Konoha: Resurrected by Orochimaru at the start

dong dong dong... dong dong dong...

The knocking echoed, and Hashirama withdrew his hand, muttering to himself in confusion, "He's not here?"

Why are you wrapped up like that?

Hashirama turned around and saw that Uchiha Gen had suddenly appeared behind him at some point, standing in front of the "zongzi" (a type of rice dumpling), tapping here and there and looking at it.

The three tomoe in his eyes darted around, clearly indicating that he knew someone was inside.

Uchiha Gen blinked, his pupils turning black again: "Don't ask, with all this commotion outside, I'm not deaf."

Upon meeting Uchiha Gen, Hashirama expressed his concerns: "The one causing trouble is the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. I don't know how he got in. This is a sensitive time, and he suddenly appeared in the Uchiha clan's territory and caused a huge disturbance. I'm worried that this is a conspiracy by other ninja villages to sow discord among the Uchiha."

Uchiha Gen was speechless. Fine, although he wasn't a big fan of Hashirama, all the scheming and plotting these past few days had really strained his brain. Thinking of this, Uchiha Gen patted the 'zongzi' in front of him: "Let me see what the person inside looks like first."

Separated by a single piece of wood, Naruto recognized the sounds outside very well. Along the way, Kurama had already briefly explained the situation to him: the person who had captured him was the First Hokage. Until he understood the situation, he just needed to stay put, not say a word, and wait to go back.

crunch~

Like a flower blooming, the wooden stakes slowly opened with a creaking sound. In the center of the flower, the first thing that catches the eye is a somewhat familiar golden hedgehog head, followed by blue eyes and the iconic beard.

……

"WC!"

Naruto exclaimed in surprise, "Uchiha Gen?!" It has to be said that although the initial encounter was not pleasant, seeing an acquaintance at this moment made Naruto feel a little relaxed. In his eyes, Uchiha Gen was also brought into the picture.

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Gen's chaotic mind instantly calmed down, and a dark glint flashed in his eyes.

"You know each other?" Although he couldn't understand, that momentary swearing was like a crack being torn in the mask. To put it somewhat imprecisely, Hashirama seemed to sense a trace of life in Uchiha Gen.

An anomaly!

Kurama and Uchiha Gen thought of it at the same time.

"No—I don't know him, but it seems like he knows me?" Uchiha Gen quickly composed himself and smiled.

Don't you recognize him? Hearing that familiar tone, Hashirama frowned: "Do you need my help?" Over the years, they had been able to make simple guesses about some of Gen Uchiha's actions.

Generally, a fake smile coupled with a similar ambiguous tone usually indicates that he is in a bad mood or that something is about to happen. Of course, there is also a small possibility that he is faking it.

Uchiha Gen's smile vanished, his tone odd: "Hey, even though you're all stronger than me for now, do you really think I need help to deal with a kid?"

Having said that, Uchiha Gen stepped forward, stood on the wooden stake, and looked Naruto over thoughtfully. He said, "I have a question for you. Of course, you don't have to answer it. The question is—"

"If your actions from this moment on could change the past, what would you choose...?"

Naruto was still reeling from the fact that his grandfather, the First Hokage, and Gen Uchiha actually knew each other. Upon hearing this, Naruto froze for a moment, then his pupils dilated sharply. He tried to grab Gen Uchiha's collar: "Change the past? You mean…"

clear!!!

Watching Naruto disappear before his eyes, Uchiha Gen patted off non-existent 'dust' from his collar, rubbed his face, and tried to 'reboot the system'.

"Heh... Clearly..." The voice escaped through the gaps between his fingers, sounding somewhat suppressed. Uchiha Gen thought of that unfinished idea...

Meanwhile, on Sasuke's side...

Bang~!

"Cough cough..."

At this moment, Sasuke hid in the corner formed by the boulder, covering his mouth and nose and waiting for the dust to dissipate.

As for the cough just now, it wasn't him who made it.

Just before this, Sasuke suddenly appeared on this battlefield after stepping into thin air. The incident happened so suddenly that Sasuke only glanced around briefly and found that he did not recognize any of the ninjas present.

Ahead, these ninjas seemed to be besieging a colossal creature. They ignored Sasuke's sudden appearance, as if they had no idea that a figure had appeared before them, except for the seemingly indistinct gaze that was constantly fixed on Sasuke, as if spying on him.

Even when hiding in a corner, that spying gaze was like a thorn in his back, not lessening at all. Sasuke frowned: Can't he shake it off?

"Ouch, that hurts..."

Hearing the groan, Sasuke snapped out of his daze and looked at the spot where the boulder had struck. The ninja seemed to be dying. Sasuke felt no emotion at all – after all, how could there be no death in war?

A snap of fingers came from somewhere.

Upon hearing the sound, Sasuke instantly assumed a defensive stance and cautiously looked around. Wait, what's this—?

He casually grabbed the pebbles that splashed in front of him, then let go. The pebbles didn't fall; instead, they remained suspended in mid-air, as if time had stood still.

Did you see that?

Sasuke exhaled, relaxing his body: "Who are you?"

At this moment, Sasuke no longer imagined being able to defeat the unknown being opposite him. He was joking; someone with such abilities could kill him as easily as stepping on an ant.

As if sensing Sasuke's thoughts, the owner of the voice chuckled softly: "It's rare that you would show this expression other than that day."

"Let me introduce myself. I am Uchiha Gen. You should know me before."

Sasuke remained silent for a long time.

"So, to have this kind of ability, did you have some kind of masochistic tendency before?"

Uchiha Gen jumped down from mid-air, adjusting his cuffs, a smile not reaching his eyes: "So young and yet with such a sharp tongue, you must have no friends."

Sasuke immediately thought of Naruto, but when the words were on the tip of his tongue, he stubbornly refused to admit it: "Where is this?"

Uchiha Gen gave him a look that said, "You really don't have any friends."

Sasuke: "..."

"This is the 'future,' a predetermined and unchangeable future where, even if there are some minor mishaps, all the trajectories will still run correctly."

Gen Uchiha looked at the battlefield ahead: "What's interesting is that in this future, people who should have died are alive, yet they die again, while those who died because of this person's temporary life are not resurrected."

"So, apart from a slightly higher number of deaths, nothing else has changed."

Sasuke frowned: "The future?"

"Yes, for now, this is the 'future,' but at certain points in time it can also be called the past, because you are still here."

Sasuke: "You failed?"

Uchiha Gen: "Yes."

Sasuke:  …

Uchiha Gen asked疑惑地, "Did you think I would get angry?"

Sasuke: "Hmph!"

Uchiha Gen shook his head with a smile: "This level—by the way, why don't you ask me who died in the part I mentioned that was 'a little more'? And how many died...?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding 'time' began to flow again, and Uchiha Gen's loose Akatsuki robes and long hair began to fly wildly in the wind.

Sasuke: "What does this have to do with me?"

Gen Uchiha's expression twitched, as if he was trying to control something.

For some reason, a sudden chill crept up Sasuke's back, and he took a step back: "What's wrong with you?"

"Heh~"

With the naked eye, a powerful aura instantly enveloped the entire battlefield, centered around Uchiha Gen's body.

Suddenly, a maniacal laugh, as if from a hysterical outburst, erupted: "Hahahaha! Hahahaha...!!!!"