[Strongest Choice System 0.1] The host has arrived in the Leaf Village, triggering reincarnation options. ①: Direct descendant of the Senju Clan. Reward: Ren Woxing template. "Smiling, Proud Wanderer World" ②: Direct descendant of the Uchiha Clan. Reward: Ace template. "Pirate King World" ③: Direct descendant of the Hatake Clan. (Selected) Reward: Diamond Calabash Brothers template. "Calabash Brothers World" (Unclaimed) Note: Character templates can be unlocked upon reaching adulthood.
Year 23 of the Leaf Village.
Ling Tian had transmigrated.
He had started as a chosen one with an invincible cheat, even getting to pick rewards for his reincarnation. Unfortunately, he had to wait until adulthood to receive them.
Reincarnation was a skill in itself, and he had agonized over it.
Being born into the Senju Clan's direct line meant peaking in the womb, with his innate leadership stat maxed out.
He could enjoy the perks of having the strongest connections, but after the Second Hokage died, he could also easily die under mysterious circumstances...
He remembered that he would be seven when Tobirama died...
Ling Tian immediately declared, It's not that I don't want to be Hokage, but this is a hell-mode start!
As for using his knowledge of the plot to protect the Second Hokage...
Not happening!
What if changing the plot got him caught in the crossfire and someone slapped him dead?
After all, the system would only kick in once he reached adulthood. Until then, he had to lie low, then lie even lower.
As for the Uchiha Clan, those little tadpoles certainly looked cool, but he would face hostility from the village leadership from birth. If he displayed exceptional talent, he feared Tobirama might personally have him killed...
The point remained: until his cheat arrived, the Uchiha and Senju were both high-risk clans.
Of course, the most important reason was that the Diamond Calabash Brothers were worth far more than the Ace and Ren Woxing character cards.
With no other choice, he could only tearfully become Fifty-Fifty's uncle and give the Hatake Clan a helping hand.
Time slipped by.
When Hatake Ling Tian turned fifteen, after his cheat had been frozen for fifteen years, the main story finally began.
"Uncle, I feel like Father... isn't quite himself."
In a packed barbecue restaurant on the Leaf Village's bustling shopping street, two silver-haired figures, one older and one younger, chatted as they ate.
Hatake Kakashi chewed on a meatball, looking at his second uncle, whom others called a "worthless ninja," with a hint of worry in his eyes.
It was Year 38 of the Leaf Village, and four-year-old Kakashi was still just a second-generation ninja.
Sitting across from him was his second uncle, the transmigrator Ling Tian, named Hatake Xianyu in this life-the younger brother of Hatake Sakumo.
Born in Year 23 of the Leaf Village, he was the same age as the first generation of Ino-Shika-Cho.
Disliking the name given to him by his older brother, who had never even attended elementary school, and his mother, who had died after giving birth to him, he called himself Hatake Ling Tian!
Fond of commerce since childhood, he had been dubbed a greedy slacker by the Leaf Village's higher-ups!
At the same time, he enjoyed helping ordinary people, so the name "Hatake the great philanthropist" had spread widely among the village's common folk.
Once Konoha's White Fang became renowned far and wide, his younger brother, who could not mold chakra, also became known throughout the Shinobi World!
Other villages called him a worthless ninja...
Even though he had inherited the Hatake Clan's handsome, long silver hair and wore it in the same flowing ponytail as his older brother.
He had dethroned the sunny, handsome Little Sun to claim first place on the Leaf Village's list of handsome men, but he was still worthless...
At that moment, the "worthless" Hatake Ling Tian heard his nephew Fifty-Fifty's childish voice and paid it little mind. Looking at the adorable little boy, whose eyes had yet to turn dead and fishlike, he did not even pause with the grilled meat nearly at his lips.
Only after finishing that bite did he say with a faint smile, "The Second Shinobi World War is over, and your father has been back for ages. There won't be another war anytime soon. What could be wrong?"
Kakashi stared wide-eyed and said with innocent confusion, "Didn't you tell me to let you know if anything was wrong with Father, Uncle? Whether he was in a bad mood or said something strange?"
"Has he been drinking? Or did he say something about being deeply disappointed in the Leaf Village?"
Ling Tian set down his grilled meat,
and followed up on his nephew's concern. He was not particularly worried about it. Whatever was meant to happen would happen.
With him here, his older brother, known as Konoha's White Fang, would not die such a miserable death as he had in the original story.
Even with his cheat frozen, the matter would be easy to resolve. There were plenty of ways, the simplest being to defect from the village.
But the Leaf Village was a good place. He would stay if he could, not just because it was warm in winter, cool in summer, and offered quality goods at low prices.
The fact that he could get ninja to catch dogs and find cats for him was a privilege he would not enjoy in other villages.
And he, Hatake Ling Tian, might not have much else, but he had plenty of money and a good brain.
As for Hatake Sakumo, he might not have much else, but he was powerful! And he had the most accomplishments to his name.
The Leaf Village's smartest and richest man + the Leaf Village's strongest fighter with the most achievements = the Leaf Village's strongest team!
Was there anything wrong with that?
Since there wasn't, they might as well rebel!
Uh... he could not quite make that decision yet.
But he could give it a try, with an assassination or something...
After all, his older brother's strength spoke for itself.
Although calling him the strongest was a bit of a stretch with the Third Hokage still in his prime, it did not seem like much of one...
Back to the matter at hand.
Kakashi shook his head as he ate. "Father was just like usual. He said he was going out on a mission and told me to come eat with you after classes at the Ninja Academy.
"But the strange thing was, before he left a few days ago, he suddenly told me to listen to you from now on, to tell you if anything happened, and not to care what other people thought of you."
"And one more thing."
As he spoke, Kakashi adorably glanced around. Only after confirming that no one was paying attention to them did he whisper, "The last thing Father told me was to remember that sometimes being too strong isn't necessarily a good thing. Your achievements can make your leader feel threatened!"
He did not understand what it meant for someone's achievements to threaten their leader, but he could still sense that his dad sounded as though he were making his final arrangements.
And from the moment Kakashi began saying those words, Ling Tian froze.
"Ding: White Fang's suicide detected. The following options have been triggered." [Strongest Choice System 0.2] ①: Ignore the matter and allow your older brother to commit suicide. Appease the Konoha F4 until you have sufficient strength. Reward: One Will of Fire Medal. ②: Defect from the village with White Fang and make the Konoha F4 regret it. Reward: Divine ability, "Clone Technique." ③: Slap some sense into him. Reward: Early access to your personal status panel and one summon, "Little Right."
Fifteen years. You've finally come back.
Seeing his second uncle suddenly fall into a daze, with tears glistening in his eyes, Kakashi asked worriedly, "Uncle, nothing's going to happen to Father, is it?"
Still young, he thought something really had happened to his ponytailed dad.
Ling Tian closed the illusory panel before his eyes and waved dismissively. "He's fine. What could happen? Haven't I told you? Your dad is the strongest man in our Leaf Village right now. I won't say he's the strongest in the Shinobi World and can kill anyone he wants, but everyone capable of stopping him from leaving is already dead. The rest either haven't been born yet or are clinging to life in some rat hole somewhere..."
There was one thing he left unsaid: his brother's strength was undeniable, but that brain of his...
Best not to talk about it. It would only bring tears.
Still, judging by what his nephew had said...
His older brother apparently was not truly stupid. He even understood that his achievements could threaten his leader.
That was hardly surprising, though. After years of exposure to his younger brother's conspiracy theories, it was only natural for his intelligence to improve.
But since he had not come to discuss it with Ling Tian, that meant he had already made his choice.
If the Kage orders a ninja to die, the ninja has no choice but to die.
What a hopeless stickler!
It looked like he would have to give his older brother another round of brainwashing when he returned.
Honestly, the Konoha F4 really were something.
When facing enemies, it was, "Our Leaf Village loves peace. We should avoid war whenever possible!"
But when dealing with their own people, it was, "Everything is for the Leaf Village..."
After all, they weren't the ones dying, right?
Before you continue