"This is unbelievable!"
Inside the Hokage's Office, the Third Hokage held a pipe in one hand and scrolled through his phone with the other, occasionally letting out a sigh of amazement.
[Coupon Shop]
As the name suggests, it was a shop where you could only spend Coupons — newly introduced in today's update.
Why wasn't it mentioned in the update preview? The Third didn't know. Maybe it wasn't considered important?
But in his opinion, this thing was far more significant than any of the new game modes—or even the newly added S-rank ninja from High-Class Recruitment, [Jiraiya]!
(Jiraiya: "How about some respect, huh?")
The Ninja Mobile Game had always featured an in-game shop. Aside from some power-up items, it was mainly used to purchase Gold Coin ninjas.
Gold Coins could only be spent in the regular shop, so naturally, Coupons could only be used in the Coupon Shop.
Unlike Gold Coins, which could be obtained through direct payment, Coupons currently had only one source—Ranked Battles.
And only the true elite ranks, starting from the Anbu tier, could earn a mere 10 Coupons.
Above that were Kage rank with 100 Coupons, and Super Kage rank with 200 Coupons.
So far, it seemed no one in the ninja world had reached that level yet.
Back in Kuroda's old version of the Ninja Mobile Game, reaching Super Kage would've been just a matter of minutes.
But here, it wasn't that simple. Losing one match meant you'd have to win three just to recover, and that's in the lower ranks.
What's worse, once you reached Apprentice or higher, there were no safety tiers to protect your rank anymore—cutting off the "invincible" players who used to farm easy matches.
With ninjas everywhere and fewer players per server, the more you won, the stronger your next opponents became.
Ranking up had truly become an ordeal.
In some smaller villages, rank had already become the new status symbol. The first thing people did when they met was show off their rank.
"You're a Chūnin? Tch! So you're just a loser Chūnin in real life, huh? I'm a Chūnin in Ninja Mobile Game!"
It might sound ridiculous, but this trend seemed to be spreading... though Konoha was still relatively calm about it.
Still, there was one thing the Third Hokage couldn't wrap his head around.
"Why is Anbu ranked higher than Jōnin? Kage, I can understand, but Anbu?"
This ranking setup could easily mislead people into thinking Anbu were inherently stronger than Jōnin—just as Jōnin were stronger than Chūnin.
But in reality, Anbu operatives were usually selected from Chūnin, and occasionally from Special Jōnin.
Strictly speaking, there weren't many full-fledged Jōnin among the Anbu at all!
Jōnin—the ones even the Hokage couldn't overlook.
The Third eventually stopped thinking about it. Maybe the developers just wanted to add another tier and arbitrarily placed Anbu above Jōnin.
He set down his pipe and looked back at his phone.
The Coupon Shop didn't have many items, but there was one remarkable feature—it affected reality.
The regular shop affected only the game. For example, if you bought a ninja, you wouldn't expect a living ninja to appear in real life.
But the Coupon Shop? It affected the real world.
Right now, there weren't many items available, but one in particular stood out above the rest:
[Revival Card]
Come to think of it, "revival" had always been the main reason people in the ninja world were drawn to the Ninja Mobile Game in the first place.
But lately, there hadn't been any updates about it. Some villages were even considering canceling their all-village "Ninja Mobile Game" mission altogether.
Now... that probably wouldn't be possible anymore.
[Revival Card——]
[Price: ?]
[Effect: Step 1, summon and repair the decayed body. Step 2, guide the slumbering soul back from the Pure Land. Step 3, reunite body and soul for a complete resurrection.]
[Note: The price of revival will be determined based on multiple factors, including chakra volume, combat strength, fame, Influence Points, and the individual's intrinsic value in the ninja world.]
In the corner, the Third Hokage glanced at the icon in the top-left corner of his screen—one lonely 0 next to the Coupon symbol.
Coupons: 0.
He found the description of the Revival Card very thorough—but the price system was bizarre.
You had to evaluate the overall value of the person before revival?
Chakra volume was understandable, but fame? They even considered that?
He had thought about reviving the previous Hokage if things ever got dire—but now, perhaps it was best not to disturb those great souls for the time being...
Besides, the Coupons had to be paid personally. If there were a crowdfunding option, maybe they could make it work.
But saving up Coupons individually? How long would that take?
The Third sighed. He suspected he wasn't the only one in the ninja world feeling this frustration right now.
...
"Dammit!!!"
Ōnoki slammed his fist down on the table, splintering it instantly—but a sharp "crack" from his waist made him choke back his next words.
A flash of pain shot through him—he had strained his back again!
Groaning, Ōnoki straightened himself up from his chair and exhaled deeply.
Fortunately, no one else was in the Tsuchikage's Office at the time. Otherwise, it would've been quite the embarrassing sight. An old man's pride was a fragile thing.
Revival Card! Revival Card!
As the Third Tsuchikage—and the longest-living Kage—both previous Tsuchikage had been his teachers.
The First could be set aside, but the Second hadn't died of old age—he had fallen in battle.
If there were a chance... Ōnoki truly wanted to bring his teacher back from the Pure Land to live once more.
After all, he himself was getting old.
No one else had mastered Dust Release, and when it came to the next Tsuchikage, Iwagakure's younger generation didn't offer many promising candidates. It was troubling.
Perhaps Kurotsuchi could do it, but compared to others who bore the title of "Kage," she was still lacking.
As for anyone else... there was no one.
Disturbing the eternal rest of a former Kage was indeed disrespectful, but for the sake of the village, it might have to be done.
Ōnoki... no one in the entire ninja world would forget what was shown in the mysterious light curtain—the great crisis that would one day engulf the world.
He didn't know what that was, but...
Thinking of the three main story arcs currently in Ninja Mobile Game, Ōnoki's expression turned thoughtful.
No one knew why the story was told from Konoha's perspective, but by now, the cast included more than just Konoha ninjas. Perhaps their time would come too.
...
"Lottery Ball? Attribute Point? Gold Coins? This shop's got quite the variety!"
Meanwhile, in Kirigakure, Chōjūrō—the only active member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—was browsing through the Coupon Shop. But no matter how much he scrolled, there were only a few options.
[Lottery Ball: Random rewards without limits.]
[Attribute Point: Randomly enhances one of the ninja's physical or mental attributes.]
[Gold Coins: Exchange Coupons for Gold Coins.]
The first two sounded interesting, though the word "random" made people wary.
For example, with Attribute Points—did it really scan your entire body and randomly enhance one aspect?
What if it enhanced... your voice?
Chōjūrō couldn't imagine what that would feel like. Would his voice become louder? Actually, he wouldn't mind that.
Many people often said that, as the bodyguard of the next Mizukage, he spoke so softly they could barely hear him...
Aside from [Lottery Ball] and [Attribute Point], the most useless item in his opinion was the third one.
Using Coupons to buy Gold Coins? Good grief, who in their right mind would actually do that?
How desperate for Gold Coins could someone possibly be!?
Then again, considering that half the players didn't even have a single Coupon yet... maybe he wasn't one to talk.
Clang, clang, clang—
Someone knocked at Chōjūrō's door. When he opened it, Ao stood outside.
"Chōjūrō, it's time to go."
...
The chapter was published for review. Thank you