Madara Uchiha

was the leader of the Uchiha clan prior to the formation of Konohagakure.

Background
Before the era of ninja villages, Madara was the most gifted member of the Uchiha clan. Even by his clan's standards, Madara's chakra was unusually strong. He grew up constantly competing and training with his younger brother, Izuna Uchiha. In their efforts to surpass the other, each gained their own Mangekyō Sharingan. With the power of the Mangekyō the two brothers took control of the clan, with Madara acting as its leader. Under his leadership, the clan conquered all they came across. Because of the never-ending series of battles of the time, Madara eventually began to suffer from overuse of the Mangekyō Sharingan, leaving him blind. In order to regain his sight he took Izuna's eyes for himself, granting him an "eternal" Mangekyō Sharingan with which he led the Uchiha to prosperity. While Itachi Uchiha would later go on to state that Madara took Izuna's eyes without his consent, it is unknown if this is actually true.

Over the years, the Uchiha had constantly fought with the equally powerful Senju clan and as such, Madara had an undying rivalry with Hashirama Senju, the leader of the Senju clan. To bring an end to the constant fighting, Hashirama approached the Uchiha with an offer of peace. Although Madara never wanted peace with the Senju, the rest of the Uchiha wished to end the fighting, and Madara had no choice but to accept. 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, the Uchiha turned their backs on him, believing he only desired more power.

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 Madara used the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox against Hashirama. Control of the Nine-Tails was ultimately taken from him and Madara was believed to have died. Shortly before his death Madara awakened his own Rinnegan and is also known to have fought with Ōnoki at one point.

Decades later, a masked-individual known as Tobi began operating under Madara's name. Tobi is intimately familiar with Madara's history, sharing his animosity towards Konoha and the Senju and even going so far as to claim that Izuna willingly gave up his eyes. It is, therefore, difficult to say which actions were those of Tobi and which were those of the real Madara. At the very least, Madara is aware of Tobi's existence. This masked man is known to have manipulated the Fourth Mizukage, been the cause behind the Nine-Tails' Attack on Konoha, participated in the Uchiha clan Massacre, and taken a hand in creating and leading Akatsuki. While many characters are surprised that "Madara Uchiha" could still be around so many years after his supposed death, they accept Tobi's word on the grounds that only Madara would be capable of such actions.

While Madara's resurrection during the Fourth Great Shinobi World War lends credibility to the belief that he is actually dead, it does not appear that he was actually killed during his fight with Hashirama and when revived, he assumes Nagato was responsible.

Appearance
In his youth, Madara had long, spiky shoulder-length black hair with a blue tint. Unlike Izuna, Madara did not keep it tied in a ponytail. He also wore the standard Uchiha clan's outfit: a high collared black shirt with the clan's crest on his upper back and blue pants with bandages at the ends, though Madara tends to leave the collar of his shirt open. On his waist, he had a bandage belt that held a sack that presumably holds ninja tools.

Upon declaring truce with the Senju clan and founding Konohagakure, Madara had let his hair grow even longer, to nearly waist-length. He also wore the village's forehead protector, and red armour, similar in appearance to those worn by the samurai and the Senju. Upon defection, he seems to have discarded the forehead protector.

Abilities
Madara is considered by many notable individuals to be one of the most gifted shinobi in history and one of the most powerful that has ever been produced within the Uchiha clan. He has been noted to have been born with particularly powerful chakra, which even the Nine-Tails claimed to be far more sinister than that of its own. The fact that he fought and survived numerous battles with Hashirama Senju, who was recognised as the strongest ninja in the world in his time indicates that Madara was also one of the strongest ninja of his time.

According to Kabuto, Madara's revived body is special compared to others brought back through Impure World Resurrection, claiming that his strength is greater than that which he had in his prime.

Taijutsu
By his prime, Madara had become highly proficient in the practices of both taijutsu and kenjutsu, aptly demonstrated when he effortlessly disarmed a shinobi of his sword and grabbing it, cut a swath through a considerable portion of the Fourth Division by just using his mastery in this area alone. His sword style is reminiscent of a graceful dance, displaying both elegance and dexterity even while holding the blade with a reverse grip, and when combined with the prediction abilities of his Sharingan, it is almost impossible to hit him through normal means. With just a single roundhouse kick, he was able to repel several shinobi, further attesting to his strength.

Nature Transformation
Madara has shown great aptitude in the use of high level Fire Release techniques, having displayed his considerable mastery of the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique in the anime. In the manga, it required several shinobi utilising a combination of numerous water release techniques, to extinguish just one of his Fire Release techniques. As a Rinnegan user, he possesses the potential to gain mastery over all types of nature transformation.

Sharingan
Madara managed to master his Sharingan by a young age, a feat that he received significant praise for. Using it, he could instantly place a victim under a paralysing genjutsu with just a single glance, leading those who had faced him to advise others to not look directly at his eyes, whilst confronting him. Like Itachi Uchiha, he seems to have reached a stage where he could have his Sharingan activated for extended periods of time, with minimal drain on his chakra levels.

Mangekyō Sharingan
Madara was the first amongst the Uchiha to activate the Mangekyō Sharingan. He and his brother Izuna, who awoke his own soon after, used this new power to assume control over the Uchiha clan. However, after his eyesight progressively worsened to near blindness through its use, Madara implanted Izuna's eyes into his own body, which then awakened a new "Eternal" Mangekyō Sharingan, a combination of his own and Izuna's Mangekyō Sharingan. With it, he never had to fear the risk of losing his eyesight again. Itachi suggests that when he gained the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan he seemingly acquired a new unknown technique as well.

Madara has since used his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan to fully control even the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, and has also awakened the ability to use Susanoo in battle while it is active. Unseen in others' variations, Madara's Susanoo demonstrates two entirely different sides that are conjoined along their respective spines, with each displaying a pair of arms and face that are distinct from the other. It wields undulating blades in the right hand of each side and it appears to be capable of contributing towards some of Madara's techniques, as it was seen forming hand seals together with him during battle.

Rinnegan
According to Madara, he awakened the Rinnegan shortly before his death and possesses the ability to switch between both it and his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan at will. Like other users, Madara is able to use the techniques of the Six Paths, including that of the Preta Path, with which he was able to easily absorb the chakra from one of Naruto's strongest techniques. When these abilities were combined with his Susanoo, he could pull a massive rock towards the battlefield from the atmosphere above.

Equipment
Madara has been shown with a diverse range of weaponry over the years, with him carrying a war fan for most of his life, up until his battle with Hashirama. In addition to the war fan, he had a kama with him when this confrontation took place. He is also seen wielding various types and numbers of swords, at different times throughout his life, ever since his days on the battlefield.

Shinobi World War Arc
As Tobi prepares for the Fourth Great Shinobi World War against the Allied Shinobi Forces to capture the two remaining jinchūriki and complete his Eye of the Moon Plan, he is approached by Kabuto Yakushi, a former associate of Akatsuki, who requests that he be allowed to help in the war-effort. To force Tobi's consent, he resurrects several deceased Akatsuki members, followed by Madara Uchiha. Shocked that Kabuto had such information at his disposal, he allows Kabuto to assist him in the war and consented to Kabuto's request to hand over Sasuke Uchiha, with the stipulation that he be handed over after the war.

After Naruto Uzumaki takes out several of the resurrected shinobi, Kabuto finds himself forced to use his trump card and has Mū summon the revived Madara to the battlefield. Madara assumes that Nagato has finally used the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to bring him back from the dead but Mū corrects him, explaining that he was brought back under the Summoning: Impure World Resurrection technique. Shocked to some extent that he was brought back in that form, he asks who is responsible for their revivals. Because Mū does not know, Kabuto takes full control of him and speaks through Mū introducing himself, identifying himself as Tobi's assistant and explaining that Madara has been restored beyond what he was in his prime. Finding it somewhat dreary to talk to someone through a corpse, Madara questions Kabuto about what he knew of his prime. Kabuto then tells him nothing and asks him to show him why he is revered so.

Leaping into action, Madara begins his assault on the Fourth Division and one of Naruto's shadow clones. He uses the Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation technique that took several shinobi's attacks to counter. Using the cover created by that he then attacks the shinobi directly, commandeering a sword and proceeding to tear through their ranks. As Naruto attacks Madara from above with the Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan and Ōnoki raises the ground below his feet sending him on a collision course, Madara activates his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and uses Susanoo to shield himself from the attack. After Gaara uses the sand lightened by Ononki to pull Madara out of Susanoo and into the path of Naruto's Rasenshuriken, Madara activates his Rinnegan and uses the Preta Path's ability to absorb the attack, claiming it was 'too much'. When Kabuto tries to take credit for the improvements to Madara's powers, Madara tells him that they are still his own. Together with Susanoo he forms three hand seals and pulls an asteroid from the sky earthbound towards the battlefield.

Trivia

 * can be translated as "spots".
 * According to the third databook:
 * Madara's hobby is training with Izuna