Chapter 1

(Imperial Year 1024)

"I wonder how long it'll take for me to get to the capital… it's been three days by now," Tatsumi yawned as he settled down on the makeshift bed he made for himself using leaves and branches from nearby trees.

The young man with brown hair had been traveling for several days now, in hopes of reaching the capital. He had set out from his village in the countryside with his friends with the intention of joining the military to earn money for their village.

However, an unfortunate incident regarding a group of bandits had separated the three of them along the way, causing him to be all alone. He had no idea where his friends were or if they were safe, but he trusted that they would be able to make it to the capital and he'd meet them there.

They were planning to enlist into the military, after all. A simple thing like being separated shouldn't be a problem for aspiring soldiers.

"I hope those two are at the capital already. While I have faith that they can handle themselves, I can't stop being worried for their well-being."

Tatsumi took a moment to think about his friends before sighing. He should be sleeping now, because worrying about Ieyasu and Sayo would only cause him to stay up all night.

"I hope I see them again soon…"

Looking up at the night sky, Tatsumi smiled before closing his eyes as he surrendered to the warm confines of sleep.

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(Tatsumi's Mindscape)

The young man was having a relatively peaceful dream at first, wherein he and his friends became successful soldiers of the Empire and were able to bring home a ludicrous amount of money for their village. Their return was warmly greeted by their family and other loved ones, who were all cheering for them the whole time.

Everything was going well in his mind… until a pair of red eyes with three tomoes appeared in front of him and disrupted the whole dream.

"What the hell was that…?" he asked himself.

Tatsumi had no idea why, but he had a bad feeling about those eyes, as if he had just stared into death itself.

Upon seeing the pair of eyes, everything disappeared around him and only darkness remained. His dream had been interrupted by those eyes, and now he was just standing in a dark void with nothing as far as his eyes could take him.

That is, until he caught a glimpse of someone walking towards him from afar.

He raised an eyebrow in confusion, as he tried to make some sense of what was happening.

What were those eyes he saw just now? How did it interrupt his dream out of nowhere? Who is this person that's approaching him?

As soon as he was within his range of vision, Tatsumi took a good look at the approaching individual.

It was a man who bore spiky, black hair that reached his waist with shoulder-length bangs framing the sides of his face. He wore a blue high-collared, long sleeve mantle that splits down the lower half and a simple, light-brown obi and a belt. Over his clothes, the man wore crimson armor with numerous metal plates, forming protective guards along his chest, waist, shoulders and thighs. On his back was an orange-brown gunbai that had a long black chain running up it.

"Who are you?" Tatsumi asked as the mysterious individual stopped a few meters away from him.

"Who am I, you ask?" the man folded his arms while giving the teen a stern expression. "Someone you shouldn't anger or annoy, by any means."

Tatsumi rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Just my luck, I'm dreaming about an arrogant prick who's full of himself. Wonder if this is karma for ignoring the beggars I passed by earlier…"

The man didn't look amused. "Was that supposed to be a joke? A poor attempt at one, if I have to be honest."

"I don't know, what do you think? Stop talking to me already," Tatsumi sneered.

Normally, the young man was polite and kind to the people around him, but he wasn't in the mood for that now. After all, this guy was acting full of himself and ruined a good dream that he was having.

"Foolish boy," the man shook his head. "Do you think this is but a mere dream that you are in control of? You are in my domain and it would do you good to stay calm and listen to me."

"Your domain? You have a few screws loose, buddy. It's my mind, so I choose what happens here. I don't know who you are and how you suddenly showed up here, but I'd rather stop talking and just ignore you."

"You choose what happens? Didn't I just interrupt the dream that you were having? And it was quite a pleasant dream as well," the man smirked.

Tatsumi felt his patience wearing thin every time this mysterious stranger opened his mouth, and now he had reached his limit.

"All right, that's it. Who the hell are you?! I'm not someone who resorts to violence, but you're just pissing me off!"

"A short temper, I see. You remind me of a blonde knucklehead that I once fought with in the past," the man chuckled.

Having had enough of this stranger's arrogance, Tatsumi rushed forward and tried to punch him in the face, only for his eyes to widen when his hand went through the man completely. It's as if he was facing a ghost, and it made the young man take a step back in surprise.

"You say this is a dream, and yet you attack blindly without realizing I am not real. How stupid can you be?"

"Oh yeah? Then I'll just stop thinking about you, asshole!" Tatsumi fired back stubbornly.

In response, the stranger only shook his head before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I fail to understand why my abilities and prowess should be passed on to you, boy. You're not even worth most of the shinobi that I've fought back then."

"The hell are you spouting about now?"

"I will only say this once, because I don't wish to linger here for long. You'd do very well to keep quiet and listen to what comes out of my mouth if you want answers."

Tatsumi had the massive urge to refuse and tell this guy that he can shove it, but the moment he brought up 'answers', the teen was hesitant. Above all else, he was confused about what was happening and wanted some semblance of knowledge on his situation.

"Fine," he relented.

The man smirked and let out a dry chuckle. This boy really reminded him of a certain blonde brat whom he fought with in the past and he didn't know why, but it gave him a sense of nostalgia.

"For starters, I am Madara Uchiha. Greatest leader of the Uchiha Clan and one of the two co-founders of Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village."