The world changes with every sunrise. Oceans shift, forests fall, and eras turn to dust.
The remnants of the old age struggled to keep pace with the surging tide of the new.
But Yui Xuanyue was not among them.
Compared to the fading twilight of the Warring States, this era thrived with progress. Technology surged forward at a breathtaking pace, echoing the world of his past life and filling him with a strange sense of ease. This was his time—this shinobi world belonged to him.
"Don't you agree, useless system?" he muttered within his own mind.
[Please complete your beginner mission as soon as possible.]
The same familiar voice.
Decades had passed, and though he had died, though he now stood revived in a body not truly his own, the system still clung to him. Tireless. Unyielding. Even death couldn't sever the bond.
That was the system for you—unyielding to the point of absurdity. A leash that followed beyond the grave.
The so-called "beginner mission" still hung stubbornly on his task list, the same one that had chilled his heart long ago.
But now? With Uzumaki Naruto alive in this era, perhaps the time had finally come to attempt that mission.
"System, confirm again—what year is it?" Xuanyue asked.
[Konoha Year 60.]
Finally, the correct answer. At least this time, the system didn't skip decades ahead into nonsense.
Xuanyue nodded in satisfaction and let himself drift back to reality. The mission could wait.
For now, his priority was clear: escape this place. Truly be reborn.
His gaze fell upon the figure before him—Hiruzen Sarutobi's shadow clone, straining to maintain the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, desperate to drag Xuanyue's soul into oblivion.
Warned by Senju Tobirama before his departure, Hiruzen hadn't fully understood the concerns of his predecessors, but he followed their words to the letter.
"For Konoha—for everyone—I'll give my life if it means sealing you away!" the old Hokage's clone roared.
Xuanyue sighed, exasperated. "Old man, don't lump me in with that snake-faced freak. I haven't crushed so much as an ant in Konoha, yet here I am treated like the worst criminal in history."
It was always the same.
Last time, the Five Kage struck without warning—no cause, no honor, nothing.
His life had never been easy.
Hiruzen faltered for just a moment, the word "old man" striking oddly in his ears.
Truthfully, Xuanyue was like Hashirama and Tobirama—dragged into this world by force, through forbidden jutsu. None of what had happened could truly be blamed on him.
Yet now… Xuanyue had shaken off Orochimaru's control, resisted the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, and acted with clear intent.
And this was the same man who once fell to Senju Hashirama himself.
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed.
A man who had driven even the First and Second Hokage to caution could not walk free.
"Yui-senpai," Hiruzen said firmly, voice like iron, "the dead do not belong among the living. Return to where you came from."
Xuanyue snorted. "Make me, old relic. You couldn't, not even if you tried."
In his mind, he was still twenty-four—a far cry from the title "senpai" this wrinkled Hokage used.
But enough talk.
A smirk curled across Xuanyue's lips.
At the same time, Hiruzen's clone stiffened. "You—!"
The tug-of-war for Xuanyue's soul had never ceased beneath their words. The clone had pulled his spirit partially free… until now.
With shocking force, Xuanyue's essence began to slip back into place, resisting the pull.
"Did you think I spoke to you out of boredom? That I wanted idle chatter after death?" Xuanyue's smile sharpened.
"No. I was buying time—to adjust to this body, and to study your so-called legendary Dead Demon Consuming Seal."
A surge of power rippled through him. Hiruzen's hands were blasted away from his shoulders.
"If it were your real body, perhaps I couldn't escape. But a mere shadow clone? Please."
Xuanyue pointed. The clone erupted in smoke with a sharp bang.
The real Hiruzen, locked in deadly combat with Orochimaru, paled. "Not good!"
Orochimaru's lips curled in delight. He wasted no time.
"Yui-senpai," he called, "let's kill Hiruzen together. Once the Third falls, Konoha will crumble. That's what you've wanted all along, isn't it?"
He knew well the rift between Xuanyue, Senju Hashirama, and the village born of his legacy. Surely, Xuanyue would leap at the chance.
But what came next stunned him.
Xuanyue simply crossed his arms and grinned. "No hurry. Teacher and student, fighting to the death? That's a rare sight. I think I'll enjoy the show."
"You two carry on. Don't mind me."
He hadn't forgotten—Orochimaru was the caster of Edo Tensei. Helping him would be reckless.
With his current power, breaking the Four Purple Flames Formation wasn't feasible. So why not sit back? Why not savor this infamous battle of master and student firsthand?
Orochimaru's face twitched.
And when he felt his own soul dragged further toward the Shinigami's maw, his expression soured.
"Damn you, old man!"
"Damn you, Sarutobi-sensei!"
Unable to use ninjutsu, his body restricted, Orochimaru's composure began to crack. For the first time, fear bled into his golden eyes as he glimpsed the towering god of death looming behind Hiruzen.
Xuanyue could not be trusted, and Hiruzen refused to yield.
Orochimaru had no choice but to resist with everything he had.
But Hiruzen was fading fast. His chakra drained, his strength near gone.
And standing close by was Yui Xuanyue—a living powder keg, unpredictable and dangerous.
Hiruzen could not risk hesitation. He could not gamble with the village's future.
There was only one path left.
He drew a deep breath, his gaze hardening as he looked upon his beloved yet corrupted student—no longer the bright child he once knew, but a man consumed by shadows.
"Orochimaru…"
The Third's voice trembled with finality.