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On the morning of the second day, Kagaya woke up early. Although he had acted very leisurely the previous night, the things he had done were all necessary. When it was time to get busy, he still had to get busy.
With a casual Fire Release, he destroyed the small wooden cabin he had built. Since he was planning to search for people, it was unlikely he would stay in one place for too long. There was no need to keep this cabin.
At the same time, burning down the cabin also served as a warning to himself—he had to hurry!
After a night's rest, Kagaya's body had, with the help of the Five-Tails' ability, more or less fully recovered. He spread out his chakra and scanned the surrounding area.
Just as expected, Kagaya sensed no trace of any human presence. This was indeed a forest far removed from human civilization. Humans rarely ventured into places like this.
"Hope it's not too far."
Kagaya leaped onto a tree branch, picked a random direction, and began moving forward.
Right now, he could only hope that human settlements weren't too far from this forest. That way, he wouldn't have to spend too much time.
Of course, what Kagaya feared most was accidentally choosing the wrong direction. This was an unfamiliar world. Kagaya had absolutely no idea which direction had people. So he could only pick one at random. If his luck was bad and he chose wrong... then it would all be over. He might end up running farther and farther away from civilization, and ultimately die without ever meeting a single soul.
At times like this, Kagaya began to miss Karin. If Karin were here, with her radar-like sensory abilities, finding someone would be very simple. He wouldn't need to run too far. Just running a lap around the surrounding area might have been enough to locate a place inhabited by people.
But there was no point thinking about all that now. Kagaya couldn't exactly go back and bring Karin over. So he would just have to search honestly.
The process of searching was undoubtedly tedious. With no results whatsoever, that tedium only intensified further.
From the moment the sun first peeked its head over the eastern horizon, casting faint rays of light, all the way until the sun hung high in the center of the sky, scorching the earth below... Kagaya found nothing.
No... it wasn't quite accurate to say he found nothing. If one had to say, Kagaya did find something.
It was something very familiar to Kagaya—a badly damaged and rusted kunai.
The kunai had very clearly begun to rust. Its tip had been broken off. It lay on the earthy yellow ground. Without paying close attention, one truly wouldn't have noticed this old, worn kunai.
Kagaya picked up the kunai and examined it carefully, confirming again and again. It was indeed a kunai!
"This world also has kunai? Come to think of it... what exactly did the system say before I passed out? I don't really remember."
This kunai had slightly lifted the veil on this world for Kagaya. But only slightly. Kagaya could only deduce that this world seemed to have shinobi as well.
Tossing aside the old kunai, Kagaya continued onward.
It should be noted that Kagaya did not use the Flying Thunder God to travel. Because he was now in an unfamiliar world, he couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't encounter powerful enemies. If he did run into powerful enemies, he might need to use the Flying Thunder God to defeat them or escape. So for now, he had to conserve his kunai as much as possible.
After all, this wasn't like the world of Naruto, where Kagaya could casually replenish his kunai supply. Here, using one might mean losing one for good.
Kagaya had only left behind a trail of Flying Thunder God markings along his path. This way, if he chose the wrong direction, he could return to the halfway point or back to the starting point, and choose a new direction to search.
This world seemed to be in the middle of summer. The heat radiating from the sun was immense. Looking with the naked eye, one almost got the sensation that the air up ahead was warping. This kind of weather was the worst for Kagaya. Prolonged running already consumed a great deal of stamina, and now the scorching air further exacerbated his physical exhaustion.
"What a terrible time. Damn system."
Habitually cursing the system, he pressed forward under the blazing sun.
Eventually, Kagaya left the forested area behind and arrived at a vast grassland.
Here, Lady Luck smiled upon Kagaya.
Kagaya saw it very clearly—off in the distance, there was a tiny human figure.
"Ha!"
He let out a laugh with a hint of delight, then quickly dashed toward the figure.
Yuki was walking across the grassland. She had already spent several days here and had seen many beautiful sights she had never witnessed before.
She was preparing to leave this place.
Her black pupils shimmered faintly with light. It wasn't a physical light—it was a light of the spirit. Her eyes seemed to possess the ability to make people involuntarily relax, as if they contained a light that could warm one's very heart.
With an irrepressible smile, Yuki crouched down and took out her small notebook, writing in it.
—XX, Yuki is truly very happy. It turns out this world still holds so much beauty. Yuki is preparing to head to the next place. Please watch over Yuki!
In this passage, that mysterious "XX" appeared once again. No one knew what it meant.
Putting away the notebook, Yuki stood up and continued forward.
A little while later, Yuki spotted a forest in the distance. She instantly decided—the next place she would go was there!
However, she hadn't walked far when she sensed a powerful chakra rushing toward her at incredible speed.
In that instant, the light vanished. Not the light of the sun in the sky—but the light in Yuki's eyes.
One second ago, her pupils had been like those of a spirit, making people involuntarily relax. This second, they were like those of a death row inmate about to be executed. The black pupils transformed from a vast blue sea into a dark, lifeless void.
Her fair, snow-white face instantly drained of color, turning deathly pale. Even her body trembled involuntarily, ever so slightly. Anyone could see it—she was afraid. Terribly afraid.
"Father..."
Accompanied by a fierce, howling wind, that figure gave Yuki little time to think, arriving before her very quickly.
Yuki instinctively retreated several steps, even stumbling and falling to the ground. She stared at the newcomer in terror. But very quickly, Yuki recognized—the person before her was a man, black-haired and black-eyed, with a handsome face. It wasn't that person.
She let out a sigh of relief. The terror vanished from her face. Her black pupils once again radiated their dazzling light. Flustered, she scrambled to her feet, dusted off her clothes, and lowered her head with a face full of apology.
"S-sorry... my appearance just now must have frightened you, right? I'm terribly sorry. I-I wasn't afraid of you. I don't dislike you. Please forgive me."
The man who had arrived here was, of course, Kagaya. At this very moment, Kagaya was utterly dumbfounded. He had just charged over, only to see this girl before him looking terrified, even falling to the ground. Kagaya had thought he had frightened her and was organizing an apology in his head. But before he could even speak, the other party was apologizing first?
Mm...
Scratching his head, Kagaya spoke.
"Um... I'm the one who should be apologizing. Approaching you at such a high speed just now... that was indeed my fault. Sorry. Oh, and... if you don't mind, may I ask your name?"
Yuki lifted her head and pointed at her own face.
"My name? Mine?"
Kagaya froze. It was the first time he had seen this girl's pupils. How should he put it... he couldn't sense any special power from them. Kagaya could confirm—those were just ordinary eyes. But...
What a pair of optimistic eyes. This person before me... is she the type who has never experienced hardship since childhood? She must be!
Kagaya sighed inwardly with a tinge of envy, then replied.
"Yes, your name. Can you tell me? By the way, I'm called Kagaya."
A smile that couldn't be suppressed suddenly appeared on Yuki's face, as if she was overjoyed that someone was asking her name. But very quickly, that smile receded slightly. After hesitating for a moment, Yuki spoke.
"I... I'm called..."
She didn't know what to say. Just then, Yuki spotted the small grass on the ground. She smiled and said,
"I'm called Chiharu! Nice to meet you, Kagaya!"
Kagaya furrowed his brow almost imperceptibly. He had noticed something. That name... but that wasn't important right now. Kagaya was just looking for someone to prepare for his future resurrection, not here to investigate other people's secrets. Putting on a smile, Kagaya spoke.
"Nice to meet you, Chiharu. Is there a village or town or something nearby?"
Yuki blinked, raised a hand, and scratched the corner of her mouth, looking thoughtful.
"Mm, hmm... I don't think there's anything nearby. Um... actually, I don't really remember the way either. I honestly have no idea where this place is."
Kagaya was completely dumbfounded. What the hell? This person had come here herself, and yet she didn't know where "here" was?
To be honest, Kagaya didn't believe her.
Should I use genjutsu?
That was Kagaya's first instinct. But very quickly, he dismissed the idea, because he sensed chakra within the girl's body. And it wasn't weak, either!
But wait... chakra?
This place is...
Kagaya began frantically recalling what the system had said before he lost consciousness.
Parallel World.
"..."
At this point, Kagaya finally understood. This wasn't some completely different world at all. It was a parallel world of Naruto!
No wonder the system had said earlier that it had already sent Kagaya to a world with very high compatibility with him.
A parallel world of Naruto—other than the world Kagaya came from, wasn't this precisely the world with the highest compatibility with him?
Even after being sent to a world with such high compatibility, problems had still arisen. This just went to show how utterly garbage the system truly was.
But there was a silver lining to this. Kagaya was extremely familiar with Naruto. As long as he could figure out where he currently was, he could rely on his memory to find the locations of villages.
It would be so easy!
No, wait! This girl in front of him... she just said she didn't know where this place was?
"Um... Chiharu, do you really not know where this place is?"
"Yes! S-sorry."
Kagaya was completely speechless. Even if he remembered the map of Naruto, it was useless if he didn't even know where he currently was!
Looking around, Kagaya couldn't identify this place either.
Taking a sharp breath, Kagaya felt somewhat frustrated.
Should I just have this girl help resurrect me?
Actually, that wasn't entirely out of the question. But, how should he put it... Kagaya felt that staking all his hopes on a single person was far too foolish. If possible, he wanted to find several people to help resurrect him. That way, even if one or two of them made mistakes, the others would still bring him back.
Let me use genjutsu to check.
Kagaya still didn't quite believe what this girl had said—that she didn't know where this place was.
Carefully, since he now knew this was the world of Naruto, there was no need to expose his Sharingan. Before the girl could even react, Kagaya had already placed her under his genjutsu!
"Where is this place?"
"I don't know."
Now Kagaya was truly stunned. Someone under his genjutsu couldn't possibly lie. In other words... this girl truly had no idea where this place was.
"Sigh..."
Letting out a sigh, Kagaya silently released the genjutsu and spoke.
"Chiharu... since you don't know where this place is, then why are you here?"
Yuki smiled.
"Because I'm traveling aimlessly!"
Kagaya looked at the girl's striking black pupils. For some reason, looking into her eyes made Kagaya believe it without a doubt—she wasn't lying.
"I see. Won't you run into danger, traveling alone like this?"
Yuki raised her arm. Even through her clothes, one could feel that there weren't any strong, powerful muscles beneath. Yet she still spoke with a face full of confidence.
"I'm actually very strong, you know! I'm confident I can handle wild beasts and things like that! Hehe! How about it, Kagaya? I'm pretty amazing, right?"
Yuki's eyes sparkled with a look of longing—a longing for acknowledgment.
Kagaya replied with an amused smile.
"Very strong, very strong. How about we travel together, then?"
Since he couldn't find anyone else, Kagaya had no choice but to stake all his hopes on this girl before him. If he left her and continued searching aimlessly, he might very well die without finding anyone. With his life on the line, Kagaya decided to be prudent.
"T-travel together?"
The girl paused, then lowered her head with a dejected expression.
"Um... actually... I'm not strong at all. I can only handle ordinary wild beasts. I'm not qualified to be your friend... M-maybe you should go find someone else."
Kagaya raised an eyebrow. In his perception, the chakra within this girl was quite strong—around Jonin level. With that level of strength, she could absolutely survive alone in the wilderness. Estimating her age from her appearance, she should be considered a genius. Why was she so lacking in confidence?
"It's fine. I'm not befriending you because of your strength, am I? Friends just need to be able to have fun together!"
Kagaya genuinely wasn't here for her strength. He was here for survival. So, no matter what flaws this person had, as long as she could resurrect Kagaya, Kagaya would become her good friend!
That might sound overly pragmatic, but there was no helping it. Besides, with Kagaya's strength, repaying a Jonin-level girl was more than easy. Kagaya didn't intend to just take without giving anything back.
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T/N: The suthor has mentioned before that he wanted to write out some of the plotlines in Naruto that he wanted to write but hadn't yet, before confidently moving on to other worlds. So, this parallel world of Naruto was created precisely for the plot that the author envisioned. The plot in this parallel world shouldn't be too long.
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