117 Naruto Mobile Game

"Whew—thank goodness I managed to turn it around."

Ebisu watched as the duel arena countdown hit zero. Seeing that his HP bar was longer than his opponent's, he finally let out a breath of relief.

Just moments ago, at the very last second, he decisively unleashed his ultimate, forcing down his opponent's HP.

Even though he didn't manage to finish them off, at least he preserved this ninja. Sure, he was out of money now, but he could just get Chakra bars again next round.

Under normal circumstances, having no Chakra bars is indeed a huge disadvantage. Going all-in with an ultimate is usually something you only see when a third-slot ninja faces another third-slot ninja.

Someone like Ebisu, a first-slot ninja, using an ultimate just to preserve a ninja is pretty rare—but since he was playing [Mysterious Masked Man], it was understandable.

In short, he firmly believed that with his dual skills, at least one of them would eventually touch Chakra bars.

A new ninja, huh... heh!

...

At the loading screen, Ebisu looked at the opponent's second-slot, that newly released High-Class Recruitment ninja, and the corner of his mouth curled into a disdainful arc.

He hated players like this the most—those who rushed straight into the duel arena the moment they recruited a new ninja.

What do you think ranked matches are?

This is where experts of Ninja Mobile Game gather, a place for the strongest techniques to clash in fierce battles—not a playground for you to practice ninjas!

Speaking of practicing ninjas, Ebisu suddenly felt a wave of emotion.

It had already been over two months. Training ninjas every day had become part of his routine—he could skip meals, but Ninja Mobile Game was a must.

He didn't think of himself as untalented, yet when he ran into those freakishly gifted players in the duel arena, he sometimes had absolutely no way to fight back.

Even so, he kept grinding and refining his skills.

This was something he had resolved to do ever since he was eliminated during the organization selection in the Organization Dominion Tournament.

He once looked down on those clumsy fools, but during the Third Ninja World War, when he personally witnessed Might Guy's father, Might Duy, burn his life and unleash that overwhelming power, he was deeply shaken.

Up to this day, many things in his heart had changed—but the determination to keep improving had never wavered.

That's right! Ninja Mobile Game isn't something you can master with talent alone!

Ebisu stared at the words "Second Round" on his phone screen and took a deep breath.

If it's about the battle starting—he was ready!

"Battle start!"

Ebisu immediately pressed his first skill. With the tiger-skin opening, the chance of breathing fire and hitting the enemy was very high.

But suddenly, a line of huge characters slapped right into his face. The duel arena, which had been bright and sunny just a moment ago, instantly turned pitch-black, with only flashes of lightning remaining.

[Lightning Release!]

Killer Bee appeared out of thin air, charging toward the Raikage. One in front and one behind, they sandwiched the tiger-skin between them.

Then the brothers leapt into the air, locking the tiger-skin tightly in place, before crashing down from the sky, erupting into countless dense bolts of lightning.

Watching the opponent's [A · Fourth Raikage] land and then use another skill to grab him again, Ebisu stood there utterly dumbfounded.

What just happened?

Hadn't he already pressed his first skill? Where was the fireball? Where did the fireball go?

It wasn't until he saw that, because he had no Chakra bars, the opponent calmly waited to stock the Raikage up to four Chakra bars before killing his ninja that Ebisu finally reacted.

In the previous round, the reason his last-second ultimate managed to pull the HP line back actually involved a fair bit of luck.

The opponent had a substitution—but didn't use it.

According to his calculations, even if the opponent had substituted, they still would've taken damage and he would've won. But clearly, the opponent had been saving four Chakra bars for the second-slot Raikage.

"Calm down! Calm down! Something's not right here! I still have two ninjas—I still have a chance!"

Ebisu slapped his forehead hard, knocking away the cold sweat and forcing himself to calm down.

Third round.

This time, he stared at the phone screen without blinking, his fingers already mashing the skill buttons like crazy.

But… useless!

The instant the countdown ended, the very first moment actions were possible, the opponent's Raikage directly fired off the ultimate!

He couldn't press anything at all. The phone seemed to malfunction, and he could only watch helplessly as his ninja was carried into the sky by the Raikage, replaying the exact same script as before.

Didn't you say it?

Battle start!

Faintly, Ebisu felt like he heard those words again. Facing an opponent who opened with an immediate ultimate, he had absolutely no counter.

Third ninja.

His eyes were already bloodshot. Right now, he only wanted to know how you're supposed to deal with the Raikage opening with an ultimate.

Summons and Secret Scrolls—this was the only method left.

"At the start of the battle I'll summon first, then use a Secret Scroll… no, no good?! Why can't it still come out—aaaargh!"

Ebisu was practically going insane. That Raikage on the right side opening with an ultimate had already repeated three times.

Every single time! Every single time! Every single time!

That damned Killer Bee always appeared on his left, their bodies almost pressed together.

Then those dark, thick, powerful muscular arms wrapped around him, sending him straight into the Raikage's equally muscular embrace.

After being ravaged by the brothers, there was nothing left—he lost this match with zero sense of participation.

[Our combo is invincible!]

[OK! Knock them flying!]

The final Ultimate Scene, a rare one featuring two people speaking, showed the Raikage and Killer Bee bumping fists—more than enough to prove how deep their brotherly bond was.

But Ebisu didn't understand any of that. All he felt was irritation—so much irritation that he almost wanted to cry.

Why?!

Why couldn't he press anything at all? The moment the opponent used their ultimate, he was completely immobilized. No substitution, no room for resistance whatsoever.

He regretted it—regretted preserving that ninja and ending up in a no-Chakra bars situation.

All he could do was watch the opponent repeatedly perform the same ultimate sequence and easily take this round.

Why do this to him?! He could die fighting! But he couldn't accept being toyed with and ravaged to death like a coward!

Furious, Ebisu posted the replay of this match to the public channel, instantly stirring up a wave of reactions.

After all, it was a new High-Class Recruitment ninja, and the hype was high.

...

[All-Server Channel]

[Black Flash: Raikage opening with an ultimate can't be countered! This is completely unreasonable! It destroys the fairness of the duel arena!]

[Surname Unknown, Name Genma: Why don't you explain what your name means first.]

[Just a passerby: Since when has the duel arena ever been fair…]

[Rock Fist: Can't be countered? Just substitute, isn't that enough?]

[Sea Kadong: LMAO, just like an Iwagakure brute. You didn't even finish watching the video before talking]

[Rock Fist: What did you say?! You damn bastard mutt! Blood Mist Village? I say it's all boiling mist!]

[Sea Kadong: Your @#!]

[Rock Fist: Your @@##" #@*!!]

[Ding~ Excessive profanity detected, muted]

[Hidden Thunder in the Clouds: Eh? Why the mute already? Two biting each other was getting interesting.]

[Ding, inciting conflict detected, muted]

The public channel instantly fell silent. Everyone who had wanted to say something suddenly didn't dare to speak anymore, afraid of getting caught up themselves.

Ebisu stared at the suddenly empty channel, feeling both frustrated and on the verge of tears. It was bad enough that the topic had gone off the rails—how did it end up scaring everyone into silence too?!