058 Naruto Mobile Game

"Revival Card... I wonder if the price of this thing can even be calculated."

Orochimaru folded his arms, lost in thought.

Right now, he had 10 Coupons from reaching the Anbu rank, and 100 Coupons from advancing to Kage rank.

Come to think of it, he could be considered quite well-off.

But the Revival Card in the Coupon Shop had a question mark for its price—its exact cost depended on the person being revived.

Orochimaru thought for a moment, then reached out and tapped the screen.

Ding~

[Revival Card——]

[Please enter the full real name or well-known title of the person to be revived, along with a more specific description. Then, select from the list of candidates the system retrieves.]

"Nawaki," Orochimaru said calmly.

As soon as his words fell, a loading animation appeared on the system interface of his phone.

A few seconds later, rows upon rows of photos appeared one after another—each face different.

"I didn't expect that throughout the history of the Ninja World, there were others with the same name," Orochimaru chuckled.

Perhaps too lazy to sift through that pile of names, he simply gave a more detailed description.

"Nawaki, older sister Tsunade—one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin, disciple of the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen. Grandfather, the First Hokage Senju Hashirama. And his teacher—Orochimaru."

Swish swish swish~

All the irrelevant entries were instantly filtered out, and in the end, only one photo remained before Orochimaru.

It was a young boy—very young, even childish.

He looked remarkably similar to Uzumaki Naruto, only with a different hair color and outfit.

If it were someone else here, they might have mistaken him. But Orochimaru would never mistake that face.

"It's been so many years since the Second Great Ninja War," Orochimaru murmured flatly, though there was a trace of emotion beneath his tone.

He had never forgotten that day—when his student had stepped into an explosive tag trap and died on the spot.

Only seconds before, he had been speaking. Seconds later, Orochimaru could only watch as the boy lay there—never to rise again.

Life… truly fragile.

Orochimaru lifted his eyelids slightly as the page began calculating the cost required to revive Nawaki.

[Nawaki——]

[Chakra: 2%, Presence: 6%, Influence Points: 9%, Story Importance: 13%]

[Price: 3000 Coupons]

Upon seeing this, Orochimaru frowned.

That price… from a ranking standpoint, it was quite expensive—something that could only realistically be afforded after the season's final settlement.

But from the perspective of bringing back someone who had been dead for many years—it almost seemed reasonable.

Still, Orochimaru couldn't make sense of how this was calculated. What was the basis?

Then, an idea flashed in his mind.

If the system didn't explain it, couldn't he just look up a few more people for comparison?

"Sage of Six Paths."

Orochimaru was bold—he went straight for the legendary ancestor himself.

This time, there was no confusion like before. After all, there was only one Sage of Six Paths in all of ninja history.

[Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo——]

[Chakra: 98%, Presence: 90%, Influence Points: 99%, Story Importance: 50%]

[Price: ???]

Orochimaru's eyes flickered. "Even the price can't be displayed?"

Still, he'd learned something—like the true name of the Sage of Six Paths.

And suddenly, he found this tool quite useful.

He could use the Revival Card's analysis to gauge a person's actual ability and overall value.

"Uchiha Sasuke..."

Orochimaru hesitated for a moment, and before he could even provide any further description, the name was already filtered.

But before he could get a clear look, a prompt popped up on his screen:

[Free Attempts: None]

[Unable to view the revival target's value. To proceed, please spend 1 Coupon.]

"This…"

Orochimaru's mouth twitched. So, only the first two lookups were free—after that, he had to pay.

So he had to spend Coupons even before the actual revival, huh? Truly squeezing him dry, big and small costs alike.

He closed the Revival Card interface.

In the top left corner of the Coupon Shop screen, it showed his current balance—110 Coupons.

Based on his calculations, if he reached the highest rank before the end of the season, the final rewards would be:

241,100 Gold Coins! 5,510 Coupons!

In other words, if Orochimaru wanted to, he could revive Nawaki in just over a month.

He just wasn't sure if he would.

Orochimaru finally shifted his gaze away from the Revival Card and looked at the other three options.

They were the Lottery Sphere, Attribute Points, and one other item he didn't even bother to glance at.

That one allowed Coupons to be exchanged for Gold Coins… which he'd only do if he'd gone insane!

Who in their right mind would exchange Coupons—rare and precious currency—for Gold Coins you could just buy with money?

[Lottery Sphere——]

[Description: Rewards are completely random]

[Price: 1 Coupon]

"Purchase."

The instant Orochimaru completed the purchase, he felt a weight in his hand—a small round object had appeared. He lifted it to take a look.

It was a shiny, golden sphere, round and smooth. He couldn't tell its material—part plastic, part glass—but it felt quite solid to the touch.

He hesitated briefly, then let chakra flow into his hand and crushed the Lottery Sphere.

Swishhh~

In a burst of golden light, Orochimaru's eyes widened.

He saw it—a square-shaped card floating before him.

He reached out and took it. As the visual effects faded, only the physical card remained in his hand.

One look at it, and Orochimaru was speechless.

"Jiraiya… Ninja Experience Card?!"

Those words were printed clearly on it, alongside an image of Jiraiya in one of his iconic poses.

Seriously, what was he supposed to do with a trial card? Did they think Orochimaru couldn't afford to summon a ninja?

Sure, he sometimes ran short on research funding—but he had his own ways of making money.

Still, for some of the less wealthy players, this might actually come in handy...

Wait.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. If he remembered correctly, the Coupon Shop's descriptions weren't the same as the game's in-game shop.

The in-game shop's items only worked inside the Ninja Mobile Game, but the Coupon Shop's items… applied to reality!

"Use Jiraiya Experience Card!"

As soon as he said it, the card vanished—and suddenly, an urge welled up in him to crouch on the ground.

He didn't resist it. He let it happen.

Boom!

Orochimaru slammed one hand on the ground, and a massive puff of white smoke erupted, along with a vague humanoid silhouette.

"Jiraiya, don't just summon me out of nowhere like—wait, Orochimaru?!"

The toad that appeared stared at Orochimaru in horror, nearly losing its soul.

What the hell? Did Jiraiya turn into Orochimaru?!

"A Toad Summon?" Orochimaru licked his lips with his tongue, staring hungrily at the creature.

Gama froze in shock.

As Jiraiya's second ability in the Ninja Mobile Game, he'd become quite popular lately—beloved among many cute toads.

But he had no desire to be popular with Orochimaru! 

Poof!

Gama disappeared instantly, clearly panicking.

Naturally, Orochimaru didn't try to stop him—nor did he have any reason to.

The Experience Card had been used up. Though it had lasted barely ten seconds, it told Orochimaru one thing quite clearly.

He stood there silently for a while… then burst out laughing.

"Hehehehe~ hahahahahaha! Oh my, how amusing!"

Even a Summon he'd never signed a contract with could be called forth. So that's how it worked.

This was the Experience Card—the true power of the Ninja Mobile Game!