131 Naruto Mobile Game

"Hello everyone, welcome to a new episode of the Ninja information conference. I'm your host, Kuroda."

"Hello everyone~ I'm Mei Terumi."

"..."

Looking at Madara sitting there, silent and expressionless, Kuroda smiled—as expected.

Getting this man to introduce himself to the camera was simply impossible, unless Hashirama were here.

But it didn't matter. There was more than one guest anyway. Leaving Madara aside was fine.

"Miss Mei Terumi, what do you think would be a reasonable High-Class Recruitment ranking for yourself as a ninja?" Kuroda turned his head and casually asked Mei Terumi.

Mei Terumi shot him a beautiful eye-roll, thinking that with Uchiha Madara sitting not far away, did this question even mean anything?

Still, she smiled lightly.

"High-Class Recruitment A would be enough for me. If it were S, of course I'd be even happier."

"But our Ninja Mobile Game is a fair game. Ranking only represents acquisition difficulty—A or S doesn't really matter, right?" Kuroda said, almost unable to hold back a laugh.

Mei Terumi felt the same way. She covered her mouth and laughed, then said frankly,

"If the substitution distance is the same, I have no objections."

"What we're talking about today is indeed related to substitution… so tell me, do you think High-Class Recruitment ranking is more important, or strength?" Kuroda asked the key question.

Hearing this, Mei Terumi… or rather, most of the audience, subconsciously began to think.

High-Class Recruitment ranking is recognition of a ninja's status. The weight of an S-rank ninja is clearly greater than that of an A-rank.

There was already a saying in the ninja world: High-Class Recruitment A is just something you get incidentally while pulling for an S-rank ninja.

But now, Sasuke dominating the duel arena was a solid High-Class Recruitment A, and in the previous version, the three Akatsuki Kings were all A-rank as well.

"Strength is more important," Mei Terumi answered pragmatically. In her heart, she felt that rankings not matching performance only made one a joke.

Kuroda nodded, offering no comment.

"Miss Mei Terumi, when you learned that you would be released as a High-Class Recruitment ninja, how did you feel?" Kuroda now truly sounded like he was doing an interview.

"It wouldn't be true to say I wasn't happy. I was also very honored—it felt like being recognized," Mei Terumi paused, then added, "I believe this won't be the last one."

"Oh? You mean you think you might appear in High-Class Recruitment a second time?" Kuroda asked with interest.

"No. Once is enough for me. I just mean that Kirigakure still has others who are just as outstanding," Mei Terumi said seriously.

Kirigakure? Outstanding?

Kuroda pondered for a moment, then couldn't help thinking: isn't your village filter a bit too thick?

All High-Class Recruitment slots were monopolized by Konoha for five shares, Akatsuki divided four, and only the last one was left for all other villages combined.

In Shippuden, Kirigakure only had Mei Terumi as High-Class Recruitment. The other one had to be traced back all the way to Boruto.

Well, if it's Boruto...

What Kuroda was thinking, no one knew. He simply smiled.

"Then let's keep our expectations."

...

The light curtain switched scenes, moving directly into a match.

On one side stood [Mei Terumi], wearing exactly the same outfit as guest Mei Terumi. On the other side stood [Uchiha Madara], clad in red armor, holding a scythe and a gunbai.

As the countdown was about to end, Mei Terumi looked on with confusion and cast an inquiring glance at Kuroda.

"Straight into real combat. Even without practice, I believe you'll quickly get the hang of your own ninja," Kuroda said.

Mei Terumi glanced at Madara and picked up her phone. Madara snorted coldly and did the same.

Madara had no interest in the information conference. He came purely to experience the feeling of being alive again, even though he would return to the Pure Land once it ended.

Of course, there was also the guest attendance reward.

"Battle start!"

Mei Terumi looked at her first skill. The icon was obvious—it was her Kekkei Genkai, Lava Release.

She tapped it, and just as expected, she spat a glob of acid forward.

Splash! Bang!

Two sounds rang out almost simultaneously. Looking at the [Uchiha Madara] being knocked away, everyone froze.

Was it an illusion? Just now, they seemed to see a burst of blue light explode from Madara, though it was immediately wiped out by Mei Terumi's Lava Release.

Madara's brow twitched slightly, his fingers unconsciously clenching.

Looking at his first skill already entering cooldown, he forcibly suppressed the urge to explode on the spot.

Seeing this, Kuroda almost burst out laughing.

Madara must have seen the skill icon and guessed that the first skill was summoning Susanoo, so he used it immediately at the start.

But he didn't expect that the instant Susanoo appeared, it would be directly interrupted by Mei Terumi's spit of old phlegm.

A blue plastic bag, basically!

"Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique!"

[Mei Terumi] stepped forward and exhaled a pale white, high-temperature mist, juggling [Uchiha Madara] into the air.

Worth noting, [Mei Terumi] gains invisibility within the mist, but once the mist hits an enemy, it immediately explodes.

Madara pressed substitution and immediately released his second skill.

When he saw [Uchiha Madara] summon a Susanoo arm, only for it to brace against the ground like he was pole-vaulting, he completely lost it.

"What the *%@# are you doing?!"

Madara cursed outright. Under the system's intelligent censorship, the audience only heard a bi~ sound.

And then… everyone completely lost it.

To be fair, Mei Terumi wasn't considered a strong ninja. Two gacha-style turret skills; the only things ensuring her strength were double substitution and a connectable ultimate, with decent damage.

Her energy bar increases when attacking or being hit. Once full, she can instantly release substitution or water whip.

With Sasuke before her, she was doomed to never shine.

But the problem was that the Madara after her was truly unbearable. By comparison, Mei Terumi's design was outright dimensional suppression.

Living Madara's first skill was a Susanoo slash. When energy is full, it releases a giant Susanoo cleave.

The second skill, Uchiha pole-vault jump—even though it has three variants (double jump, fire breath, and wind blast), putting this skill on Uchiha Madara makes it hard not to suspect deliberate trolling.

The only possible highlight was the basic attacks.

The first hit mirrored the First Hokage's sweeping ground attack. Holding an Uchiha fly swatter, he transformed into a farmer—truly the mysterious hoeing man.

The later hits combined Susanoo grab, clones, and fire breath. It looked rich, but in practice, it was just okay.

The combat demonstration ended quickly—after all, how intense could 60 seconds be?

As [Uchiha Madara] let out a scream, he was successfully whipped to death by [Mei Terumi]'s water whip.

Was this the most successful information conference? Kuroda didn't know.

He only knew this was definitely the one with the best show effect.

Just look at Madara's face—darker than the pot of this world itself.

"This ninja—I demand a buff. Right now. Immediately!" Madara said each word deliberately, as if nails were stuck in his mouth, every syllable striking with force.

This was the first sentence he'd spoken since appearing on the information conference—and also the moment he could finally endure no more.

Kuroda and Mei Terumi exchanged glances and both laughed.

"Um, Madara—pfft hahaha… ahem. Before that, let's first take a look at your recruitment animation and Ultimate Scene."

...

[In a nighttime forest, the crimson Nine-Tails bares its fangs and claws, its massive tails shaking the earth, ferocious beyond measure.]

[At this moment, a figure appears, moving across the Nine-Tails, his movements clean and decisive, as if the strongest tailed beast were nothing to him.]

[Finally, he leaps high into the air, brandishing a gunbai and scythe, revealing a wild, arrogant smile.]

[The image freezes—Uchiha Madara!]