The Ninja Mobile Game in the Shinobi World was slightly different from the Naruto Mobile Game from Kuroda's previous life.
In the original Naruto storyline, the main plot only lasted a few years. If the ninjas were released according to that same timeline, it would be far too slow.
Therefore, anything related to ninjas—such as summons and Secret Scrolls—would unlock earlier and faster in this world.
After completing the first story chapter, all of the Konoha Eleven (except for Neji and Lee) were unlocked.
Together with the free limited-time summons and Secret Scrolls from the Duel Arena, it was more than enough to start fighting.
"Every feature is different!"
Naruto was already playing around in the training ground, but he was still troubled—he didn't know which summon was the strongest.
He had to figure out the most suitable Secret Scroll and summon! Then he'd defeat the café owner!
That was what Naruto thought.
Compared to him, Kakashi was surprised by the variety of summons like clams and salamanders, but he was more focused on the ninja section.
"There's me, but… I can't use myself?" Kakashi tapped on [Hatake Kakashi] in the ninja page, but it was still grayed out.
"I checked—it needs a top-up," Kuroda said as he tapped on the V Privilege tab on his own phone.
Kakashi glanced over. It said that to upgrade to V14 and freely recruit [Hatake Kakashi], he'd have to top up 10,000 Gold Coins.
(2 ryō = 1 Gold Coin)
"Top-up..." Kakashi froze for a moment.
Something that could simulate the future and resurrect the dead actually had a top-up function?
He had to admit—the smartphone truly held divine power. The instant he thought about recharging, he instinctively knew how to do it.
Under the gaze of Kuroda and Naruto, Kakashi reached into his pouch and pulled out 20,000 ryō.
He placed the bills above the phone screen, and a few seconds later, an invisible vortex sucked them in, leaving no trace.
No—not gone.
Kakashi stared at the extra 10,000 Gold Coins that appeared in his account. His lips twitched. He didn't even know what to say.
He had successfully recruited [Hatake Kakashi], and even unlocked the first top-up rewards.
Most notably, those included Rock Lee on the first day and Shukaku the One-Tail on the third.
Hmm... so that became a summon beast now?
Kakashi's expression was blank. At this point, nothing could stir him anymore.
"Eh? Kakashi-sensei is an A-rank ninja?!" Naruto said enviously. "I'm only C-rank! That's two whole tiers below!"
"Don't worry," Kuroda said soothingly, though he was secretly rolling his eyes. "The ranking only represents how hard they are to obtain."
Yeah, right. If that were true, it would be like the classification of ninjutsu based on difficulty to learn.
Then… who was going to explain substitution distance?
"Naruto, what's your in-game name? I'll add you as a friend," Kuroda asked casually.
"Oh, it's 'Invincible Hokage,'" Naruto replied.
Kuroda: ...
Player nicknames were chosen upon entering the server. No two names could be the same across the entire Shinobi World—it was first come, first served.
That rule existed because Kuroda hated duplicate names. But he never expected to run into this familiar, ridiculous name again.
What could he do? Fate was cruel.
"Nice one! I bet no one else in the whole Shinobi World would come up with that. Very creative," Kuroda complimented.
"Hehe! Right? Right?" Naruto grinned proudly—but then his smile froze.
Staring at the friend request he just received, his jaw dropped.
"That's you?"
"Mm-hm," Kuroda nodded lightly.
"Alright, alright! Come on, I've added you—accept my duel invite!"
"Okay, okay."
Beside them, Kakashi listened to the two's absurd nicknames and was completely speechless.
Couldn't they pick something normal? Even if it wasn't real-name gameplay, at least make it interesting.
He glanced at the upper-left corner of his own phone's home screen—at the name he'd carefully thought about for ages—and couldn't help but feel satisfied.
[With Rin]
...
"Battle start!"
Once he gained control of his character, Naruto grew extremely nervous. Instead of attacking first, he made his character retreat to the edge of the stage.
Yes, for his ninja lineup, Naruto had chosen Team 7—the first one on stage being himself.
Off-screen, Sasuke took a few steps forward, then stopped, then moved again, in an odd, twitchy rhythm as he approached.
Naruto's mouth twitched. Not only did the boss pick the exact same team, but he was even messing around!
"What's wrong, Naruto? Not gonna attack me?" Kuroda grinned.
Naruto didn't respond with words—he acted.
A giant boulder dropped from the sky and rumbled forward—it was the Secret Scroll: Rockfall.
So, Naruto had gone with that scroll after all.
But with a simple flick of Kuroda's finger, Sasuke leapt straight up and dodged it easily.
Naruto's eyes widened. "Crap!"
"Come on, Naruto, I said hit me!" Kuroda said while moving Sasuke right up to Naruto's face.
Naruto panicked, unleashing a Rasengan on the spot—but Sasuke spun away just in time.
"Pressure getting to you?—Wait, hold up, you already used your summon? You fell for that bait!"
"Hahaha! Like it, Naruto?"
"Hey! You've got no skills, no scroll, no summon, and you're still just spamming attacks? That's pure cheese!"
"Oh, summoning dogs now? So you're just dumping damage? But you've exposed your ending lag, bro!"
"Here, have a Fireball in your face!"
"Substitution to retreat—oh, you really thought I backed off? Normal attack intercept! Like my opener?"
"Enjoy my vertical movement... triple summon, huh?! Three summons for one ninja? You running a zoo? You're invincible, kid!"
[Round One Over!]
"Well? Did my Sasuke take you down or not?!" Naruto's hands trembled, but his tone stayed defiant.
"Oh, that's how you wanna play, huh?" Kuroda growled. It must've been the climate of the Shinobi World—otherwise, how could he possibly lose a ninja to an opponent like this?
Kakashi didn't rush to test out his newly obtained [Hatake Kakashi] skills. He chose to spectate instead.
He glanced at Kuroda's face—serious, focused, as if he was about to go all-in—and was utterly baffled.
Seriously? Why does this guy start talking nonstop when he plays games? It's like he becomes a completely different person!
[Round Two, Start!]
This time, Kuroda went silent, as serious as a dormmate picking up the controller to play a best-of-three after his squad got wiped.
For Naruto, though, it was overwhelming—he kept falling for feints and getting tricked by unpredictable movements.
Heaven have mercy! A newbie with only two days of experience in the Ninja Mobile Game was facing a seasoned veteran.
As everyone knows, Naruto players are always friendly to newcomers—each encounter comes with a thorough "lesson."
[Victory Decided!]
Kuroda let out a long breath and set down his phone, looking as refreshed as if he'd just finished a full-body massage.
He had successfully used Sakura to combo Naruto three times—in other words, got him triple tapped.
Of course, a pat on the head was mandatory afterward.
"You still need more practice," Kuroda said, switching back to his calm expression as he patted Naruto's head and walked off humming a tune.
Naruto's hands went limp. His phone dropped to the side as he collapsed on the table, boneless.
His eyes were vacant—the past few minutes had inflicted both physical and mental devastation.
Kakashi couldn't bear to look, so he turned away.
Naruto stayed frozen for a long, long time. Only when the coffee on the table turned cold did he finally mutter in a low, hollow voice:
"The suffocating feeling… like being strangled by a giant snake..."