103 Naruto Mobile Game

"This damn thing is called a slight adjustment?!"

Deidara is basically the biggest victim of the new version. Right now he's gone completely crazy in the practice field, playing his main.

The more he plays, the uglier his expression becomes.

It's gone, it's gone—his once-proud air superiority is completely gone now!

"No, wait, I can ride a bird—how could I possibly be flying this low? I can jump higher than this just by jumping! Hmph!" Deidara roared nonstop.

People's joys and sorrows are not the same. While Deidara was heartbroken, everyone else just found him noisy.

"It seems it's not just a nerf. Basic attacks in midair have become more flexible."

"Skill speed and range have also been enhanced."

"Looks like a flat adjustment."

Sasori, Kakuzu, and the others chatted while testing, and discovered that while [Deidara] was nerfed, he also received certain buffs.

Both skills and normal attacks were strengthened, and the only real nerf was flying—anyway, that thing where he flew off-screen is gone for good.

That used to be an ultimate weapon in tournaments, a godsend for low-power, high-skill players punching above their weight.

Overall… it really is a nerf!

"Itachi also got nerfed." Kisame fiddled around a bit and said, "The clone's attack range is smaller, cooldown longer, and duration reduced."

"And chaining skills after the ultimate is gone too." Hidan added, then laughed. "That's a big nerf, hahaha, nicely done!"

Itachi had no particular reaction. He didn't play his main that often anyway, unlike Deidara, who in the last version had mirror matches in ranked every single game.

"Anyone else? Konan maybe?" Sasori tried her out. "More hit vulnerability in the air, longer cooldowns, reduced invincibility time… also a big nerf."

Last version, flying ninjas were basically gods. There really weren't many countermeasures with anti-air judgment.

So it was normal for Konan to get hit by the nerf bat too.

"No, this shouldn't be nerfed like this!" Deidara also squeezed over, his face full of grief and indignation. "Have you even considered us [Deidara] players?! Hmph!"

As soon as he said that, everyone fell silent.

Getting nerfed only after two months was already being very considerate of your feelings, okay?

Seeing their expressions, Deidara panicked.

"There are things that counter me! Like Itachi's Amaterasu, and one or two Secret Scrolls—aren't those enough?! Hmph!"

"Doesn't this fit your art perfectly?" Sasori said flatly. "Brilliance within a short time. What they call fleeting beauty… very on theme."

Deidara was choked speechless, unable to refute it.

But he soon realized something was off. After testing the nerfed ninjas, these guys all pulled out their own mains and started playing.

He suddenly caught on. "Oh, I get it! I get nerfed and suddenly you all can take the stage—no wonder nobody supported me! Hmph!"

"Nonsense!" x4

Sasori, Kakuzu, Hidan, and Kisame couldn't even be bothered to deal with him anymore, happily queuing up for a ranked match.

Just a simple test run—and it felt amazing!

So this is what a duel arena without dirty stuff feels like? They could finally show their skills!

Deidara pouted, but quickly steeled himself.

He couldn't give up. He had to prove that even with a weak ninja, you could still carve out your own sky!

"Huh? Banned? I #@*!"

Probably someone got beaten so badly they developed psychological trauma.

Just like the future Lord Kizaru, who even in the latest version still has one of the highest ban rates across all ranks.

With no choice, Deidara started picking from the ninja pool, directly skipping over the Akatsuki ninjas… he hated those bastards!

As he scrolled, he suddenly saw a ninja—different from his main—one that had been buffed in the new version.

Sage Nine-Tails kid, huh...

...

Happy ranked matches are always short-lived. But once the initial excitement passes, that life-questioning feeling inevitably comes flooding back.

"Haha! Like my summon—huh?! Wait, what?! Why the hell?!"

Hidan suddenly widened his eyes. He saw his opponent bathing inside his summon's range—and not only that, they were beating him up at the same time.

And the Secret Scroll equipped wasn't even Super armor!

This match was obviously lost. Not changing summons meant a massive loss—an absolutely huge loss.

"Hey, have you guys run into this?" Hidan turned to ask the others. "The opponent's summon—I've never seen it before!"

"What is that?" Kakuzu wasn't answering Hidan; he was staring at the duel arena, his brows knitting together.

What happened was simple. The opponent slammed down a panda, then straight-up ate his summon alive.

After using the panda, special effects appeared on their body.

Kisame and Sasori hadn't encountered it, but together with Kakuzu and Hidan, they went to the summon page and checked the panda.

[Panda · Food Cart Destroyer Technique: Summons a panda to assist in battle; the panda appears from above and smashes down]

[Note: After the panda appears, the entire ninja team gains a Super armor effect.]

Everyone looked up at each other, faces full of shock.

No wonder it felt familiar—the effect appearing on the opponent after using the panda was exactly Super armor.

"T-this is cheating!" Hidan couldn't help but say. "Then what's the point of using other summons?!"

"What does it matter?" Sasori said indifferently. "You just didn't look into it before. Now that you're prepared, it's fine. And you can just use it too."

"Huh? How am I supposed to use it?" Hidan asked, confused.

Everyone looked at Hidan.

"Top 50 ranked on the server last season get the limited panda summon as a reward."

"…I forgot. I don't have it."

Hearing that, everyone facepalmed. So we just hadn't checked yet, but you genuinely don't have it at all?!

Well, that makes sense. With Hidan's IQ, being able to brute-force his way into the server's top 100 purely on skill was already pretty impressive.

Leaving aside Hidan, who now wanted to disembowel himself, everyone else more or less tried out the new version.

As far as ranked matches went, aside from those few unlucky bastards, there weren't any major changes.

There were quite a few new ninjas, though.

Other villages had some, but most were still from Konoha. New players doing ten beginner pulls all got one Shippuden version—everyone looked more grown up.

But since everyone had played through the story, they knew what was going on, so it felt normal.

You just needed to get lightly familiar with the ninjas. Ones with neither strength nor production value basically nobody played.

Speaking of which, their three-group gathering was pretty much routine.

Pain and Konan, as well as Tobi and Zetsu, didn't come. Every time it was these six. Good thing Itachi had the interest to keep them company.

Because of that, Deidara and Sasori temporarily shelved their thoughts of killing Itachi.

"How's your preparation for the livestream task the leader assigned?" Kisame asked.

At that, someone showed a headache-inducing expression.

But Hidan got excited. "I'm already ready! This is a great chance to expand the Jashin-sama religion!"

"Why would anyone join?" Kakuzu shot him a sideways glance. "Because your skills are trash? Or because you're good at losing your head?"

"What are you saying? Even if they don't look at strength, just my looks alone will attract viewers, right!" Hidan said confidently.

Everyone: ...

Hidan's appearance wasn't bad, but Akatsuki was not lacking in good looks.

Deidara, Sasori, Itachi—stand any of them next to Hidan, and unless Hidan ran around naked, nobody would look at him.

Of course, if Hidan stood between Kakuzu on the left and Kisame on the right, that'd be a different story.

Hidan was sharp enough to think of that immediately.

Rubbing his hands, he scooted over to Kakuzu and Kisame.

"So, uh, Kakuzu, Kisame, how about we team up and do a stream together? I've even thought of the group name—Handsome Guy and the Beast!"

Veins instantly popped on Kakuzu's forehead.

Kisame just smiled. "I'll of course be with Itachi. You can just team up with Kakuzu."

"Hey, hey, can you have a little self-awareness, Kisame?! You standing with Itachi is basically a real-life Beauty and the Beast!"

"...You're asking to be beaten, aren't you!"

"Heh~ who do you think you are, Ninja Mobile Game? You think you can nerf me? Even nerfing Pain wouldn't affect me!"

"Everyone knows Pain got buffed—but whether you'll live to see that buff is another question… Water Style · Who the hell built this dam?!"

"Ah~ ngh aaaaah!!!"