The sounds of swords clashing and arrows streaking across the sky were constant.
However, their clothing was far too outdated even for the world of One Piece, which intrigued Tanaka. Another point was their very low levels, though they were numerous. With more than a thousand on each side, the highest level among them was only 59.
"Am I really in One Piece?"
He began to doubt.
Flying higher and higher, he thought it best to analyze the situation first.
Even from the heights of the sky, he could hear some conversations and realized he could understand what they were saying.
However, there was a strong rural accent.
His interest was not in that place; flying, he began to travel in search of information.
Although he could abduct one of those men fighting in the war, he sensed the presence of others at a distance.
Fifty-eight seconds later, he began descending from the sky near a farming village.
Upon landing, he continued the rest of the way to the village on foot. As he walked, a few farmers working in their fields noticed him and gave him strange looks.
"Possibly because of my hair and different style of clothing…" he thought, but he didn't mind.
When he reached the populated area, he spotted a group of children and teenagers.
"Who's that?"
"So handsome…"
Some teenage girls gave him dreamy looks, driven by curiosity.
If his appearance was already appealing even within a clan like the Uzumaki, seeing their looks, he could understand why the teenage girls gazed at him that way.
With a calm smile, he said, "Hello, my name is Tanaka. I come from far, far away, and I got a little lost. Could one of you be a kind soul and tell me where I am?"
"Me, me, me!"
"I can!"
Hearing his question, three girls responded instantly, then exchanged glances and began to compete for his attention.
A boy sighed and said, "Sir, you're now in the Land of That."
'Land of That…' Tanaka furrowed his brows at the name, not recognizing it as something from One Piece.
However, he felt a bit shocked by a crazy thought: 'Land of That… This sounds familiar… I feel like I heard it while watching Naruto… It was the country that tried to seize the Land of the Ancients!'
This revelation left him confused. He didn't know how to feel.
'Is this from centuries ago, perhaps even before Kaguya came to this planet?' Tanaka thought, surprised by the possibility.
What made him think this was the absence of chakra but the rich natural energy in the air.
Only now did he stop to consider the irregularity and even how the natural energy seemed denser in the air.
"Thank you." Without warning, no longer seeing the need to investigate or hide — even if it might cause a bit of a stir — Tanaka began to fly as gasps of surprise were heard.
But before leaving, he let a few candies fall from the sky.
Whether or not they would recognize them as edible, or even if they'd pick them up, didn't really matter.
'By the way, if this is a dungeon, are these people real?'
A dangerous thought, perhaps.
Because, typically in a game, knowing they aren't real people but simply characters created by the game designers, most players don't hesitate to start killing, even if they're just common pedestrians.
A good example was the game GTA, where he liked to use weapon codes and go on a rampage, fighting the police, shooting down helicopters, etc. But, if this is a real world?
In that sense, maybe the system should have given more instructions.
High in the sky, while pondering these things, he saw the children pick up the candies and start examining and discussing what they could be.
That alone made him think they weren't just NPCs.
'For now, I should consider this as a real world,' Tanaka thought.
Whether it was or wasn't still remained uncertain.
On the other hand, if this is a possible alternative reality of Naruto where Kaguya hasn't yet appeared, what would be the point of being in that place?
Without a real challenge, or even anyone strong enough to oppose him, it doesn't make sense to be a high-level dungeon.
Flying, he started to wander, heading toward a dense forest.
There, on the map, he saw some red markers big enough for him to judge as something or someone at level 100 at least.
When he ventured deeper into the forest, the large trees filtered the sunlight, making the forest appear darker than it actually was. Moving through the forest, he dodged as something attacked him.
"Whoosh!"
Jumping from one tree to another, a large brown gorilla made a sound as it beat its chest with one hand, held a branch with the other, and bared its teeth at him, menacingly, almost provocatively.
════════
Brown Gorilla Rank S LV1
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'Is this an ordinary gorilla that lives in this forest?'
Tanaka was caught off guard. He finally understood the true challenge of the dungeon: the problem wasn't the people but rather, the powerful animals.
For now, he would deal with this gorilla and the others hidden nearby, seemingly waiting to catch him by surprise.
'1, 2, 5, 9 in total...' he murmured to himself as he counted the red lights blinking on the map.
Calmly, he equipped a pair of gloves by opening his inventory.
Suddenly, a pair of fingerless black biker gloves appeared in his hands, adorned with a silver triangular gem on the back of each hand.
Making a hand sign, his aura expanded, forcing the gorilla, who had been baring its teeth at him, to retreat cautiously, leaping to a more distant branch. Then, iron sand began to emerge from the ground, forming a sphere that expanded more and more, reaching the size of a city bus.
Satisfied, Tanaka extended his right hand, and soon, spears of iron sand formed — a total of 100 hovering around him.
The sight alone was impressive.
"Go." He said calmly, activating the skill Precision Throw, which made the launch faster and more accurate toward the gorilla, who seemed to break into a cold sweat, pushing off so hard from the branch it snapped instantly, sending him plummeting as he reached an incredible height of 100 meters off the ground.
But was that enough to escape Tanaka? Obviously not!
With a calm smile, Tanaka controlled another iron sand spear and, in an instant, launched it in the gorilla's direction as it leaped through the air.
"Whoosh!"
The spear streaked through the sky, reaching halfway in an instant.
The airborne gorilla inflated its mouth and stomach as if inhaling air, and once it had swelled like a balloon, a roar echoed.
"ROAARRR!"
From the gorilla's mouth, a tornado shot out in a straight line.
"Boom!"
The gorilla's wind attack collided with the iron spear, not only resisting but even overpowering it slightly.
And then, Tanaka saw the same gorilla wrap itself in a tornado-shaped wind, using it to fly, though it seemed to lack much control. At the very least, it wouldn't be at the mercy of his attacks, trying to flee.
"Clever, but…" Tanaka waved his hand, activating Precision Throw on five iron sand spears at once.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh...!"
However, before the iron sand spears reached more than 100 meters, multiple wind attacks intercepted them.
"They finally decided to show up," Tanaka murmured.
||- Note -||
Chapter 121 is already released on Pa treon!
patre on.com/Tozoku