Rumble…
Outside.
The Sage of the Six Paths and his mother, Kaguya—a family of three—were locked in battle amidst thunderous explosions.
Inside.
Uchiha Kage, Naruto, and Sasuke crouched beneath a mountain, staring at each other.
"I knew it—I knew it wasn't a dream!"
Naruto burst out excitedly, then shrank back in fear.
The bombardment outside hadn't stopped, and no one could tell when another blast might drop on their heads, just like the one last night.
"It's not a dream... but it can't be real either. Otherwise..."
If it were real, they'd have been blown to pieces long ago.
Sasuke didn't know what to believe anymore. But he couldn't bring himself to treat this like just a dream—not after how real the pain had felt when he "died."
"What do you think, Kage?"
Although this clanmate of his hadn't awakened the Sharingan and was considered a failure, Sasuke had come to rely on Uchiha Kage over the years in many situations—almost like a pillar of support.
"I'm looking at the missions that appeared when we got here."
That was a lie.
Uchiha Kage wasn't checking any missions—he was just thinking about how to toss Naruto and Sasuke into danger so he could collect ninja fragments when they "died."
With the war raging outside, unless the Naruto and Sasuke beside him were secretly hiding the power of "Kizaru" and "Fujitora" from the final arc of some epic, they were basically useless.
Naruto didn't even bring a paint bucket for his favorite poop-themed prank, and Sasuke, a Genin, hadn't even learned Chidori.
With this kind of setup, forget fighting the Sage of the Six Paths—facing even one of Orochimaru's henchmen would be a stretch.
In other words, the mission—"Help Kaguya escape being sealed by Hagoromo and Hamura"—was damn near impossible.
"But if there's a mission, there must be a reward."
So... forgive me, Sasuke. To regain my strength, I need you to suffer just a little.
Besides, you're not going to actually die.
Uchiha Kage knew that Sasuke, driven by his thirst for revenge, would never pass up a chance to grow stronger.
The mystery of a "mission reward" would be too much for him to ignore.
"Mission reward, huh?"
Sure enough, Sasuke's blood began to boil.
The monsters outside were terrifying. If he could gain that kind of power too...
He'd set out to kill Uchiha Itachi tonight.
"Exactly. Maybe completing the mission is our ticket out of here."
Naruto, though clueless, didn't want to look dumb. He quickly agreed with Uchiha Kage.
"Right now, we're stuck. Other than dying over and over again, maybe the only way to escape this 'dream' is by completing the mission."
Naruto was a perfect sidekick. Now there was a reason for them to "die together" later.
Uchiha Kage nodded at Naruto and put on a thoughtful look.
"But with our strength, going head-to-head is a no-go. We'll have to be clever. First, we need to know what each of us can actually do. Like—what ninjutsu are you best at?"
"..."
"..."
The question made all three of them fall silent.
They hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy—what real jutsu could they possibly know?
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu."
After a while, Sasuke spoke up, clearly embarrassed.
"Transformation Technique."
Naruto really wanted to laugh at Sasuke, but remembering that he himself didn't even know that much... he held back.
"Alright. Then here's the plan. Sasuke and I will create a distraction with Fire Style. Naruto, you use Transformation to copy that woman's appearance, then sneak in and try to switch places with her."
Uchiha Kage actually did know a few stronger offensive jutsu. He had all the basic Uchiha fire-style techniques down, and ages ago, he'd even figured out how to use the Rasengan.
But even with those, he was nothing compared to the monsters fighting outside.
So, for now, he had to play dumb.
"But even if we do that... aren't we still going to die?"
Sasuke had no objections to the plan itself—just to the likely outcome.
"Doesn't matter. We can't die here. If it fails once, we try again. Sooner or later, it'll work."
Uchiha Kage knew the odds of this working were worse than an ant killing an elephant—but if he didn't keep trying, he'd never get those ninja fragments.
And besides, as long as the chance wasn't zero, it might work one day.
"Kage's right—let's do it!"
That thought gave Naruto a surge of courage.
"Fine."
Sasuke finally nodded. He had no better ideas anyway.
Just as the three of them were getting ready to march out of the mountain and challenge the Sage of Six Paths, a strange toad suddenly appeared before them.
"Huh!?"
The Great Toad Sage?!
Naruto and Sasuke were just curious. But Uchiha Kage recognized it instantly.
"Hello, young ones. It's dangerous here. Would you like to come with me to a safer place?"
The toad wasn't the Great Sage yet—just a young toad named Toadmaru.
"Holy crap! The toad's talking!!!"
Naruto shouted in shock.
"Shut up, Naruto!"
Sasuke kept his cool.
"Are you a summoned beast?"
"No, no one's signed a contract with me yet."
Toadmaru studied the three boys closely, then glanced toward the epic battle raging in the distance.
He didn't know why these kids were here, but to avoid disrupting the fight between Kaguya and her sons, he decided to get them out of the way.
"Where are you taking us?"
It was weird enough that there was a toad here. Uchiha Kage was curious.
"To a place where you can train in Sage Arts. Are you interested?"
Toadmaru said, baiting the hook.
"Sage Arts!?"
"Is that the same kind of power those guys out there are using!?"
Naruto and Sasuke practically shouted in unison.
"Uh... almost."
Toadmaru wiped sweat from his brow.
No, not even close to the Sage of Six Paths. But for now, a little bluffing wouldn't hurt.
"What are we waiting for?! Take us there!"
Sasuke didn't even hesitate—he lunged at the little toad.
[Mission Failed][Instance Settlement: None][Re-entering Instance]
"I didn't think it would end like that..."
Uchiha Kage sighed in frustration.
Toadmaru had lured them to Mount Myōboku, but hadn't taught them a single Sage Art. And even if he had, there wasn't time—Kaguya was defeated and sealed by the Sage of the Six Paths before any of them could learn anything.
They were kicked out of the instance because the mission had failed.
"All that effort... wasted."
Not a single ninja fragment gained.
Uchiha Kage really wanted to scream.
Next time he entered that dungeon, he'd have to figure out how to deal with that damn frog.
"Huh? What's this building?"
Back in Konoha—or rather, a place that looked a lot like Konoha—Uchiha Kage had planned to head toward the Hokage Building for a breather, but somehow, he found himself walking toward a different place entirely.
A massive compound.
Above the gate, a plaque: Hyuga Clan [meaning "sunward"].
[Current Action Points: 1/3 — Enter the Scene?]
Uchiha Kage pushed the gate.
A prompt popped up.
It was time to enter.