The Uchiha patrol finished their hand seals as Jie approached.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Several fireballs tore through the forest and converged on him.
Jie frowned but made no attempt to dodge. He had ignored their warnings and entered their territory, so their reaction was understandable.
The flames struck him head-on and swallowed his figure.
The patrol watched the burning ground, surprised that he had not tried to escape. Before they could decide whether the fight was already over, Jie walked out of the fire without a single injury.
Even his clothes remained untouched.
The Uchiha immediately tightened their formation. Two moved to the sides while the others remained in front, ready to cover one another if Jie attacked.
"He's unharmed!"
The oldest member of the patrol stepped forward.
"I'll hold him here. Return to the clan and inform the lord."
His voice remained steady, but he clearly understood that he would not be able to stop Jie for long. The order was meant to ensure that someone reached the clan before the stranger could follow them.
Before the others could respond, Jie crossed the remaining distance and appeared in front of them.
The patrol reached for their weapons, but he stopped several steps away. Seeing Uchiha from this era was interesting, though their guarded expressions made it clear that the misunderstanding had gone far enough.
Jie activated his Sharingan. Three tomoe appeared in each eye.
His eyes had evolved far beyond the ordinary Sharingan, but he could still display any of their earlier forms. Showing anything more advanced would only create further trouble.
"Calm down. I'm also an Uchiha."
The patrol's hostility eased, though none of them lowered their guard completely.
The Sharingan was genuine, and the three-tomoe form marked Jie as an experienced member of the clan. The problem was that no one recognised him.
The Uchiha clan was not so large that an elite with a mature Sharingan could remain completely unknown. In an era where every capable fighter mattered, someone like Jie should have been known throughout the clan.
The patrol leader studied him carefully.
"If you are an Uchiha, which branch are you from?"
Jie did not answer.
The patrol leader waited before changing his approach. "Please remain here for a moment. I'll send someone to inform the lord."
"That's fine."
Meeting the clan leader would save Jie the trouble of searching for the Uchiha compound himself.
One of the patrolmen immediately left.
The others remained around Jie, still cautious but no longer treating him as an enemy. Their leader casually questioned him about where he had come from and whether he had been away on a long mission.
He also mentioned several family names, apparently hoping that Jie would recognise one and reveal where he belonged. Jie answered vaguely while asking a few questions of his own, but the patrol leader carefully avoided discussing the clan's location, strength, or current movements.
Neither side learned much before several new chakra signatures entered Jie's senses.
One of them stood far above the rest.
The chakra was so strong that the nearby patrolmen seemed insignificant by comparison. Even before its owner came into view, Jie knew this could not be an ordinary clan member.
A group soon appeared between the trees, led by a young man in red battle armor. His long hair fell around his serious face, and a large gunbai rested against his back.
The patrol's posture changed as soon as he arrived. They stepped aside without being ordered, allowing the newcomer to approach Jie directly.
The patrolman who had left earlier followed behind him.
"Lord, that is the man."
The young clan leader kept his eyes on Jie.
"Kento said an Uchiha he didn't recognise appeared near our territory. He also said you possess the three-tomoe Sharingan."
His voice was calm, but Jie could feel the scrutiny behind it. The man's appearance and chakra left no room for doubt.
Madara Uchiha.
Jie could feel that Madara was already near the height of his power. If he had reached this stage, then Hashirama Senju should also be close to his peak.
Jie had found the era he wanted.
Madara studied him just as carefully.
The Sharingan in Jie's eyes was genuine, and the quality of his chakra clearly pointed to Uchiha blood. Yet Madara had never seen him before.
As clan leader, he knew every important fighter in the family. A young man with a mature Sharingan and enough strength to ignore several Great Fireballs should not have been able to appear from nowhere.
The most likely explanation was that Jie descended from a clan member who had disappeared or settled elsewhere years ago. That would explain his bloodline, though not why someone of his strength had suddenly approached Uchiha territory alone.
Whatever the truth, the conflict with the Senju was growing worse. Madara had no reason to drive away a powerful Uchiha before learning where his loyalties lay.
He was considering how to bring Jie back to the compound when Jie spoke first.
"You're Madara Uchiha?"
It sounded like a question, but his tone suggested that he already knew the answer.
Madara's eyes narrowed slightly.
"I am. Who are you?"
Jie smiled.
So there was no mistake.
"My name is Jie Uchiha. As for who I am…"
He stopped.
Explaining that he had come from the future was out of the question. Even if Madara believed him, it would create far more trouble than it was worth. There was no need to invent a complicated background when his real purpose had nothing to do with joining the clan.
"My identity isn't important," Jie said. "You only need to know why I came."
Madara watched him in silence.
Jie's Sharingan remained fixed on him. He had heard countless stories about Madara's strength, but reputation alone could not tell him how the man compared to the strongest ninja of his own era.
There was only one reliable way to find out.
"I came here to fight you."
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