099 Naruto Mobile Game

There wasn't even a moment to be shocked by the massive amount of story content released by the Ninja Mobile Game before people across the ninja world once again hurried headlong into another matter.

Ranked Matches!

It had already been over a month. The ranked matches that settled once every two months were finally nearing their end.

Plenty of people still remembered how, when the game first launched, they were brimming with confidence, determined to reach Super Kage—only for the result to be…

"Ahhhhh! I dropped again!"

Kiba clutched his head with both hands, completely losing it. Who could truly understand the feeling of bouncing back and forth endlessly at the same rank?

"Kiba, you lost again? If you ask why, it's either because your skill isn't enough, or your mentality is bad."

Shino analyzed the situation seriously.

"Nonsense!"

Kiba rolled his eyes.

"Um, Kiba, calm down. Didn't Kurenai-sensei also say that staying calm is the most important thing?"

Hinata tried to comfort him.

"Is that so? Turn around and look."

Kiba said.

Hearing Kiba's words, Hinata turned her head.

She discovered that their teacher, Kurenai, was gripping her phone tightly, teeth clenched, looking like she wanted to eat someone alive.

Hinata hesitated, then wisely chose to shut her mouth.

Scenes like this were everywhere across the ninja world now. Friends gathered together, pushing ranks side by side.

But the end-of-season rank push wasn't as simple as everyone had imagined at the start.

If you usually can't climb in ranked matches, then you probably won't climb during the end-of-season push either.

Even though everyone keeps saying "stay calm, stay calm," and even though everyone knows that maintaining composure during matches is crucial—

In reality, what you say and what you do are two completely different things.

If you can play this game all day without getting heated, then you're truly this—

Thumbs up!

...

"Phew… made it up."

Shikamaru looked at the Super Kage emblem on his phone screen and wiped the thin sheen of sweat from his forehead.

Ino, hearing him speak, leaned over to take a look, her eyes almost popping out.

"Super Kage? No, wait—let me see… 2800 points?! Are you even human?!"

"Hahaha! As expected of Shikamaru,"

Choji was surprised too, but more than that, he was happy.

"Looks like everyone saying 'Shikamaru's divine power' really isn't a lie."

"Don't mention that thing."

Shikamaru said helplessly.

He always felt that this so-called "Shikamaru divine power" carried some huge karmic consequence—something he couldn't bear.

Ino flipped through the rankings and suddenly voiced a doubt.

"If even Shikamaru can only reach 2800 points, can anyone really get to 3000?"

"I did some rough calculations. If your opponents keep feeding points and you never lose, then someone should've already reached 3000 by now."

Shikamaru said.

As he spoke, he opened the server leaderboard.

This thing wasn't just for organization power rankings—it also showed ranked match standings, and it updated in real time.

[1st Place: Nara's Emulator Player — Super Kage — 2804 points]

[2nd Place: Konoha Strategist — Super Kage — 2799 points]

[3rd Place: With Rin — Super Kage — 2789 points]

"Kakashi! As expected of my rival!"

Guy closed the ranked leaderboard with tears streaming down his face. After seeing Kakashi's position, he didn't want to look any further.

He was ranked over a hundred places down now. Like this, he had undoubtedly lost to Kakashi yet again.

"We must enter hell-level rank grinding! From now on, everyone in our class—aside from eating, drinking, and sleeping—will spend all remaining time playing ranked matches!"

"Yes, Guy-sensei!"

In Class Three, the only one who would respond to Guy like this was Lee. Surprisingly, Tenten didn't complain this time, and Neji didn't voice any objections either.

They were all young. They were all the village's future.

Who would admit they were inferior to others?

...

Unlike the rest of Konoha's classes, which were beating drums and pushing ranks with gusto, Team Seven was in low spirits.

The aftereffects of the story content were simply too strong.

One moment Naruto saw Jiraiya sacrifice himself; the next moment, in the story, he became Konoha's hero. Now when he went out on the streets, everyone's attitude toward him had changed.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. These past few days, he'd been drifting through life like a walking corpse.

Sakura watched all this, unsure of what she should do.

"I see… that's understandable. After all, the story impacts them the most deeply."

...

Cube Internet Café.

Kuroda sat in a chair with his arms crossed, lost in thought.

At the counter, Sakura held a cup of water but didn't drink it, only staring ahead in a daze.

Naruto's case was manageable—the story's impact on him was mostly positive.

But Sasuke was different.

Now everyone knew about the Uchiha matter.

It was something neither ninjas nor villagers could really judge.

All that could be said was that the blow to Sasuke was the greatest of all—after all, he had always taken pride in the Uchiha.

"Regardless of what the truth about the Uchiha is, we absolutely can't stop. Didn't we decide this long ago?"

"Why not wait a little longer? During this time, focus on improving yourself. Once you possess enough power, you can judge right and wrong for yourself."

"This… may be what you should do."

Watching Sakura turn around and leave after saying all that, Sasuke stood there in a daze for a long time. He hadn't expected her to come all this way just to say those words.

Sasuke closed the door, turned around, then leaned back against it as his body slid down until he sat on the floor.

He stared blankly upward.

The ceiling was white and clean—naturally so. He wasn't like Naruto, splashing paint all over it.

But it was precisely things as pure as blank paper that were easiest to stain with other colors.

The best method was to protect them.

"Power…"

Sasuke clenched his fist, the firm muscles responding to his will, surging with strength.

He stood up from the floor and saw Mikoto leaning against the wall, watching him. In her eyes was sorrow on the verge of overflowing.

In that moment, he suddenly understood—some people were already dead, but others were still alive.

The name Uchiha was his pride, and also something flowing through this body, something he could never cut away.

Sasuke looked at Mikoto once more. Without saying a single word, he opened the door and left home. Yet his footsteps no longer carried any hesitation.

Mom, I will become stronger—strong enough to protect, strong enough to change everything.

The power of the Uchiha is absolutely not evil!

...

Not long after stepping outside, Sasuke stopped.

Three people were standing in front of him.

If not Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi, then who else could it be?

"Hmph! Always sticking your nose into other people's business!"

Even as he said that, Sasuke felt a little better.

"Sasuke, my rank has already surpassed yours! If you don't work harder, you'll only be eating dust behind me!"

Naruto stuck out his tongue and made a face.

"Have you finally broken away from your father's embrace? I thought you'd never become independent."

"Damn it, Sasuke, you're still as nasty with your words as ever!"

"That's enough, Naruto!"

Sakura covered Naruto's mouth, then looked at Sasuke apologetically.

"Actually… those words just now weren't mine."

"I know. There's no way you could say something like that."

Sasuke replied calmly.

Duang!

Sakura's neck drooped, and she instantly fell into despair.

Naruto flew into a rage and charged at Sasuke to fight, wanting to show him how strong he was. Sasuke, however, didn't take the bait and flatly refused.

Watching the three of them bicker and tussle, Kakashi—who hadn't spoken all this time—let his eyes curve slightly.

How nice… nothing's changed after all.

...

Once the roughhousing ended, it was time to get serious. Team Seven casually found a place and prepared to push ranks.

Sasuke looked at the Ninja Mobile Game ranked match screen he hadn't opened in days, silently staring for a few seconds.

His eyes seemed to spin along with the matchmaking loading animation, faster and faster, until the tomoe in his Sharingan completely vanished.

What replaced them was a newly born six-pointed star—mysterious and extraordinary!