"Why is it called the 'First World Season'?"
Orochimaru's tone was filled with confusion.
But no one could answer him, because there really wasn't a single person around. Even if there were, those underlings probably wouldn't dare to interrupt.
The First World Season appeared right after entering Ranked Mode—it hung high like a signboard, as if afraid the players wouldn't notice it.
No one in the Shinobi World could understand what it meant... but perhaps, they would someday.
Why was it called the First World Season?
To be honest, compared to the later versions, the original release of Ninja Mobile Game was better experience.
Back then, the game was purely pay-to-win, and even now it's hard to shake off that reputation.
The battle designers of that era fully embraced the concept that spending money equals power.
No guaranteed summons for high-tier ninjas, weekly tournaments that made players cough up blood, scarce resources, absurdly overpowered characters, and an extreme power gap between rich and poor players.
It was, in the truest sense, a game where spending money could completely dominate the Arena!
Unlike later versions—where even though there were dozens of Tier 0 ninjas, which sounded ridiculous—it at least created a sort of pseudo balance.
After all, "kings rotate on the throne, but the old ones are eternal," right?
Orochimaru naturally prepared to jump into Ranked Battle, but just as he was about to tap Battle Start, something came to mind. His finger trembled slightly, and he forcibly stopped himself.
He immediately exited the game, then reopened it.
Don't misunderstand—it wasn't because of a game update. Orochimaru just wanted to look again at the login server.
"As I thought."
Seeing [Land of Rice Fields — Otogakure], Orochimaru stuck out his long tongue and gave his face a good lick.
His guess was right!
The login server corresponded to the player's actual location within the Shinobi World!
But that came with a big problem.
Humans are social creatures—so naturally, in crowded areas, Ranked Battles would be much harder.
Conversely, in sparsely populated places like Otogakure—a village entirely established and ruled by Orochimaru himself—he was basically the local emperor.
Which meant...
Orochimaru grinned wickedly.
"I didn't expect this... but I suppose it still counts as winning through my own strength!"
He clicked Battle Start!
Matched in one second!
Since he was still an Apprentice rank, there were no banned ninjas—straight into the selection screen.
Without even looking, Orochimaru casually picked three ninjas, along with their Summoning and Secret Scrolls.
Once the match began, both sides could see each other's ninjas and Secret Scrolls, though Summonings remained hidden.
Naturally, player names were also visible.
[Orochimaru] VS [Sasaku]
"Round One—Begin!"
Orochimaru set his phone on the table, removed his hands, and calmly watched the screen.
The opponent wobbled left and right at first, seemingly adjusting movement—but suddenly froze.Moments later, the game lagged.
A few seconds passed, and a line of text appeared:
[Opponent has left the game]
Seeing the victory screen and the rise in Rank Points, Orochimaru's grin widened.
Continue matching! Keep going!
[Opponent has left the game]
[Opponent has left the game]
[Opponent has left the game]
[Opponent has left the game]
[....]
At this rate, there was probably no one in the entire Shinobi World climbing ranks faster than Orochimaru.
Who in Otogakure didn't know Orochimaru?
And the key point was—he'd even cleverly used his real name as his in-game nickname.
He was practically verified online.
Even if there was a chance that "this player might not be Orochimaru-sama himself," no one on this server dared to take that gamble.
After all, Orochimaru was practically their creator—their godfather of rebirth!
Thus, with a string of consecutive wins, Orochimaru quickly ranked up and left the Apprentice tier, barely escaping the newbie zone.
But once he reached Lower Ninja Rank 2, something unexpected happened—it was the first time an opponent didn't quit.
Bam! (sound of a fist hitting a face)
Orochimaru frowned, watching his opponent beat him senseless in the arena. Above the opponent's avatar, the name read "My God Orochimaru." He sighed regretfully.
"You idolize me in the game—I'm flattered. But your actions displease me."
"Next time, remember to open your eyes."
...
Regarding the Ranked Battle same-server matching bug, many sharp minds across the Shinobi World soon caught on.
But noticing it was one thing—exploiting it was another.
First off, the major hidden villages couldn't really do it.
Too big, too many players—no one's going to let you win just because you asked nicely.
Of course, if the opponent happened to be the Kage... that was a different story.
After all, everyone wants to make progress, right?
However...
"To think such an exploit exists... hard to believe," said Obito, sounding both amazed and impressed.
He had just received intel from Zetsu.
The Akatsuki members had all been assigned to the Amegakure server.
That part wasn't surprising.
What was interesting was that a new tactic had emerged there—called intentional surrendering.
The idea actually came from Konan.
With Pain seldom appearing in public, Konan served as Amegakure's symbolic divine representative—the "Angel" worshipped by the villagers.
So when someone happened to match with her in-game... was it really that hard to throw a few points her way?
At the top of Amegakure's tower, Konan stared at her phone, hesitating slightly as yet another opponent performed the Hand Seal of Reconciliation.
To be honest, she didn't like this behavior, nor did she think the villagers needed to hold back for her.
But Pain's attitude remained calm.
"No matter what they think, whether from admiration or fear, humans will always act in the way that benefits them most... Konan, that is reality."
"I understand, Pain."
Konan nodded and swiftly finished off her opponent.
What's that? You wonder why that person didn't just quit the match?
Child, there's always the second-round points to consider!
Really, it's human nature.
Just as human children learn to say things adults want to hear in order to be loved more—it's not about right or wrong, just personal choice.
But what was worth noting was this—why did such an obvious exploit exist in the mysterious Ninja Mobile Game?
In Kuroda's previous life, this was called rank merging.
At high ranks, the community was small—everyone knew everyone. If someone wanted to climb higher, others would often just let them win.
It was said that some players had merged their way to over six thousand "Super Kage" points—an absurdly high score.
In the Shinobi World, however, Kuroda had intentionally divided servers by region, precisely to prevent rank merging!
Even if you were strong on your own server, it meant nothing.
When it came to the real competitions, fake rank points couldn't hide your true skill.
Of course, ranked rewards were still awarded as usual—after all, merging ranks was still a kind of skill in itself.
There was no reason to forbid it.
Kuroda had always believed that games shouldn't be over-regulated or constrained. That was also why Ninja Mobile Game had almost no beginner tutorials.
Some things... you'd just understand when the time came.