Teach Me

Kitahara Kaede locked the doors and windows, wedging a strand of hair into the door crack as a silent alarm.

After confirming he was alone, he sat back on the edge of the bed and moved his mind.

A light screen popped up.

[Please allocate initial attribute points (Total: 20)]

[Options: Talent, Family Background, Appearance, Luck.]

[Note: The cap for a single attribute is 10 points. These attributes will determine the trajectory of your "life script."]

Four options, twenty points.

Kitahara Kaede did not hesitate.

Talent—10.

Maxed out.

He understood the rules of the Naruto world all too well.

People shouted about the Will of Fire and equality for all, but everything boiled down to bloodline limits and pedigree.

What was the point of a talentless person working hard on the battlefield?

It was just delivering their head to the enemy.

If you want to be someone's "white moonlight," you must first be strong enough to be looked up to.

If you aren't strong enough and rush in to take a hit, that isn't a heroic sacrifice—it's just getting in the way.

Appearance—8.

He was aiming for the "white moonlight" role, and a face was a hard requirement.

When it comes to saving someone's life, if you're ugly, they say, "I will repay your kindness in the next life." If you're handsome, they say, "I will repay you with my body."

Family Background—2.

He didn't want a prestigious clan lineage; it was best to be from a fallen house that had once been prominent.

Having a status was enough to make things convenient, and perhaps he could even scavenge a few ninjutsu techniques.

Luck—0.

When his finger tapped that option, he didn't hesitate for a second.

Luck was a life-saving charm for others.

For him?

It was a penalty.

The worse his luck, the more miserable his life.

The more miserable his life, the more tragic his death.

And the more tragic his death—

The deeper she would remember him.

Heaven envies the talented, beauties die young, desires go unfulfilled, and the obsession lasts until death.

It was the perfect fit.

[Talent 10 / Appearance 8 / Family Background 2 / Luck 0]

[Confirmation complete. Loading—]

The light screen flashed, and text began to scroll.

[The ninja world is newly settled, with the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, suppressing the era. Konoha Village appears peaceful, but undercurrents are surging.]

[Identity generated: Young Master of the Hagoromo Clan. The clan once allied with the Senju during the Warring States period, but now, with the population withered, it has been absorbed into Konoha.]

[You have been named: Hagoromo Kaede.]

[Carrying the memories of an adult and maxed-out talent, you have received the genius script. You walk at one, refine chakra at two, and master ninjutsu the moment you learn it.]

[Year 13 of the Konoha era, Tsunade is born.]

[Time fast-forward—]

[You are four years old, Tsunade is three.]

[Senju Hashirama convenes a high-level meeting. Your father, as the Hagoromo clan head, takes you to the Senju estate to attend.]

[Chapter One, officially begins.]

His vision shifted.

Light flooded in, stinging his eyes and making him squint.

The air held the faint fragrance of wood, and the floor beneath his feet was polished so smooth that the sensation felt too real to be a simulation.

A four-year-old body.

His hands were a size smaller as he knelt behind his father.

The last line of text still lingered in his mind.

[Year 13 of the Konoha era, Tsunade is born.]

Tsunade.

Senju Hashirama's granddaughter, the future Fifth Hokage, and one of the "Legendary Sannin."

The system's intent was clear: this time, the target was Tsunade.

He calmed his emotions and scanned the room with a composed expression.

In the main hall, over a dozen clan heads sat on either side.

The head seat at the front was empty, and the tea had already been poured.

Tsunade was not there.

That made sense; a three-year-old child wouldn't appear in the council chamber.

Kitahara Kaede withdrew his gaze and lowered his head obediently.

No rush. Let's see how things play out first.

About the time it took to finish a cup of tea passed.

"I won! I won again! Hahahaha—"

A burst of laughter drifted in from outside the hall.

The voice was milky and childish, yet full of spirit; it could be heard clearly through the corridor and half the courtyard.

This was followed by the sound of dice clattering across a table.

Kitahara Kaede raised his eyelids and looked through the open side door of the main hall—

In the pavilion, Senju Hashirama sat cross-legged on the ground, his hands spread wide, his face a mask of misery.

"Lost again... how is that possible..."

Opposite him sat a little dumpling of a girl.

Wearing a white dress with golden pigtails, she had a table piled high with copper coins and snacks in front of her. She leaned back, her chin tilted toward the sky.

Three-year-old Tsunade stood with her hands on her hips.

"Grandpa is so stupid! Again!"

Kitahara Kaede glanced at Hashirama's hands.

He was losing on purpose. He was throwing the game so blatantly it was practically written on his face.

The First Hokage—the man who could pin the Nine-Tails to the ground—was currently sweating profusely from losing at dice to his granddaughter.

"Again, again!" Tsunade reached out for the dice.

Just as Hashirama was about to reach for them, several Senju elders walked quickly from the other end of the corridor, their expressions grim.

Hashirama's smile faded halfway, and he stood up.

"Little Tsunade, Grandpa has some business to attend to."

Tsunade grabbed his leg.

"You're just a sore loser! You're cheating!"

"Grandpa really has business—"

"Liar!"

Tsunade's mouth puckered, and her eyes turned red.

Hashirama looked down at her, clearly wavering.

This was a man who had faced tailed beasts and Uchiha Madara, yet at this moment, with a three-year-old girl clinging to his leg, his expression softened.

But the elders had already reached him and whispered something.

Hashirama sighed and signaled to a maid.

The maid stepped forward to coax her, but Tsunade refused.

After much coaxing and pulling, they finally pried her off the First Hokage's leg.

"I don't want to—let go—Grandpa, you big meanie—"

Her crying faded as she was carried further away.

Hashirama rubbed his temples and walked toward the main hall with the elders.

The various clan heads stood up to follow.

Kitahara Kaede's father also stood up and straightened his clothes.

"Father."

Kitahara Kaede tugged on his sleeve.

"It's stuffy inside, I'm going out to sit for a while."

His father glanced at him and nodded. "Don't go too far."

"Mm."

The meeting room door closed.

The main hall was empty.

Kitahara Kaede stood up, walked through the corridor, and rounded a low wall.

In the pavilion, the dice were scattered everywhere, and the copper coins and snacks were in a chaotic pile.

He walked over, picked up a die, and looked at it in his palm. Just as he was about to put it back on the table—

"That's mine."

The voice came from behind him, thick with a nasal tone.

Kitahara Kaede turned his head.

Tsunade stood at the corner of the low wall.

Her eyes were red, tear tracks remained on her face, and the tip of her nose was flushed.

But her lips were pressed into a thin line as she stared at the die in his hand.

She had clearly broken free from the maid and run back.

Kitahara Kaede looked at her and held out the die.

"It's yours."

Tsunade walked over quickly, snatched it away, and clutched it in her palm.

Then she took a half-step back and looked him up and down.

After she finished looking, she wrinkled her nose.

"Who are you?"

"My dad came to see your grandpa," Kitahara Kaede said. "It was stuffy inside, so I came out to sit."

Tsunade tilted her head and studied him for two seconds.

It was as if she were judging what kind of background this strange kid, who was half a head taller than her, had.

Then she looked down at the die in her hand.

She looked at the empty pavilion.

Then she looked back up at Kitahara Kaede.

Suddenly, she perked up.

"Do you know how to play dice?"

Kitahara Kaede shook his head slightly.

"Not really," he said with a serious tone, then paused. "Will you teach me?"

Tsunade was stunned.

Ever since she could remember, it had always been her grandfather teaching her.

No one had ever asked her to teach them anything.

Her eyes lit up instantly.