Saturday, May 1, 2010

Uchiha Madara History


Background


Madara Uchiha as a young man.
About eighty years before the Fourth Great Shinobi World War, Madara grew up in constant competition with his younger brother, Izuna Uchiha, who were both known as the most gifted members of their clan. Their competition led to both gaining the Mangekyō Sharingan, and, with it, they were able to take control of the Uchiha clan, Madara acting as its leader. Even by his clan's standards, Madara's chakra was unusually strong. In an age defined by war, all he did was battle, and still he sought to become even stronger. Under his leadership, the clan conquered all they came across. Over time, he began to lose his sight because of the Mangekyō Sharingan. To regain his vision, he took his brother's eyes (an act Madara said his brother had consented to), and gained the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, allowing him to continue to lead the Uchiha to prosperity.
In the years that followed, the Uchiha constantly clashed with the equally powerful Senju clan. To bring an end to the constant fighting, the leader of the Senju, Hashirama Senju, approached the Uchiha with an offering of peace. Although Madara never wanted peace with the Senju, the rest of the Uchiha wanted to end the fighting, and Madara had no choice but to go along with their decision. The Senju, the Uchiha, and all the clans they had conquered came together to form the village of Konohagakure. Against Madara's wishes, the villagers selected Hashirama as the village's First Hokage. Madara feared that Hashirama would oppress the Uchiha, and tried to rally support for challenging his leadership. Rather than help him, however, the Uchiha turned their backs on him, believing his only motives were due to pride and the desire for more power.


The battle between Madara and Hashirama.
Abandoned by his clan, Madara left the village, later returning in order to challenge Hashirama in battle. They fought at the site that would someday be called the Valley of the End, where, although Madara called upon the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, he was defeated, and was believed to have died. Madara faded into memory, and, in time, would found Akatsuki and become Kirigakure's Mizukage. He also appears to have fought the Third Tsuchikage at one point in his life as noted by the Fourth Raikage, although the results of that battle were left unclear.
Twelve years before the start of the series, the Nine-Tails attacked Konoha. Although Madara denied having had any involvement in the attack, Itachi Uchiha and Minato Namikaze said that the Nine-Tails was under Madara's control at the time.[5][6][7] A few years later, he infiltrated Konoha to try and rekindle the flames of war. He was found by Itachi first, who convinced Madara to spare the village in exchange for helping to wipe out the Uchiha clan for deserting him decades earlier. Madara complied, training Itachi and providing assistance. Itachi never truly trusted Madara, however, and kept an eye on him for the rest of his life. Madara also met with Danzō Shimura around the time of the massacre, but did not see each other again until after Danzō fled the Kage Summit.

Personality


Madara as he appeared during Konoha's founding.
Compared to his Tobi personality, Madara's true personality is considerably calmer and much more serious, but he still has a habit of joking around and disrespecting everyone around him. Despite his current limitations in battle, he is extremely arrogant, insulting even the strongest ninja and treating Akatsuki members as mere tools. While speaking derogatorily to Pain, he still recognized his power as the strongest in Akatsuki and for possessing the Rinnegan. There are only a handful of exceptions that he admires, the most prominent being Hashirama Senju.
Madara has shown great ability in manipulating others to do his work for him. Minato believed that he was using Pain's ideology against him in order to control him. He similarly befriended Sasuke in order to get him to join Akatsuki by telling him about Itachi's past, even though he has an apparent interest in Sasuke and his abilities. He appears to have a somewhat twisted outlook with respect to this, often avoiding responsibility by claiming that people acted voluntarily when they were really coerced or manipulated by him.
Madara has set his goals in getting Sasuke on his side to serve Akatsuki's goals. As such, he was pleased that when Itachi died, no one would be able to prevent him from telling Sasuke the truth of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. Madara expressed disappointment when Sasuke failed to retrieve the real Killer Bee, and was worried that he may not be easy to control. However, whenever Sasuke enters deeper into the darkness of revenge, Madara shows delight, the most prominent being when Sasuke's hatred fully develops Susanoo, and when he sacrificed Karin topierce Danzō's heart.
Madara possesses an extreme hatred towards the Senju clan and the Senju-led Konohagakure, as he is a descendant of the elder brother who was passed over being the successor of the Sage of the Six Paths. This hatred was compounded when the village chose Hashirama Senju to be Hokage over him. Madara admired Hashirama the most for his power, but still hated him. This hatred led Madara to a life dedicated to revenge. Madara believes that all Uchiha are destined to walk the same path of revenge against the Senju and Konohagakure, and that Naruto, who has inherited the Senju's Will of Fire, is fated to battle Sasuke, who has inherited the Uchiha's hatred, even if Madara himself must force them to do so.
Perhaps as a consequence of his old age, Madara seems to enjoy sitting down and taking his time with things, especially when telling stories, just like he told Itachi's story to Sasuke and his Moon's Eye Plan to the Kage and the samurai.

Abilities


Tobi using Whac-A-Mole Technique on Shino.
Most of Madara's abilities are still unknown. He has the strongest chakra of any Uchiha to ever live and is widely regarded as one of the most gifted ninja in history. He was described as a "very powerful ninja" by Minato Namikaze himself. He has also been noted to have been born with particularly powerful chakra, which he states is the reason for his "stubborn refusal to die". Even the Nine-Tails mentioned that Madara's chakra is even more sinister than its own. One of the abilities he has actually displayed is his speed, which, as Tobi, was apparently his only claim to fame. To that end, Kisame commented "he is a good runner". Madara also appears to have immense strength, as he was able to stop a slash from Suigetsu's giant sword with a single arm, as well as crush his own infected arm clean off with his other bare hand.[10] Ōnoki has alluded to Madara's power from before he took on the guise of Tobi by stating he shouldn't have to work from the shadows considering his power and skill. [11] Madara also shows to have vast knowledge and intelligence of the ninja world; just from analyzing his opponents using a jutsu once, he can identify that person as well as recognize and understand how their jutsu work.[12] He also was able to plan a counter-attack against Fū and Torune's decoy plan to turn it against themselves.[13] Madara is also shown to have enough knowledge of the human body to transplant eyes from one person to another. It was also stated by Fū that Madara has the power to completely hide his chakra from detection. When observed, both Karin and Shino Aburame noted that Madara's chakra would completely disappear and then reappear, depending on if Madara was teleporting away or to a location. Madara states it is within his power to locate Taka as they traveled to Konoha, if this means Madara can teleport to the location of anyone he wishes to find or is an unrelated tracking jutsu is currently unknown.
He was armed with a giant kusarigama with a war fan attached to it during the time of Konoha's founding, fitting with his clan's name, which means "paper fan". He is also said to have been able to summon the Nine-Tails. It is unclear if this referred to the use of the Summoning Technique or if he could produce enough human malice to bring it to his location.
However, despite all the high-caliber power he has shown so far, Itachi and even Madara himself both claim that the wounds he received from Hashirama Senju has left him powerless, an empty shell of his former self.

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