069 Naruto Mobile Game

Pfft!

At the Cube Internet Café counter, Kuroda almost spat his drink.

What did he just see? Shikamaru actually hit the jackpot with a single draw—he pulled an emulator from the lottery capsule!

No way, isn't this Ninja Mobile Game? Could the emulator's power really travel across worlds along with them and affect the ninja world? That's way too powerful!

"What's an emulator?"

At Team Ten's table, Chōji leaned toward Shikamaru, full of curiosity.

Customers at other tables were curious too, but no one came over—that would be rude. They only watched from a short distance.

Clack~

Shikamaru placed that black, cool-to-the-touch, mysteriously textured object onto the table.

His fingers brushed lightly across the emulator's surface, and each little raised bump aligned perfectly with his fingertips.

"Keyboard."

This name appeared in Shikamaru's mind out of nowhere—clearly the object in front of him.

He removed the piece of paper hanging on the keyboard.

On the front were the words "emulator," and on the back were the instructions.

"What? What does it say?" Ino, sitting across the table, couldn't see and asked anxiously.

"Uh… connect it to a phone, then you can use the keyboard to control the ninjas in Ninja Mobile Game?" Chōji read aloud.

"Oh? So it's a new way to play Ninja Mobile Game?" Asuma perked up.

Shikamaru noticed a groove at the top of the keyboard. He picked up his phone and set it in horizontally—it fit perfectly.

Whoosh—

The keyboard activated. Dark streams of light flowed between the keycaps.

It looked almost alive, the lights pulsing faintly in a specific breathing rhythm.

Then, in the eyes of Shikamaru and the others… and everyone nearby… the phone screen plugged into the keyboard suddenly grew larger, expanding until it surpassed the keyboard by a full ring before stabilizing.

"Eh?! Eh?!" Ino's eyes went wide.

"Don't be surprised, Ino. Smartphones automatically adjust to the user's body size." Asuma patted her head.

"Huh? Why? Even if it's to adapt to different hand sizes, that's overkill!" Ino didn't understand.

"I know. It's actually so creatures like summoning beasts can use it," Chōji said.

"What! So… you're telling me the opponents I fight in the duel arena might not even be human? And I still lose to them?!" Ino collapsed.

Ignoring their arguing, Shikamaru pulled the keyboard closer and adjusted his posture.

He placed both hands on the keyboard, straightened his back, and stared at the non-reflective screen.

"Bigger screen does look nicer." He nodded and casually pressed a key.

The screen lit up immediately, still showing the Ninja Mobile Game page he hadn't closed earlier.

A pop-up appeared.

[Detected that you are using an emulator. Adjust key layout manually? Or continue with default layout?]

"Eh? What is it asking?" Ino left her seat and squeezed up beside Shikamaru.

"How to control it, of course. Like which key is normal attack, which is a skill. With so many keys, you adjust them however feels comfortable."

Shikamaru said this while already tweaking the settings.

There was a cluster of arrow keys, so he tested mapping them for movement.

But they were too far to the right; a huge empty space was left on the left.

After studying the keyboard carefully, his gaze locked onto W, S, A, D.

These were the emulator's default movement keys.

Once he rested his hand there, he understood—this really was the most natural spot.

Skill keys were more flexible. Shikamaru picked a few casually—normal attack, skills, Ultimate Scene, Secret Scrolls, summons—everything needed a place.

Once mostly done, he entered the practice field and loaded a ninja to test.

The crisp clacking of the keyboard rang sharply. Gradually, Shikamaru's expression grew more serious.

…

Ino and the others exchanged looks but all shook their heads.

The typing suddenly stopped. Shikamaru folded his arms and stayed silent for a moment before slowly saying:

"An emulator is completely different from a phone!"

Different? Of course it was different.

On a phone, you have one finger for movement—no problem, right? But skills? How many fingers do you use?

Most players use two fingers total—one per hand. Some might add a third on the right—three-finger play.

But an emulator?

With a keyboard, using five fingers at once is effortless. You just press five keys at the same time.

Phone two-finger players must move their finger to each skill or summon button.

But on an emulator, your fingers rest on every key already. Whatever you want to cast, you just tap that finger.

This is how people perform normal attacks + Ultimate Scene chains, Secret Scroll combos, and all kinds of top-tier reactions.

The only downside? Sometimes a key sticks.

"And the vision is different. Your fingers block part of the phone screen. Emulator doesn't have that problem." Shikamaru roughly explained.

Ino and Chōji still looked confused, but Asuma seemed thoughtful.

Talking only goes so far—doing shows more.

Shikamaru immediately queued up a ranked match and unbanned all originally forbidden ninjas.

During selection, he saw that his opponent banned [Uchiha Itachi].

He thought briefly, then locked in [Kakuzu] with Secret Scroll: Thunder Strike. His other two picks were [Sarutobi Asuma] and [Pain: Deva Path].

Once the match loaded and the enemy lineup appeared, Ino sucked in a cold breath.

The opponent's first ninja was unsurprisingly [Deidara].

But the remaining two ninjas looked randomly chosen—weak C-rankers.

This wasn't unusual.

Some players love bringing [Deidara] and then pick random junk for slots two and three.

Looks like "putting all skill into one main ninja," but in truth they're just relying on [Deidara]'s strength to show off.

"Battle start!"

Shikamaru walked [Kakuzu] straight toward the enemy—direct and fearless.

The opponent was clearly shocked by his boldness and instantly hurled a bird.

That was [Deidara]'s second skill—and what most Deidara players always open with.

Just throw the bird at the start—hit or miss doesn't matter—then auto-attack nonstop while spamming skills. Easy win.

Boom!

Just before the sticky bird hit his face, the charging [Kakuzu] opened his shield, tanking the hit.

Not only that—he slammed his arm into the ground, launching [Deidara] straight into the air.

"Kakuzu's second skill activates after being hit—it's officially named a counter." Shikamaru explained while beating on [Deidara].

While pressing normal attacks with one hand, the finger on his Secret Scroll key was already ready.

Substitute, then skill, then take off… that's what you're thinking, right? Shikamaru had already calculated the entire script.

And, as expected—

After Shikamaru knocked him down with Thunder Strike, the opponent's avatar flashed a frenzy of spammed emojis.

Shikamaru stayed stone-faced.

Too bad. Too bad I'm using Kakuzu and Thunder Strike. You are never taking off this match…

Naturally, Shikamaru won. But strictly speaking, he hadn't even shown the emulator's true power yet.

In the next few matches, he dodged every enemy skill effortlessly.

Up down left right up down left right.

This patternless movement alone made the onlookers' scalps tingle and sweat drip.

Shikamaru's dodging was frighteningly precise—he went exactly where he intended, smooth and sharp.

Easy to describe—hard to master.

His reaction speed seemed to rise as well. With the enlarged view, he predicted enemy skills with perfect accuracy.

Several ranked wins later, Shikamaru stretched his fingers lightly, expression calm.

"If emulator and mobile players aren't separated in matchmaking… I can reach first place in the entire server."