At Konoha's Root headquarters, a group of shinobi had gathered.
Unlike usual, each of them was holding a phone in hand, silently focused on their screens.
At the front of the group sat Danzo, his cane set aside. He too held a phone, deeply engaged in battle at the Duel Arena.
[Round One — Battle Start!]
Bang!
"Lightning Cutter!"
A white glow burst forth around [Hatake Kakashi]. The moment the countdown ended, he turned into a flash of lightning and charged forward.
As a string of damage numbers appeared on the screen, Danzo's [Hatake Kakashi] was struck head-on right at the start.
That's right — both sides were using the same ninja.
After all, [Hatake Kakashi] was currently the only A-rank ninja in the game. Naturally, Danzo had paid to get one.
Bang!
Danzo quickly switched out. The opponent's skill just ended, so he tried to go for a normal attack to counter.
For some reason, ever since watching that Sasuke vs. Naruto PK match yesterday, Danzo had become fond of starting combos with normal attacks.
It felt thrilling — full of that high-level, pro-player style.
But then something unexpected happened. Danzo's Kakashi hit the opponent, and while the opponent's HP did drop, he didn't flinch or get stunned at all.
That Kakashi crouched down, summoned a ninja hound, and once again started a combo on Danzo.
"Hm?"
Danzo frowned. Something was wrong.
Why was that Kakashi stronger than his? How could it tank through attacks like that?
When his Substitution Jutsu came off cooldown, Danzo immediately pulled back, afraid to go on the offensive again — completely unaware that the white glow around his opponent had already faded.
Danzo considered carefully. If normal attacks didn't work, then skills should, right?
Keeping a straight line, he controlled [Hatake Kakashi] to cast Skill 1, aiming to sic the dog on his opponent.
But just as [Hatake Kakashi] crouched to summon, he was suddenly hit.
A shell appeared out of nowhere, smacked into Kakashi's face, and exploded, sending him flying.
"So fast!" Danzo's face was full of shock.
He had seen the opponent move, but because his Kakashi was mid-animation, he couldn't dodge.
He thought to himself — as expected of the Second Mizukage's summoning. Among all the summoning beasts, Clam's attack range and speed were definitely top-tier.
Too bad his own Tapir wasn't unlocked yet.
Danzo didn't panic. His HP had dropped a lot, but he still had resources to work with.
However, when he substituted again and used his summoning to catch the opponent, only to see the other Kakashi brute-force through the damage to punch him in the face, Danzo's already gloomy expression darkened further.
His HP dropped to the execution threshold — and the opponent activated his ultimate.
On-screen, the opponent's [Hatake Kakashi] shouted:
"Lightning Style: Lightning Prison Technique!"
[Hatake Kakashi] summoned a wide field of lightning, striking continuously before dashing high into the air. Then, with blinding speed, he descended with a devastating Lightning Cutter.
The light dimmed, and the screen froze into a photograph-like still.
[As a shinobi, I too have many things I must protect!]
It was the photo of Team 7 — the four of them together.
Danzo watched as his own [Hatake Kakashi] fell, while the opponent's Kakashi stood beside the corpse...
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Under the opponent's avatar appeared a string of cute emotes — a tiny hand gently patting a white dumpling.
In the next two matches, Danzo also lost, predictably, getting swept three to zero.
[Apprentice Rank 2 — 716 Points]
Danzo put down his phone and glanced ahead.
Seeing that all the Root shinobi were seriously playing the game, he finally exhaled in relief.
These operatives were completely obedient to him. Even if they earned rewards, they would willingly hand them over without complaint.
That was why Danzo had gathered them to play together — for collective progress.
His ultimate goal, of course, was to benefit himself.
Suddenly, Danzo noticed two Root ninjas leaning close, whispering to each other.
He frowned. "If there's something noteworthy, write it down and report it!"
The two ninjas flinched and immediately knelt.
"Forgive us, Danzo-sama! I just... often face opponents who use emotes, so I was—"
"Yes! Please forgive us!"
"Emotes?" Danzo paused. "You mean the head-patting one?"
"Not just that," one of them said seriously. "My last opponent didn't do anything while losing, but once he got the upper hand, he suddenly started crying and laughing — and when the match ended, he patted my head before exiting."
"And do you know what that means?"
"I asked others," the second ninja said after thinking, "and apparently, patting the head means… comforting the opponent."
Comforting?
Danzo froze — then his anger surged.
Comforting me? Do they know who I am? The personal guard of the Second Hokage-sama! The leader of Root who protects Konoha from the shadows — Shimura Danzo!
Fuming, Danzo opened the match report. There, in the ranked battle history, were all his matches on the Konoha Village server.
Someone had dared mock him? Truly courting death!
At the top of the recent battle log was his opponent's team and nickname.
Danzo looked carefully — then suddenly understood, muttering under his breath:
"So that's it… no wonder, no wonder…"
...
At a training ground in Konoha, Team 3's four members were happily gaming together.
As they say — the times are changing, and shinobi must keep up.
Being a taijutsu-focused squad, today they had decided to change things up — instead of physical training, they were ranking up.
Just now, Lee had won a match using the strategy his teacher had taught him.
"Guy-sensei! I won again!"
"Hahahaha! Lee! What did I tell you? Open with super armor into Lightning Cutter, counter with summoning, tank their summoning with another super armor, and finish with your ultimate!"
"Yes! Amazing, Guy-sensei! You really are a gaming genius!"
"Cough, cough—well, about the same level as Kakashi, I suppose!"
After a quick laugh, the master and disciple immediately queued up for the next ranked match.
"Open with super armor into Lightning Cutter," Lee mumbled, pressing the buttons rapidly.
Tenten and Neji both facepalmed.
On Lee's screen, [Hatake Kakashi] smashed Lightning Cutter right into his opponent's face.
The opponent used Substitution, but couldn't break Lee's super armor. As it was about to end, Lee decisively used his summoning to counter and chained all his skills for damage.
In the next round, however, Lee was a little late on his reaction and got hit by the opponent's summon.
Lee panicked and shouted, "Guy-sensei, help me!"
"Don't panic, Lee! Even though you missed your Secret Scroll, you still have two summonings left! For the sake of victory — use them, Lee!" Guy gave a thumbs-up.
"Yes, Guy-sensei!" Lee said earnestly.
In the end, by playing carefully and not being greedy, Lee won the duel — and, of course, finished with a head-pat emote.
As the passionate duo swept through the Duel Arena, the real cause of all this commotion traced back to their incredible luck — they had managed to get that Secret Scroll drop.
—The true underlying logic of the Duel Arena:
[Forbidden Jutsu: Yin Healing Wound Destruction]
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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