056 Naruto Mobile Game

Cube Internet Café.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura sat together at one table, each with a very different expression.

But among the three, only Sasuke was the customer — the other two were serving him.

There wasn't much to say about Naruto. After losing to Kuroda, he had willingly accepted the bet and become a waiter for a while — without pay.

As for Sakura, she had no choice. In order to get a few techniques from Kuroda, she had volunteered to help.

Heaven only knew how priceless Sasuke's expression was when he pushed open the café door and saw those two idiots smiling as they waited on customers.

Since there weren't any new customers, Naruto and Sakura could take a break, so they sat down at Sasuke's table.

If it had been before, the three of them would probably have chatted for a bit and then gone out for some training.

But now?

Of course, it was all about Ninja Mobile Game.

Kuroda, behind the counter, watched Naruto go crazy after being crushed in the Duel Arena. He couldn't help but suspect that, at this rate, the ninja of this world were going to rot away.

The era of ninjas ending? Hey, the story's only just begun!

Forget it, whatever — let them do what they want.

"So I'm telling you, this ninja, [Uchiha Itachi], is seriously broken!" Naruto's face was red with anger, looking like he was about to smash his phone.

Sakura was speechless. Hadn't she told him countless times already? Just ban him!

At this point, she felt that no matter how strong a ninja was, it didn't matter — as long as they could be countered by the ban slot.

Wait a second…

Could it be… the ban slot was actually the most cursed thing of all?

Sasuke gripped his phone tightly, completely focused on his ranked match. His two-tomoe Sharingan were even active.

Naruto leaned over, trying to peek, but seeing Sasuke's intense concentration, he didn't dare interrupt and instead adjusted his position to watch quietly.

And what he saw left him stunned.

Every movement — the positioning to pressure, the sidestepping to bait skills, the perfect dodges, the unpredictable feints, the seamless chaining of Secret Scrolls and basic attacks — everything was executed with surgical precision.

His decisiveness, his adaptability, his analytical and reaction speed in a constantly shifting battle — it was all astonishing.

At that moment, Naruto's eyes changed.

They had just fought in the Unlimited Class Tournament two days ago, but now… this was exactly what they said: after three days apart, look with new eyes!

Sasuke… once you put pressure on him, he'd turn it into massive growth, evolving right before your eyes.

No wonder he called himself a monster who fed on hatred and grew stronger through it.

In plain words — enlightenment.

In this match, Sasuke was using his own Cursed Mark form, while his opponent was none other than [Uchiha Itachi].

But here came the terrifying part — Sasuke had already drained all of his opponent's resources!

Unbelievable. The idea that [Uchiha Itachi] could even have a downtime window — even if it was extremely short — was hard to imagine.

But that, obviously, was Sasuke's chance.

Inside the Duel Arena, [Uchiha Sasuke·Cursed Mark] was going absolutely berserk, chasing down [Uchiha Itachi] nonstop.

[Uchiha Itachi] darted left, right, up, down — totally erratic movements with no discernible pattern.

His opponent was clearly an expert too.

They both knew — predictable movement gets punished. The strongest positioning was unpredictability itself.

For example… a sudden turn!

36501～

A string of numbers flashed on screen. Sasuke frantically tapped the attack button — but his character wouldn't move.

[Uchiha Itachi] suddenly turned around and landed a single basic attack, locking [Uchiha Sasuke·Cursed Mark] into a brief stun.

It was such a short, weak-looking attack — almost feeble — but Sasuke was completely immobilized.

That's Ninja Mobile Game for you.

Even a stun lasting fractions of a second felt like an eternity. The slightest hit, and you were done for.

Either your opponent messed up… or you had a substitute ready.

But the question was — when facing [Uchiha Itachi], if you made a mistake, could you still come back?

"Victory decided!"

Whoosh—

Sasuke exhaled deeply, leaning back in his chair, his head tilted toward the ceiling.

Naruto, who had seen the whole thing, wisely kept his mouth shut. He really didn't want to see Sasuke explode.

Indeed, Sasuke forcibly suppressed his fury, showing just how much his emotional control had improved since he started playing Ninja Mobile Game.

But some beings — or rather, some things — were pure malice incarnate. If they got angry, it was truly apocalyptic.

"Ugh—!"

Naruto suddenly clutched his stomach in pain.

It felt like something inside was tearing at him — like a feral beast thrashing around.

Not a beast — a Tailed Beast!

"That damn Uchiha! Damn Uchiha! Evil Uchiha! Disgusting Uchiha!"

The Nine-Tails was raging in its cage, wanting to smash Naruto's phone to bits — but after several false starts, it restrained itself.

It knew Naruto was talented at Ninja Mobile Game… but talent meant nothing against a broken character.

What was that thing!?

The Nine-Tails roared, white steam spewing from its jaws. Its nine enormous tails slammed against the ground, sending deep rumbles through the air.

Its eyes were blood-red, and the rage inside looked like it could melt into liquid and flow out.

No. This couldn't go on. That ninja — [Uchiha Itachi] — Naruto had to buy him!

"Naruto! Are you okay, Naruto!?"

Outside, Sakura and Sasuke noticed Naruto's strange behavior, but within seconds, he was back to normal.

"Hehehe, Sakura, were you worried about me?" Naruto laughed sheepishly, grinning at her concern.

His reward was a punch — and a huge bump on his head.

"Idiot! Don't pull pranks like that!" Sakura huffed, withdrawing her fist.

"Sorry, sorry, Sakura." Naruto scratched his head, forcing a smile, keeping the Nine-Tails thing to himself.

Let's just call it… a joke.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto but said nothing, though he had noticed that Naruto's earlier state looked awfully similar to when he was enveloped by chakra before.

Behind the counter, Kuroda had seen it too.

The Nine-Tails' chakra… leaking from the seal? Could the seal be weakening?

He didn't know — the Nine-Tails had simply gone red-hot.

'Buy… buy [Uchiha Itachi]?'

Naruto communicated mentally with the Nine-Tails, and when he heard the demand, his face darkened.

Did the fox even realize that he hadn't drawn [Jiraiya] yet? Buying Gold Coins to get Recruitment Tickets — that cost a fortune!

The Nine-Tails was cunning though — it had a plan.

'Go find the Hokage. Tell her the Fourth sealed me inside you — that means you're renting out space in your body! Shouldn't you at least get paid? If they can open a shop, they have to pay land rent, right?'

'...You actually know stuff like that, fox?'

'Naruto, you fool! Don't call me that! My name is— ah, forget it.'

The connection cut off. Naruto thought for a moment, then decided to give it a try later.

"Naruto, you said that boss is really strong, right?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

"Yeah," Naruto glanced toward Kuroda at the counter, who was checking his phone, and muttered bitterly, "I'm working here because of him!"

Sasuke nodded lightly, as if it were just a casual question.

But Naruto understood the real meaning — and quickly ran over to Kuroda.

"Boss, boss! Have you played Duel Arena today? Do you know any way to counter [Uchiha Itachi]?"

Kuroda looked up at him, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Ban him."