After dinner, the family sat together chatting.
Kazuma said with a smile, “Matsuake, I heard Uchiha Setsuna’s younger brother is in your class.
Given their temperament, he’ll likely apply for early graduation too.
You’ll have to work hard.” Although the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan had jointly founded Konohagakure, their relationship was far from harmonious.
Especially after Uchiha Madara’s departure, the relationship between the two clans had grown subtly delicate.
Moreover, Hashirama and Tobirama held differing views on the matter.
Hashirama believed that since those who hadn’t followed Madara away were now allies, they should be helped to integrate better into Konohagakure.
Tobirama’s attitude could be summed up in one simple phrase—the wicked Uchiha!
But regardless of their stances, the two clans were still secretly competing with each other.
With Senju Hashirama, the God of Shinobi, keeping the peace, they couldn’t openly fight, so they competed over which clan’s younger generation would achieve more.
“I understand, Kazuma-nii,” replied Matsuake.
Hearing Kazuma’s words, he was somewhat surprised.
He hadn’t expected Uchiha Suke to be Uchiha Setsuna’s younger brother.
In the original story, when Tobirama served as the Second Hokage, Setsuna was around twenty or thirty years old.
Dissatisfied with Tobirama’s rule, he launched a rebellion and was eventually captured and imprisoned.
But now, during the reign of the First Hokage, Setsuna was merely a teenager in his teens, considered a genius among the Uchiha Clan’s younger generation.
Thus, even Matsuake had heard of his name.
The only thing he hadn’t expected was that the arrogant Uchiha Suke had this connection with Uchiha Setsuna.
“Following tradition, both my brother and I will be present to observe the graduation exam.” Tobirama patted Matsuake’s shoulder with a smile.
After chatting for a while, everyone had their own matters to attend to.
Hashirama and Tobirama were busy handling village affairs.
Meanwhile, Mito and Kazuma were occupied with preparations for Kazuma’s engagement.
For now, Matsuake couldn’t help with either of these matters.
So after bidding farewell, he strolled back to his own residence.
Compared to Hashirama’s family estate, Matsuake’s home was smaller, though it shared the same overall architectural style.
However, its size was only modest relative to Hashirama’s home; in Konohagakure, it was actually considered quite a large residence.
This was mainly because Matsuake’s late father had held a relatively high position within the Senju Clan.
Had he still been alive, and if Hashirama and Tobirama had no successors, he might even have been nominated as the next clan head of the Senju Clan.
Now, however, only Matsuake lived in this estate, making it rather quiet and lonely.
Moonlight spilled into the courtyard.
Sliding paper shōji doors brought the garden scenery indoors, while dappled bamboo blinds filtered the fragmented light.
Leaning against the wooden steps of the veranda, Matsuake did as he had every day for the past month—he activated his “cheat,” the Cheat Requisition Platform.
The first thing that appeared before his eyes was this line of text, followed by a dazzling array of exchange options, each with a daunting point cost.
Whether imaginable or unimaginable, everything could be found within this platform.
In the ninja world, certain Kekkei Genkai, in the world of navigation, certain Devil Fruits, or even entire systematic abilities possessed by children of destiny.
Within this miraculous platform, all of these can be found, and after paying a certain number of points, one can obtain temporary usage rights or permanent ownership.
For example, on this platform, he could spend 10 points to temporarily requisition the usage rights of a one-tomoe Sharingan for three days.
At the same time, he could also spend 200 points to permanently requisition a one-tomoe Sharingan, thereby owning it forever.
The Sharingan, which the Uchiha Clan takes pride in, he could unlock with just 200 points.
This was the difference between having cheats or not.
However, if he were to actually do this, not only would it fail to maximize benefits, but it would also be inconvenient to explain the origin of the Sharingan.
Over the past month or so, while continuously accumulating points, Matsuake had also been contemplating how to make the most efficient use of his points.
After some thought, he had already formulated a long-term plan in his mind.
And today, he had finally saved enough points to convert them into a shortcut to enhance his own strength.
Quickly scrolling past the rows of cheats that required points with long strings of zeros to requisition or borrow, Matsuake locked onto his target.
[Requisition: Blue Skill Space Key: With this key, one can randomly draw a skill of the corresponding level and form a skill training space.
Once mastered, the space will be destroyed.
Price: 100 points.] In addition to these brief descriptions, more detailed information could be explored.
Previously, Matsuake had already thoroughly understood the details of this cheat.
With good luck, the 100 points spent could yield far greater value, and if the skill aligned well with oneself, the benefits could even be multiplied.
However, with bad luck, one might draw a skill that offers little improvement, wasting the points.
Regardless, at this stage, this was indeed a relatively safe choice.
Thus, Matsuake hesitated no longer and spent all the points he had saved, which had reached three digits.
Accompanied by a blue light appearing before his eyes, a blue key about half the size of a palm slowly landed in his hand.
Just as Matsuake was about to catch the key, it scattered like fine sand, flowing across his palm.
Then, the blue light gradually faded, forming a pale blue key-shaped pattern in the center of the back of his right hand.
Watching the pattern take shape, Matsuake held his breath, feeling a mix of nervousness and anticipation.
“It’s been a long time since I experienced the feeling of drawing cards like in my previous life.” After a moment of thought, he finally realized where this familiar feeling came from.
Come on, a single draw for a miracle!
As Matsuake used the key, his consciousness felt slightly dazed.
First, everything went dark before his eyes, then bright again.
The sound of the breeze rustling through bamboo leaves in the courtyard suddenly fell silent, and what appeared before him was a pure white space.
It seemed like the interior of a cube, but when looking carefully into the distance, there appeared to be no boundaries.
Within this space, aside from Matsuake, there was only one figure kneeling in front.
This person looked elderly, with a thin build and pale hair.
He wore his hair in a high ponytail and was dressed in a samurai robe with flame patterns, the cuffs and collar adorned with red trim.
Though he appeared aged and frail, he still maintained the upright posture of a samurai, like a withered pine tree.
Most striking was his deeply wrinkled face, which bore a crimson flame-shaped mark on the left side of his forehead.
At this moment, the old man’s expression was calm, his clouded eyes filled with compassion as he watched Matsuake approach step by step.