A jackpot of good luck!

Madara Uchiha's body was taken away by Watanabe Ichiro, the current head of the Uchiha clan. Tobirama Senju kept casting pointed looks at Ichiro, his eyes all but begging him to lend him Madara for a couple of days of research.

Ichiro was curious about how Izanagi brought someone back to life too, so he pretended not to understand the hints. After all, neither propriety nor reason would allow Tobirama to openly demand the former Uchiha clan head's corpse from him.

(Tobirama Senju: The kid's grown up and gotten too big for his britches. He won't even listen to me anymore. Time to give him a beating.)

Ichiro didn't know exactly when Madara would revive, so he placed him in his former residence and left a Wood Clone to watch over him.

Playing up his public persona as "Madara Uchiha's little fanboy," he declared the residence off-limits and forbade anyone from approaching.

Meanwhile, Hashirama Senju wasn't doing well. Tobirama's examination revealed that his chakra had lost its vitality, his internal organs were failing, and his Sage Body's regenerative ability had slowed. The injuries he had sustained in the final battle showed no signs of healing.

Ichiro had once asked Tobirama about the cause out of sheer curiosity and received an answer that was unexpected, yet made sense.

The Senju Clan's Sage Bodies all burned through their lifespan. (Author's original setting.)

The cells in a human body could only divide a limited number of times, and their ability to repair damage had its limits too.

Before they reached that limit, the Senju gave outsiders the impression that they were strong, could fight, could take a beating, and could heal themselves. Even their looks aged slowly. They were practically perfect damage-soaking tanks.

But once they reached that limit, members of the Senju Clan would deteriorate in an instant, beyond the help of any medicine.

That was also one of the reasons Hashirama and Tobirama's father, Butsuma Senju, had chosen to take the Uchiha clan head of the time, Uchiha Tajima, down with him on the battlefield: his regenerative ability had nearly reached its limit. (Author's original setting.)

Every gain came with a loss. That was the fate of the Senju, and every one of them was mentally prepared for it. There was nothing to complain about.

Tobirama looked perfectly accepting, but a moment later, his expression darkened.

The commotion Hashirama and Madara had caused a few days earlier had been too great. The other nations would inevitably come to investigate. Konoha no longer had Madara to hold the fort, and even with careful rest and treatment, Hashirama didn't have much time left.

Once Hashirama passed away, could Konoha withstand the other nations' probing and assaults with only Tobirama and Ichiro supporting it?

Tobirama couldn't help sighing. Then he remembered that Ichiro had defied his wishes and hidden Madara's body somewhere, and his anger flared again. He reached out and ruffled Ichiro's white hair. "Things are about to change in Konoha. Hurry back to the Uchiha clan and dig through the old texts. Find a way to improve your strength. War is unavoidable. Be careful."

Ichiro gave Tobirama a resentful look as he stroked his hair like he was a Samoyed, inwardly grumbling.

Since you've asked so earnestly, I'll oblige. The next stage after my Three Tomoe is the Mangekyo. All I need now is a plausible opportunity to awaken it, then I can install the Mangekyo skill card directly.

But you might be the only bond I have left alive in Konoha. Better watch out for Black Zetsu coming by in the middle of the night for a little "heart-to-heart."

At Hashirama's bedside in Konoha Hospital.

"I don't want the truth getting out."

Hashirama looked utterly wilted, with none of his former radiance remaining.

"I know, even without you telling me, brother."

Sitting beside him, Tobirama sighed and took out the proposals he had already prepared.

"Madara Uchiha's old injuries flared up while he was sparring with you, and he died despite attempts to save him?"

Hashirama shook his head.

"Then Madara Uchiha fought you for the position of Third Hokage and died after losing?"

Hashirama hesitated for a moment, but still shook his head.

"Then..." Tobirama trailed off and took out the suggestion Ichiro had offered that morning.

"[Black Zetsu], who has long been lurking behind the scenes in the shinobi world and plotting conspiracies, attacked Konoha. You and Madara Uchiha joined forces against [Black Zetsu], but he was powerful and cunning, and Madara tragically fell in battle."

Dying in a battle to protect Konoha...

Hashirama finally nodded.

After reassuring Hashirama and getting him to stay put in bed, Tobirama returned to the Hokage office building to deal with the letters of concern from the great nations. The documents rambled on at length, but ultimately boiled down to a single question.

"What exactly were you doing in Konoha to cause such a huge commotion?"

With a sweep of his brush, Tobirama declared the seven consecutive days of fighting outside Konoha a battle to defend the village. An unknown, dangerous enemy, [Black Zetsu], had attacked. The First Hokage, Madara Uchiha, had fallen in battle, while [Black Zetsu] had fled after being defeated.

After all, the entire shinobi world knew that Madara had been hunting [Black Zetsu]. Pinning the blame on him couldn't go wrong, and it would also make the other nations more wary of him.

Ichiro had suggested this to Tobirama. Although Tobirama felt the story was riddled with holes, Ichiro guaranteed that the great nations would believe it.

His absolute confidence, along with his reputation for never making careless promises, had more or less convinced Tobirama. Besides, Tobirama had no better option.

Once Hashirama died, war would inevitably follow.

What Konoha needed most right now was time. The children of the next generation needed time to grow into a fighting force, and the [Impure World Reincarnation] technique wasn't mature yet either.

Whatever the excuse, whatever the method, he had to buy Konoha time to develop by any means necessary.

Ichiro sat cross-legged in the office reserved for the clan head in the Uchiha Clan Compound and opened the system interface. His points total had gained several extra digits, all thanks to the genuine Black Zetsu's contributions.

He browsed the shop and bought a few things for later use.

[Wood Release: Complete Version] Fully master the power of Wood Release. Chakra output determines the strength of Wood Release.

[Disguise] When you wish to disguise yourself as someone else, provided you have spent a certain amount of time with them, no one can see through this disguise.

[Act at Will] Proficiency in any technique reaches 100. Activate it at will without fulfilling prerequisites such as hand seals or incantations.

He installed the skill cards immediately after buying them, and a dense list of new skills instantly appeared in the system's skill tab.

Among the familiar ones were [Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique], which Hashirama had used while fighting Madara a few days earlier, and [Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs], the technique Obito Uchiha had used when he witnessed Rin Nohara's death...

The powerful [Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence] and [Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands] were also included. However, perhaps due to changes in the timeline, this world's Hashirama had never learned Senjutsu, and Madara hadn't seized the tailed beasts to perform [Majestic Attire: Susanoo] either.

Even techniques the original user had never used appeared in [Wood Release: Complete Version]. That was a nice feature. As expected, anything produced by the system was guaranteed to be top quality.

After his shopping spree, he still had enough points left for one ten-pull on the roulette. Ichiro casually clicked it, intending to empty his points balance completely.

Unexpectedly, a rainbow appeared on the roulette, followed by an item gleaming with golden light. He had actually rolled a top-tier reward!

What could it be?

Ichiro held his breath and waited for the item to reveal itself.