Konoha, Year 20
In a dense forest, a group of people were catching their breath as they rested. Judging by their condition, they had just finished a fierce battle.
Tobirama Senju looked at his disciples. Every one of them was in a sorry state, their clothes tattered, and several of them were injured.
He'd been clever all his life, only to make a foolish mistake at the worst possible moment! He'd been ambushed at the negotiating table after the end of the Ninja World War!
And damn it, Raikage, how did you manage your people? Your subordinates were planning a coup, and you didn't know a thing?
No matter how difficult your ninja were to control, they couldn't be harder to manage than those hereditary lunatics from the Uchiha clan. And I'd still managed to whip the Uchiha into shape!
What a bunch of barbaric fools. They didn't have an ounce of intelligence.
But cursing the Raikage was useless now. He'd already been killed by those two treacherous bastards, Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
Tobirama checked the Chakra inside him. He had a little more than half left. With his Flying Thunder God Technique, he could make it back to the village alone without much trouble—but he had a whole bunch of deadweight to worry about.
Given the situation, it was time to make a decision. Tobirama closed his eyes and pondered for a long while: should he save himself or his disciples?
"In this situation, the only way to escape is for someone to draw away Kinkaku and Ginkaku's elite forces. But that person's fate..."
Tobirama's expression was grave. He left the rest unsaid, because the outcome was obvious: certain death.
Silence followed his words. No one spoke. After all, none of them wanted to die.
A few seconds later, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with grim resolve:
"I'll go!"
Tobirama looked at Hiruzen. Beneath his stern expression, the corner of his mouth curled up slightly.
Danzo looked as though he'd been shocked stiff. That moment of hesitation had made the difference between him and Hiruzen clear.
"I'm the Hokage. Of course I should be the bait. All of you are young inheritors of the Will of Fire, destined to protect the village."
Tobirama's words sent a shock through the group. Everyone tried to talk him out of it. They couldn't possibly let him trade his life for theirs—surely their lives were far too precious for that.
Danzo, in particular, had stopped trembling. He stepped forward and volunteered to be the bait, offering to die in Tobirama's place.
But there wasn't time for Danzo to put on a show. Tobirama shut him down with a few sharp remarks, then turned to Hiruzen and said:
"Monkey, protect the people who admire the village and trust you. Then raise them to become those who can be entrusted with the next generation."
"Starting tomorrow, you'll be the Hokage!"
"Monkey, I'm leaving Konoha in your hands."
Meanwhile, in Konoha.
Uchiha Clan Compound
Inside a room, a boy clasped his hands together and muttered a prayer.
"Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva, Jade Emperor, Jesus..."
"It's time to show yourselves. Please bless me with a Gold reward this time!"
"Today's a lucky day. Second Hokage Tobirama is negotiating with the Raikage, and if nothing unexpected happens, he should be dead. I'm doing a lottery draw on such a joyous occasion, so don't give me another White reward!"
Uchiha Nan gazed at the giant wheel before him, hoping this month's draw would bring him a pleasant surprise.
As a transmigrator, this wheel was Uchiha Nan's trump card for surviving in the dangerous world of Naruto.
Aside from the beginner's gift pack he'd received at the start, which contained three Mangekyo Sharingan experience coupons that each lasted a day, all he had were the wheel's lottery draws.
He got one guaranteed draw every month, and he could earn additional draws by completing missions issued by the wheel.
The wheel's prize pool was full of all sorts of things. After more than a decade of figuring it out, he'd sorted the rewards into five categories: White, Green, Red, Orange, and Gold.
White rewards were everyday items, like clothes, shoes, stools, and milk.
Green rewards were ninja equipment, like Kunai, Shuriken, and Exploding Tags.
Red rewards were Ninjutsu. It had all kinds, from forbidden techniques to ordinary Shadow Clones.
Orange rewards were Kekkei Genkai, such as the Byakugan, Wood Release, Ice Release, Magnet Release, Lava Release, and so on.
The Gold prize pool contained the finest and rarest things in the Naruto world: Mangekyō Sharingan, Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Sage Body, Perfect Sage Mode, and the Chakra Fruit.
In the sixteen years since he'd transmigrated, Uchiha Nan had spent most of his draws bouncing between White and Green. Getting a Red reward made him as happy as if it were New Year. He'd only gotten an Orange reward once, and he didn't even dare dream of getting a Gold one.
"Ding-dong! Welcome, host, to the lottery!"
Uchiha Nan clicked the draw button. A clear chime rang out, and the enormous wheel lit up. Its pointer spun over a thousand or so slots. White filled most of them, with Green scattered among the White. Red slots dotted the wheel like specks, while Orange was scarce, and Gold occupied only one or two slots. You could barely see them unless you looked closely.
"Gold, give me Gold!"
"Come on, give me Gold!!!"
Uchiha Nan's eyes reddened. His three-tomoe Sharingan fixed on the pointer, and he clenched his fist so hard his fingers turned slightly white.
"Damn it, Green!"
"Three Exploding Tags."
Uchiha Nan sighed. As expected, it was the same as always: either White or Green.
Well, Exploding Tags were still pretty expensive. He could sell them for money, at least. Uchiha Nan consoled himself.
He couldn't count on luck to get a Gold reward. He knew he wasn't one of the chosen few favored by fortune. In the end, you had to rely on yourself.
Uchiha Nan opened the mission screen on the wheel. It showed a Long-term mission, one the wheel had issued the day he officially became a ninja.
Mission: Become the Hokage of Konoha.
Reward: One chance to draw a Gold reward from the wheel.
Now was the perfect time to complete this Long-term mission.
He'd been born during the time Tobirama Senju was Hokage. Becoming Hokage through the proper channels was simply impossible.
Become one of Tobirama Senju's disciples, earn his approval, then have him appoint you Hokage?
He was an Uchiha! The Clan emblem on his clothes and the Tomoe in his eyes would be enough to remind Tobirama of that old Madara Uchiha. Madara Uchiha was a Lunatic, after all.
Every Uchiha who awakened the Sharingan had Psychological problems. No exceptions.
Uchiha Nan included. He'd been learning Killing ninjutsu since he was a child.
He'd graduated at six and become a ninja, then gone straight on missions. He'd picked up a Kunai and started chopping people up—and he'd been frighteningly good at it. How could he not have Psychological problems?
Those who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan went through Breaking cocoon to become a butterfly and turned into Lunatics. If an Uchiha really became Hokage, there was no telling when one of them might turn into a true Lunatic, get a sudden idea, and lead Konoha down a path of no return.
If someone told Tobirama Senju that the Uchiha were planning a Shocking plan to Save the world and Maintain ninja world peace, and that they'd developed a never-before-seen Ninjutsu that could Hang on trees every ninja in the world and make them have Sweet dreams, bringing unprecedented peace to the Ninja world—
Then Tobirama Senju would take the person seriously and immediately investigate the Uchiha down to the last detail.
After all, the Uchiha really might do something like that. They were all Lunatics, weren't they?
Before you continue