Madara suppressed a groan as his conscience returned. If it wasn't shinobi-rule number one, it should be; when awaking in an unfamiliar place, don't give any indication that you're awake before you're sure it's safe. His first discovery was 'I'm not tied up', followed by 'there's something on my neck'. He felt a presence close by, only one, and of the level of a civilian. Still, even a civilian could kill a Kage with preparation and a bit of luck, so Madara stayed on guard. After peaking through a half-closed eyelid, he deemed it safe to 'awaken', the presence coming from a woman with a white coat, purple hair tied in a ponytail, and glasses. He sat up.
The woman turned, and jumped. "Wha...? oh, you're awake. Don't scare me like that!"
Madara looked at her. "Who are you? Where am I?"
The woman gave him a somewhat sad smile. "You're on the Red Line, in the Holy Land of Mariejois to be exact. I am a doctor, my name is Lavia."
Madara frowned. He knew of doctors, medics that worked with medicine and tools instead of chakra, and fairly successful, but the rest of her words confused him. "Red Line? Mariejois? I have never heard of those places." It seemed he had been somehow teleported to a different place, which was good. Now he could lick his wounds, and seeing that Hashirama should be dead now, he could safely return once he was healed to remove Hashirama's berserker-orders from the bijuu, something he never had the time to do before, as they were given to the villages after he had left them.
Lavia stared at him. "You're kidding. How can you not know the Red Line, the only continent? You really are some country bumpkin, aren't you?"
Now Madara's patience was wearing thin. "Enlighten me then, before I do something you might regret."
Lavia laughed. "Nice bark you got, but we've already checked the Wanted-list. You don't have a bounty, meaning that you're not that dangerous." Her face darkened and she muttered, more to herself. "Even if you were, it wouldn't matter now." She shook her head. "Anyways, I might have something laying around here that will help. Just let me find it... here!"
Madara frowned. As with all shinobi of his level, there was a bounty on his head. A ridiculously high one too. Anyways, he looked at the paper Lavia had unfolded... and blinked. It was a map, but what it depicted was not like any map he had ever seen before. "What is this?"
Lavia rolled her eyes. "A map of the world, what else?" She cleared her throat. "As you can see, our world is covered mostly with water, with many islands of varying size, but only one supercontinent, the Red Line, which goes from north to south around the entire planet, separating the oceans. Most of the Red Line's shores are 10.000 meters above sea-level, and not even the most vicious storms even get close to us here on the top. You were pretty lucky, there is one heavily- guarded elevator dug through the mountain to reach the harbor and so that fishermen can go down and gather fish, which is pretty easy, considering that the currents force all fish to the shore. You were found by those fishermen, washed ashore, or rather thrown against the harbor. You cracked a few ribs there, but I'm amazed you weren't crushed. Anyways, back to our geology-lesson. Aside from the Red Line, which goes from north to south, there is also a giant current going from east to west, the Grand Line. The only safe way to reach it is through River's Mountain, as the Grand Line is boxed in on both sides by the Calm Belt, a area with absolutely no wind, and it is the breeding ground of the giant Sea Kings. The Oceans are the North Blue, the East Blue, the South Blue and the West Blue. If you're looking for pirates, those can be found everywhere, although the Marines keep them in check Anyways, Mariejois, were we are, is the seat of the World Government, and the home of the Tenryuubito."
The gears in Madara's head were turning. This made no sense! Either this woman was crazy, or the people here had somehow managed to overlook the Elemental Continent! Or, the Kamui had not pulled him to a different spot in his world, nor to his own pocket-dimension, as that was both dry and uninhabited, but to a completely different world! A short check, that went unnoticed by the doctor, calmed Madara, as he still had his chakra, and a mirror behind Lavia showed him that his Sharingan also still worked. Lavia was focused on the map, and Madara asked the question she had apparently been waiting for. "What are the Tenryuubito?"
Before she could answer, the door was kicked open. Madara immediately took a combat stance, while Lavia dropped to her knees, crossed her hands in front of her chest, and bowed until her forehead touched the floor, while calling "Welcome master Valnist."
The roughly fifty year old man who entered was wearing a full-body suit including pyramid-shaped helmet, had the oddest haircut Madara had ever seen, going up in a tower before splitting into three small curls just below the tip of the helmet. The man sneered at him. "Why is that still standing in my presence?"
Madara was busy trying to decide which bone he would break first, when Lavia looked up. "Forgive him master Valnist, he is confused and ignorant of the mighty Tenryuubit... argh." The man had kicked her.
"Did I allow you to speak?" He hissed, before turning to Madara. Said man had decided on the neck, and was now weighing different approaches, before he spoke again. "So, you don't know of the Tenryuubito?"
"Never heard of them." Madara calmly answered. Maybe he'd just toss the figure through the window.
Valnist sneered. "I knew it, a country bumpkin as I thought. Well then, I'll enlighten you. This world that you live in was founded by great kings. These kings in their blood held the superiority over all others, and the ones who inherited that blood are we, the Tenryuubito. We are superior to all others, and when you meet a Tenryuubito, we are easily identified by these helmets we wear so that we mustn't breathe the air you've filthied, you will bow, as all slaves should. Woman, I task you with teaching this bumpkin what he needs to know."
"Yes master Valnist." Lavia intoned, but the man had already left.
Madara helped her up. "What did he mean by slaves?"
Lavia looked down, before pointing at Madara's neck. "We are property of the Tenryuubito. I have been auctioned away, and you were claimed, as it was Valnist's men who found you. What you're wearing is a slave-collar. They can detonate it whenever they want. It will kill you, if you're lucky. Trust me, it's better to just keep your head down and do what you're told."
"Why am I wearing a collar and you're not?" Madara asked.
Lavia gave him a deadpanned look. "Because you're new. Those collars are usually only around your neck when you leave the Holy Land of Mariejois, as in here, there is no chance to escape. The only ones who always wear one are the new slaves, whose hope of escape hasn't been crushed yet."
Madara looked toward the door. "Are all Tenryuubito like that?"
A joyless snort answered him. "Honestly, Valnist is one of the better ones. He doesn't hurt us for entertainment and tries to avoid killing us, that's more than I can say for most others."
Madara weighed his options. "Where are my things?" He asked.
Javia shrugged. "Probably in some crate. Valnist was gone on business for a while, so he likely didn't have time to go through them yet. After that, he'll keep what he likes, the rest gets thrown away. But it'll be at least a week before anything related to duty will be done by Valnist, so if you want to go look for them, be my guest. Just don't cause any trouble."
Madara was torn. On one hand, he felt the urge to just kill all the Tenryuubito and be done with it, on the other hand he didn't know if what Lavia had said was true. He decided that he'd hang around for a while, avoid meeting the Tenryuubito, and observe and learn what he could. He didn't know enough of this world to pick a side.
Lavia looked at him. "Now I think I deserve some questions answered. Who are you, and how did you get here?"
Madara gave her a cold look, but decided she deserved to know that much. As he was a stranger in this world, it was not like she would recognize his name. "My name is Madara Uchiha. I was fighting with my life-long enemy, with the odds favoring him, and jumped off a cliff instead of giving him the pleasure of ending my life." It was as close to the truth as Madara could go without being declared insane.
Lavia smiled sadly. "I see. Perhaps it would have been better to die. What you'll face here will be hell."
Madara smiled as he walked out to take a look around. "A hell indeed, but certainly not for me."
