"Oh! It's Lily, here to help move boxes again!" Beside a pile of cluttered crates, a bearded, unkempt man smiled brightly as he spoke to the blonde little girl standing before him.
The man wore the crest of the Senju clan on his clothing, clearly marking him as a ninja of the Senju clan.
"Yes! Uncle Toshiaki, the village took us in when we were left homeless, so I want to do my part for the village too," the blonde little girl, Lily, said with a bright giggle as she lifted a rather heavy crate, looking over at the Senju man.
"What a good kid. Take it easy with those boxes, Lily, don't exhaust yourself."
"Got it, Uncle Toshiaki!"
What a sensible and well-behaved child. If only the Shinobi World had a few more good kids like Lily, and fewer evil Uchihas, how wonderful that would be, Senju Toshiaki thought to himself with a heartfelt sigh as he watched Lily's hardworking little back vanish into the distance.
***
"I'm leaving this box right here, Uncle Yousuke!" Lily called out loudly, pointing to the crate positioned at the very edge of the pile.
"Got it, you little brat," Uchiha Yousuke muttered, waving his hand impatiently with a stiff expression on his face before turning away to deal with other villagers.
"I'm heading off then, Uncle Yousuke, I'll be back tomorrow!" Lily waved vigorously, a bright and cheerful smile on her face as amusement danced in her big, sparkling eyes.
"Hmph." Uchiha Yousuke glanced at her awkwardly for a second, then quickly looked away. He really didn't know how to handle brats like her. Part of him wanted to ignore her entirely, but since it was rare for someone from outside his clan to show him unprompted, harmless kindness, he found himself somewhat...
Reluctant to let it go?
Seeing his tsundere demeanor, Lily smiled even more brightly. Realizing he had noticed her, she quickly covered her mouth with her hand and skipped away from the scene.
*Hmph... little brat.*
*Wait, the little brat said she's coming back tomorrow, but I'm not on duty until the day after tomorrow.*
***
On the way home:
*System-ge, System-ge, did I finish my quest for today?* Lily asked with eager anticipation. Although it wasn't her first time, the moment one received rewards was always so thrilling.
Come to think of it, nearly half a year had passed since she transmigrated here. Because the original body had no parents, she had no choice but to open a sushi restaurant and a casino in the village to make a living.
She still remembered how, right after the transmigration and helping her figure out the situation, System-ge had demanded that she cross-dress as a girl, promising that doing so would double her cultivation speed.
Are you kidding her?! What kind of person was she? A proud, upright man—was she going to be fobbed off with a mere two-fold increase?
Ridiculous!
During those times, she fought back fiercely, struggling against destiny all for peace of mind.
Until the System uttered two words:
*Tenfold.*
She looked around with her sword, utterly bewildered, not knowing what to do. Finally, after much frantic thought, she decided to cross-dress with tears in her eyes, and immediately went to check whether her face was still safe.
In the end, by the riverbank, she saw a face she knew extremely well:
Artoria Pendragon.
After repeating the word *tenfold* to herself several times, she accepted the reality of turning into her own wife and renamed herself Artoria.
Actually, there were perks. Whenever she missed her wife in the future, all she had to do was look in the mirror...
*Congratulations to the host for completing the E-rank quest, "One Good Deed a Day." Reward: 5 Free Stat Points, 100 Mall Coins.*
Lily—no, Altria—gave a rough glance and nodded her head in satisfaction. Good, System-ge didn't shortchange her.
Every reward was crucial. Free Stat Points could be allocated to Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, or Chakra to enhance whichever one she chose. The first three increased the power and resistance of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu respectively; reaching a certain level of mastery allowed low-ranking ninjutsu to rival the power of high-ranking ones, or provided immunity to attacks of a certain magnitude, with the same applying to taijutsu and genjutsu.
Enhancing Chakra increased her overall chakra reserves, though no other uses had surfaced just yet.
Mall Coins could be used to purchase items. The mall was currently at Level 1 and contained only a few low-tier Noble Phantasms. The System claimed that the mall exclusively unlocked items from the Type-Moon world.
*System-ge, open my personal status panel.*
*Name: Artoria*
*Age: 5*
*Ninjutsu: E+ (199/500)*
*Taijutsu: D (103/1000)*
*Genjutsu: E+ (254/500)*
*Chakra: E+ (496/500)*
*Noble Phantasm: Invisible Air Level 2 (C) (286/500)*
*Mall Coins: 1700*
*Evaluation: Elite Genin*
*System-ge, put all my Free Stat Points into Chakra,* Altria stared intently at the panel, barely able to contain her excitement.
Finally, following Taijutsu, her Chakra was about to step into the Elite Genin tier.
For the past half year, aside from eating, sleeping, doing quests, and selling sushi, she spent almost all her remaining time in cultivation. Even with all that, she had barely managed an Elite Genin evaluation—and that was built on top of a tenfold cultivation speed boost. It was clear just how abysmal Lily's original talent for cultivation had been.
*All Free Stat Points have been added to Chakra.*
*Name: Artoria*
*Age: 5*
*Ninjutsu: E+ (199/500)*
*Taijutsu: D (103/1000)*
*Genjutsu: E+ (254/500)*
*Chakra: D (1/1000)*
*Noble Phantasm: Invisible Air Level 2 (C) (286/500)*
*Mall Coins: 1700*
*Evaluation: Elite Genin*
*Brilliant!*
"Ow, ouch, ouch!" Before she could even finish celebrating inwardly, Altria crashed right into the back of someone's knees, the pain instantly bringing tears to her eyes.
*System-ge, am I really an Elite Genin? How can bumping into someone hurt this much?* Altria clutched her head and asked the System in bewilderment. For the first time, she felt that System-ge was a bit unreliable. She was practically a Chunin, yet she was this fragile?
*No, host...*
"L-Little... little kid, are you alright?" Before the System could finish, the man she had collided with squatted down. After struggling with himself for a moment under the encouraging gaze of his companion, he forced out those words. Perhaps feeling that he still didn't look friendly enough, he even managed a stiff smile.
Unfortunately, his heart was willing but his execution failed. That genuinely handsome face of his was twisted into a terrifying grimace, which, combined with his downward-looking gaze, would have scared an ordinary child into tears immediately.
Yet Altria was clearly no ordinary child. The moment this man spoke to her, she recognized him.
The Ghost of the Shinobi, Uchiha Madara. In this era, apart from Senju Hashirama, he was the strongest person alive—a top-tier heavyweight in the truest sense. With such a massive powerhouse right in front of her, she could smile and call him handsome no matter how hideous his expression looked.
Besides, it was her fault for running into him in the first place. She was the one in the wrong, so she had no right to judge his looks.
"Mm-hm! I'm fine! Big brother, I'm sorry, Altria shouldn't have been walking without watching where she was going." Altria's tear-filled, watery eyes were brimming with guilt. She was getting better and better at acting cute, to the point where even Uchiha Madara found himself looking awkward.
"N—No problem." Uchiha Madara's eyes darted about unnaturally, and his stuttering reply caused his companion to burst into laughter.
"Damn it, Hashirama, what's so funny?!" Hearing the laughter, Uchiha Madara turned on his companion with a furious roar, waving his arms wildly.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed. Come on, beat me up! Beat me up in front of a child to vent your anger!" The companion who had been laughing just a second ago underwent a dramatic stylistic shift, curling up into a corner of the room. Actual mushrooms were starting to sprout from his body. The gloomy atmosphere was so thick that not only Uchiha Madara, but even Altria was left utterly speechless.
So the cartoonish art styles from anime really *could* cross over into reality...
"Haven't you gotten over this habit of yours to turn gloomy at a moment's notice, Hashirama?" Uchiha Madara looked at him speechlessly. There was still a child present, could he at least try to act like the head of the Senju clan?
Madara was about to say more when he suddenly felt something poking his shin.
Looking down, he saw that it was the little girl who had bumped into him moments earlier. She was holding a flower—probably one she had just picked on the way—and it looked as if... she was going to give it to him?
Sure enough, Altria's next words confirmed his suspicion: "Big brother, this flower is for you. I'm sorry, can you forgive Altria?"
"Uh... ah... yeah." Uchiha Madara silently accepted the little flower, but his throat felt completely blocked, unable to squeeze out a coherent sentence.
"Little one, Uncle Madara forgives you. You have to watch where you're going next time, understand?" Seeing Madara freeze up, Hashirama chuckled and answered for him with a wide grin.
"Okay! Then goodbye, Big Brother Madara, goodbye Uncle Hashirama!" Altria curved her lips into a smile and waved vigorously at the two of them in farewell.
"?"
"Why is Madara a big brother and I'm an *uncle*?!" Hashirama protested indignantly, hopping up and down in place like a madman.
Meanwhile, Madara stood off to the side, looking down at the small flower with a gentle expression, lost in thought.
After pouting in a huff for a while and muttering complaints that didn't quite vent all his frustration, Hashirama caught sight of Madara's expression and grinned slyly. "See? What did I tell you? The people in the village *do* like you. When the time comes, you should be the First Hokage. How about it?"
Madara arched an eyebrow. "What? Are you serious about this? I thought you were just joking and didn't take it seriously."
"What are you talking about, Madara?! I am completely serious. You're the best fit to be Hokage. From now on, lead us forward! I'll carve your face into the cliffside as the symbol of the village." Hashirama looked at Madara with absolute earnestness, just as serious as when they used to talk about their dreams as children.
Madara stared at him in disbelief. "Hey, wait a minute, that doesn't fit my personality at all!"
"Never mind your wishes, just go ahead and be embarrassed to your heart's content!"
"You bastard! You're definitely trying to screw with me!"
"Hahahaha!"
***
"Did you sense that child's chakra?" After teasing Madara, Hashirama struck up a serious conversation with him for once.
"Hmph. Quite impressive for a Genin."
"Speaking of which, Tobirama mentioned to me a few days ago that once the village's preliminary construction is finished, we should establish a ninja academy. I think it's a fantastic proposal. Allowing children to study properly and receive protection so they don't have to go off to the battlefield at such a tender age—that was our dream back then too, wasn't it, Lord Hokage?" Hashirama blinked one eye playfully, wearing a mischievous expression, though his gaze remained deeply earnest and full of yearning.
The dream he shared with Madara was slowly, piece by piece, coming true. And even better, the two of them were striving for that dream side by side. That was what he had longed for most since childhood.
"It hasn't been finalized yet. Besides..." A sharp glint flashed across Madara's eyes, and though he left the sentence unfinished, Hashirama understood his meaning.
The man who killed his younger brother—Tobirama—would never agree to it.
And Hashirama had always known. Tobirama held deep prejudices against Madara, or rather, against the entire Uchiha clan. At the same time, Madara harbored a bone-deep hatred for Tobirama because Tobirama had killed his brother. In fact, if not for his own presence, Madara probably would have killed Tobirama long ago.
Just thinking about it gave Hashirama a massive headache.
*Why do I always have to be the one dealing with this kind of headache?*