"Mikoto, huh."
Kuroda was a little surprised. Seeing the mother and son embracing tightly in the light screen, he couldn't help but smile.
As expected of the most unpredictable ninja—Naruto actually gave up the chance so decisively to Sasuke, even making the painful choice that should have belonged to the parents themselves.
Just moments ago, Kuroda had thought Naruto was going to resurrect the Fourth Hokage. That would've been quite the spectacle.
But to his surprise, Naruto had fooled everyone.
As for Uchiha Mikoto's resurrection, Kuroda didn't really care. The energy cost was smaller than reviving Minato anyway.
The system's resurrection ability was judged based on multiple factors: the target's position, identity, power level, and even chakra reserves.
A single Uchiha Mikoto naturally required far less energy than reviving Namikaze Minato.
Clack!
Kuroda pushed open the door and stepped outside. The moment the soundproof door opened, the noisy chatter of the streets rushed into his ears.
It was quite a bustling street, but unlike usual, many villagers wore expressions of disgust.
Their conversations were nothing more than gossip—about how Naruto had taken a wild turn from being Hokage to getting involved with a woman.
Yes, this was Konohagakure.
Kuroda ignored them and simply looked up.
This small motion inexplicably drew everyone's attention, and soon, the whole crowd followed his gaze.
The next moment, cries of shock erupted.
"What is that?!"
"Rain?"
"Hey, hey! Those don't look like raindrops—they look like stones!"
"Run! Get out of the way!"
"Ahhh, stop pushing!!"
Although the villagers tried to dodge, there were too many people. Some were inevitably struck.
It didn't hurt—it felt as light as falling feathers.
Kuroda casually caught one of the thin, pitch-black objects.
"Yo, so this is that 'cell phone' that showed up on the light screen?"
At those words, everyone looked confused. What did he mean? When had that appeared on the light screen?
Those with good memories thought back carefully—and then they remembered.
After Naruto and Sasuke's battle, the light screen's view had shifted from the battlefield to some kind of player room.
At the time, everyone had wondered—hadn't they just finished fighting? Why did it look like they hadn't fought at all?
Now that they thought about it, those two had been holding the exact same kind of device…
So that thing was called a phone?
It wasn't just in Konoha—in fact, at this very moment, the entire ninja world was experiencing a rain of cell phones!
Naturally, this was Kuroda's doing.
He ignored the confused, gossiping villagers and turned back toward his shop.
Selling one by one was far too slow. Kuroda had a more direct approach.
Take a system loan—and give everyone a phone!
Otherwise, the people watching from the real world might think he couldn't afford it.
What came next wasn't something Kuroda needed to worry about. He didn't even need to teach anyone how to use the phones.
After witnessing a miracle, people would naturally start experimenting on their own.
Each phone contained only one thing: Ninja Mobile Game.
Once they opened it, everyone would immediately understand what Naruto and Sasuke's battle had been about.
Some things didn't need teaching—just a nudge in the right direction.
After that, the number of players was bound to explode.
Kuroda sat down at his desk, took up a pen and paper, and began to write.
"Hokage-sama, Cube Internet Café is a place designed to offer guests a comfortable environment. You can relax, have a coffee, and chat together..."
It was a store—his store.
The interior décor was fresh and cozy, with just the right number of tables and chairs. The temperature was pleasant, and the counter was stocked with all kinds of coffee.
He had thought it through. Instead of being some overpowered ruler of the ninja world, opening an internet café sounded much better.
There might be no customers now—but in the future, business would boom.
Meanwhile, the ninja world was far from calm. It had become the hottest topic imaginable.
The "phone rain" was far too spectacular. After examining the devices, everyone confirmed two things:
What Ninja Mobile Game was—and what PK battles were.
"Heh! So it only includes a few of the village brats, huh? Still, the gameplay's pretty interesting."
In a tavern somewhere, Tsunade was fiddling with the phone's training mode while occasionally taking a swig of sake.
The Ninja Mobile Game hadn't officially launched yet, and most of the functions were still locked. Only the Twelve Young Ninjas and the Training Ground mode were available.
Even so, Tsunade was completely absorbed in the game—controlling [Uzumaki Naruto] as he ran here and there, occasionally summoning a toad.
She was starting to believe what the light screen had said.
The phone clearly transcended the ninja world's level of technology. Playing it really did feel like manipulating an actual ninja.
On the other side, Jiraiya had played around with it for a while and fallen deep in thought.
The light screen's true purpose was clear—to use this thing to redirect the hatred festering in the ninja world.
Given that Naruto and Sasuke had been controlling their own avatars to fight, it meant everyone could one day control a ninja and duel in an arena.
Solving conflicts this way sounded absurd—but with rewards involved, it became another story entirely.
Jiraiya knew Uchiha Mikoto. Even without anything else, just the resurrection ability alone would make people obsessed with this Ninja Mobile Game.
Thinking of that, he couldn't help but sigh.
"If this really works... that would be incredible. Maybe… the start of a new era!"
Everyone was focused on the phones—even Akatsuki.
In a pitch-black cave, the Gedo Statue stood tall, its ten fingers bearing flickering projections.
"Hey, hey, why are we having a meeting now? I'm still checking if there's a ninja representing me in the game!"
"Idiot. There are only twelve ninjas—you won't find what doesn't exist."
"Who are you calling 'what'?!"
"Hehehe~ Forget that—don't you think all this is a little too unbelievable?"
"Resurrection... and these phones..."
"Are they really real?"
Someone's question brought silence to the entire group.
No one could answer.
Everything they'd seen had been real. If this was someone's prank, it would be far too elaborate.
Among the Akatsuki, Itachi stood expressionless, but inside, he was anything but calm.
Ninja Mobile Game was real—absolutely real.
Only heaven knew what he'd felt when he saw his mother appear again.
Was this truly for peace…?
Pain had gathered everyone only to instruct them not to act recklessly for now before ending the meeting.
When the Astral Projection Technique ended, Zetsu opened his eyes. Obito was waiting not far away.
"Well?" Obito asked coolly.
"Uchiha Mikoto's resurrection is real. It's been confirmed," Zetsu replied slowly.
"Not that. What does Nagato intend to do?"
"Nagato can't make a definitive judgment yet. Understandably so—the entire ninja world has become tense."
"All twelve ninjas are from Konoha. Aside from a few exceptions, none of them are ordinary."
"Heh. So even Ninja Mobile Game is biased toward Konoha? What a twisted sense of humor."
"Really? Then why do you sound... almost pleased?" Obito glanced sideways at Zetsu.
Zetsu's face was expressionless—but internally, he was panicking like crazy.
In truth, Black Zetsu was thrilled—so thrilled he almost laughed out loud.
He didn't know what the light screen truly was, but after it distributed phones to everyone in the ninja world, it vanished.
He didn't care about that—or whether it was part of someone's grand scheme.
He only cared about one thing—the power of resurrection!
If he had been the one to win that duel…