Konoha Year 14, Early Summer
For days, relentless rain had shrouded the entire Hidden Leaf Village in a damp, cold, and oppressive atmosphere.
In front of the Memorial Stone, a dense crowd stood like silent statues. Icy rain slid off their conical hats and black mourning clothes, drumming onto the muddy ground and splashing into tiny droplets.
Today was the day Konoha held the funeral for their Second Hokage—Senju Tobirama.
Yoru-kawa stood at the back of the crowd. Rain soaked his hair, plastering it to his forehead and sending chills down his spine, but he barely noticed.
As a transmigrator, he originally shouldn't have felt too much attachment to life and death in this world.
Yet ever since crossing over and becoming "Senju Yoru-kawa," an ordinary child of the Senju Clan, he had inevitably formed an unbreakable bond with this family.
More importantly, he knew better than anyone what Tobirama's death truly meant for the Senju.
It wasn't just the passing of a Hokage—it was the end of an era, and the beginning of the Senju Clan's decline.
Yoru-kawa's gaze passed over the crowd and landed on the village leaders standing at the very front.
The newly appointed Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was delivering a grief-stricken eulogy.
Behind him stood Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and Danzō Shimura. Their eyes held little sorrow—only an ambition that was hard to put into words.
"Trouble is coming."
A chill settled in Yoru-kawa's heart.
He clearly remembered the original story.
After the Second Hokage's death, the Senju Clan—already suffering from thinning bloodlines and a lack of successors—gradually withdrew from Konoha's power center.
The Wood Release kekkei genkai that once shook the shinobi world under the First Hokage became the most coveted "legacy" in certain people's eyes.
Danzō Shimura would never let this opportunity pass.
It was hard to say that the future Wood Release experiments conducted by Orochimaru didn't have Danzō's shadow behind them.
And Danzō's targets were naturally the surviving clan members with the purest Senju blood—people like the Senju orphans, including himself.
…
After the funeral, Yoru-kawa returned to the Senju compound, which had long lost its former glory.
The atmosphere inside the clan was even heavier than in the rest of the village.
In the ancestral hall, the few remaining Senju elders and clansmen gathered together. Every face was filled with confusion and unease.
"Today, Lord Hiruzen summoned me," an elder with snow-white hair began, his voice hoarse.
"Danzō, Koharu, and Homura—the advisors—were all present."
"They proposed that, in order to strengthen Konoha and fill the combat-power vacuum left by Lord Second's sacrifice, the Senju Clan should assist the village with a top-secret research project on 'the fusion of life force and chakra'…"
"They need us to provide several young clansmen with pure bloodlines…"
The elder's words plunged the entire hall into deathly silence.
No one here was stupid.
A research project on "life force and chakra fusion"?
They were clearly after the Senju Clan's Wood Release!
This was nothing less than demanding they hand over their children as living test subjects!
"Those bastards! How dare they?!"
"Both the First and Second gave their lives for this village! And now they want our children?!"
"What did Lord Hiruzen say? Did he agree?!"
Faced with the clansmen's furious questions, the elder closed his eyes in pain.
"Lord Hiruzen didn't agree immediately… but he didn't refuse either."
"He said he needed to 'consider' it…"
Consider?
That one word already said everything.
The newly appointed Third Hokage's foundation was still unstable. He needed to balance the Council of Elders—especially the hardline faction represented by Danzō.
At a time like this, sacrificing the interests of a declining Senju Clan that no longer had a Kage-level protector was almost the predictable choice to maintain village stability and strength.
Although Uzumaki Mito, the First's Nine-Tails jinchūriki, was still alive, she rarely left the village in order to suppress the Nine-Tails.
Standing in the corner, Yoru-kawa listened to everything. A chill shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
It's here. It's really here!
He knew he was out of time!
Once the Hokage and the Elders reached a consensus, the Senju children would—just like in the original story—be sent to cold operating tables to face cruel, life-or-death experiments!
He had to find a way! He had to find a path to survival!
Just as panic surged through him and his mind raced through every possible escape plan—
[Ding!]
[Severe threat to host's life detected. Survival environment assessment: Extremely Dangerous!]
[Final activation conditions met…]
[Clan System successfully activated!]
[This system can assist the host in traveling through myriad worlds to seek power and survival.]
A mechanical notification suddenly rang in his mind!
It's here! The transmigrator's standard golden finger!
It was a few years late, but it finally arrived!
Suppressing the wild joy in his heart, Yoru-kawa sank his consciousness into his mind.
A simple interface emitting pale blue light appeared before him.
There was only one core function: [World Anchor]
Beneath it, only one icon was lit—a flag bearing a skull.
[Available World: One Piece]
[World Summary: The Great Pirate Era! Wealth, fame, power… A world filled with opportunity, danger, Devil Fruits, and Haki!]
[Transmission Cooldown: None (First transmission)]
[Note: On first transmission, host will randomly arrive at a point in time and location within the selected world.]
"The One Piece world…"
Yoru-kawa stared at the option, his eyes flickering.
He quickly analyzed his situation.
Stay in Konoha? A dead end.
Right now he was just a fresh genin who had barely graduated from the Academy—not even a chūnin. What could he use to fight Danzō and the entire village leadership?
Flee Konoha and go to another country?
Even less realistic.
A Senju exile would be nothing more than walking Wood Release research material to the other hidden villages. If discovered, his fate might be worse than in Danzō's hands.
Then the only path left was the one in front of him!
Cross over to the One Piece world!
True, that world was also full of danger—great pirates, Marine Admirals, the Seven Warlords… powerhouses everywhere.
But for him, it had one overwhelming advantage:
Nobody there knew the Senju Clan!
Nobody knew what chakra was! Nobody knew what Wood Release was!
He could temporarily escape pursuit from Konoha and Danzō's greed. In a world of complete information asymmetry, he could use the natural advantages of his Senju bloodline to grow rapidly!
And when he became strong enough—he would return!
"Whether it's Danzō or the Konoha higher-ups, every debt they owe the Senju Clan… I'll collect with interest, one by one!"
A resolve far beyond his age flashed in Yoru-kawa's eyes.
He made his decision!
Without the slightest hesitation, he left the oppressive ancestral hall and returned to his small room.
Yoru-kawa took one last look at the Hokage Rock, blurred behind the curtain of rain outside his window, his expression complicated.
"Konoha… I'll be back."
He took a deep breath and issued the command to the system.
"System, initiate transmission! Destination—One Piece world!"
[Command confirmed…]
[World Anchor: One Piece—locked!]
[Transmission commencing… 10… 9… 8…]
An irresistible pulling sensation gripped him. The world blurred, stretching and twisting into a kaleidoscope of brilliant light and shadow!
When he regained consciousness and opened his eyes, blinding sunlight and sea wind thick with salt replaced Konoha's endless rain and suffocating air.
Seagulls cried crisply overhead, and waves crashed rhythmically against the shore.
Beneath his feet lay soft, golden sand.
And before him stretched an endless, sapphire-blue…
ocean!