"Hahahahahahahaha!!!"
Uchiha Madara's laughter thundered through the void, an eruption of amusement laced with undeniable arrogance. His voice carried the weight of countless victories, his mirth shaking the very fabric of the strange, formless space he found himself in. He had fought gods and demons, rewritten the rules of reality with his own hands, yet this situation was beyond even his expectations.
But just as he basked in the absurdity of it all—
"I know."
A calm, measured voice sliced through the air like a kunai through silk.
Madara's laughter died instantly. His expression shifted—not in fear, not in anger, but in something even he could not fully comprehend. A foreign sensation settled in his chest. Annoyance? No. Frustration? Close, but not quite.
It was something far worse.
Embarrassment.
This child—Shouta Kazuki—had not reacted in the slightest. No astonishment, no confusion, not even a flicker of hesitation. As if he had expected everything. As if he had known all along.
The silence that followed was heavy, almost suffocating.
Madara narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the boy before him. His mind, as sharp as ever, raced through every possibility. This brat—who was he? Where did he come from? How did he possess knowledge of things that should have been lost to time? His ambitions, his grand design to unify the ninja world, even the delicate intricacies of the Moon's Eye Plan—none of it should have been common knowledge.
And yet, Shouta Kazuki knew.
The thought irritated him.
On the other hand, Shouta remained composed, his golden eyes reflecting neither excitement nor fear. He was studying Madara just as much as Madara was studying him. He was in control, and he knew it.
The moment he willed it, the summoning technique would be undone, pulling Madara into his psychic space—a realm unlike any other. A place where he held absolute authority. A domain that transcended the limitations of life and death.
Unlike Edo Tensei, which merely bound the deceased to the living world, his ability preserved their existence within his domain indefinitely. They could manifest in the real world as summoned entities, but the moment the summoning ended, they would not return to the afterlife.
They would return to him.
Madara prided himself on understanding the limits of jutsu. He had studied all forms of chakra manipulation, mastered the pinnacle of shinobi arts, and had even walked the path of the Sage himself. And yet—this ability defied reason.
A technique that could summon the dead and sustain them without using the Edo Tensei?
Impossible.
Unacceptable.
Madara clenched his fist, his pride burning like an inferno. He had been granted his prime body, restored to the pinnacle of his strength, his Rinnegan intact. Yet, despite possessing god-like power, he was utterly powerless in this moment. He couldn't even activate his Samsara Eye. A force beyond his comprehension kept him shackled.
And he hated it.
Before he could delve further into his thoughts, Shouta suddenly received a notification in his mind.
[Congratulations, Host! You have successfully summoned Uchiha Madara!]
[A random ability from the summoned has been extracted.]
[Congratulations! You have obtained: Indra's Reincarnation Chakra!]
Shouta blinked. Then, for the first time in a long while, his mind blanked.
'Wait… what?'
He had known that summoning a soul would grant him one of their abilities, chosen at random. He had anticipated this moment eagerly, his mind filled with the possibilities—Madara's Sharingan, his Mangekyō, his Rinnegan, perhaps even his legendary battle instincts or unparalleled chakra reserves.
And yet—
He had received Indra's Chakra.
His fingers trembled slightly. His breath hitched.
Indra's Chakra—the very essence of the Uchiha Clan. The primordial source of their power. The foundation upon which the Sharingan itself had been built.
'Wait. If I extracted Indra's Chakra from Madara… does that mean he no longer has it?'
The thought sent a shiver down his spine. That shouldn't be possible. The cycle of reincarnation dictated that Indra's chakra had already passed on—to Sasuke Uchiha.
"System," Shouta demanded, his voice steady but urgent. "Explain. How can Madara still have Indra's Chakra if it was already reincarnated into Sasuke?"
[Indra's and Asura's chakras do not dissipate upon the death of their reincarnations.]
[Even in the afterlife, Indra and Asura continue to exist as soul entities.]
[Madara and Hashirama still exist beyond death, despite their chakra having been passed on to Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto.]
[Thus, even in death, Madara remains a reincarnation of Indra, and his chakra still lingers within him.]
Shouta exhaled sharply. That… made sense.
Then another thought struck him like a bolt of lightning.
If he had Indra's Chakra, did that mean—?
[Reminder: Indra's Chakra is the purest form of Uchiha lineage. The Sharingan originated from it.]
[Now that the host possesses Indra's original chakra, he has undergone a bloodline reversion.]
Shouta's pulse quickened.
He could awaken the Sharingan. No, more than that. He had the potential to evolve it beyond anything seen before. If he started at the same level as Indra and Madara themselves, then…
Madara, meanwhile, continued to observe him, his keen eyes narrowing slightly. Something about the boy had shifted. The atmosphere around him, his very presence—it felt disturbingly familiar.
Not like Hashirama.
No, this feeling was different. The same sensation he had only ever felt in the presence of one person.
His brother, Izuna.
Madara's expression darkened. His fingers twitched at his side.
'What in the world is this boy?'
At that moment, in the real world, chaos reigned within the Ninja Academy.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, stood with furrowed brows. Raiga Kazuki, Shouta's grandfather, stood nearby, his eyes sharp with concern. Haruto Kazuki, Shouta's father, was tense, his fists clenched.
Shimura Danzo, watching from the shadows, let a slow smirk stretch across his lips.
'This boy… He may very well surpass Jiraiya.'
Just then—
BANG!
A cloud of smoke erupted in the center of the classroom.
And the next moment—
Shouta Kazuki reappeared in his seat.