"Where is this?"
Before him lay an endless mountain range, dotted with circular craters as if bombarded by meteorites or nuclear weapons. Only a single, towering tree stood in the center of it all, like a stone pillar supporting the heavens.
Besides that, there were three figures floating in mid-air, wearing white robes and possessing strange appearances.
One held a tin staff, another had six black orbs floating behind him, and the last was a woman with rabbit ears, three eyes, and snow-white hair that was longer than her body.
Where was this place?
And who were they?
Uchiha Kage only remembered walking home from the Konoha Ninja Academy and then taking a short nap.
Then he inexplicably arrived here.
Was he dreaming?
[Enter this Instance?]
Instance?
Faced with the text prompt that suddenly appeared in his mind, Uchiha Kage composed himself.
Only then did he realize that the bizarre scene before him and the strange trio were frozen in place.
As if time had been stopped.
"Wait, these three look exactly like the legendary Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo, his mother, Kaguya, and his brother, Hamura?"
Could this Instance be—teleporting me to the time of their great battle?
But his current strength was only that of a Genin. How could he possibly clear an Instance of this scale?
And he didn't even know what the rewards were. What if he died in the Instance and died in reality too?
He'd finally transmigrated to Konoha, finally managed to keep his little life, and hadn't even begun to enjoy it yet. He couldn't go out like this.
[No Penalties for Death in Instance]
Just as Uchiha Kage was thinking this, another line of text appeared in his mind.
No penalties? No real death?
Then maybe he could give it a try.
[Selected to Enter Instance. Current Instance is a Multi-Player Instance. Select Two Companions to Enter With?]
Companions?
Uchiha Kage checked the light screen that suddenly appeared before him and found that only two familiar figures were available for selection: Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.
"This feels like a game."
Whether he was dreaming or had really transmigrated into a game, Uchiha Kage decided to give it a shot.
[Companions Confirmed. Entering Instance in Three Seconds]
Three, two, one…
After a moment of dizziness, the earth began to tremble. The three figures in the sky, including the towering tree, also began to move.
"What is this place?"
"Sasuke? Kage? What are you two doing here? Am I dreaming?!"
Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, who had transmigrated here with Uchiha Kage, were now looking at everything before them in stunned disbelief.
"I don't know, maybe it really is a dream."
So the selected companions were real?
Looking at Naruto and Sasuke, who were exactly the same as they were at the Ninja Academy, Uchiha Kage muttered to himself while pretending to know nothing.
[Mission: Help Kaguya Escape Her Fate of Being Sealed by Hagoromo and Hamura]
This mission?
Me, fight the Sage of Six Paths? Seriously?
Uchiha Kage looked at Naruto and Sasuke beside him. One hadn't even learned the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, and the other couldn't even use Chidori.
If this setup could fight the Sage of Six Paths, he'd eat his hat.
"There's a mission? Kaguya? Is that the strange-looking but beautiful *big sister* over there? Hmph, two men bullying a woman, what kind of skill is that! *Big sister*, I'm here to save you!"
Naruto seemed to have seen the mission too. After a quick assessment of the situation, he rushed out.
"Hey…"
Uchiha Kage was still considering whether the mission could be completed through strategy and what the rewards were when he saw Naruto, like a miniature Minato, rushed forward.
"That idiot."
Sasuke was calmly analyzing the current situation, but unfortunately, no amount of analysis could make sense of this ridiculous start.
He could only curse the brainless Naruto under his breath.
----
Rumble…
The towering tree rose from the ground, transforming into a gigantic Ten-Tails monster.
Orbs of light spat out by the monster at random would cause earth-shattering explosions when they hit the ground.
The three figures in the sky also activated their "Gundam mode," one donning a Susanoo, and another letting her long hair fall, almost blotting out the sky.
Boom!
The attacks casually launched by the three figures and the beast left one circular crater after another on the earth, like nuclear explosions.
"H-how can there be such powerful people, like monsters… This must be a dream!"
Naruto, who had only run halfway, saw this terrifying scene and instantly collapsed to the ground, his legs turned to jelly and his heart pounded.
"Stop running around. Let's find a place to hide first."
Uchiha Kage wanted to retort, "You'll be able to do that one day," but he stopped himself.
"W-what's that!?"
Before Naruto could scramble back to the two young Uchiha, a huge shadow suddenly appeared above them.
Planetary Devastation!
This was the Sage of Six Paths' move…
Uchiha Kage had just realized this when he heard several sharp sounds of air being torn apart whizzing past his ears.
The Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Balls!
Boom!
In the midst of the violent explosion and fire, Uchiha Kage didn't even have time to say any last words before his vision went black, and he, along with Naruto and Sasuke, turned into dust in the world.
----
[Mission Failed]
[Instance Reward: Ninja Fragment x2]
[Re-Enter Instance?]
Upon opening his eyes again, Uchiha Kage found himself on a street resembling Konoha Village.
But there wasn't a single person on the street, not even a sound.
"Is this Konoha Village or somewhere else?"
Was he still dreaming?
Uchiha Kage curiously walked down the street for a while, carefully examining the Ninja Fragments that had appeared in his hand.
It was becoming more and more like a game.
[Fuse?]
Looking at the two Ninja Fragments representing Naruto and Sasuke, another line of information appeared in Uchiha Kage's mind.
Could Naruto and Sasuke have really died in the Instance just now? That's why there were fragments…
No, no, that shouldn't be the case.
He hadn't died, so they should be fine too.
Uchiha Kage reassured himself and then chose to absorb the fragments.
"Hmm… It feels like my Chakra has increased a lot, and my eyes…"
His Sharingan, which he hadn't been able to reawaken for various reasons, seemed to be recovering.
"If this isn't a dream…"
Did he get a power-up?
Uchiha Kage excitedly looked at his hands.
"This is?"
Coming back to his senses, Uchiha Kage realized that he had unknowingly walked to the front of the Hokage Building.
"Could this really be Konoha?"
[Action Points: 1/2. Spend One Action Point to Enter Scene?]
Uchiha Kage curiously pushed open the door to the Hokage Building and saw this prompt.
Action Points?
It seemed like there were only two in total, and now there was only one left. It seemed like entering the Instance had cost one.
Uchiha Kage selected "Yes" and pushed open the door.
----
*** Entering Translator's Territory (Handle with Care! 😉) ***
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