In Naruto With Pocket Hunting

My name is Nawaki Senju. Today, August 9th, I celebrate my 16th birthday. It also marks exactly four years since I regained the memories of a past life in a modern world.

By the way, it was also when I discovered I was some kind of side character in an anime/manga called Naruto.

When I realized I was about to die again after being given a second chance at life, I panicked, but then I thought: 'If I don't act foolishly, can my death be avoided?'

Exactly 3 years, 11 months, and 24 days ago, I deceived the Lady of Death.

As someone who knows the true story, including how it ends for me, avoiding it wasn't really a problem. What worried me was facing a situation akin to the Final Destination movie saga.

Illogical? Perhaps. But think about it: if you were in my position, wouldn't you be paranoid?

And let's be honest—I didn't want to die, especially while living in a world with chakra and being a member of the Senju Clan.

Unfortunately, we are still at war. And my dear older sister, Tsunade, couldn't celebrate my birthday with me this year.

Until now, I had managed to make time to return to the village while participating in the war. But I made sure to take a moment to rest and clear my head.

It would be a lie to say I don't believe that deceiving death comes at a cost—like needing to pay with another life. So during the war, I killed many enemy ninjas.

Though my motives weren't noble, it's undeniable that it helped Konoha. My name began to gain recognition, and I even earned the nickname: Konoha's Red Lightning.

Hmm, it would be a lie to say I feel bad for Minato for having "inherited" that nickname. After all, the Flying Raijin Technique was originally created by my great-uncle.

Not to mention, there was a striking difference: many times, I was drenched in the blood of my enemies, making the nickname all the more fitting as I used the Flying Raijin Technique.

"Lost in thought again, aren't you?"

My mind stopped wandering. I looked toward the voice and smiled, "My bad, my bad."

With long, straight, scarlet-red hair and bangs that extended past her collarbone, parted in the middle with a small black hairpin on the left side, Kushina walked over to me holding a cake. She wore a light yellow ninja outfit with purple accents, paired with a dark belt at her waist. Her legs were partially covered by black thigh-high socks, leaving her thighs exposed, and she wore brown ninja sandals.

Placing a cake with 16 candles on the table, Kushina said, "Here's the birthday cake, the Kushina Special~." She winked with her left eye.

"Wow!" I said, "As expected, I can always count on you, Kushina."

She looked surprised, then her eyes sparkled, and she laughed, showing her teeth with her eyes closed. Her shoulders trembled as she said, "Hehe, of course! You can always count on me, dattebane!" With a clenched fist, she lightly pounded her chest to emphasize her words.

--

--

Nothing Better Than Sleeping in a Soft Bed.

Sometimes, I couldn't even take a simple nap. After all, in war, your enemies won't think something like: Oh, he's sleeping; let's leave him alone~.

As soon as I closed my eyes and my consciousness began to drift, everything quickly fell into darkness.

...

How much time has passed?

I felt as if I had barely closed my eyes before opening them again. But then, how could it be so bright?

Rubbing my eyes, I went on full alert!

'Was I caught in a Genjutsu?'

A clear blue sky, bright sunlight dazzling my eyes, even the familiar sensation of being exposed to the sun made me squint.

If this is a Genjutsu, the person who cast it is very skilled. But considering that someone managed to trap me in a Genjutsu while I slept in the Hidden Leaf Village, it couldn't be a mediocre opponent.

Clasping my hands together, I shouted, "Kai!"

"..."

Nothing happened. Everything remained the same.

My heart began racing uncontrollably. Either I'm not in a Genjutsu, or whoever placed me in this situation is so powerful that I can't even break it!

'Damn it...'

Another thought crossed my mind, one that depressed me—the possibility that I had undergone a second reincarnation.

It couldn't be, right?

I stood up as a gentle breeze brushed through my hair and face. I could smell the faint aroma of grass mixed with soil.

But that didn't matter right now. Forming hand seals, I murmured, "Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Beside me, a curtain of grayish-white smoke rose, and soon my clone was created.

Short, rebellious light brown hair, gray-green eyes. Standing 179 cm tall, wearing a gray buttoned shirt and gray pajama pants.

Sigh. "I'm still me," my clone murmured, relieved. "So, I've been relocated to another place while asleep?"

Seeing my clone place a hand on his chin in thought and hearing his words echo my own thoughts, I too became contemplative.

Touching my neck and noticing the absence of my necklace, I was overcome by the same emptiness I felt when I recovered the memories of my past life. It was like the absence of my smartphone, which I instinctively searched for in my pockets, only to remember it didn't exist in this world.

With a serious expression, I commanded my clone, "Go and find out where we are."

"Yes!"

In an instant, my clone sprinted off at high speed while I waited.

--

--

Minutes later, I received feedback from my clone.

"This is the Hunting Dimension?" I murmured softly, surprised.

In my past life, I read a novel called Pocket Hunting Dimension.

In the novel, the protagonist transformed from a mediocre individual into one of the brightest beings in the universe thanks to the Hunting Dimension.

In this dimension, it was like a level-based game—defeating the boss of a stage unlocked the next one.

Of course, that wasn't all. The key point was that upon killing monsters in the Hunting Dimension, orbs dropped as loot.

These orbs contained unimaginable powers, capable of boosting the protagonist, Lu Ze, and making him stronger.

'Am I really this lucky?' I thought. 'But wasn't I already fortunate to reincarnate as Nawaki? Or is this telling me that without this, I'd eventually die?'

When the alms are too good, even saints grow suspicious. Instead of feeling happy, I became worried.

Something like this couldn't be a bed of roses without thorns.

I didn't know what could threaten my life to the point of granting me something like this, but I preferred to assume something would happen rather than be caught off guard if it did.

Ah, and the reason I was almost certain this belonged to the novel Pocket Hunting Dimension was because, just like my clone that killed some Green Wolves and dropped deep red light orbs and purple orbs, when my clone picked them up, they simply vanished in his hand. The same happened to me when I killed a Giant White Rabbit that attacked me. However, what it dropped was only two red orbs, the size of cherries, emitting a faint glow.

On the ground, I picked up a stone about the size of a tomato. After marking it with the Flying Raijin Technique, I walked slowly until I found a group consisting of four Giant White Rabbits and two Giant Gray Rabbits.

"Whoosh!"

The instant I threw the stone in their direction, it startled them, causing them to leap in opposite directions.

As the stone reached them, I disappeared from my location, reappearing right next to it and catching it mid-air. Converting my chakra in my mouth into water and shaping it into senbon, I shot water needles at the rabbits at high speed while spinning in the air.

"ZZZZHHHMMM!"

"ZZZZHHHMMM!"

"ZZZZHHHMMM!"

"ZZZZHHHMMM!"

"ZZZZHHHMMM!"

A total of five shots, five hits. I didn't miss a single target, striking their heads directly. They turned to dust the moment they leaped, dropping faintly glowing reddish orbs that stood out among the ashes.

As I picked up the orbs, just as I expected, the instant they came into contact with my hand, they disappeared.

'This confirms it. I must be right; this is the Hunting Dimension...'

I don't know what triggered me to gain something like this, but it's not like I'm going to complain. Still, I can't help but worry about the possibility of there being a hidden reason behind it...

Tossing the stone with my Flying Raijin mark up and down, I continued walking.

--

--

It must have been almost three hours since I ended up in this place, and so far, it felt like I was strolling through my backyard, getting rid of a few random pests with ease.

No matter what, compared to the Jonin-level ninjas I've killed, these oversized rabbits don't scare me. Not even the Green Wolves that showed up trying to attack me with wind, only to have their heads severed when I used Cutting Water Waves.

'If this keeps up, it won't take long before I reach the map's boss and take it down...' I thought.

Although I felt it wouldn't be as easy a fight as it was with the Giant Rabbits and Green Wolves, I didn't think it would be impossible for me to defeat it.

In the distance, I saw a massive gray lizard, with shoulder height at five meters and a body length of twenty meters.

My eyes glimmered for a moment, and I licked my lips as I prepared to face it... But then, why did my vision suddenly darken?

--

--

I opened my eyes abruptly; darkness enveloped me. I was lying down, but I quickly sat up. Moving my neck from side to side while observing my surroundings, I thought: 'Am I back in my room?'

Frowning, puzzled, I mused: 'Is the time limit really that short? Why don't I remember that? I thought I'd at least have an entire day...'