Hollowed Martyr - Naruto X RWBY

An Old Soul In A New World

It took nearly 10 minutes for Madara to cease his howling laughter, partially because of the burning pain in his chest. His eyes went down to his torso, and his eyes widened a fraction. The gaping hole that once inhabited his chest was no more, only darkened scar tissue covering the wound. The blank face of Hashirama Senju stared back at him, face marked by the power of his famous Sage Mode.

Madara could no longer feel the pull of death on his soul, the result of the Juubi being expelled from his body. The ancient martyr raised his hand to wipe the dried blood from his eyes, stopping momentarily at the discoloration of his right arm.

'Zetsu...'

He slowly got to his feet, each movement sending burning pains through his chest. He stood at full height, noting that he was a few inches shy of what he had been upon death.

'This type of Reanimation...has regressed my body?'

Madara could feel that his chakra reserves had been lowered heavily, now matching what he had held in his teens. He could feel the sensation of his body shifting, once foreign cells worked to fix all damage, whether it be internal or external. But still, the process was slower than what it had once been.

Madara looked around for the caster of the jutsu, only to see forest surrounding him for miles. He was in a small clearing, only illuminated by the broken celestial body above. Extendenting his senses as far as they'd go, not one single chakra signature found its way into his mind.

'How peculiar.'

Madara took a moment to really analyze his body. Along with his decreased height, his arms were a bit skinner, his muscles less pronounced. His body felt much more youthful and energized. It seemed that he was truly in the body of his younger self, plus some of the additions that had been a part of his older body. It confused the Uchiha, but he wasn't going to question it.

With nothing better to do, the ghost of the Uchiha began to walk through the woods. Each step is like a hollowed bolt of thunder. He made sure to keep a keen eye out as he stalked the forest, staring into the shadows every few minutes. As he continued walking through the dense woods, he let his mind wander.

'Where am I? The shattered moon only leaves two options left. Either this is a different realm entirely, or Naruto and Sasuke destroyed the moon to stop the Mugen Tsukuyomi. But that still doesn't explain how I still walk this earth. Did they revive me? Why? All I have done is cause pain and suffering upon the world, I do not wish to continue living anymore.'

Madara's thoughts were broken by a shifting in the trees. The shinobi quickly halted himself and tensed his hands, preparing at a moment's notice to weave any hand sign. Time seemed to freeze as he stared into the dense woodland, ready for whatever was hiding to jump out and fight.

"Don't think you can hide from me. It disgusts me that you would even attempt to try against a man of my battle prowess." Madara's words felt like stone, unbreakable in their authenticity, so much so that it seems that the beast agreed.

As the shadowy figure descended from the woods and into the clearing, Madara allowed his eyes to widen just a fraction. In front of him was no shinobi, nor man, nor animal. No, staring Madara in the face was a monster of immense size, nearly double Madara's own. It had midnight fur covering dark skin, a boney mask painted ivory and red masking two eyes that gleamed of demonic crimson. Its teeth were bared at its target, growling as it stared him down. Madara could only liken it to some sort of wolf. But even with all of its bark, the shinobi was unfazed. He had stared down much worse in any of his three life times.

"So you are who challenges me? How disappointing." Madara said, not moving an inch as the monster bared its teeth. Without warning it pounced, aiming to crush Madara's throat in its jaws.

A poor decision.

Madara sidestepped the initial rush, slamming a sandaled foot into its chest with enough force to crack several ribs. It whimpered in pain as it flew into a tree, shaking the trunk with a loud thunk.

The former martyr took a moment to activate his infamous dojutsu, a red lens overtook pure darkness, three tomoes spinning lazily as he stared down his foe. Madara noticed that upon pushing at the gates to his Mangekyou, they didn't budge.

It seems his eyes had reversed as well.

But Madara quickly distracted himself with the inner workings of this creature, his wretched eyes detecting no energy at all. No chakra, no power. Not even a soul. Yet it stood strong as it went to attack him again.

Truly a demon.

Madara simply raised his hands, forming the infamous hand signs before inhaling deeply. His eyes remained still as he spoke with no emotion.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu."

Red hot flames gushed from Madara's lips, igniting the grass and engulfing the creature. It screeched in pain as its flesh burned away, bone mask charing before crumbling to ash along with the rest of the giant wolf. The smoke cleared from the newly formed crater, showing Madara the extent of his attack.

Madara stared at the smokey crater silently, letting his Sharingan fade away. The wind picked up slightly, rustling his large mane of hair as he stood frozen in time.

'Another creature ended by me. Perhaps I should have just let it kill me and be done with this.' Madara lamented bitterly, he stood still for a second more, before turning and walking deeper into the woods, leaving a path of scorched grimm in his wake. And as he walked through the woods, he had no idea of the civilization he would eventually come across, the act of which would change the course of history forever.

Author's Note: Just to clarify, Madara has access to his Elemental Ninjutsu, unlike Itachi does in One More Chance. However, he only has his Three Tomoe Sharingan. No Mangekyou, EMS, or Rinnegan. Not yet. Although, he does still have his Hashirama Cells and Sage Mode.