"Where the hell did this bring me?"
Senju Hashirama looked around the unfamiliar space, his round eyes filled with deep bewilderment.
He had died quite peacefully, yet suddenly he had been summoned into this pitch-black void. This situation immediately reminded Senju Hashirama of sealed Tailed Beasts. Perhaps his brother Tobirama had once again tinkered with some flashy forbidden jutsu in an attempt to resurrect him.
At that moment, footsteps approached from afar.
Senju Hashirama raised his gaze and saw a delicate-looking young man walking toward him.
Uchiha Reki spoke first, "Good morning, Lord Hashirama."
Senju Hashirama opened his mouth to ask, but the moment he clearly saw the other's appearance, his eyes widened.
Spiky hair, the Uchiha clan symbol, a familiar face.
"Madara! You're actually not dead!"
Uchiha Reki was stunned. Who, me? Uchiha Madara?
It turned out that Konoha's hereditary poor eyesight started all the way back with Senju Hashirama's generation.
"Lord Hashirama, please let me explain. I do look extremely similar to Lord Uchiha Madara, but I am not him..."
Senju Hashirama interrupted Uchiha Reki's attempted explanation. His not-so-bright brain began spinning wildly, and a possibility quickly occurred to him.
The Uchiha descendants had used a forbidden jutsu to resurrect Madara, and had gone on to research even more dangerous, evil forbidden jutsus.
Senju Hashirama's expression turned stern. "Madara! You shouldn't use such filthy ninjutsu to disturb the rest of the dead."
Uchiha Reki's face was covered in dark lines.
*Hey? Come on, bro, do you even understand human language?*
"Madara! Let's have a hearty battle!"
"Who the hell wants to fight you? And what's with this sudden dramatic background music starting up?!"
Senju Hashirama brought his hands together and shouted, "Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!"
Then, absolutely nothing happened...
Senju Hashirama was left completely dumbfounded. *What the hell, where is my chakra? Where is my almighty Wood Release?*
Right at that moment, a pleasant electronic chime rang out in Uchiha Reki's mind: [From Senju Hashirama, you have obtained the Wood Release Kekkei Genkai, along with several Wood Release Ninjutsu.]
Clearly, Uchiha Reki was a transmigrator who had activated a cheat.
Not long ago, he had crossed over into the Shinobi World and awakened the [King of Emotions System].
As long as a target held strong emotions toward Uchiha Reki—such as worship, hatred, affection, or care—he would receive corresponding rewards. The stronger the target and the more intense their emotional fluctuations, the richer the rewards Uchiha Reki would obtain.
As Uchiha Reki's strength grew, those small-fry characters who couldn't keep up with the power scaling would be automatically filtered out by the system.
To his surprise, the system had directly plucked Senju Hashirama into his inner space to serve as his beginner's gift package. Furthermore, Senju Hashirama couldn't resist; it was safe and incredibly useful.
Mom would never have to worry about me getting killed by that idiot Uchiha Itachi years from now!
Thinking of this, Uchiha Reki burst into genuine, uproarious laughter, "Hahahahahahahahaha!"
This laughter sounded exceptionally grating to Senju Hashirama's ears, and the image of Uchiha Madara once again surfaced in his mind.
*With that damned laugh, and you still claim you aren't Madara!*
What alarmed him even more was that all of his ninjutsu had completely failed, sending a chill through Senju Hashirama's heart.
Such a terrifying forbidden jutsu was something even Tobirama had never displayed.
Could it be that after his death, the Uchiha clan had undergone earth-shattering changes?
What on earth was this unhinged young man before him plotting?
[From Senju Hashirama, your Senju bloodline has been upgraded to Defective Senju Sage Body — Senju Hashirama Version.]
Compared to the nervous Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Reki appeared completely relaxed. He sat cross-legged right in front of Senju Hashirama, acting utterly casual.
"First, my name is not Uchiha Madara."
"Second, please sit down, Lord Hashirama, don't stand on ceremony. Just make yourself at home."
Senju Hashirama's mouth twitched. Tobirama was right after all; you Uchiha are all out of your minds.
With such thick gunpowder smoke filling the air, you're actually telling me to sit down and chat slowly? Who in their right mind could possibly chat with you?
Senju Hashirama maintained his combat posture, clearly filled with wariness toward Uchiha Reki.
"Don't be nervous, Lord Hashirama. Let me introduce myself first."
"My name is Uchiha Reki, I'm ten years old, my father was a member of the Uchiha clan, and my mother came from the Senju clan."
"My parents died on the battlefield, and I was raised by members of the Uchiha clan."
"I'm currently still studying at the Ninja Academy, and barring any accidents, I'll be graduating soon."
"That's pretty much it. Do you have any other questions, Lord Hashirama?"
Senju Hashirama's expression grew increasingly complex. He carefully sized up the young man before him once again, carefully sensing the mixed chakra of both the Senju and Uchiha clans within his body.
"You really aren't Madara. Madara is not as weak as you."
Uchiha Reki: "......"
Not only did he kill him, but he had to pierce his heart too.
After confirming Uchiha Reki's identity, Senju Hashirama felt somewhat relieved.
"Reki, are you saying that war has broken out again?"
Uchiha Reki nodded. "After you passed away, Lord Hashirama, the Shinobi World was plagued by constant warfare. Lord Tobirama also died on the battlefield in order to protect Konoha."
Senju Hashirama's voice suddenly rose sharply, "Tobirama is dead!"
His heart sank by half. Without his brother Tobirama, who would protect the villagers from the disasters of war?
Uchiha Reki could see the distress of the simple-minded Senju Hashirama, and wondered if he would regret not having smashed those backstabbing fellows to death if he told him that the Third Shinobi World War would break out in just a few years.
Uchiha Reki explained the ins and outs of the matter in detail, and answered Hashirama's questions about the village. It wasn't hard to tell from Senju Hashirama's expression that all these developments had long surpassed his imagination.
After a brief silence, Senju Hashirama raised his head and stared straight at Uchiha Reki.
"So, what method did you use to summon my soul here?"
"This..." Uchiha Reki was momentarily at a loss for words. How should he make this up?
Ah, got it.
I choose you, Senju Tobirama!
"Perhaps Lord Tobirama researched some kind of forbidden jutsu during his lifetime..."
Senju Hashirama sighed. If it was Tobirama, then everything made sense.
"Tobirama, you really are..."
"Why on earth did you summon me into this child's body?"
Uchiha Reki lowered his head in silence. *Oh no, I'm about to burst out laughing.*
Terrified that laughing too hard would give him away to Senju Hashirama, he gave a sincere wave goodbye.
"That's all for today, Lord Hashirama. See you another day."
With those words, Uchiha Reki's figure slowly faded away.
In the dark void, Senju Hashirama's gaze remained as clear and foolish as a college student's.
Uchiha Reki slowly opened his eyes and earnestly flipped through the book in front of him.
Right at that moment, an Uchiha clansman walked up to Uchiha Reki's side.
"Uchiha Reki, stop studying that boring Will of Fire. You better properly prepare for tomorrow's test."