Who was the First Hokage?

The assassination attempt ended with Watanabe Ichiro's death.

His remains were buried beside the river where they had often gathered. Buried with him were the little wooden figure Watanabe Ichiro had given Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, and a bundle Hashirama Senju had found near the battlefield, containing the remains of an unidentified piece of wood.

Anyone else who found it might have dismissed it as useless rubbish, but...

"Is this... the cane? The one you gave Ichiro back then?" Madara Uchiha asked hesitantly.

"...Yes. I made it with Wood Release."

Hashirama Senju had recognized the wood the instant he saw it. It was a fragment of the cane, scorched black by Explosive Tags.

Their old friend was gone.

Afterward, under Madara Uchiha's leadership, the Uchiha Clan accepted Hashirama Senju's invitation to form an alliance. The two clans signed an agreement as equals.

On the Uchiha side.

The Uchiha Clan revered strength. Madara Uchiha was the strongest in the clan and could overpower every challenger, while Uchiha Izuna was highly capable and kept a firm grip on all clan affairs, great and small. The clansmen had considerable faith in their leadership.

Uchiha Izuna, the second-in-command who had firmly opposed the alliance, had been grievously wounded by Tobirama Senju's [Flying Thunder God Slash]. Thanks to Hashirama Senju's timely treatment, his fatal injuries had mostly healed. Before long, he was full of life again, glaring provocatively at Tobirama Senju, who lay beside him.

Precisely because he had recovered so quickly, Uchiha Izuna regarded Hashirama Senju with even greater wariness. An enemy with off-the-charts attack power, incredible endurance, and maxed-out healing was truly agonizing to deal with. But if they became friends instead...

He began seriously considering the alliance. Tobirama Senju's surprise attack, relying entirely on cunning this time, had shattered his pride. Watanabe Ichiro's near-successful assassination of Madara Uchiha had also made him acutely aware of a ninja's vulnerability. The [Sharingan] was not all-powerful. He needed more trump cards to protect his brother, himself, and their clan.

The seemingly goofy leader of the Senju Clan before him might be a very good place to start.

Meanwhile, Madara Uchiha, the leader who supplied their fighting strength, had a much simpler line of reasoning. Hashirama Senju had saved his younger brother's life. Granted, Tobirama Senju had inflicted those grievous wounds, but on the battlefield, it was kill or be killed. Who had room for mercy?

Hashirama Senju's proposal had already appealed to him greatly. Now, with that life-saving debt added in, Madara Uchiha gazed at Hashirama Senju with outright warmth. My dearest friend, you never disappoint!

On the Senju side.

Hashirama Senju himself had proposed the alliance, so naturally, he had no objections.

Meanwhile, Tobirama Senju, the brains of the Senju Clan, was playing dead on the ground. His injuries were worse than Uchiha Izuna's. First, Watanabe Ichiro had pierced his chest with a weapon imbued with True Damage Infusion. Then, blood from Hashirama Senju's severed artery had sprayed all over his face, adding breathing difficulties to his physical suffering. Finally, his spirit had taken a blow from the taunts of Uchiha Izuna, who had gotten up first beside him. He was so pale he resembled a cloud, drifting about as though a breeze might carry him straight to the Pure Land of the Netherworld.

"Whatever. As long as you're happy, big brother..." He closed his eyes, turned his head aside, and shut himself off.

That Uchiha brat was taunting me right to my face, and my big brother was siding with the enemy. Why hadn't this rotten world ended yet?

Tobirama Senju was once again perfectly calm and nuclear.

With both great clans working together, the alliance arrangements progressed remarkably smoothly.

With Uchiha Izuna helping secure their interests, Madara Uchiha's days were extraordinarily comfortable. He dragged Hashirama Senju off to spar every day, without having to worry about any of the messy fallout from the alliance.

Thus, in the Hokage's office designated by the two clans, their leaders were generally nowhere to be seen. Instead, Tobirama Senju and Uchiha Izuna were there, at each other's throats.

"The Hokage should be my brother Madara!"

"That loser? He can't even beat my brother's Wood Release!"

"Would you rather put that ridiculous Senju of yours in charge, when he nearly got his head cut off?"

"..."

"Ah, they get along so well." Hashirama Senju clung to the crack in the door, sneakily watching the two inside.

"Are you sure?" Madara Uchiha folded his arms, peeking in with a Three Tomoe Sharingan activated in one eye.

"Hehe, it's much better than fighting each other on the battlefield, isn't it-"

"Anija-big brother-enjoying the show?"

"...Huh!!! T-Tobirama, Madara and I were just going to catch..."

"Get over here and fulfill your duties as clan leader! Why do you spend every day hanging around with an Uchiha?!!"

A friendly (scratch that) reminder from Tobirama Senju: read more books, plant more trees, and spend less time admiring pretty Uchiha.

The alliance arrangements concluded amid the squabbling of the two clans' second-in-command. To everyone's surprise, Madara Uchiha took the position of Hokage.

With Uchiha Izuna surviving, many things had changed, including the selection of the "Kage." Originally, the process had involved three stages: a Jonin vote, the daimyō's approval, and a handover ceremony. It was now revised to five: self-nomination, a leadership vote, a Jonin vote, the daimyō's approval, and a handover ceremony.

First, during self-nomination, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha reached a consensus: they spent the entire time praising each other. In short, "I'm great, but my dearest friend is even greater."

Next came the vote among the Uchiha and Senju leadership. The vote between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju came out three to one.

(Tobirama Senju: "There's a traitor in our family, and it's you, big brother Hashirama!!!")

Then came the vote among the Jonin of the Senju, the Uchiha, and the smaller ninja clans that had joined them. Thanks to Uchiha Izuna's planning, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha finished in a one-to-one tie.

And so, the First Hokage was-Madara Uchiha!

At his inauguration ceremony, Madara Uchiha wore the Hokage's robes and looked rather ill at ease.

Hashirama Senju applauded wildly, shouting things about his divine revelation and how he was the best!

Uchiha Izuna smiled while keeping a wary eye on Tobirama Senju, afraid he might try something.

Tobirama Senju, meanwhile, wore a peaceful expression and behaved so graciously that he seemed ready to attain enlightenment on the spot. He was utterly exhausted.

During this period, he had tried every means at his disposal. He had done everything he could to win support openly, while his attempts at underhanded moves had been repeatedly stopped by an inexplicably perceptive Hashirama Senju. He had appealed to Hashirama Senju's feelings and reason regarding the Senju Clan's interests and the benefits of becoming Hokage, talking until his lips nearly wore out. Yet nothing could change Hashirama Senju's resolve. He had stopped caring about any of it.

Hokage? Senju? Uchiha? Don't bother me, thank you!

From now on, I am Tobirama Senju, master of forbidden techniques! My ambition is to fill every sealing scroll in the clan with forbidden techniques and make forbidden techniques great again!

Two flowers bloomed, each with its own story.

Having farmed a huge haul of points, Watanabe Ichiro happily reclaimed the [Purple · Character Profile Card (Shattered)]. Although the twins were a purple card, they had earned him more than [Gold · True Damage Infusion].

So, rarity classifications did not matter much in this system. Put in the right place, even trash could become valuable material.

The points he had earned this time were enough for three ten-pulls, but there was no guaranteed reward this time. Watanabe Ichiro was no gambling addict. After doing a single ten-pull, he went to the shop to buy the materials needed for his next role.

To summarize, his gains this time were-

Ten-pull rewards:

[Purple Mangekyō Sharingan] Comes with an offensive Mangekyō ability. The ability depends on the user's mindset and wishes at the moment of awakening. Ocular power cannot be replenished. Transferable.

[White · Military Rations Pill] Assorted flavors ×9

Shop purchases:

[Rainbow Gold · "Coincidence"] A fate-related item. Nontransferable. There are no coincidences in this world. Every "coincidence" comes from meticulous construction.

By expending allotted fate and fortune, unseen "coincidences" will guide you toward the fulfillment of your wishes.

He had not drawn a Character Profile Card this time. Watanabe Ichiro looked at the system's character creation page, its overwhelming array of settings giving him a headache.

"Sigh, I'm not good at this."

As Watanabe Ichiro sighed, the considerate system immediately added a [Random] button beside the data.

Way to go, system! Five stars!

Watanabe Ichiro rolled randomly a few times, found a set of stats and a character profile that looked reasonably pleasing, made a few simple adjustments, and generated this Disguise.

Instantly, an ineffably mysterious connection formed between him and the Disguise. At the same time, somewhere far away, a baby was born.

Cards he created himself differed from those drawn through the system.

Drawn cards could be used at any time and could appear directly as adults. They were more convenient and rarer.

A self-created Disguise could not be used immediately. It had to grow from infancy, and he could possess it whenever he needed it. When he did not need it, the system would automatically manage it. However, this free management was very basic: it could only maintain bare survival and the simplest conversations. If he wanted the Disguise to act freely according to its personality and character profile, he needed to pay points every day... In short, it cost money.

Thus, Watanabe Ichiro currently intended to raise only one with care. He left the Disguise's infancy to the system's free management while his spirit wandered through scenic places in the Shinobi World. He had gone out to have fun during the previous Watanabe brothers card, too, but there had not been enough time. This time, he planned to travel farther.

After all, with the system, Watanabe Ichiro could effectively be considered immortal. In his previous life, he had been busy since childhood, living without knowing what for. Now that he had the chance in this life, of course he would rest properly and enjoy himself~

Beside an unremarkable river, at the burial site of Watanabe Ichiro's younger-brother card, Black Zetsu searched every inch of the ground.

"Huh? That's strange. I clearly saw them bury that guy here. How could he be gone?"

"Why? Why? Can someone tell me why that guy knew about [Black Zetsu]?"

"Who exactly was the Black Zetsu he was talking about? Aaaaah! Where is he? Where's the body? Aaaaah!"

On the verge of a breakdown, Black Zetsu futilely rummaged through the soil, completely unaware that once Watanabe Ichiro reclaimed a Character Profile Card, its character Disguise would not leave so much as a single hair in this world.