The system chimed again. Cold. Mechanical. No emotion, just duty.
[Achievement Unlocked: Foundation Stone]
[Reward Available — Open?]
I pinched the bridge of my nose. This thing loved acting dramatic, even though half its "treasure chests" felt like rolling gacha with my life on the line.
"Yeah, yeah. Open it."
The invisible box trembled like it was bracing for impact. Please, let this be something useful. Last time I'd gotten a Mangekyō Sharingan out of this madness. Hard to beat that. And if my luck tanked now, I'd probably end up with a commemorative brick from the "future Konoha gift shop."
The chest burst open with a soft thud.
A green sprout floated in the air.
…A plant.
The system gave me a plant.
Then a line appeared in front of my eyes.
[Reward: High-Vitality Physique (Hashirama-Type)
Enhancement to: Chakra capacity, healing response, natural energy compatibility]
My heart actually skipped.
Not from joy. From raw disbelief.
"You've got to be kidding me."
This wasn't some mythical "immortal body."
This was something real — something grounded in biology and chakra. A mutation. A genetic overhaul. A legendary phenomenon that only Senju Hashirama ever embodied.
A body built to survive war. To tank jutsu. To regenerate. To wield Wood Release because your cells simply decided the rules were optional.
"Accept upgrade?" the system asked.
"Do it."
The sprout dissolved into motes of light and slammed into me.
Every nerve in my body caught fire.
I hit the tatami. Couldn't breathe. Couldn't scream. My muscles clenched so hard I felt bones creak. Chakra surged through every tenketsu, swelling like someone hooked me up to a tailed beast's stomach.
I'd felt pain before.
This was surgery with no anesthesia done by a drunk medic-nin.
But I held on.
Because this was power the world feared.
A strength that once changed history.
Minutes later, the pressure snapped—like a storm passing—and silence flooded in.
I sat up slowly.
My body felt… normal. Same limbs. Same height. Same tired face.
But the chakra humming under my skin was monstrous. Dense. Warm. Alive.
Natural energy brushed against me without the usual burn, like it recognized me.
I flexed my fingers.
Nothing dramatic happened.
So I bit my thumb, hard.
Blood welled up—then sealed over seconds later, leaving smooth skin.
I stared at the healed spot.
"…this is busted."
No toad oil. No clones. No meditation on a mountaintop. Natural energy trickled into me on its own.
"Sage Mode."
I whispered it with a steady breath, and the world shifted.
The pressure of nature crashed in like a tide. Crimson markings flared around my eyes. Strength flooded my limbs. My senses sharpened until I could hear a moth flapping its wings two rooms away.
Sage Mode.
Instant.
Stable.
No time limit.
I let the mode fade and exhaled.
And curiosity tugged at my fingers.
I pressed two handsigns, molding chakra in a way I'd only ever seen in legends.
A branch sprouted out of the floorboards.
Wood Release.
The real thing.
The god-tier jutsu that shaped the future.
The branch retracted on command, leaving only a faint mark.
I leaned back, staring at the ceiling.
Hashirama's power wasn't hype.
It was terrifying.
High durability.
Absurd healing.
Bottomless chakra.
Wood Release.
Perfect Sage Mode.
No wonder Madara lost. Not even Eternal Mangekyō could bully this kind of biological cheat code.
I glanced at my hand, flexing.
"So this is the level I have to live up to."
And yet… something inside me didn't shrink.
Eternal Mangekyō in one eye.
Hashirama-type physiology flooding my veins.
A mind from another world.
If I trained right, if I refined every inch of this power…
Even in this nightmare era, maybe—just maybe—
I could stand at the top.
No gods.
No prophecies.
Just me carving my way out of the mud.
The system flickered one last time.
[Physique Integration: Complete]
I closed my right eye, letting the Eternal Mangekyō burn alive with the new chakra flowing into it.
A new stage waited somewhere ahead.
And I was going to reach it.
No matter what this era tried to take from me.