As his body began to fade, Sasuke's soul didn't cool — it burned hotter. Failure did that to him. The revenge he'd spent his whole life sharpening had ended here, in this ditch, and the Sharingan blazing in his dying eyes only fed the fire: every memory it dragged up was another reason to hate. His clan's slaughter. His brother's back. Naruto's stupid, unkillable optimism. All of it flooded through him at once, rage with nowhere left to go.
Then a voice cut through the static, calm in a way that felt almost insulting.
"[System]: System activation initiated due to the sudden death of the host. Emergency procedures are commencing."
His essence tore loose from the world and dropped into the dark.
======= ==========
He came to inside the system space itself — no real room at all, just a bare projection of one: a bed, a closet, four blank walls, conjured to give his mind somewhere to stand. He didn't waste time being confused about it. He faced the reflection the system offered him anyway.
The face that looked back was his, unchanged — the same face he'd died with, down to the exhaustion still carved into it. Only the eyes felt different: still black, but with the hate burning a little closer to the surface now that nothing was left to spend it on.
"[System]: Greetings, Sasuke. Welcome to the system space. I am here to guide and assist you. This system has been designed to help you conquer goddesses in different worlds."
Of course. Of course it was one of those.
"You needed me dead to switch on?" he said flatly, disgust curling into every word.
"As long as you follow the original path of your life and attain adulthood, the system will activate automatically."
"That's not happening." He didn't even have to think about it — the old story disgusted him on principle. "You think I can wait until I'm eighteen to take my revenge? Every year I sit still, they get stronger. I'm not handing them that gift."
"[System]: Without knowing my existence, what you said makes sense," it replied, unbothered.
He let that sit for a second, jaw tight, then pushed forward. "Why did the Sage strike me down?"
"[System]: Host, you already know the answer. He waited a thousand years for Naruto. He wanted the two of you to protect this world together and pass it to whoever came next — and you were about to burn that down along with Naruto."
"I was going to kill the people who deserved it. And that idiot Naruto, who kept trying to—"
"[System]: Host. Enough ranting. Think about your next move instead."
"Then give me something to think about."
"[System]: You have two options. Return to the Naruto world, where you have a hundred percent chance of dying. Or vanish, travel to other worlds, gather power, and build a new life."
"And my revenge?" His voice dropped, but there was no defeat in it — just an edge, waiting to be used.
"[System]: I'm not built for revenge. I'm a goddess-collection system. My purpose is helping you attract women."
That landed like a slap. He almost laughed at how absurd it was — everything he'd bled for, and this thing wanted to hand him a dating sim instead. "Is there something wrong with me?" he demanded. "My head. My — whatever this is now."
The system paused, actually considering it. "Your spirit appears stable. Without a physical body, I can't judge much beyond that." A beat. "You're an incorporeal form right now — nothing more."
Sasuke didn't answer. Neither option was worth taking, and he wasn't going to pretend otherwise just to move the conversation along.
The system tried again. "I can reverse the timeline of the Naruto world — one, maybe two years. You'd start fresh: travel, take missions, grow stronger, work toward what you actually want."
"Take it back further," he said immediately. "The night of the massacre."
"[System]: The reversal already costs a considerable portion of my reserves. Push it past three years and you lose the memories you're carrying right now. Reliving the massacre without remembering why would mean suffering it twice for nothing."
"Could I do it later, then? Once you've recovered?"
"[System]: It only gets harder with time. Push it far enough and you risk splitting into a branch timeline — not one you'd want to be stuck in."
He filed that away instead of arguing it. "Tell me what you can actually do."
"[System]: You earn points. Spend them in the system mall — supplies, weapons, knowledge, training for yourself or for the women you recruit. You gain points by collecting them, helping them, or completing missions."
"Is there a starter pack?"
"[System]: Beyond this space, yes. A new Mangekyō Sharingan on activation, chakra retuned for broader compatibility, and ten healing potions."
He frowned. "I already have a Mangekyō."
"[System]: When the timeline resets, your current one disappears. A new one integrates with your body in its place."
"Can I fuse the two once I awaken it again? Reach the Eternal Mangekyō that way?"
"[System]: Host, fusing an identical Sharingan doesn't produce the Eternal Kaleidoscope."
"Then what's the point of giving me one I can't use for that?"
"[System]: The one you'll receive is more durable — on par with Indra's. Reaching the Eternal Mangekyō won't be difficult for you regardless. That part isn't something you need to worry about."
Sasuke closed his eyes, just long enough to let the anger settle into something colder and more useful. No one was going to hand him his revenge. Fine. He'd build the tools himself. Time reversal was the only real option on the table, and he intended to burn everything it bought him.