Ark (Published Novel) - Vol 3 Chapter 1: The Silver Arrow

A man reborn, more interested in his next meal than clan politics, finds himself caught in a power play that could reshape Konoha.Uchiha Masashi has seen it all before - literally. With memories of his past lives and abilities that shouldn't be possible, he'd rather perfect his combat skills than deal with clan drama.But when the newly appointed Fourth Hokage shows up with a proposal to unleash the Uchiha's power beyond their traditional police role, even Masashi has to pay attention. The clan sees opportunity. The village sees profit. Masashi sees the threads of fate that once led to his clan's destruction starting to weave again.As the Uchiha rush to prove themselves “ten times better than the Hyūga,” Masashi walks a fine line between duty and survival.He knows too much - about the Nine-Tails incident that could destroy his clan's reputation, about young Shisui's tragic destiny, about the wheels already in motion.The question is: will he bother trying to change any of it?After all, in a world where even the strongest must sometimes bend to fate, sometimes the smartest move is to grab some dango and watch it all unfold.

Dual Cultivation is an art. The more you focus on doing the art, the worse it becomes. Only when doing it becomes part of the art itself, does one truly experience it to its fullest.

“Destiny is a matter of Choice not Chance,

It is not a thing to be waited for but a thing to be Achieved”

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The story sets in a mana blessed world, Planet Vermillion, where every being possesses a System.

At the edge of his life, Zero, a man without a System, finally loses everything and embraces his death with a tired yet relieved expression.

As if by fate, the owner of the system approaches Zero through a screen and gives him a chance to connect with the System, however Zero denies it in exchange for a chance to change or undo all the mistakes he has done in his life.

The owner of the System accepts Zero’s wishes but at a certain price and sends Zero back into the past.

Still without a System, but with the knowledge of the future and various skills honed over the years, Zero begins his new journey to change everything he could.

Save everyone who needs to be saved and kill everyone who needs to be killed.

However, the more he moves forward, the more he realises that the ‘truths’ which he had known in his previous life are much more complicated than what they seem.

Balancing his previous beliefs and the new found mysteries that could shatter his perspective, he still keeps moving forward despite things getting more chaotic with every step.

As if fate itself wanted him to fall, an unknown disaster approaches him from behind and a familiar screen comes in front of him

[Ummm… Zero. It might be a bit late but… Looks like I have messed up big time]

This year, Ji Jingqiu is 16 years old.To survive, he envisions the Fire House Buddha Prison, plants a bodhi treasure tree, and embarks on the path of martial arts.Many years later,A brilliant light arises, illuminating endless darkness.A towering ancient tree, with emerald green leaves and a canopy like a pavilion, rises with glass-like clarity into the sky, supporting a divine realm of pure land, spanning countless ages, illuminating the three realms and ten directions.On this day,All martial artists under heaven look up to it, like mayflies seeing the blue sky.......“Within there is a bodhi tree, which I planted when I set foot in martial arts, and now it has grown to provide a canopy.”“I see everything in the world, and nothing is like me.”“That year, I scoured history books, this history without era, I looked horizontally and vertically, and saw those characters – ‘The world’s storms come from us.’”...— Excerpt from the autobiography of Ji Jingqiu, the proud sun of the martial arts world of today.