"Nawaki, your birthday is approaching, and not only that, it's not long before you graduate from the ninja academy, yes? So, I'm thinking of taking you on a mission with me. What do you think about that?" Though Tsunade says it's a mission, she knows what he is doing with his shadow clones.
The fact that he is doing so many things at the same time using shadow clones is well known to her. At first, despite being worried, she calmed down over time after understanding his abilities well.
And the real reason for the invitation to go on a mission is just her way of disguising the truth: she wants to spend more time alone with him. Other than being away, they don't have to do things in secret.
Tsunade already knows that Granny Mito is suspicious of things in the hunting dimension. Even Nawaki knows this.
On the bright side, Granny Mito doesn't try to get them to say what they are hiding, nor does she try to keep an eye on them on purpose. Her confidence is welcome, but still, Tsunade feels watched and wants to do things more openly.
Her motive was also to test Nawaki's real power.
She had grown strong enough that she couldn't even use her full power while training.
If she's not mistaken, Nawaki's power already surpasses most jonin. She could think of only a few special jonin who might pose any challenge to Nawaki.
Nawaki had something he needed to discuss with his sister, so this was also a good opportunity. "Yes, I want to do this with you," he smiled.
"Right," she replied in her usual witty voice, smiling. "We'll leave in the morning. We are not going to spend the night meditating this time."
"Mmm, okay," Nawaki agreed.
But he couldn't do it without entering the hunting dimension. After all, if he went to sleep, he would automatically go in there. The only times this didn't happen were when he was circulating energy for two days straight while making a discovery. He soon discovered that if he spent time meditating, he would not enter the hunting dimension.
Other than that, whenever he went to sleep, he would end up inside the hunting dimension.
-
-
Alone in his room, Nawaki lies down on the bed, intending to enter the hunting dimension as usual.
However, this time, he is shocked.
When he opens his eyes, he finds himself not in the realm of hunting but in a dark and unfamiliar space.
Before him float two fist-sized rings of light, each displaying scenes akin to looking through a round window.
The scene in the first ring is all too familiar to Nawaki. He sees those cute white rabbits and green wolves.
The other ring also displays living beings, but only one type that Nawaki recognizes: the black-scaled leopards he encountered after leaving the white rabbits' area.
Nawaki looks at the two rings in surprise.
Does this mean he can choose where to enter the hunting dimension?
Is the hunting dimension evolving?
Or is it something else entirely?
What exactly is this hunting dimension?
Nawaki recalls how he killed that lion last night.
That male lion was undoubtedly the strongest beast there.
Could this new ring harbor an animal of similar strength?
If he were to kill it, would a new ring appear?
Nawaki makes a bold guess but knows he must verify it.
He smiles at the prospect. This could mean new opportunities to become stronger, perhaps even uncovering new secret arts?
The thought makes him smile even more.
However, if this is true, it could also mean that the monsters in the second ring are more powerful, and he might risk dying again.
But he just needs to act cautiously, hoping he's not as unlucky as the last few times, where he ended up dying due to some monstrous beast merely passing by.
Nawaki uses his mental strength to touch the other ring.
His vision goes dark. When he regains sight, he finds himself on a grass plain.
Looking around, he notices that this grassy plain has taller grass than the previous one, towering over ten feet. The air is filled with the incessant roars of beasts, the ferocity of battles, and a palpable will to fight.
At the sound of rustling grass, Nawaki swiftly turns into his dark mist mode and hides.
What emerges are two gray lizards.
These lizards are enormous, standing five meters tall at the shoulder and stretching 20 meters in length.
An interesting fact becomes apparent to Nawaki: when he enters the hunting dimension, using shadow clones outside remains unaffected. In other words, all of the 400+ shadow clones he used outside can also be utilized in the hunting dimension.
Why this is the case, Nawaki doesn't know.
The possibility that he doesn't enter with his real body might be the answer, or there might be another reason.
Regardless, Nawaki has a few hunches. He has tested sealing small animals inside his body and releasing them into the hunting dimension. The result, though expected, still surprises him: it works.
This success almost tempts him to bring Tsunade along. However, he is hesitant.
The fact that there are occasional monsters capable of killing even someone as skilled as Tsunade makes this option seem too risky.
He has previously tested what happens when he kills one of the animals in the hunting dimension, or if he is killed by one of its beasts. Is death final, even with the tiny grains of dust from the red energy orb? The answer is elusive, as the orbs are very small.
Naturally, he has tested this with larger animals and discovered that the size of the orbs depends on the animal's power.
In any case, Nawaki creates over 200 shadow clones, and they quickly use the dark mist mode.
Their presence attracts the attention of the gray lizards.
One of the gray lizards opens its mouth and emits a dragon-like howl.
However, Nawaki, expecting some kind of elemental power to be unleashed, is surprised when nothing happens.
The shadow clones attack!
Shaped like half-moons, wind scythes slice through the lizards' skin.
With so many shadow clones attacking from all directions, the lizards have no chance to defend or dodge in time.
The lizards' dragon-like roars grow louder.
Something unexpected happens next.
The body parts of one gray lizard begin to regenerate so quickly it's visible to the naked eye.
However, only one lizard possesses this ability; the other is taking its last breaths as the shadow clones focus on it, noticing it doesn't regenerate as dramatically as its counterpart.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
Amid the sounds of wind cutting and the tumult of battle, the roars of the two gray lizards resonate. But from beginning to end, Nawaki remains silent.
There's no need for commentary, unlike in the movies he has watched.
Of course, having seen numerous battles in the past few months using his shadow clones, Nawaki sometimes feels the urge to hide...
But now, he refocuses on the battle at hand.
One of the gray lizards finally turns gray and drops five exceptionally bright red orbs, and two purple orbs appear.
A shadow clone in dark mist mode quickly collects the orbs.
Naturally, the shadow clones intensify their attacks on the remaining gray lizard, which has the ability to regenerate.
When they discover that fire is more effective, the shadow clones switch to using fire art for their attacks.
Despite the distance of their attacks, many clones are killed. However, Nawaki, who is nearby, consistently creates more clones for repeated assaults.
"BOOOOM!"
"Thump!"
As the large body of the gray lizard falls into the flames and begins to turn to ash, it becomes evident.
Nawaki's real body mutters, "It's over..."
He observes that, like before, there are five exceptionally bright red orbs and two purple orbs, but this time there is also a gray crystal orb.
"Hahaha!" Nawaki laughs out loud upon seeing this.
He makes a bold conjecture: 'This must be an art related to regeneration, right?'
Apart from super-regeneration, this gray lizard didn't exhibit any abilities different from the other.
"Let's hunt more giant lizards!" Nawaki decides.
In fact, all the shadow clones share this thought.
Shortly, shadow clones in dark mist mode take to the skies, searching for the giant gray lizards.
||- Note -||
Read 30+ chapter on Patre on!
pa treon.com/Tozoku
"Nawaki, your birthday is approaching, and not only that, it's not long before you graduate from the ninja academy, yes? So, I'm thinking of taking you on a mission with me. What do you think about that?" Though Tsunade says it's a mission, she knows what he is doing with his shadow clones.
The fact that he is doing so many things at the same time using shadow clones is well known to her. At first, despite being worried, she calmed down over time after understanding his abilities well.
And the real reason for the invitation to go on a mission is just her way of disguising the truth: she wants to spend more time alone with him. Other than being away, they don't have to do things in secret.
Tsunade already knows that Granny Mito is suspicious of things in the hunting dimension. Even Nawaki knows this.
On the bright side, Granny Mito doesn't try to get them to say what they are hiding, nor does she try to keep an eye on them on purpose. Her confidence is welcome, but still, Tsunade feels watched and wants to do things more openly.
Her motive was also to test Nawaki's real power.
She had grown strong enough that she couldn't even use her full power while training.
If she's not mistaken, Nawaki's power already surpasses most jonin. She could think of only a few special jonin who might pose any challenge to Nawaki.
Nawaki had something he needed to discuss with his sister, so this was also a good opportunity. "Yes, I want to do this with you," he smiled.
"Right," she replied in her usual witty voice, smiling. "We'll leave in the morning. We are not going to spend the night meditating this time."
"Mmm, okay," Nawaki agreed.
But he couldn't do it without entering the hunting dimension. After all, if he went to sleep, he would automatically go in there. The only times this didn't happen were when he was circulating energy for two days straight while making a discovery. He soon discovered that if he spent time meditating, he would not enter the hunting dimension.
Other than that, whenever he went to sleep, he would end up inside the hunting dimension.
-
-
Alone in his room, Nawaki lies down on the bed, intending to enter the hunting dimension as usual.
However, this time, he is shocked.
When he opens his eyes, he finds himself not in the realm of hunting but in a dark and unfamiliar space.
Before him float two fist-sized rings of light, each displaying scenes akin to looking through a round window.
The scene in the first ring is all too familiar to Nawaki. He sees those cute white rabbits and green wolves.
The other ring also displays living beings, but only one type that Nawaki recognizes: the black-scaled leopards he encountered after leaving the white rabbits' area.
Nawaki looks at the two rings in surprise.
Does this mean he can choose where to enter the hunting dimension?
Is the hunting dimension evolving?
Or is it something else entirely?
What exactly is this hunting dimension?
Nawaki recalls how he killed that lion last night.
That male lion was undoubtedly the strongest beast there.
Could this new ring harbor an animal of similar strength?
If he were to kill it, would a new ring appear?
Nawaki makes a bold guess but knows he must verify it.
He smiles at the prospect. This could mean new opportunities to become stronger, perhaps even uncovering new secret arts?
The thought makes him smile even more.
However, if this is true, it could also mean that the monsters in the second ring are more powerful, and he might risk dying again.
But he just needs to act cautiously, hoping he's not as unlucky as the last few times, where he ended up dying due to some monstrous beast merely passing by.
Nawaki uses his mental strength to touch the other ring.
His vision goes dark. When he regains sight, he finds himself on a grass plain.
Looking around, he notices that this grassy plain has taller grass than the previous one, towering over ten feet. The air is filled with the incessant roars of beasts, the ferocity of battles, and a palpable will to fight.
At the sound of rustling grass, Nawaki swiftly turns into his dark mist mode and hides.
What emerges are two gray lizards.
These lizards are enormous, standing five meters tall at the shoulder and stretching 20 meters in length.
An interesting fact becomes apparent to Nawaki: when he enters the hunting dimension, using shadow clones outside remains unaffected. In other words, all of the 400+ shadow clones he used outside can also be utilized in the hunting dimension.
Why this is the case, Nawaki doesn't know.
The possibility that he doesn't enter with his real body might be the answer, or there might be another reason.
Regardless, Nawaki has a few hunches. He has tested sealing small animals inside his body and releasing them into the hunting dimension. The result, though expected, still surprises him: it works.
This success almost tempts him to bring Tsunade along. However, he is hesitant.
The fact that there are occasional monsters capable of killing even someone as skilled as Tsunade makes this option seem too risky.
He has previously tested what happens when he kills one of the animals in the hunting dimension, or if he is killed by one of its beasts. Is death final, even with the tiny grains of dust from the red energy orb? The answer is elusive, as the orbs are very small.
Naturally, he has tested this with larger animals and discovered that the size of the orbs depends on the animal's power.
In any case, Nawaki creates over 200 shadow clones, and they quickly use the dark mist mode.
Their presence attracts the attention of the gray lizards.
One of the gray lizards opens its mouth and emits a dragon-like howl.
However, Nawaki, expecting some kind of elemental power to be unleashed, is surprised when nothing happens.
The shadow clones attack!
Shaped like half-moons, wind scythes slice through the lizards' skin.
With so many shadow clones attacking from all directions, the lizards have no chance to defend or dodge in time.
The lizards' dragon-like roars grow louder.
Something unexpected happens next.
The body parts of one gray lizard begin to regenerate so quickly it's visible to the naked eye.
However, only one lizard possesses this ability; the other is taking its last breaths as the shadow clones focus on it, noticing it doesn't regenerate as dramatically as its counterpart.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
Amid the sounds of wind cutting and the tumult of battle, the roars of the two gray lizards resonate. But from beginning to end, Nawaki remains silent.
There's no need for commentary, unlike in the movies he has watched.
Of course, having seen numerous battles in the past few months using his shadow clones, Nawaki sometimes feels the urge to hide...
But now, he refocuses on the battle at hand.
One of the gray lizards finally turns gray and drops five exceptionally bright red orbs, and two purple orbs appear.
A shadow clone in dark mist mode quickly collects the orbs.
Naturally, the shadow clones intensify their attacks on the remaining gray lizard, which has the ability to regenerate.
When they discover that fire is more effective, the shadow clones switch to using fire art for their attacks.
Despite the distance of their attacks, many clones are killed. However, Nawaki, who is nearby, consistently creates more clones for repeated assaults.
"BOOOOM!"
"Thump!"
As the large body of the gray lizard falls into the flames and begins to turn to ash, it becomes evident.
Nawaki's real body mutters, "It's over..."
He observes that, like before, there are five exceptionally bright red orbs and two purple orbs, but this time there is also a gray crystal orb.
"Hahaha!" Nawaki laughs out loud upon seeing this.
He makes a bold conjecture: 'This must be an art related to regeneration, right?'
Apart from super-regeneration, this gray lizard didn't exhibit any abilities different from the other.
"Let's hunt more giant lizards!" Nawaki decides.
In fact, all the shadow clones share this thought.
Shortly, shadow clones in dark mist mode take to the skies, searching for the giant gray lizards.
||- Note -||
Read 30+ chapter on Patre on!
pa treon.com/Tozoku
