Chapter 1: Awakening in Fire
Chapter 1: Awakening in Fire
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Darkness.
A silence so absolute it felt like the universe had forgotten its own existence.
Then—pain.
A sharp, burning sensation shot through his body, his muscles spasming as though they were being rewritten at the atomic level. He gasped, his breath ragged, lungs burning as if he had been underwater for far too long. His fingers twitched, feeling something cold and wet beneath him.
"Where—am I?"
His vision was blurry, his senses distorted, but he could feel it—the weight of the air, thick with smoke, fire, and something unnatural.
A distant roar shattered the silence. A deep, guttural snarl that vibrated through the ground beneath him, shaking the very bones in his body.
His heart pounded. Something about that sound felt familiar.
Then, in the corner of his mind, something flickered.
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[Welcome to the Dimensional Gamer System]
Initializing… Synchronizing Reality… Success.
Current World: Naruto Universe (Variant #77) – Third Shinobi War]
Rebirth Status: Unstable. Personality and Memories Fragmented.
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A system?
That one word snapped something in his brain. A game-like system. Quests. Skills. Levels. It was like those stories he'd read before—but he couldn't remember where or when. His past was a haze, fragmented pieces of knowledge with no source.
A Gamer System… in the Naruto world?
His vision cleared slightly, enough to see the towering shadows of a village under siege. Massive, jagged claws of red energy tore through buildings as ninja clad in dark green flak jackets scrambled to fight back.
Konoha.
And above them, bathed in moonlight, stood a monstrous figure of living chakra—nine enormous tails whipping through the sky like hurricanes.
Kyūbi no Yōko.
The Nine-Tailed Fox.
And it was headed straight for him.
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[New Quest: SURVIVE]
→ Escape from the Nine-Tails' Rampage (0.5% Success Rate)
Rewards: ???
Failure: Death.
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His legs moved before his brain processed the information.
The primal urge to survive flooded through him, overriding any confusion or fear. His body, small and light, bolted forward, dodging burning debris, shattered rooftops, and crumbling stone walls.
This was the night.
The night Konoha burned.
The night Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki would give their lives to seal the Kyūbi.
The night Naruto Uzumaki was born.
But he wasn't Naruto.
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[Status Updated]
Name: Hikaru Senju
Age: 6
Level: 1
HP: 200/200
CP: 150/150
Status Effects: [Shock] [Memory Fragmentation]
Perks: Adaptive Reflexes (Passive), Gamer's Mind (Passive)
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A Senju?
The thought barely had time to register before the Kyūbi roared once more, its glowing red eyes sweeping the battlefield. Its gaze locked onto him.
A rush of killing intent slammed into his body like a tidal wave.
His breath hitched. His muscles froze. It felt like his soul itself was being crushed.
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[WARNING: High-Level Threat Detected]
→ System Override Activated.
→ Gamer's Mind Auto-Adjusting…
→ Resistance Unlocked: Genjutsu & Killing Intent (Rank D).
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The paralysis lifted just in time for Hikaru to see a giant tail descending toward him.
He jumped.
No—not jumped. His body moved faster than it should have, his legs pushing off the ground with a burst of instinctual chakra. The tail smashed into the earth, cracking the very ground where he had stood a second ago.
Too fast.
That wasn't normal.
He barely had time to land before a masked figure appeared in his peripheral vision. A swirling void of Kamui in the shape of a single eye.
A figure wearing an orange mask.
The man who unleashed the Kyūbi on Konoha.
Uchiha Obito.
His single Sharingan spun wildly. "Too slow."
A black-gloved hand reached out toward him—
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[EMERGENCY QUEST TRIGGERED]
→ Escape from an S-Rank Shinobi (Success Rate: 0.01%)
Rewards: ???
Failure: Death.
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His body moved on its own.
A memory—not his own—flashed through his mind. A shadowed figure slipping through time, dodging impossible attacks. A trick of movement, a technique meant for survival.
Hikaru's hands instinctively formed a seal.
"Substitution Jutsu!"
A cloud of smoke exploded, and Obito's hand grasped nothing but air.
Instead of a child, a shattered wooden log appeared in his place.
From a rooftop ten meters away, Hikaru gasped, his chakra flickering around him. He didn't know how he did that.
Obito's single eye narrowed.
A shiver crawled up Hikaru's spine. He wasn't supposed to be here. This wasn't part of the original story.
And Obito was looking at him like he had noticed.
"Interesting," the Uchiha murmured.
Before he could react, a golden flash tore through the battlefield.
A kunai.
A sudden burst of yellow chakra.
And Minato Namikaze appeared.
The Fourth Hokage.
Obito turned sharply, completely ignoring Hikaru.
The tension shattered. Hikaru took the opportunity to run.
The world blurred as he sprinted through the burning village, dodging falling debris and fire. His heart hammered against his chest. He was alive.
But he wasn't safe.
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[Quest Completed: Survive]
Rewards:
→ 200 EXP
→ Stat Unlock: Chakra Control
→ New Title: Survivor
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The blue system text flickered in his vision, but Hikaru ignored it.
He had bigger problems.
The Kyūbi was still rampaging.
The battle between Obito and Minato was only beginning.
And worst of all—he had no idea what came next.
Because this wasn't just Naruto's world.
This was a version of Naruto's world that had never been written before.
And Hikaru was right in the middle of it.
To Be Continued…