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[New Fanfic!,This fanfic will be on the end of the week poll. The Poll will choose the next fanfic to pick up! It will be public in my P@treon for everyone to vote]
Land of Fire, an unnamed plain.
Cold winds howled as the remnants of the Warring States era once again spread over this land.
Wearing silver armor from the Warring States period, with the clan emblem of three crescent moons on his arm guards, Hagoromo Gensou scanned his surroundings expressionlessly, his mouth twitching slightly.
The visitors were all old acquaintances.
Reto, Ai, Byakuren, Ishikawa.
And...
Gensou took a deep look at the man directly in front of him, dressed in a red and white ceremonial robe, with a "Fire" kanji hat.
Senju Hashirama!
The freshly appointed First Hokage of Konohagakure.
Before this, he had an even more renowned title.
Leader of the Senju Clan! God of Shinobi!
"You really think highly of me. The Five Kage of the five great ninja villages actually teamed up to deal with me alone."
Looking at the "Fire", "Earth", "Water", "Wind", and "Lightning" hats surrounding him and blocking any possible escape routes, Gensou bitterly joked.
What did he do to deserve this? No, wait!
Was this really necessary? He hadn't done anything heinous or evil.
As a transmigrator with excellent qualities, he had always been kind and helpful since being run over by a truck and arriving here.
Helping old ladies cross the street, playing chess with old men, buying lollipops for little girls, providing porridge for relief, repairing roads and bridges...
Which good deed had he not done?
At most, he had just casually cleaned up some low-morality thugs and bullies who bullied the weak.
And some cold-blooded, ruthless ninja who treated ordinary lives as nothing and killed at will.
Of course, it's normal for the scope of cleaning to expand unconsciously while sweeping trash.
Who let this world, under the nine-year compulsory education system, look so unpleasant to him who wasn't among the bottom nine?
Fortunately, he had the ability.
Thus, following the trail of thugs, his cleaning targets rose to those he deemed unworthy: the ringleaders, landlords, local officials, and even long-standing noble families and highly respected daimyo.
Regarding ninja, he also expanded from wandering ninja to clan ninja, and even the new ninja from the large and small villages in this era.
This undoubtedly offended many people.
But Gensou didn't care.
Who was he? The current leader of the prestigious and renowned Hagoromo clan.
Although the Hagoromo clan had often been overshadowed by the Senju clan in past confrontations.
But being able to fight against the Senju, the top ninja clan, for so many years, and signing a friendly pact with the always proud Uchiha clan, agreeing to cooperate during missions, no one could deny the strength of the Hagoromo clan.
Especially with his emergence, the Hagoromo clan's prestige soared.
While Hashirama was hailed as the God of Shinobi, he was recognized as the most talented among the shinobi, one who could stand shoulder to shoulder with a god.
Gensou's current strength had reached the pinnacle of the ninja world.
This had been his source of confidence all along.
But often, walking by the river, there's no way your shoes won't get wet.
This time, it seemed he was falling into a deep pit.
At this moment, Gensou felt his heart sink.
First Kazekage Reto, First Raikage Ai, First Mizukage Byakuren, First Tsuchikage Ishikawa.
And that person who still impressed him, First Hokage Hashirama.
His opponents were all top-tier shinobi from the Warring States era who had put an end to that era. Despite Gensou's immense strength, he couldn't guarantee victory against five opponents.
Especially with the cheat-like Hashirama among them.
Game over~~ Game over~~
As if a flock of crows were circling overhead, lamenting, Gensou took a deep breath, suppressing his turbulent thoughts, and looked around, laughing bitterly:
"Rare guests indeed! The Five Kage of the five great ninja villages visiting me together. Isn't the ninja world rumored to be holding the Five Kage Summit to divide up the menu?"
Hearing this, the First Mizukage Byakuren, with a long scar running across his blind left eye and a head full of wild hair, lifted his Mizukage hat and calmly replied:
"The menu is mostly divided, except for you, the last dish not yet on the table."
Gensou glanced at Byakuren without replying and turned his gaze to Hashirama in front.
Hashirama, an honest man, noticing Gensou's gaze, sighed:
"The ninja world has finally welcomed a long-awaited peace, and no one wants to break it."
"Gensou, you are too powerful, and your ideas are too extreme. After much deliberation, this is our only option."
Gensou was dumbfounded.
First of all, he wasn't the Nine-Tails.
Secondly, extreme ideas?
What did he say? Gensou was confused for a few seconds, then remembered. His ideas were nothing more than stating that the establishment of the five great ninja villages and the existence of the five great nations weren't true peace but a twenty-year truce; real peace required unification; he laughed at Hashirama's lack of strategy and Madara's low intellect, and similar remarks.
Just for that?
Weren't they just empty words?
For someone who had studied the way of the keyboard for a long time in his previous life, these remarks were nothing unusual.
To painstakingly achieve the unification of the ninja world? He had no interest in that.
With that time, wouldn't it be more comfortable to study ninjutsu, expand the family, and live a peaceful life behind closed doors?
Why did these people take it seriously?
Gensou looked again at the five Kage filled with murderous intent around him.
For the first time, he experienced the consequences of speaking recklessly for momentary pleasure.
"I was just speaking casually. I never intended to act on it. Do you believe me?"
Gensou shrugged, speaking the truth for the last time, not expecting these people to truly listen.
Sure enough. Hashirama was about to respond when the impatient First Raikage Ai clenched his fist and said, "So what? Gensou, you deserve to die!"
The First Mizukage Byakuren, First Kazekage Reto, and First Tsuchikage Ishikawa nodded in agreement.
Ishikawa bluntly stated, "The structure of the five great ninja villages has been established. For the peace to continue, Hagoromo Gensou, you, the biggest threat outside the five great ninja villages, must be eliminated."
"The daimyo of various countries are very dissatisfied with you, always hoping to get rid of you. Blame yourself for being a ninja who overstepped his bounds and was too ungrateful."
The First Kazekage Reto, who had always worried about funding for his village, added with a smile.
The harsh environment of the Land of Wind, with most of its territory being sand, forced him to trade his share of the tailed beasts for funds to build his village during the Five Kage Summit.
Many daimyo and nobles, feeling a sense of impending doom, hated Gensou with a passion, and he was eager to take Hagoromo's head for a high bounty.
As the nominal masters to whom the ninja villages owed allegiance, the daimyo controlled the vital funds the villages needed, wielding significant influence.
Offending the daimyo was a death sentence.
Furthermore, the five great ninja villages found Gensou , who operated independently of them, highly inconvenient.
All these factors culminated in the situation where, under the pretext of the Five Kage Summit, the Five Kage, who had rarely gathered together, ambushed Gensou while he was unprepared.
One-on-one, it was uncertain whether they could defeat him, but Gensou could easily escape.
Five-on-one, escape was impossible.
Gensou's fate was sealed from the moment they arrived.
Future Madara would earn the honor of facing the Five Kage alone.
However, Gensou was granted this grand honor decades earlier.
Especially with the rule-breaking Hashirama among them.
Gensou had no more illusions.
As Ishikawa said, as an outsider, he would be eliminated regardless of the reason, even if he had accidentally stepped on an ant.
All for the dominance of the five great ninja villages.
"I was careless."
Gensou shook his head.
He hadn't considered himself a thorn in some people's sides.
But given his strength, he hadn't paid much attention.
Complacency was deadly.
He thought the Five Kage Summit was only about tailed beast distribution and alliance formation among the five great nations, not realizing they had another plan in mind.
The Five Kage actually teamed up to ambush a young man like him!
They really did it! But did they consider the price they would pay?
Gensou's expression turned cold as he brushed the dust off his armor, his eyes gradually becoming dangerous.
At the same time.
Noticing Gensou's sudden, fierce aura, the Five Kage prepared for battle with serious expressions.
Compared to the other four, Hashirama looked more regretful.
He genuinely admired Gensou.
When Konohagakure was newly established, he sincerely invited the Hagoromo clan to join the Konoha family.
Even though there was much blood feud between the two clans, even though his third brother, Senju Itama, had died at the hands of the Hagoromo clan.
If he could accommodate the Uchiha clan, why not the Hagoromo clan?
But Gensou refused.
Knowing the plot, he had no interest in humbling himself to join a future trouble-ridden and constantly fighting Konoha.
He knew too well the future fate of the Senju and Uchiha clans.
Moreover, his clan had strong objections.
Gensou didn't understand how the proud Uchiha were willing to make peace and work with the Senju.
His clan, with a longer history of opposing the Senju, would never agree to shake hands with former enemies and become villagers together.
Thus, the Hagoromo clan, which had stood shoulder to shoulder with the Senju and Uchiha during the Warring States era, gradually declined in the decades after the Warring States ended, disappearing from the ninja world's stage.
Of course, compared to the Senju and Uchiha, who were eventually reduced to a few individuals, the Hagoromo clan, though declined, fared relatively well.
Unaware of the future, Hashirama sighed and shook his head.
With his nature, he was unwilling to deal with Gensou this way.
But the daimyo of the Land of Fire had persistently demanded it, and with the other four Kage agreeing, and his brother Tobirama's constant persuasion, he had finally consented.
All for Konoha.
Hashirama reached out and touched the "Fire" kanji on his hat, his calm eyes turning sharp.
The wind froze at that moment.
Cold killing intent filled the valley.
Hashirama was about to act.
Suddenly!
Gensou raised his hand in a pause gesture and said: "Wait a minute."
Hashirama stopped, his carefully prepared expression dissolving into confusion.
Seeing this, the other four Kage also halted.
What was Gensou up to? Begging for mercy?
Or cursing them out? Gensou ignored the Kage's confusion, his attention entirely focused elsewhere.
At that moment, his mind was fully concentrated.
He heard a mechanical sound: "Ding."
His long-awaited system finally arrived!
(End of Chapter)
(It's a very long prologue!, 13 Chapters. They're pretty fun, as they set the motions on the story. But nonetheless, it's a prologue, so better rate the story after you read around 20 chapters.)