Chapter 24
It was during a tense, three-clan skirmish that Itama's path crossed Madara's. He was observing from a high ridge when he saw Madara, already a terrifyingly proficient fighter, corner a group of Senju. The Uchiha's Sharingan spun, predicting every move.
Itama acted. He couldn't copy Madara—he was very much alive—but he could create a diversion. He summoned five copies of fallen Uchiha warriors from his library and had them charge their own heir from different directions, shouting conflicting commands and causing momentary chaos. As the real Uchiha turned, confused and furious, Itama had the copies "die" dramatically to Senju counterattacks that he subtly facilitated with well-placed, copied earth spikes.
Madara stood amidst the dissolving copies (which to him looked like fallen comrades), his Sharingan recording everything but finding no logical source for the confusion. He glared into the forest, directly at Itama's hidden position. "A genjutsu?" he muttered, then louder, "Who's there? Show yourself, coward!"
Itama held his breath, his chakra suppressed to nothingness using a technique derived from **Devouring** the silence of a deep cave. Madara, after a tense minute, retreated, but the look in his eyes was one of simmering suspicion. The Phantom had made an enemy of the future Ghost of the Uchiha.