A slap across Kakashi's face

"Chief Fugaku, there's no need to see me off. I'll still need your help when the time comes."

"Xianyu, you don't have to be so polite. Our clans will be helping each other from now on."

"Then it's settled. Once this is over, whenever your clan needs anything, the Hatake Clan will answer your call."

At the entrance to the Uchiha Clan Compound, Fugaku and Ling Tian were getting along splendidly.

One wore a warm, reassuring smile; the other looked sincere.

After finishing his discussion with the Uchiha Clan, Ling Tian walked alone along the deserted outskirts of the village. Detecting movement from a concealed spot, he smiled calmly.

With White Fang in trouble, was there anything wrong with his younger brother urgently seeking allies?

No one would think there was.

They would only sneer at him for grasping at straws.

In the Leaf Village, the Uchiha could only make matters worse.

Still, the Uchiha desperately needed allies now, and White Fang needed someone willing to speak up for him.

But aside from the Uchiha, whom the higher-ups regarded with hostility, no one would help him.

Justice could only be found among lone wolves and hot-blooded but dim-witted clan shinobi.

Both sides were desperate for allies at the moment.

And that was precisely Ling Tian's aim.

He would let his enemies strut around for a few days first.

Once the time came, he would slaughter them all.

At that thought, he smiled disdainfully. Trying to play dirty against a transmigrator? What did Hiruzen Sarutobi's eight years as Hokage amount to?

This damned system hadn't done a single useful thing so far. He was still relying on the enormous advantage of knowing the plot.

As for making both sides "coexist peacefully," if he could make his older brother Hokage on his own, why should he swallow his anger and settle for peaceful coexistence?

To hell with unlocking the template early.

Once his older brother became Hokage, he would set Orochimaru up with a laboratory and mobilize the entire village to capture people with kekkei genkai.

Then he would dig up the First's grave, have Fugaku assign a few people, and get the research underway.

If that didn't work, he would send a few Kage-level fighters to Amegakure to gouge out Nagato's Rinnegan.

If the elderly, badly injured Madara dared to show his face, White Fang, Orochimaru, Fugaku Uchiha, Torifu Akimichi, and Might Duy-five Kage-level fighters-would take him on, along with dozens of elite jonin. Surely that would kill him.

If that still wasn't enough, they could hold the Five Kage Summit early and gang up on him.

That guy was everyone's enemy. There was no reason to worry that the other Kage wouldn't join in.

[Strongest Choice System 0.3]

"Ding: detected the host's intention to kill Madara Uchiha. The following choices have been triggered."

①: kill Madara Uchiha ahead of time.

Reward: disrupted plot, unknown outcome.

②: hold back for now.

Reward: unchanged plot, your advantage remains.

③: I want to be the mastermind behind the scenes. Lie low for now, wait until Six Paths Madara laughs triumphantly and Lady Kaguya emerges, then slap her to death.

Reward: travel across the multiverse; system upgraded to [Multiverse Strongest Choice System].

"..."

Ling Tian stopped and crouched in the shade of a tree. Watching the cheat that hadn't helped him once in the fifteen years since his transmigration start stirring up trouble, he fell into thought.

Why were everyone else's systems so ridiculously powerful?

Things like starting with ten consecutive draws!

Starting by summoning Galio!

Starting with a check-in reward of the Tenseigan!

Starting by choosing the Tremor-Tremor Fruit!

Starting as the Fourth Hokage!

Checking in for twenty years, then killing Madara Uchiha with one slap!

Checking in for eighteen years, then kicking the Konoha F4 to death!

And what was that one about checking in for seventy years, then marrying Lady Kaguya while still hale and hearty in old age?

Why did his cheat not only refuse to help him, but insist on holding him back?

Why was that?

Fifteen minutes later.

Ling Tian closed the illusory panel that only he could see and calmly headed toward the Hatake Clan.

Even without the system, he could easily become the strongest in the Shinobi World.

But when it came to being the strongest in the multiverse versus the strongest in the Shinobi World,

Even a pig would know which to choose. "I know I'm better off with your help than without it, but why did you have to come out and stop me after I'd arranged everything, when I could easily become the strongest in the Shinobi World, marry a hundred gorgeous women, have thousands of the cutest kids, and had already figured out how to enjoy my retirement?"

He was demanding an answer.

But no one answered him.

After all, the system was only a tool.

A tool that let his fellow transmigrators choose him in the early stages.

To be fair,

A carefree life of lazing around was what he had envied most in his previous life.

Ling Tian was still considering whether to choose that carefree life or an exciting journey exploring the multiverse.

Meanwhile, things were getting rather noisy at the Hatake Clan.

The Hatake Clan Compound.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who was still injured, pointed at the Hatake Clan's tightly shut gates and cursed furiously. "Sakumo Hatake, get out here! The village suffered such enormous losses because of you, and now you think you can just stop being a shinobi?"

Male villager A: "We could have ended the war! It's all because of you that Sunagakure wants to fight again. How many more shinobi from our village will have to die?"

Female villager B: "We all know the truth now. They want revenge because you killed Sunagakure's Elder Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law! Why can someone as powerful as you go home with a clear conscience while our husbands and sons have to go to war?"

Male villager C: "Shinobi who disregard their comrades' lives are trash, but shinobi who abandon a mission for their comrades are worse than trash."

Female villager D: "You enjoyed the glory the village gave you, but you failed to fulfill your responsibilities."

Sarutobi Shinnosuke: "I'm the Hokage's son. I'm prepared to sacrifice myself for the village. If my death could bring peace, my father would be proud of me. But now you've saved me only to plunge the village into war. Who knows how many people will die because of me? Do you want me to live with that guilt for the rest of my life?"

Just then,

Ling Tian happened to return.

Hearing the commotion at home, his expression abruptly changed.

When he reached home and saw the villagers pointing and criticizing in the courtyard, along with the man wrapped in bandages, he clenched his fists in anger.

A moment later, he spotted several children in a corner. He calmed his agitation before walking over composedly.

"Kakashi, why did you come back?"

Tears brimmed in Kakashi's eyes as he choked out, "Uncle, is what they're saying tru-"

Smack.

Before he could finish, Ling Tian slapped him across the face.

"How could you hit him?"

"Kakashi, are you okay?"

"You actually dared to hit Kakashi! Even if you two have the same hair color, I'm still going to challenge you! Come on, let's run ten laps around the village like real men and see who's faster!"

Ling Tian ignored the three brats, two boys and a girl, and stared coldly at his nephew. "You remember what I told you this morning, don't you?"

Kakashi held a hand to his cheek, stubbornly holding back his tears. "They said Father is a criminal who wronged the village."

Smack! Another slap.

Only after striking him did Ling Tian ask, "Who said that?"

"My classmates at school."

"And you believed them?"

At those words, Kakashi hesitated for a moment, his face slightly swollen, then shook his head miserably.

"Then why are you here?"

When his nephew remained silent, Ling Tian slapped him again. "Kakashi, I'm asking you. Why are you here?"