"Sorry, sorry! I'm late!"
Naruto waved his hand as he ran toward the small grove ahead, where Team 7 was already waiting beneath the trees.
"Naruto! You're too slow!" Sakura shouted, hands on her hips.
"Ahahaha, something came up," Naruto scratched his head and laughed awkwardly.
Team 7 had agreed to meet this morning to check out the new update together, but Naruto had gone off early to challenge the coffee shop owner to a PK match.
He hadn't expected it to end up being so embarrassing—he got beaten three times in a row! Last time he'd only lost twice!
There was no helping it. A bet's a bet. Naruto spent the whole morning helping out at Cube Internet Café.
When customers came, he served them; when there weren't any, he cleaned up. And worst of all, he had to drink that coffee with the flavor that just hits your brain straight on.
Damn it, this was pure torture!
What the heck had he gotten himself into?
Thinking about how he'd have to go again tomorrow, Naruto felt tears of sorrow welling up in his heart, ready to flow into a sea of despair.
"Naruto, have you also lost your way on the road of life?" Kakashi teased with a smile.
"I have not!" Naruto shot back, annoyed, and sat down while pulling out his phone.
Actually, there wasn't anything particularly exciting about the new version—just a few new ninjas, new modes, and new storylines.
Sasuke was silently checking through the updates.
Naruto found it strange. Usually, this guy would already be mouthing off by now. Why was he so quiet today?
"What's wrong, little Sasuke? Did you get beaten up in the duel arena? Want me, the great Uzumaki Naruto-sama, to avenge you?" Naruto said in a mocking tone.
"Naruto, it's about the storyline," Sakura said worriedly, glancing at Sasuke. "That guy who's on the same level as Jiraiya-sama—the one called Orochimaru—he's set his eyes on Sasuke."
Naruto froze for a moment and was about to play through the storyline to see what was going on, but Kakashi stopped him.
"Naruto, you can play the story when you get home. For now, check out the other new mode," Kakashi said, having him open the "More Modes" menu in the duel arena.
[Unlimited Class Tournament]
This is...
"A 1v1 mode with random ninjas and random Secret Scrolls?" Naruto frowned. Just from the description, he couldn't make much sense of it.
But he did know about 1v1 battles. When the High-Class Recruitment S-rank ninja [Jiraiya] was revealed, Jiraiya and Orochimaru had fought in a 1v1 match.
"Naruto," Sasuke suddenly turned his head and said, "let's play one round in the Unlimited Class Tournament. I already sent the invitation—accept it."
"What?!" Naruto immediately protested. "Why do you always decide things on your own—"
"Naruto!" Sasuke shouted.
Naruto stared at Sasuke, and Sasuke stared right back. It was as if, in those blue and black eyes, they could see vague colors reflecting each other.
"The day I lost to you, I said I'd win it back," Sasuke said firmly, his gaze unwavering.
"Then I also said… wait, did I say that? Never mind," Naruto shook his head and smiled seriously.
"This time, I'm going to win again!"
Naruto and Sasuke...
As the tension between them grew, Sakura opened her mouth but found it hard to intervene.
"Don't worry. Isn't this exactly the daily mission I assigned you two?" Kakashi smiled at Sakura as he said this.
That was after the Territories Battlefield, Sakura thought.
["Glory to Uchiha" invites you to enter the Duel Arena—Accept or Decline?]
Naruto pouted but clicked "Accept."
In friend battles, both players would first enter a waiting room. Before the fight began, the host could choose the mode—regular duel, power level mode, or the new Unlimited Class Tournament.
This was part of the new update.
Before Naruto arrived, Kakashi and the others had already tested it, though they hadn't experienced it fully.
Kakashi's gaze lingered briefly on the word "Power," his eyes flickering slightly. He thought to himself that battle power truly couldn't be underestimated.
A few seconds later, a new screen appeared.
At the top were the blue-side Sasuke and the red-side Naruto—[Glory to Uchiha] VS [Invincible Hokage].
Seeing the name, Sasuke frowned. "Hey, Naruto, you seriously need to change that name. It's stupid."
"Huh? You can change names?" Naruto asked in surprise.
"Once a day. Costs 1000 Gold Coins. It's been that way since the server opened."
"...Then I'll just keep using this one."
Kakashi watched the 18-second countdown ticking down on Naruto's screen while the two still chatted away, so he had to remind them.
"Now is the ninja ban phase. You both can ban one of the ninjas shown in this pool."
Both Sasuke and Naruto nodded. They could see it too.
Twelve ninjas were displayed before them—completely random, generated by the system.
That was the feature of the Unlimited Class Tournament. Both the ninja pool and the Secret Scroll pool were entirely random after selection.
Players took turns banning and picking ninjas.
Even from that alone, Kakashi could see the depth of strategy involved.
"This really tests your tactics," Kakashi commented.
"Looks like it," Sakura said seriously from behind Sasuke. "Unlike the Duel Arena, here you can actually see your opponent's ninja in advance!"
It did sound a little strange.
In the Duel Arena, you picked your ninja first and then entered the match.
But in the Unlimited Class Tournament, the mind games started right from ninja selection—you could counter-pick or plan ahead based on your opponent's choices.
Bang!
Sasuke raised his hand and banned [Hatake Kakashi]—the only A-rank ninja in the pool.
The remaining eleven were:
B-rank: [Uchiha Obito (Youth)], [Hatake Kakashi (Youth)], [Yakushi Kabuto], [Uchiha Sasuke (Curse Seal)], [Uzumaki Naruto (One-Tails)]
C-rank: [Rock Lee], [Haruno Sakura], [Dosu Kinuta], [Aburame Shino], [Hyūga Hinata], [Kin Tsuchi]
Naruto hesitated for a moment and banned [Uchiha Obito (Youth)].
During the last update, Kakashi had played a ranked match where he was instantly defeated by his opponent using [Uchiha Obito (Youth)]. That memory left a deep impression on Naruto.
Then came the ninja selection phase.
Sasuke went first. After a brief moment of thought, he chose [Hatake Kakashi (Youth)].
Naruto immediately locked in [Haruno Sakura]—a ninja he was comfortable using—and then picked [Uzumaki Naruto (One-Tails)].
Sasuke's second and third choices were [Uchiha Sasuke (Curse Seal)] and [Yakushi Kabuto].
Finally, it was Naruto's turn to pick his last ninja.
He glanced back and forth between the remaining options, his finger hovering over one before switching to another.
Because the mode used random ninjas, it really tested how deep a player's ninja pool was.
Unfortunately, Naruto usually only played the few he was good with.
With only twenty seconds on the clock, he finally chose one he recognized from the list.