"EXIT."

After Taira left, I paused before selecting the option and was struck by a huge purple, lightning bolt raining down from the sky. The sound of the thunder was a bit startling, but I had complete confidence in my innate skill after two months.

The next instant, I was flashed back inside my room, in the same messy state I had left it. The water I spilled from the bottle had yet to even completely dry.

I was standing in the same position I left the digital world, in front of the computer hardware. It seemed as if my body entered the ethereal each time I played, as Lightning had previously stated.

As I felt the power inside my muscles, I had a self-satisfied grin. I immediately performed the substitution jutsu on the nearby pillow to check if it worked here as well:

"POOF!" As the smoke dissipated and I stood on top of the bed corner, I had the stupidest expression before I moaned in contentment:

"This gonna be good..." I said with anticipation. Lightning had explained to me how the repartition of my strength and cultivation worked. I would retain all the power from the game when I didn't die. This strength could be drawn separately from my "real" abilities and without drawbacks. That is to say, the laws and restrictions imposed on people here didn't influence it.

Not only would I be able to use and convert the different energies gained into Mana, but I wouldn't have to worry about them running out after exhaustion. My body was connected to the digital worlds I entered, so any chakra, Haki, etc., expanded, would recover in time.

The only restriction which couldn't even be considered as one was that I couldn't simultaneously use stats from different saves.

If not, I could just create a hundred different Naruto saves and only play two minutes just to add chakra to my reserves.

I wouldn't even need to try, and according to Lightning, the Heavenly Dao would make it a personal affair to erase my shameless and absurd existence...Something I wasn't looking forward to, so I meekly and readily relented.

Lightning's origin was obscure. Him mentioning the Heavenly Dao like some guy he met in a bar on an inauspicious day, was a bit disconcerting. He was definitely a big shot wherever conscious abilities came from.

This, slipping from his mouth, helped me understand one thing, which could be considered almost as a certitude. If I played my cards right and didn't act too brainless in the future, I had high chances to reach levels of strength, I could only dream of before.

It was at that moment that I figured something significant. I didn't know if it was because I was back in my dear and matured head or because I was back in reality. Still, I immediately felt bitter for not having thought of two things promptly:

One when I was inside the game, and the other before I even joined it.

I had been so happy to access and live in Naruto with a juvenile Kakashi...

It caused me to neglect and carefully consider the unreasonable nature and variance of my innate ability. The limitations set by Lightning caused me to undervalue the potentialities offered.

"How did I not think of starting a separate save just to get the shadow clone?" I lamented regretfully. I looked at the clock on the computer screen to confirm that four hours had only gone by.

Instead of going against Hiruzen and training to become a jonin, I could have changed the settings of the playthrough, merely setting the cast contemporary as the eleven years old Naruto. Going back to my advanced save with the Jutsu was simple afterward.

All I would need to do is befriend Naruto and ask him to teach me his bread and butter. A bit of a douche move, but I was pressed for time.

If Hiruzen didn't adopt Naruto because he didn't want to play favorites, I should be allowed to learn from the blonde like young Konohamaru. At least the logic would reflect well on his defenders' contentions.

The man was already Hokage when he took Jiraya, Tsunade and Orochimaru as students, so it wasn't like he couldnt care for a young baby naruto. He could probably have made arrangements with Asuma or his subordinates at the Sarutobi compound. Unless he had become colder after his wife was killed by Madara/Obito.

It would be the most logical plan unless I used the method on the Hokage's grandson to learn it at the same time he did. But it would get complicated and dangerous. Not mentioning how it would require arranging the settings to Shippuden, I wasn't sure if Lightning would allow it.

Nagato could also attack the leaf before I won the kid's grace.

Secondly, and most importantly, there were perhaps a few anime and games that could grant me unusual abilities before I got far into a playthrough.

The objective was to be as diversified as possible even if I couldn't keep my power levels between digital worlds. However the skills and perks weren't restricted anywhere. And as long as I could make use of everything I acquired in the real world, where my death really had a meaning, I couldn't care less for these rules.

I would have to ask Lightning after dinner, but there was only one precise lore with hax skills that I could think of for now. The problem was knowing if I could "Main" as a monster because the effort would be somewhat dispensable in the opposite case. That was if the pocket wasn't designed with exploits like the pause menu.

"I'll think further on all this when I get back from dinner, this is a lot to take in, even after all I have seen..." I shook my head and sighed. A few "hours" ago, I was ready to die on the borders. Yet, now I was strategizing how to abuse this broken gift.

"Priorities are scary..." I nodded to myself and headed out. It had been just a few hours outside, but for me, it felt like months. And I was unusually eager to share dinner with my parents, even if I knew which day today was.

No matter how my sister urged me, I would rarely leave my room on a late Friday night.

I usually festered in the inferiority complex I had every time I took part in one of those "family" traditions.

Now though, the possibilities hinted by my near future were a bit too dazzling compared to the deleterious, dark gazes and questions that part of the family threw my way. And this every time I was daring enough to participate.

The world looked a lot brighter, and a few ill-intentioned remarks wouldn't make me see any difference.