't taken Kakashi's left eye to return it to the clan vault.
"Anyone else?" Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline had already met the adult Kakashi who served as Naruto's mentor, so the Masked Man absolutely couldn't be him.
Fugaku knew Minato didn't want to suspect his own student, and sighed.
"If he had a Sharingan, I could identify it quickly. But…"
"Is something troubling you, Fugaku-san?"
Fugaku's expression hardened. "Danzo Shimura has always been wary of the Uchiha. This time, he even suspects that one of our clan used the Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails. Our assigned mission is to aid the evacuation of civilians. We're forbidden from going anywhere near the front lines unless it's absolutely necessary."
His tone was calm, but Minato could clearly feel the hidden frustration in this stern clan head.
This was a man with a deep sense of duty, someone who had been struggling to hold together the fragile relationship between the clan and the village.
Yet with external pressure from Danzō and the counselors around the Third Hokage, and internal hawks like the Great Elder Setsuna Uchiha, Fugaku's wish to fully integrate the Uchiha into Konoha—just like the other clans—was nearly impossible.
"Then allow me to testify for you," Minato said. "Even though I'm not the Minato Namikaze of this parallel world… I believe you're the only one who can uncover more information on the Masked Man."
Fugaku paused. He still didn't quite understand what a parallel world meant, but he chose to trust Minato.
He issued his command. "Everyone else, continue protecting the evacuation route for non-combatants. I'm heading to the front lines to confront the Masked Man who released the Nine-Tails."
"Clan Head! Let us go with you!"
"Yeah! We're an elite clan of Konoha. How can we fall back to do logistics at a time like this?!"
"Exactly! How are we supposed to hold our heads up in Konoha afterward?!"
The young Uchiha fighters raised their voices one after another.
"Quiet!"
Fugaku Uchiha released the full weight of his authority as clan head. "Konoha's orders are absolute. From this moment on, everything I do represents only my own decisions. None of it reflects on the Uchiha Clan."
"Clan Head!"
The clan members immediately understood—he was taking all the blame onto himself. Even if Konoha's higher-ups pursued responsibility later, they would only be able to investigate him alone.
…
Minato from the Kannabi Bridge Timeline and Fugaku Uchiha soon located the Masked Man.
They weren't surprised when the Masked Man called out Fugaku's name the moment he saw them.
Another roar from the Nine-Tails shook the entire village.
"What is your true goal?!" Fugaku shouted. "How did you even learn about the Nine-Tails?!"
The Masked Man let out a low, mocking laugh. "I told you already. I have my own intelligence network. The Nine-Tails will be mine."
He paused. "As for what you mean by my goal…"
"If you ask why I want the Nine-Tails, the answer is to unify the world."
His voice grew colder.
"But if what you really want to know is why I ordered the attack on Konohagakure, whether it's revenge or something else… call it whatever you like. The outcome is the same."
He tilted his head slightly, a faint smile beneath the mask.
"Think of it as a whim if you want… or destiny."
Far across the village, the Nine-Tails opened its jaws. A black sphere formed in its mouth, red and blue chakra spiraling into it.
Minato's eyes widened. "A Tailed Beast Bomb! I need to get to that battlefield now!"
Fugaku nodded. "Leave this one to me."
"Be careful," Minato said before vanishing with Flying Thunder God, reappearing atop his own Hokage Rock in front of the rampaging beast.
Only Fugaku and the Masked Man remained.
At this point, Fugaku had not yet awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, but as the strongest shinobi of the Uchiha Clan, his mastery over the three-tomoe Sharingan was already at its peak.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
He meant to test the Masked Man's speed with a low-cost jutsu.
But to his shock, the enemy didn't panic—he didn't even dodge.
No… he moved. He was charging straight into the Great Fireball.
Was he looking down on his Fire Release?
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Fugaku layered another jutsu on top of it and split off two Shadow Clones to attack from both sides, sealing off all escape routes.
But the Masked Man still didn't dodge. He calmly stepped straight into the overlapping flames.
"What?!"
Before Fugaku could process it, the Masked Man emerged from the fire with barely a scratch, his orange mask now less than a foot from Fugaku's face.
A surge of danger hit Fugaku like a shockwave.
He jumped back instantly.
The Masked Man lunged, reaching for him, but Fugaku lashed out with a kick aimed at his torso.
To avoid being struck, the Masked Man's upper body turned intangible.
The kick passed through him, leaving both sides unharmed and disengaged.
Fugaku's crimson Sharingan spun as he fixed his gaze on the Masked Man. "Space–time ninjutsu… no. A space–time dōjutsu?"
"As expected of the Uchiha Clan Head. You figured it out immediately."
"Are you Madara Uchiha?"
The Masked Man sneered. "Who I am doesn't matter. If you believe I'm Madara, then I'm Madara."
He hadn't expected Fugaku to shoot down that claim so swiftly.
"Every Mangekyō Sharingan ability owned by our clan is recorded in our genealogy," Fugaku said. "Whether it's Madara or his younger brother, neither their Mangekyō pattern nor their abilities match yours."
"..."
"I am the Uchiha Clan Head," Fugaku continued, his three-tomoe Sharingan locked on the hollow eyehole of that orange mask. Behind it, he saw a pattern he had never seen before.
Which meant—
"You're not Madara. But you are an Uchiha. And you possess a Mangekyō Sharingan."
"..."
....
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