141 Naruto Mobile Game

"Beautiful! Great job, Kakashi!"

"Heh heh~ That guy really won, huh."

"Sasuke and Shikamaru took their matches too. It's honestly scary thinking about those two running into each other."

"Where's Naruto? Where's Naruto?"

"Don't rush. That guy's still in the next match."

"This one is… huh? Aren't they both from Konoha? But I don't recognize Shikaku-san's opponent at all."

"That guy seems to be..."

The Konoha Nine and their teachers were gathered in a barbecue restaurant, watching the matches while excitedly chatting. The atmosphere was extremely lively.

Business at this place had been booming recently, and not without reason. After Konoha won the last Organization Dominion Tournament, everyone who wasn't wearing champion gear could receive a lottery ball.

Whether lucky or unlucky, the owner drew a liquid crystal large screen from one of the lottery balls.

Back then, he decisively hung the big screen in the most eye-catching spot in the shop and played exciting Ninja Mobile Game matches nonstop, day and night.

As a result, eating while watching matches had become the norm here recently.

And after the Unlimited Class Tournament began, the screen naturally switched to a full live broadcast of the competition.

The Unlimited Class finals were progressing without a moment's pause.

The second round started with Minato's victory, and Kakashi, Sasuke, Shikamaru, and the others also advanced one after another.

As Konoha shinobi, they naturally paid more attention to their own people. Competitors from other villages had wins and losses as well, but few were worth much attention.

"So, you're still worried about Naruto, huh?" Ino picked up a freshly grilled slice of pork belly and placed it on Sakura's plate.

"Yeah. You know it—Naruto that idiot always runs into accidents. It's hard not to worry." Sakura thanked her and voiced her concern.

"Hey, didn't Sasuke just win? Isn't it enough for you to only worry about Sasuke?"

"What are you talking about! They're the same!"

Seeing Sakura glare, Ino smiled, then suddenly pulled her closer and started whispering.

The two close friends chatted while glancing toward someone sitting across the table, covering their mouths from time to time as they snickered.

Ino!!

Veins bulged on Neji's forehead. Tenten, quick-eyed and fast-handed, grabbed him, afraid he'd flip the table.

Ever since entering the Gate of Youth, Neji had voluntarily put on the Youth battle outfit.

In his words, this was called breaking before rebuilding.

Today, Guy and Lee dragged him along, saying they were going somewhere good. He'd been excited, thinking they were about to start intense training.

Who knew… it turned out to be a class reunion!

"Guy, your students really have taste. I envy you—recruiting students who suit you so well." Asuma pulled Guy into drinking while expressing his jealousy.

Looking at the kids in his own team—all heirs of family traditions—there was nothing he could teach them. Being a teacher felt like just being a wallet who paid for meals!

Then look at Guy.

If he dragged Rock Lee out and said Lee was his biological son, would anyone argue? And now even the Hyūga clan genius Neji followed Guy obediently.

This made Asuma extremely, extremely jealous. He sought advice from Guy, asking how he trained his students.

Guy, of course, was thrilled and started sharing his experience.

Things like believing in youth, super armor chaining skills, never skipping summons, using your ultimate whenever you have it, unwavering willpower—all kinds of chaotic stuff.

Asuma couldn't understand any of it. Already half drunk, he began to suspect there was something wrong with his own comprehension.

Thinking of this only made him sadder.

"Guy, listen to me, really listen. I feel like such a failure. I don't get along with my dad, Kurenai's been cold to me lately, my students look down on me. Boo hoo hoo… I'm a failureeee!"

Asuma burst into tears. Guy was deeply moved and deeply pitied him, somehow resonating on an emotional level, and ended up crying along with him.

The two grown men stopped watching the match, slung their arms around each other, and kept pouring drinks down each other's throats, like two frustrated middle-aged men with unfulfilled ambitions.

Not far away, Kurenai's forehead was covered in black lines as she wondered whether the two of them simply couldn't see her.

She sighed and tilted her head back, downing a cup of shōchū.

"Shikaku-san's opponent… seems to be that Yakushi Kabuto, right?" Chōji spoke with a serious expression for once instead of focusing on eating.

Nothing like those decadent adults!

He had just thought of Yakushi Kabuto—the guy who squeezed into the Konoha server and obtained a spot in the finals.

"Damn it, that's the guy who stole my slot!" Kiba slammed the table angrily, and Akamaru barked along.

"Kiba, that's impossible. And if you're asking why, your preliminary win rate was below 80%." Shino pushed up his glasses, delivering his usual takedown.

"Huh? You're talking about me—what about you then!" Kiba protested.

"Um, actually, Shino is very strong. His win rate was 99%. He only lost one match, but was still unfortunately eliminated." Hinata kindly reminded him.

Hearing that, Kiba glanced at Shino's calm face, found himself unable to refute it, and could only turn his grief into appetite, lifting a plate of barbecue and devouring it.

Of course, Akamaru followed suit.

At this moment, however, the match playing on the big screen was nothing like the relaxed dinner atmosphere—it was instead extremely tense.

Immersed in the duel, Shikaku was very quiet.

More precisely, at this moment, the world that belonged to him was very quiet, without a trace of noise.

The score was tied 1–1, the third game of a BO3.

In the first two games, his opponent truly surprised him—the unknown man.

Yakushi Kabuto.

Perfect, or rather, flawless.

That was a description of his playstyle.

At its core, Ninja Mobile Game was a game of strategy. The operations themselves weren't all that complex.

This control scheme determined the upper limit, and how much one could perform within that limited space depended entirely on the player's talent.

Kabuto's thinking was very clear: he played to win, without any flashy nonsense.

Speaking honestly, Shikaku felt that Orochimaru wasn't up to it.

There was no denying that players in the losers' bracket had all dropped there after losing once, but given Kabuto's understanding of Orochimaru's strength, Orochimaru couldn't possibly fight his way back from the losers' bracket.

He was the Sound's only hope. The only one who could keep winning all the way through the finals was him alone!

Kabuto had never been so confident.

Someone who couldn't even see himself clearly, yet understood Ninja Mobile Game inside and out.

"Not substituting?" Kabuto muttered to himself.

His ninja was Hidan, while Shikaku's ninja being beaten against the edge of the arena was a C-rank Rock Lee.

At this moment, Shikaku still had a substitution available but didn't use it. The reason was simple—he couldn't play anymore.

No matter what Rock Lee did after substituting, he would face Hidan's second skill spinning pursuit.

So there was only one option.

Wait for protection.

Or wait until Hidan used his second skill first—then Shikaku could substitute. But Shikaku knew Kabuto would never do that.

After Hidan landed several basic attack strings, they could no longer connect. This was the opportunity Shikaku had been waiting for.

A well-positioned second skill: Rock Lee leapt forward and followed with a spinning kick, landing it on Hidan.

Hidan took the hit and didn't substitute.

Kabuto likewise knew that Hidan was a pursuit-type ninja. If he got hit at the start, he wouldn't be able to play, so he made the same choice as Shikaku—waiting for protection.

This was what made Unlimited Class different from ranked matches. All ninja skills had end lag. In this situation, whoever dared to substitute would be forced off the machine.

Just like before, after Rock Lee chained several basic attacks, they stopped connecting, and Hidan fell to the ground.

Shikaku didn't use any skills to deal damage just now. He deliberately held back, hoping to find a chance to counterattack.

After Hidan climbed back up, he first used the Secret Scrolls Ice Release that had just come off cooldown to suppress the field. Shikaku could only have Rock Lee use his own Secret Scrolls to counter at the same time.

Then Hidan flung out his scythe, scraping Rock Lee's heel. Shikaku instantly substituted to grab Hidan. Hidan likewise instantly substituted and followed with his second skill, Cutting Technique, to continue the pursuit.

Shikaku set down his phone, sighing inwardly that the younger generation really was terrifyingly strong, one after another.

[This is going to hurt so you'd better be prepared!]