"This year is the 47th year of Konoha. According to the original plot, the next year will be the 48th year of Konoha — the year Naruto Uzumaki is born. It's also the year the Nine-Tails rampages through the village. Why am I stuck in such an awkward timeline?"
Haruto Kisaragi mentally calculated the Naruto universe's timeline and recalled the major events that happened during this period.
Suddenly, his entire body tensed.
This… this was like being thrown straight into a pit of fire!
He had transmigrated into the Naruto world — specifically, into Konoha Village. He didn't have the Sharingan, no Byakugan, no special bone-based kekkei genkai. At seventeen years old, Haruto had never once attended the Ninja Academy.
In other words, he was just a background extra in the world of shinobi.
While the protagonists flaunted their strength and showed off, his only role was to stand on the sidelines and yell, "Awesome!"
But none of that mattered compared to the real problem — next year would be the 48th year of Konoha.
That meant the Nine-Tailed Beast — Kurama — would be unleashed on the village.
No one knew how many people would die that day.
Haruto might very well be one of them.
Lying on the bed in his modest home, Haruto mumbled to himself, "Maybe I should leave the village and lay low for a while? Then come back in two or three years?"
Just as that thought formed, he immediately shook it off.
The world outside Konoha wasn't any safer!
Although the Third Great Ninja War had just ended and the major nations had signed a peace treaty, it didn't mean the outside world was peaceful.
If anything, it was even more dangerous out there!
As Haruto struggled with this dilemma, a sudden line of text appeared in his mind, interrupting all his chaotic thoughts.
[Would you like to join the Dimensional Chat Group? Yes/No]
Haruto's face filled with shock. His first reaction: Is this some kind of genjutsu messing with me?!
His second thought: Wait… is this thing actually real?!
No matter how hard he tried to rationalize it, he couldn't remove the line of text from his mind.
It seemed like the only way to make it disappear was to choose an answer.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Haruto selected "Yes."
After all, he was just an ordinary civilian in this world. He couldn't use ninjutsu, had no kekkei genkai, and no prestigious clan backing him. There was no way some powerful genjutsu user would be targeting him just for fun.
That left only one possibility:
This so-called "Dimensional Chat Group" might actually be real!
[Congratulations! You've successfully joined the Dimensional Chat Group. You are the first member to join. Please set your chat group nickname. Note: You may only change your nickname once a month, so choose carefully!]
You could set a nickname? This was starting to feel eerily similar to QQ!
Looking at the familiar chat interface in his mind, Haruto fell into a daze.
This was exactly like a QQ group chat!
Since it required a nickname, he decided it wouldn't be smart to use his real name.
So, Haruto entered the nickname from his past life's QQ account: "AwooSuperFierce".
"I can actually change my nickname? Okay, but… am I the only one in here?"
Haruto clicked on the "Members" tab using the same method he remembered from QQ.
Sure enough, there was only one member in the Dimensional Chat Group — him.
A massive group chat… with just one person.
What was even the point?
Sure, it sounded grand and mysterious, and he had read tons of web novels back on Earth about magical "cheat systems." But where were the other members? The overpowered group admin? The quirky chatterboxes?
Why was it completely empty?
Just as Haruto began questioning the whole thing, the chat interface suddenly lit up with several new notifications:
Ding! "Edward Newgate" has joined the Dimensional Chat Group!
Ding! "Forever Seventeen-Year-Old Girl" has joined the Dimensional Chat Group!
Ding! "Lady Kaguya-sama" has joined the Dimensional Chat Group!
Ding! "Wandering Little Planet" has joined the Dimensional Chat Group!
Four system messages in quick succession shattered the silence. A chat group that had previously only housed Haruto now had four new members.
They had all joined at nearly the same time — just seconds apart. Haruto had only joined a few minutes earlier than the rest.
Looking at the bizarre usernames, Haruto's expression turned thoughtful.
These names seemed oddly familiar. They gave him a strange sense of déjà vu…
Edward Newgate: "Gurararara! Which new challenger on the high seas dares to sneak up on this old man?"
Edward Newgate: "Is this the power of a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit? Creating illusions — quite interesting!"
Edward Newgate: "If you want to challenge me, that's fine! But let's raise the stakes — it'll be more fun that way! If you lose, you become my son and carry the name of Whitebeard! Deal?"
Forever Seventeen-Year-Old Girl: "Ehhh? What kind of illusion is this that even dragged me in? Could it be Yukari from the Eternal Pavilion? No, wait… she's not really that good at illusions!"
Lady Kaguya-sama: "Um… what is this black-tech stuff?"
Lady Kaguya-sama: "Has Earth's technology really advanced this far?"
AwooSuperFierce: "…"
Watching their wildly different chat styles, Haruto felt like he had really stumbled into one of those "Dimensional Chat Groups" just like in the novels.
And by the looks of it — this one wasn't fake!
Edward Newgate… any anime fan worth their salt knew that name. And from the mention of the "Devil Fruit," Haruto could now confirm it:
This was Whitebeard, captain of the Whitebeard Pirates from the One Piece world!
Forever Seventeen-Year-Old Girl… people who used names like that were usually very old. Combine that with the "eternal seventeen" meme, and Haruto guessed it must be Yukari Yakumo — the gap-hag youkai from Gensokyo. Who knows if she had lived for thousands or even tens of thousands of years?
Lady Kaguya-sama was a little harder to figure out. Was it Ōtsutsuki Kaguya? Or maybe Houraisan Kaguya?
But judging from her messages — especially her surprise at "black technology" — it was unlikely to be either of them. She was probably from a modern or slice-of-life world.
A rich lady named Kaguya… in a modern setting…
Suddenly, Haruto's eyes lit up. "Wait a minute — could it be that Kaguya-sama? The one who dominated the Winter 2019 anime season?"
That made a lot of sense!
Which left just one more — Wandering Little Planet. Could this be a reference to The Wandering Earth?
Could it be the Earth's will itself? Like some kind of Gaia-consciousness?
Haruto's brain was practically spinning from the possibilities.
What kind of monsters and legends had joined this chat group…?