As the chief completed speaking, a palpable change swept through the crowd.
The initial fear was replaced by a defiant, almost reckless courage.
"We will see," some muttered, a grim resolve hardening their faces.
"I will kill at least one ninja before my death," another declared, his voice firm.
A general sentiment echoed through the secret base: "We have nothing to lose."
The desperate situation had unexpectedly galvanized them.
As they were full of talking, discussing their meager defense plans and newfound resolve, a sudden, jarring sound cut through the noise, the heavy thud of their secret base's main entrance being sealed from the outside.
All eyes turned immediately to the now closed entrance, a wave of confusion and alarm washing over their faces.
The chief, his mind racing, quickly scanned the faces of his people.
He couldn't find Ishiki.
A dreadful suspicion began to form.
He rushed to the heavy door, throwing his weight against it, but it was blocked firmly, inexplicably, by something massive and unyielding.
"Ishiki! What are you doing? Open the door!" the chief shouted, his voice laced with urgency and betrayal.
Outside the base, Ishiki stood a short distance from the newly sealed entrance, listening to the muffled shouts and the chief's frantic voice.
His expression was one of profound sadness and determination.
"Chief," Ishiki said, his voice quiet but carrying the weight of his decision, I don't want to put your lives in danger because of me.
The ninjas are hunting me.
He took a deep breath, steeling himself against the cries he knew would follow. "You all wait here. I will come back after solving this."
With that, Ishiki turned and began to move away from the base, his steps resolute.
He ignored the frantic shouts from the villagers and the loud, desperate banging noises echoing from the heavy door.
He knew his departure would be seen as a selfish act, perhaps even a cowardly one, but he believed it was the only way to save them.
He sighed, the sound heavy with the burden of his isolation, and looked up at the vast, uncaring sky.
Then, with a practiced motion, he opened the System panel that only he could see.
Immediately, a vibrant notification flashed across the virtual screen: New Gadget Unlocked.
----On the other side of the village's periphery, the intense manhunt continued.
Both Madara and Hashirama were being hotly pursued, each with a relentless tail of three ninjas.
They could clearly sense the fluctuating chakras of their enemies, a mix of two chūnin and one powerful jōnin in each group.
They were skilled enough to manage the chūnin, but the presence of the jōnin made the fight immensely difficult and life-threatening.
Madara, finally deciding to force a confrontation, stopped abruptly at a wide, open clearing.
He turned, his dark eyes locking onto the three figures who had been relentlessly following him through the dense trees.
The jōnin, a scarred man with an aura of lethal confidence, sneered.
"You brat killed our people today. Now you are dead."
Madara looked at them. His expression was dangerously neutral, yet his eyes held a cold, unwavering killing intent that was so potent it sent instinctive chills down the spines of the three ninjas, momentarily stalling their advance. He didn't speak a word.
Without wasting a moment, he began weaving a rapid succession of hand signs.
His chakra swelled, and he slammed his hands to his mouth, unleashing the Great Fireball Jutsu.
The resulting fireball was colossal, a roaring inferno that instantly scorched the earth as it hurtled towards his pursuers.
The ninjas scrambled to escape the sudden, overwhelming heat and force.
Two managed to dive out of the blast radius, but the third, a chūnin, was too slow.
He was engulfed by the flames, his agonizing screams quickly cut short as he burned.
Madara watched the death, his face utterly devoid of emotion, a terrifying contrast to the inferno he had created.
Seeing their companion die a brutal death, the jōnin roared in a fury that surpassed caution. He lunged, a blitz of raw power, and kicked Madara with bone-crushing force.
Madara, anticipating the rage, used the Body Replacement Technique.
The log he substituted with shattered, and he instantly reappeared behind the remaining chūnin.
A swift, silent strike, a kunai to the neck, killed the second ninja before he could even register the substitution.
The jōnin's anger escalated to a blinding rage. He abandoned all subtle tactics and began a relentless assault, throwing powerful, enraged punches and unleashing a torrent of wind release jutsus.
It was a suffocating offensive that gave Madara no space to counter or breathe.
Finally, Madara was caught.
A powerful wind-enhanced strike connected with his chest, and he was sent flying across the clearing, crashing hard against a tree trunk before collapsing to the ground.
Seeing his opportunity, the lone jōnin began walking slowly towards the apparently defeated Madara, intending to deliver the final, killing blow.
Madara lay weakly on the ground, his body aching, yet his eyes, filled with an incandescent hatred, were fixed on the approaching ninja.
As the jōnin neared, just a few meters away, something deep inside Madara snapped, triggered by the imminent threat of death and his own burning hatred.
His eyes, in a moment of desperate clarity, transformed: the pupils became black and the irises turned blood-red, with a single, black tomoe appearing in each.
Madara had awakened his Sharingan.