Land of Fire, an unnamed plain.
Cold winds howled, and the lingering scent of the recently ended Warring States era once again spread across this land.
Wearing a suit of silver Sengoku-era armor, his arm guards engraved with the crest of the Yui Clan — three crescent moons entwined — Yui Xuanyue swept his gaze expressionlessly over the battlefield. The corner of his mouth twitched hard.
All the "guests" here today… were old acquaintances.
Retsuto, A, Byakuren, Ishikawa.
And most of all —
His eyes lingered on the man standing directly ahead, clad in a red-and-white ceremonial robe, with a kasa hat marked by the character for "Fire."
Senju Hashirama.
The freshly minted First Hokage of Konohagakure.
Before this, however, he had far more resounding titles.
Head of the Senju Clan.
God of Shinobi.
"Really flattering, huh? The mighty Five Kage of the Five Great Villages, joining forces to deal with me alone."
Looking around at the five kasa hats labeled "Fire," "Earth," "Water," "Wind," and "Lightning" hemming him in from all sides, sealing off every escape route, Yui Xuanyue forced a bitter smile.
What had he done to deserve this?
Correction — was there even any need for this?
He hadn't committed any great crimes against heaven and man.
Faithfully carrying the noble qualities of a transmigrator crushed by an oncoming truck, ever since birth, he'd been a man of kindness.
Helping old grannies cross the street.
Playing shogi with old men.
Buying lollipops for little girls.
Handing out porridge to the hungry.
Repairing roads and bridges.
Which act of goodwill had he ever neglected?
At most… he had casually cleaned up some scoundrels with low morals, bullies, and thugs.
And of course, those cold-blooded ninja bastards who butchered innocents like weeds, never sparing a thought for human life.
Naturally, as he swept away trash, the scope of "trash" tended to expand. Perfectly normal.
This world was simply too much for a man educated by nine years of compulsory schooling — and not one of the "leaky fish" — to stomach.
And since he had the power… why not use it?
So, following the trail from local bullies, he moved on to clan leaders, tyrannical landlords, corrupt officials, and even long-established nobles, aristocrats, and lofty daimyo.
As for ninja, he began with rogue wanderers, expanded to clan shinobi, and eventually even members of the newly rising great ninja villages.
He had, without question, made a great many enemies.
But Yui Xuanyue never cared.
Who was he?
The present clan head of the long-esteemed and formidable Yui Clan.
Though the Yui had often come up short against the Senju in past battles, the fact that they could fight the Senju — the strongest clan of the Warring States — for so many years, and even sign mutual-aid treaties with the haughty Uchiha, proved their strength beyond doubt.
With Xuanyue's rise, the Yui Clan's prestige had soared even higher.
While Senju Hashirama was hailed as the God of Shinobi, Yui Xuanyue was publicly recognized as the most talented man among mortals — one who could stand shoulder to shoulder with the divine.
Now, Yui Xuanyue's power had already reached the very pinnacle of the shinobi world.
This was the source of his long-standing confidence.
But… those who walk the riverbank long enough eventually get their feet wet.
This time, it seemed he'd stumbled into a pitfall.
His heart grew heavy.
The First Kazekage, Retsuto.
The First Raikage, A.
The First Mizukage, Byakuren.
The First Tsuchikage, Ishikawa.
And the one man who always drew his eye — the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.
Each opponent had survived the ultimate high-level battlefield of the Warring States, and together, they had ended that era.
Though Xuanyue was strong, he could not, hand to heart, guarantee victory in a one-against-five.
Not with Hashirama, the walking cheat code, among them.
Doomed. Utterly doomed.
It felt as though crows were circling above, croaking their dirges.
Taking a deep breath, Xuanyue forced down the flood of thoughts, scanned his encirclement, and chuckled:
"My, my, what an honor. The five great Kage themselves gathered in person. Weren't you all supposed to be holding the Five Kage Summit right now, divvying up the banquet menu?"
At his words, the scarred and one-eyed First Mizukage Byakuren lifted his hat slightly, calmly locking eyes with Xuanyue.
"The menu has already been decided. The only dish left unserved is you, Yui."
Xuanyue spared him a glance, then turned toward Hashirama.
Hashirama was an honest man. Meeting Xuanyue's gaze, he sighed.
"The shinobi world has finally seen peace after so long. No one wants it broken again.
Xuanyue, you are too powerful. Your ideals are too extreme. After much deliberation… we could only choose this path."
Xuanyue blinked.
Wait. First of all, I'm not the Nine-Tails.
Second, "extreme ideals"?
What did I even say?
For a few seconds, he was dumbfounded. Then it came to him: maybe they were talking about when he'd offhandedly remarked that the Five Great Villages and Great Nations didn't mean true peace, only a twenty-year ceasefire; that real peace could only come with unification; that Hashirama lacked foresight; that Madara was a fool, and so on.
Seriously? Just for that?
It was only talk. Just talk!
For a man who in his past life had long studied the Way of the Keyboard Warrior, it was nothing unusual.
Actually working to unify the shinobi world?
He had zero interest.
Better to spend his time studying ninjutsu, expanding his clan, and living a quiet life behind closed doors.
How had these people taken his words so literally?
Xuanyue looked once more at the Five Kage, each radiating killing intent.
For the first time, he truly felt the price of running his mouth.
"I was only joking. Never once did I plan to act on it. Do you believe me?"
He shrugged and gave his honest explanation, not expecting them to actually listen.
Sure enough, before Hashirama could respond, the First Raikage A clenched his fist impatiently.
"So what if you were? Yui Xuanyue, you die today regardless!"
Byakuren, Retsuto, and Ishikawa all nodded in agreement.
Ishikawa spoke plainly:
"The order of the Five Great Villages is already established. To preserve that peace, Yui Xuanyue — you, the greatest power outside that order — must be eliminated."
"The daimyo of the nations are deeply dissatisfied with you. They've long demanded your head. Blame yourself for defying the order as a mere shinobi, and for failing to know your place," Ishikawa concluded.
The First Kazekage Retsuto, ever desperate for funding for his impoverished village, grinned and added:
"The Wind Country is barren. I even gave up our share of the tailed beasts at the summit in exchange for money. Many nobles share the daimyo's outrage. They hate you, Xuanyue — and they'll pay handsomely for your head."
The daimyo, nominal masters of the hidden villages and controllers of their desperately needed finances, still wielded immense influence.
To earn their hatred was a death sentence.
And combined with the Five Kage's resentment at Xuanyue's position outside their world order, the outcome was inevitable:
They had seized the chance while gathered for the summit, lured him into complacency, and struck together.
One-on-one, even if victory wasn't certain, Xuanyue could easily escape.
But five-on-one… his wings were clipped.
From the moment they appeared, his fate had been sealed.
Years later, Uchiha Madara would earn the honor of fighting the Five Kage alone.
But decades earlier, Yui Xuanyue had already received this most "glorious" treatment.
And Hashirama, the most broken of them all, was part of it.
Xuanyue no longer harbored illusions.
As Ishikawa had said, no matter the excuse, even if he'd done nothing worse than step on an ant, they would cut him down.
All for the supremacy of the Five Great Villages.
"Careless of me."
He shook his head.
It wasn't as though he hadn't realized he was a thorn in certain sides.
But his strength had blinded him to the danger.
Complacency kills.
He had thought the Kage Summit was merely about tailed beast distribution and alliances. He hadn't expected this hidden dagger.
The Five Kage — uniting to ambush one young man!
Unbelievable.
But did they ever consider what price they might pay?
Xuanyue's face hardened. Brushing the dust from his armor, his gaze grew colder and sharper.
At the same moment, the Five Kage, sensing his sudden surge of killing aura, steeled themselves for battle.
Among them, Hashirama alone wore regret.
He had always admired Xuanyue.
When founding Konoha, he had sincerely invited the Yui Clan to join the great family of the village.
Even though the Senju and Yui had much blood between them.
Even though his younger brother Kawarama had died at the Yui's hand.
If he could accept the Uchiha, how could he not accept the Yui?
But Xuanyue had refused.
He had no interest in humbling himself to join what he knew would become a trouble-ridden, blood-soaked village.
He knew too well the fate awaiting both Senju and Uchiha.
Nor would the Yui — with their long, bitter history against the Senju — agree to clasp hands with their old enemies.
Thus, a clan once rivaling Senju and Uchiha alike quietly declined in the decades after the Warring States, fading from the stage of history.
Yet compared with the Senju and Uchiha, who would one day be reduced to a mere handful of survivors, the Yui's slow decline was arguably the better end.
But Hashirama, blind to the future, could only sigh.
By nature, he would never have chosen this method.
But with the Fire Daimyo pressing him, the other four Kage unanimous, and Tobirama urging him ceaselessly, he had finally agreed.
All for Konoha.
Hashirama raised his hand, touching the "Fire" on his kasa. His gentle gaze sharpened.
The wind stilled.
Killing intent blanketed the canyon.
Hashirama was just about to move when—
"Hold it."
Xuanyue raised a hand in a "pause" gesture.
Hashirama froze, the expression he'd so carefully prepared slipping away in confusion.
Seeing him stop, the other Kage too hesitated.
What was Xuanyue planning?
To beg for mercy?
To curse them out?
But Xuanyue's focus wasn't on them at all.
His mind was turned inward.
A metallic "Ding!" resounded in his head.
At long last, the golden cheat-finger of transmigrators everywhere had arrived.
The System was here.
(End of Chapter)