Uchiha Ryoichi and his companions began to besiege the Senju clan members guarding Senju Hashirama, while Uchiha Yin was idly watching from the side.

This scale of battle was still too high for him; he didn’t want to become the time traveler with the shortest lifespan. As he scanned the unfamiliar faces of several Senju clan members, Uchiha Yin finally fixed his gaze on Senju Hashirama in the middle.

From a distance, he observed this character who dies a rather tragic death in the story and recalled, “Isn’t this a famous scene from the original work? Senju Hashirama is killed after being surrounded by five Uchiha.”

Suddenly, a loading sound from a game he played in his previous life echoed in Uchiha Yin’s mind, and he felt everything around him come to a halt; the fierce faces of both sides on the battlefield froze in that moment.

“Ding! Detected that the host has encountered a storyline character; the system has activated early access mode. Complete the prerequisite tasks to unlock hidden system functions in advance.”

At that moment, Uchiha Yin was almost crying. Heaven does not disappoint those who are determined; all kinds of time travel stories were indeed not lying to him.

With excitement, Uchiha Yin tried to awaken the system in his mind. As the thought emerged, an extremely outdated dialog box popped up in front of him.

“Do you accept the prerequisite task?”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”

Uchiha Yin excitedly clicked “yes” in his mind.

“Task activated: Save Senju Hashirama from Uchiha Kage and others to earn 10 points. If Senju Hashirama dies, the task fails.”

Seeing the task, Uchiha Yin was instantly filled with rage. Save that little brat? Dream on!

“What’s the use of the points?”

After calming down, he curiously inquired about the function of the points.

“Complete one D-level task daily to accumulate 1 point. Once the accumulated points reach a certain amount, you can unlock the shop, and thereafter random golden spell orbs will drop from the shop every day.”

“Unlock the shop? Golden spell orbs?”

Uchiha Yin looked speechlessly at the system’s explanation; this was exactly the content from a game in his previous life.

“What does ‘early access’ mean?”

He was also curious why the system had just prompted him about early access; what did that mean?

“Since the current system has not been fully activated, the shop module is still loading. Points gained from early access will accumulate until the system is officially launched.”

“So, it means that grinding for points right now is useless?”

Since the system’s functions weren’t fully activated, completing the task didn’t hold much significance. If he rashly accepted the task to save Senju Hashirama, given his own strength, he could be directly taken down by Uchiha Kage and the others. Even if he wasn’t killed on the spot, they would probably break his legs and send him to Uchiha Tajima to await punishment.

“Can I choose not to accept?”

Uchiha Yin tentatively asked.

“The host has already accepted the task and cannot abandon it; otherwise, it will be considered a task failure, and the host will be annihilated on the spot.”

Annihilated???

What version of a system is this? What year is it?

“??????? When did I accept?”

Uchiha Yin was filled with questions.

【“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”】

Suddenly, the system started replaying the scene of him frantically clicking “yes” at the beginning.

Damn it, he had been tricked by this ancient system.

Who wouldn’t choose “yes” when first encountering a golden finger?

But the system didn’t wait for him to ask more questions and sent him another prompt.

“Beginner’s gift pack being distributed, do you accept?”

Uchiha Yin really wanted to choose “no,” but since the task had already been tricked into acceptance by this system, he might as well take the gift pack.

“Received beginner's gift pack *1, do you want to open it?”

Since he was already here, he might as well push aside his bad thoughts. Uchiha Yin clicked “yes” in his mind.

“Congratulations, the host has received Heart of Steel Chest *1 and Purple Magic Ball *1.”

???????

So, it means unlocking the shop for points?

Heart of Steel Chest, right?

Purple Magic Ball, right?

Is your system logo a penguin holding a golden spatula?

To the left of Uchiha Yin floated a large gray chest, looking exactly like the Heart of Steel treasure chest from a game in his previous life.

To the right floated a purple orb of light, with a huge question mark shining brightly in the center.

Uchiha Yin was stunned; looking at the rewards before him, he now seriously doubted whether this system was reliable. What if it turned out to be another ancient and useless product?

But given the situation, he had no choice but to accept. He pointed with his left hand, and a description of the treasure appeared above the Heart of Steel Chest:

【Defeating Opponents: The host can gain heart energy by defeating opponents.

Losing a Battle: Losing a battle will grant more heart energy.

Heart Energy Conversion: After every four days of battle, the host can convert heart energy into powerful rewards.

(Heart energy accumulation is limited to one battle per day and can evolve.)】

This is definitely a Heart of Steel bond, and it’s the three-steel version.

“Though starting with three steel is pretty lucky.”

Although this Heart of Steel Chest might not be useful for now, no one could resist such temptation.

【If you have steel, play with steel; if you have no steel, be tough!】

After reading the chest, Uchiha Yin shifted his gaze to the right at the Purple Magic Ball, muttering to himself.

“Celestial spirits, earthly spirits, Amitabha, manifest quickly, give me something!!!!!!!”

With a sudden clap of his right hand, the Purple Magic Ball exploded with blinding light. As the light faded, Uchiha Yin found the space empty; the previously present Purple Magic Ball had vanished, leaving nothing behind.

“Can magic balls be empty too???”

As Uchiha Yin was shouting at the dog system, demanding his money back and declaring he was done playing, a prompt sound suddenly echoed in his mind.

“Ding, daily random skill refresh in the backyard *1, do you want to learn it?”

What does it mean that a random skill refreshes daily in the backyard? With a puzzled heart, Uchiha Yin clicked “yes.”

【Backyard Daily Random Skill Refresh: A skill will randomly refresh in the host's backyard every day, represented by an NPC casting the skill. The host cannot control it, but the skill cannot kill the host. After the skill ends, there’s a certain chance to drop skill fragments, and collecting enough fragments allows the host to learn that skill.】

......

This skill can’t be said to be particularly powerful; it’s currently of no use. He is still homeless, so where would the skill refresh?

Learning? Don’t mention the backyard; it’s uncertain whether he can live long enough to buy a house—these two things are of no use in the current situation. To survive, this troublesome task can only be completed through other means.

As the beginner rewards were collected, it seemed like time around him began to flow again. Although he had spent a long time in the system, only a moment had passed outside.

The system's appearance gave Uchiha Yin, whose goal was to survive until the establishment of Konoha, more confidence.

“But first, I need to complete this task in front of me; otherwise, if I'm annihilated, all of this is for nothing.”

Although the things provided by this ancient system were of no help right now, Uchiha Yin still decided to go all out to complete the task. After activating this stupid system, he and Senju Hashirama were temporarily in the same boat.

Beside him, Uchiha Kage had already pinned down Senju Koji, and it was likely that the outcome would be decided soon.

Uchiha Ryoichi and the others were slowly wearing down the stamina of the three Senju clan members, who, having to consider Senju Hashirama behind them, could only passively take hits.

At this moment, one of the Senju clan members noticed a gap in the encirclement formed by Uchiha Ryoichi and the others. He suddenly clapped his hands and used Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall.

In an instant, a thick earthen wall rose before them, blocking Uchiha Ryoichi and the others’ line of sight. Seizing the opportunity, another Senju clan member used incredible strength to push Senju Hashirama out of the encirclement, urging him to escape quickly.

Understanding his clan member's decision instantly after being pushed out by several meters, Senju Hashirama flew out and, using the momentum, kicked off in the direction of the gap without looking back.

However, by a stroke of bad luck, that position was where Uchiha Yin had been idly watching from the beginning.

Seeing the target escaping, Uchiha Ryoichi was about to give chase but was blocked by the Senju clan member who had activated the Earth Release.

He could only watch helplessly as the other side fled, then noticed that the direction Senju Hashirama was running toward seemed to have Uchiha Yin in it, making him overjoyed.

“Yin! The target is escaping toward you, act quickly!”

Hearing this, the Senju clan member’s eyes widened in disbelief; he hadn’t expected there were still Uchiha lurking in ambush. In a panic, he erupted with great power and threw a punch toward Uchiha Ryoichi, who was distracted by the battle, with a fist infused with immense force aimed straight at his chest.

In a split second, Uchiha Ryoichi suddenly turned around, revealing a gigantic Wind Release shuriken behind him. With a loud bang, the Senju clan member’s punch struck the massive shuriken.

Uchiha Ryoichi was only sent flying and didn’t suffer any serious injuries. He turned and slashed at the Senju clan member again, and the two began to battle fiercely once more.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Yin was feeling a headache as he looked at Senju Hashirama rushing toward him.

【What do I do now? Waiting online, it’s quite urgent.】