Kitahara Kaede locked the doors and windows from the inside, wedging a strand of hair in the door frame as a hidden sentry.
After confirming no one was around, he sat back on the edge of the bed and activated his thoughts.
A light screen popped up.
[Host, please allocate your initial attribute points (20 points total).]
[Options: Talent, Family Background, Appearance, Luck.]
[Note: The limit for a single item is 10 points.
These attributes will determine the direction of your “Life Script”.]
Four options, twenty points.
Kitahara Kaede did not hesitate.
Talent—10.
Maxed out.
He knew the rules of the Ninja World all too well.
On the surface, everyone shouts about the Will of Fire and equality for all, but in reality, it’s all about Kekkei Genkais and one’s origin.
What do you call it when someone without talent works hard on the battlefield?
It’s called giving away free kills to the enemy.
If you want to be a white moonlight, you first have to be strong enough for people to look up to you.
Charging in to block a blade without enough strength isn’t called a heroic sacrifice; it’s called blocking their view.
Appearance—8.
For a white moonlight, the face is a mandatory requirement.
For the same act of saving a life, if you’re ugly, they say “I will repay you in the next life as a beast of burden”; if you’re handsome, they say “I will devote my life to you.”
Family Background—2.
He didn’t need to be from a major clan’s direct lineage; it was best to be from a fallen noble family that was once wealthy.
Just having an identity for convenience was enough, and he might even be able to snag a few inherited Ninjutsu techniques.
Luck—0.
When he clicked the button, he didn’t hesitate for a single second.
Luck is a life-saving charm for others.
For him?
It was a drawback.
The worse the luck, the more miserable the fate.
The more miserable the fate, the more tragic the death.
The more tragic the death—
The deeper she will remember him.
Heaven envies the talented, beauties die young, longing but never attaining, until death ends all.
It was right up his alley.
[Talent 10 / Appearance 8 / Family Background 2 / Luck 0]
[Confirmation complete.
Loading—]
The light screen flashed, and text began to scroll.
[The Ninja World is newly settled, and the First Hokage Senju Hashirama suppresses the era.
Konoha Village appears peaceful on the surface, but undercurrents surge.]
[Identity generated: Young Master of the Hagoromo Clan.
The clan once allied with the Senju during the Sengoku period; now, its numbers have dwindled, and it has merged into Konoha.]
[You are named: Hagoromo Kaede.]
[With adult memories and max-level talent, you received the genius script.
Walking at one, refining Chakra at two, and mastering Ninjutsu at a glance.]
[Year 13 of the Hokage era, Tsunade is born.]
[Fast forward—]
[You are four years old, and Tsunade is three.]
[Senju Hashirama convenes a high-level meeting.
Your father, as Clan Head Hagoromo, takes you to the Senju Estate to attend.]
[Part One, officially begins.]
—His vision shifted.
Light flooded in, making him squint for a moment.
The air held the fresh scent of wood, and beneath his feet was a polished floor; the sensation was too real to be a simulation.
A four-year-old’s body.
His hands were much smaller as he sat kneeling behind his father.
The last line of text still lingered in his mind.
[Year 13 of the Hokage era, Tsunade is born.]
Tsunade.
The granddaughter of Senju Hashirama, the future Fifth Hokage, and one of the “Legendary Sannin.”
The system’s intent was very clear; the target this time was Tsunade.
He calmed his mind and discreetly scanned the room.
In the main hall, a dozen clan heads sat on both sides.
The main seat at the front was empty, and the tea had already been poured.
Tsunade was not there.
It made sense; a three-year-old child would not appear in the council chamber.
Kitahara Kaede withdrew his gaze and obediently lowered his head.
There was no rush; he would observe the situation first.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
“I won!
I won again!
Hahaha—”
A burst of laughter came from outside the hall.
The voice was childish but full of vigor, clearly audible across the corridor and half the courtyard.
This was followed by the clatter of dice rolling across a table.
Kitahara Kaede glanced through the open side door of the main hall—
In the pavilion, Senju Hashirama sat cross-legged on the ground with his hands spread out, a look of misery on his face.
“Lost again…
how is it possible…”
Opposite him sat a little toddler.
In a white dress with golden pigtails, a table full of copper coins and snacks piled before her, she leaned back with her chin tilted almost to the sky.
Three-year-old Tsunade stood with her hands on her hips.
“Grandpa is so stupid!
Again!”
Kitahara Kaede glanced at Hashirama’s hands.
He was losing on purpose, holding back so blatantly it was practically written on his face.
The First Hokage—the man who could rub the Nine-Tailed into the dirt—was now sweating over a game of dice with his granddaughter.
“Again, again!” Tsunade reached for the dice.
Just as Hashirama was about to pick them up, several Senju elders walked quickly from the end of the corridor, their expressions none too pleased.
Hashirama’s smile faded halfway as he stood up.
“Little Tsunade, Grandpa has some business to attend to.”
Tsunade immediately grabbed his leg.
“You’re just a sore loser!
Cheater!”
“Grandpa really has business”
“Liar!”
Tsunade pouted, her eyes turning red.
Hashirama looked down at her, clearly wavering.
This man had faced Tailed Beasts and Uchiha Madara, but when this three-year-old girl hugged his leg, his expression softened.
But the elders had already reached him and whispered something.
Hashirama sighed and signaled to a maid.
The maid came forward to coax her, but Tsunade refused.
With a mix of coaxing and pulling, they finally pried her off the First Hokage’s leg.
“I don’t want to let go Grandpa, you big meanie!”
Her cries drifted away as she was taken further off.
Hashirama rubbed his temples as he walked toward the main hall with the elders.
The various clan heads stood up to follow.
Kitahara Kaede’s father also stood up and straightened his clothes.
“Father.”
Kitahara Kaede tugged on his sleeve.
“It’s stuffy in here; I’m going to sit outside for a while.”
His father glanced at him and nodded.
“Don’t wander off.”
“Okay.”
The doors to the meeting room closed.
The main hall was now empty.
Kitahara Kaede stood up, crossed the corridor, and turned the corner of a low wall.
In the pavilion, dice were scattered on the ground, and copper coins and snacks were piled in a mess.
He walked over, picked up a die, looked at it in his palm, and was about to put it back on the table—
“That’s mine.”
A voice came from behind him, sounding a bit nasal.
Kitahara Kaede turned around.
Tsunade was standing at the corner of the low wall.
Her eyes were red, tear tracks remained on her face, and even the tip of her nose was flushed.
But her lips were pressed into a line as she stared at the die in his hand.
She had clearly broken free from the maid and run back.
Kitahara Kaede looked at her and held out the die.
“Yours.”
Tsunade walked over quickly, snatched it away, and clutched it in her palm.
Then she took half a step back and sized him up.
After she finished, she wrinkled her nose.
“Who are you?”
“My dad is here to see your grandpa,” Kitahara Kaede said.
“It was stuffy inside, so I came out to sit.”
Tsunade tilted her head for two seconds.
She seemed to be judging what the deal was with this strange kid who was half a head taller than her.
Then she looked down at the die in her hand.
Then she looked at the empty pavilion.
Then she looked back at Kitahara Kaede.
Suddenly, she perked up.
“Do you know how to play dice?”
Kitahara Kaede shook his head slightly.
“Not really,” he said in a serious tone, then paused.
“Will you teach me?”
Tsunade was taken aback.
Since her earliest memories, it was always her grandpa who taught her.
No one had ever asked her to teach them anything before.
Her eyes lit up instantly.