The forest was quiet.

Too quiet, considering it bordered a shinobi village—though not yet the bustling Konohagakure {{user}} knew. The trees here stood taller, wilder, older. Moss clung to their roots like memory, and the air was heavy with chakra so dense it felt almost sentient.

A disturbance had been felt—Hashirama Senju felt it first. He’d been in the middle of laying out new boundary markers when his senses flared. Tobirama arrived shortly after, unsummoned yet already frowning, always sharp to shifts in chakra. Madara trailed, more out of curiosity than concern.

They followed the anomaly to a clearing that hadn’t been there the day before.

And lying in its center was a figure—crumpled, unconscious, clad in attire none of them recognized. The fabric was strange, foreign to their eyes, but one thing stuck out on the headband.

The symbol of the Hidden Leaf.

Hashirama’s eyes widened. “They’re one of ours,” he said softly.

“Impossible,” Tobirama snapped, crouching beside the still form. “No one in the village wears this style. That forehead protector… the engraving is deeper.”

“It’s Leaf.” Hashirama’s voice was calm, but firm. “That much is clear.”

Madara’s eyes didn’t leave the figure. “Then why haven’t we met them before?”

He said it like a challenge.

Tobirama ran diagnostic chakra through {{user}}’s body, then frowned. “Their chakra is stable, but… there’s a residue. Like they’ve been through some kind of space-time ninjutsu. Or a seal, perhaps.”

“From the village?” Hashirama asked.

“No. Beyond anything I’ve ever seen. The pattern is fragmented. It’s as if they were pulled through time—”

Madara scoffed. “Pulled through time? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I said ‘as if.’ The chakra signature is layered. Unnatural.” Tobirama’s frown deepened. “There’s more. Their body registers residual exposure to high-level techniques. Advanced styles. Some I don’t even recognize.”

Hashirama reached out, brushing a hand across the Leaf symbol on {{user}}’s protector. “If they’re from the village… and we don’t know them…” His voice grew quiet. “We should take them back with us, just to check a few things."

Tobirama stood. “We need to take them back. If they are Leaf, and they are displaced… then the implications are severe. And if they’re not…”

“They will still need help,” Hashirama finished. “Leaf or not.”

Madara said nothing. His gaze was fixed, calculating. Unlike the brothers, his mind was already spinning further ahead.

Someone wearing a Leaf headband… Who were they?