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Shizuka stood silently as she watched the msaked man, who proclaimed to be her long-dead twin, preach the nonsense that came from his hidden mouth. Her expression twisted into one of scrutiny. She couldn't help but wonder whether what he said was naught but a fool's errand, or even worse, a scam.
She didn't buy it.
If all it took for world peace was a mere jutsu, then he forgot that peace required proper reconciliation between the people and the building of interrelations.
While it is true that the foundations of the village were flawed, one must not ignore that it was built out of a desire to escape the constant clan wars during the warring states era, her era. As someone who witnessed the moment the Uchiha and Senju worked together, she could confirm that she'd rather live in a united force than not. However, she couldn't refute that the death of loved ones were caused by the wars that they started. She lost most of her family to that tumultuous era long ago, and more to injury or illness, or simply through time.
Despite the pain that she experienced, Shizuka was sane enough, unlike her remaining brethren, to know that waging war and invoking the wrath of the Five Great Elemental Nations was not the way to attaining world peace. Although, it forced the nations to finally united as one against a very precedent and common threat. Ah, how did her clan fall from such heights? Now, her descendants were speaking of these imperfect plans that meant little to most of them.
Upon stretching her chakra out to see if she could identify the masked man again, Shizuka cursed quietly. She hadn't anticipated Madara would inflict the same despair he experienced during their era on another person, much less the innocent and bright Uchiha boy that she once knew. Losing a loved one was one of the most painful experiences, which she knew firsthand. Yet to drag someone into his ideals for the reason he wanted to see his plans come to fruition was beyond reckless.
See here, she also read what was on the Uchiha Stone Tablet. In the end, the elder thought it was pure heresy and nonsense that she was tempted to destroy it for what it's worth. However, despite being the clan head at the time, she had neither the authority nor power to make such a drastic decision. How unfortunate that she was unable to take some of these matters into her own hands.
The longer she listened to the spiel, the less patience she had for the identified, which she did so silently, masked man. "This foolishness must end," muttered the former matriarch.
Bee and Gyūki were surprised to see the seemingly weak woman jump off of him and landed behind the three other Leaf ninja below. It caught their attention when they heard the faint rattle of her armor. Her age did nothing to hinder her prowess or physicality thanks to the seal that she and Tobirama created that maintained her youth. Her Sharingan spun into life, glowing a bright crimson as a prelude to her intentions. That gaze alone was a declaration of battle, if not war.
Naruto still held that justified anger in his expression, something that Shizuka wanted to apologize the young boy for harboring that kind of emotion. It melted into surprise when she came over and clapped a gentle hand on his shoulder, blue eyes staring at her with confusion, "You have done enough, Young Naruto. Let me continue from here."
Knowing not to disobey the ancient and powerful Uchiha, Naruto nodded numbly with a sound of acknowledgement and stepped back. None of the younger ninja behind her ever saw that cold, hard look in her eyes before this war. It reminded the Leaf ninja present of how she fought her reanimated husband, Ryūnosuke, by herself so that no one in the Third Company would encouter his many poisons, and that bittersweet kiss filled with tears at the end when she sealed him.
The masked man, Obito, scoffed when he saw Granny Shizuka step up. Though the flicker of her Sharingan in her eyes didn't escape his notice, he bluffed, "What is one more person supposed to do to help? You are but one woman."
Unfamiliar with her true strength, Obito must pretend that retained the upper hand when his borrowed chess pieces were rendered unavailable and all he had left was the eye he borrowed as well as the additional power he obtained. He recalled from his childhood memories the rumors of Clan Elder Shizuka's true prowess back in the day. It was a shame that he wasn't there to see her in her full glory, which meant that he was in danger of being utterly destroyed by an old woman because he didn't have enough information.
She pointed her sheathed katana at the masked man and wore a face that spelled mockery. Shizuka smirked and laughed breathily, "If you really were Madara as you claim, you'd know when to flee. Based on whta I felt before, you are so weak right now that it isn't even worth unsheathing my blade. I don't know what my brother did to your poor soul, but you are not up for this, Impersonator."
She knew that Obito was bluffing. Even through the muddled chakra, she was confident that scaring the young man with her flames was likely enough for him to rethink his decisions for life, if not in the moment. She let her chakra flare to give everyone a taste of some fraction of her true power.
It made the adults break out in cold sweat. Even Kurama was unnerved when he felt the flames that burned within. It promised protection for the allies and destruction for enemies. Naruto looked like he was shocked by both his newfound friend's reaction and the sheer power that she displayed.
Shizuka chuckled and weaved the hand signs that undid the chakra limiting seal. "It's time to put you brats back in your places," she smiled ominously, "I'm done with this meaningless dribble."
Obito spread his arms outward. "Then come! I'll prove that your involvement will not improve! You cannot stop this plan!"
It was a matter of time before Obito regretted provoking someone as powerful as the former matriarch. He hadn't anticipated that she still had such speed. He hadn't anticipated her chakra coils to have gotten bigger either, or did they? The older woman must have been hiding her real level of chakra this whole time.
Shizuka was a spark of lightning when she suddenly appeared before him and swung her blade at him. Luckily for himself, his ocular prowess allowed the sheathed blade to pass through him. The Honored Matriarch of the Uchiha seemed displeased by his advantage and tried to deliver a second strike, which was blocked by the gunbai.
A scoff and harsh laugh came from the usually gentle woman. Those Sharingan were filled with contempt and an unknown warning. "Did you borrow my brother's gunbai for fun, brat?" Shizuka hissed, "did he put you up to this charade, I wonder?"
Obito hastily forced her away. He had a feeling that the older sibling of his boss was merely toying with him at this point. There was no way he was able to force her away that easily. This wasn't a mere battle, this was punishment for his crimes.
"Our clan's downfall was brought upon by your decisions on the day Young Naruto was born. Not only did the Uchiha fall, you were responsible for the lives that were lost that day, including the Fourth and his wife, the former of whom was your master, Obito," she spoke only loud enough for him to hear, so the others couldn't overhear their conversation.
With his identity exposed by the Great protector, Obito guarded himself again. Behind his mask, he hoped that his panicked expression didn't show, and that a look of suspicion was all that was portrayed through his eyes. "How did you know?" he dared to ask.
While his true name now mattered little, to be discovered so easily by this respected figure didn't bode well with him. What was she going to do, now that she knew?
Shizuka relaxed, though left herself open. "What twin sister would I be if I couldn't recognize my own twin brother's chakra signature? You don't carry the same amount of fire in yours, my boy. Knowing him, he would never cut his hair. He didn't lose his left eye for his dear friend or sacrifice his own strength to push his own friend out when he killed his own for power," explained the more armored out of the ones present, "and I always remembered your chakra signature."
He didn't need to be called out on his insufficient knowledge of his boss like that. This was embarrassing. Obito cannot allow this to shake him.
He forced an attack regardless but couldn't land a hit on her. She was either sidestepping or blocking his attacks effortlessly. To her, it didn't look like a fight, but rather a simple dance of dodging his every attack.
Obito found it a mockery of his efforts thus far. It was unfair that he ended up having to cross blades with one of the Uchiha's most venerated ancestors who was also a much greater adversary than he expected. He resented that he had to go through this experience because he chose to be on this side. Clearly, he needed to open his senior's eyes, which was an impossible task.
The masked man backed away and Shizuka ended their clash. The older of the two withdrew back to the group and clicked her tongue. "I see you have improved over time. I wonder who took the opportunity to train you in secret?" she asked, though the look in her eyes suggested that she already knew that her real brother was responsible for the enemy's improvement in his prowess.
The masked man scowled and replied, "How can you not see what injustice the world did to you, Shizuka? My dear sister, our brothers all fell at the hands of war, to Senju! The Uchiha are almost all gone because of the establishment that is too crafted by Senju hands! Then, around us, more people die for the sake of war caused by the motivation to promote peace. All it needs is for everything to stop!"
Shizuka huffed and strapped their katana back on their belt. "You don't seem to get it either," the elder sneered, "life has helped me move past the pain. I agree that the world could do better with less war, and that conflict is ultimately unavoidable, but are you so antisocial that you forget that communication is a method of resolving conflict? War isn't necessary if people can be reasonable with one another."
Of course, the emotionally torn man wasn't able to process that. Driven only by his rage and anguish, there was no way he was able to understand where she came from. While she understood his turmoil, it wasn't a means to justify the actions that he committed thus far. This only gave more reason for Shizuka to express her irritation and disbelief. Ah well, more violence was expected.
"You kids constantly give me more reason to worry. One after another, you leave my sight out of desperation for something that cannot be regained or a bunch of lies. How am I going to manage you all?" she growled under her breath, fire chakra curdling inside her as the temperature aorund Shizuka rose, "this matriarch is about to be driven insane from your nonsense, Brother Dear."
Oh.
She's pissed.
The opposition is so dead if she catches them. Madara, Obito and Sasuke are in for a lashing of a lifetime.