The Land of Lightning's borderlands were in chaos.
Mountains carved by ancient chakra trembled under distant explosions. Forests burned under moonlight. A beast of living flame had awoken — the Two-Tails, Matatabi — and she raged across the wild terrain, hunted by those foolish enough to try taming her.
But Si Feng was no fool.
From a cliffside, he watched the devastation with his Sharingan glowing beneath his hood. The full moon reflected off his black armor, flanked by four elite Uchiha shinobi — veterans freshly recalled from the warfront.
"The Lightning-nin are closing in," one reported. "But they're scattered. They don't have the numbers to contain her."
"Good," Si Feng said. "They'll soften her up for us. We move at dawn."
Yet they were not the only ones watching.
Beneath the roots of an ancient tree not far from the battlefield, a spiral-masked man stood unmoving, his one eye spinning with the Sharingan.
Beside him, from the bark of the tree itself, a pale-skinned figure emerged — Black Zetsu on one side, White Zetsu on the other.
"So this is the one?" White Zetsu mused. "The boy who broke the Uchiha clan and took the One-Tail?"
Black Zetsu's voice slithered like oil. "He has potential. But he is not the one the Mother awaits. Not yet."
The masked man — the shadow of Madara himself — remained silent. He watched Si Feng's chakra flare as he channeled the One-Tail's power through his veins.
So similar… the old ghost thought. And yet different. He doesn't know the world must burn.
Meanwhile, on the far side of the continent, another battle raged in the Rain Country.
Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru stood battered but alive before Hanzo the Salamander, leader of Amegakure — the man feared across the nations as a god of war.
Smoke filled the ravine. Jiraiya's hair was scorched. Tsunade bled from a slash across her ribs. Orochimaru, ever calm, smiled through the pain.
Hanzo stood, unscathed, his rebreather hissing with toxic mist.
"You've earned names today," he said, voice echoing. "From this moment, you shall be known as the Sannin of Konoha."
The three shinobi tensed, expecting a final blow — but Hanzo turned away.
"I have no interest in children's politics. Go back and tell your Hokage: the Rain will not bend to the Leaf."
As they vanished into the mist, far to the east, Si Feng's storm approached.
The next morning came like thunder.
Matatabi's roars echoed through the valleys, her twin tails of blue flame lashing through rock and forest alike. Lightning ninja lay broken and burned, unable to subdue her fury.
Si Feng and his team moved in — fast, precise, and relentless.
He activated his Mangekyō Sharingan mid-leap, the world slowing around him. Matatabi's wild chakra flickered before his eyes like threads of light. His Susanoo erupted forth, armored in crimson energy, shielding him from a direct fire blast.
"Fan out!" he commanded. "Contain her movement!"
Two Uchiha shinobi deployed barrier seals, while the other two unleashed coordinated fire-style techniques, driving Matatabi toward a gorge. The beast roared in defiance, tearing through one of the barriers, incinerating an elite with a burst of flame.
Si Feng didn't flinch.
He leapt above her, channeling the One-Tail's chakra into a condensed bomb — smaller, faster — and fired it directly into her eye.
Matatabi screamed, staggering. For a moment, the flames dimmed.
That's when he struck.
With Mangekyō spinning, he activated a complex genjutsu overlay — one layered with the chakra signature of a fellow Tailed Beast. The illusion confused her instincts, slowing her reactions just enough.
"Seal, now!" he roared.
The remaining two shinobi threw down a four-point seal formation. With a roar, Si Feng forced Matatabi back into the center using Susanoo's armored arm — and activated the fūinjutsu he had personally modified using ancient Uchiha scrolls.
Flames exploded outward as the beast was consumed in light — then drawn into the black spiral seal etched across Si Feng's chest.
When the light faded, only smoke remained.
The valley was silent.
His team was breathing heavily. Two were dead. One was badly burned. But they had done it.
Si Feng had captured the Two-Tails.
Now two monstrous forces slept within him — Shukaku and Matatabi — and their chakra coiled like twin dragons in his veins.
But with power came consequence.
That night, in the Hidden Leaf Village, Sarutobi read the urgent report with trembling hands.
"He's captured another one," the Hokage said, voice flat. "And he's grown stronger. The Uchiha are no longer contained within the village's walls. They are no longer soldiers. They are a sovereign force."
"The Raikage is already calling for war," an advisor said grimly. "This cannot continue."
Danzo stood in the corner, arms crossed. "Then we must end him. Before the boy becomes something we cannot kill."
Sarutobi didn't respond. He gazed out the window at the peaceful village streets, knowing that peace had already shattered — they just hadn't heard the glass break yet.
Far away, in the woods near the battlefield, Zetsu watched the aftermath. The ground was scorched. The trees were leveled. The chakra that lingered was suffocating.
"He's absorbing them too quickly," Black Zetsu muttered. "If he continues at this rate, he may awaken more than he can control."
Madara's shadow faded deeper into the trees.
"Let him try," the ghost said. "Let him burn himself alive chasing gods. If he survives… then perhaps… he is worthy of betrayal."
In the darkness, Si Feng stood alone at the edge of the gorge, staring into the smoke.
Two Tailed Beasts now rested within him — the beginning of a path no Uchiha had ever walked.
He touched his chest where the seal pulsed faintly.