[The Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, Jiraiya-sama—that's me!]
"Wait, what kind of range is that?! You're at the top, I'm at the bottom—how can you still hit me? Full Y-axis, seriously?!"
As the [Jiraiya] Ultimate Scene popped up, Ao shouted in disbelief.
His right eye, the Byakugan, was usually sealed with an eyepatch—but now veins bulged at the corner of his eye.
He was absolutely fuming!
The PK match had just ended. Both sides' third slot ninjas had battled to the bitter end, but the opponent's skill was a notch higher and finished it off with a full Y-axis Ultimate.
"Hmph, as a ninja, surely you understand the importance of intel, don't you? Kirigakure's ninjas these days are pathetic... Don't you think so, Haku?"
"Zabuza-sama is right."
Hearing the two targets talk in perfect sync, Ao opened his mouth but could only sigh helplessly and close it again.
"Well, we lost... but that was just an accident! A gap in intel—that's all!" Chōjūrō tried to comfort him.
"Enough," Ao waved his hand and looked at the two before him. "So, have you thought it over?"
"I just wanted to test your strength. As expected, you're disappointingly weak," Zabuza sneered.
"So you were just tricking us, huh?!"
"Losers don't get to talk like that!"
"And a rogue ninja who fled the village after failing to assassinate the Mizukage has no right to say that either!"
"You sure talk big... Haku, get ready to move!"
As Ao and Zabuza exchanged barbed words, Chōjūrō grew increasingly anxious on the side, unable to interject.
Their encounter wasn't a coincidence.
Thanks to Chapter 2 of the Ninja Mobile Game's story mode, the entire Ninja World now knew the names of two people: Zabuza and Haku.
Many had been sent to look for them—but all found that they had already left the Land of Waves.
Kirigakure was one of those searching.
Due to various reasons, the bloodline clans had been excessively persecuted, causing a generational gap—an entire lost link.
As the next Mizukage, Terumi Mei needed strong allies. Both Zabuza and Haku, in terms of strength and special abilities, fit the bill perfectly.
Thus, Ao and Chōjūrō set out on a mission and encountered Zabuza and Haku within the Land of Fire.
In truth, the Land of Water wasn't far from the Land of Fire, separated only by a few smaller nations—one of which was the Land of Waves.
From the map's perspective, if Zabuza and Haku left the Land of Waves, it made no sense to go back to the Land of Water, and heading into the Land of Fire wasn't exactly reasonable either.
After careful thought, Ao deduced that they might head toward the Land of Bears—and as it turned out, he was right. That's where they met.
But things weren't entirely as expected.
For instance, Zabuza being able to summon [Jiraiya] clearly meant he'd recharged Gold Coins. Life must've been treating him well lately.
Though, where did he even get that kind of money...?
Chōjūrō greatly admired Ao's analytical mind—but it was exactly because of that clarity that they had to prevent this clash from escalating.
"Wait! If this is about proving our strength, then I'm one of the modern Seven Ninja Swordsmen, just like Zabuza-senpai!" Chōjūrō suddenly shouted.
Chōjūrō? Ao's eyes flickered.
Zabuza just scoffed. That much was obvious just by looking at the twin blades strapped to Chōjūrō's back—the Hiramekarei.
"So what, you wanna fight me?" Zabuza raised his Executioner's Blade.
"A fight, yes—but in the arena!" Chōjūrō lifted something too—not a weapon, but his phone.
"And what makes you think I've got time to—" Zabuza narrowed his eyes, then froze as he saw Chōjūrō's phone screen.
"Elite Jōnin One?!" Haku exclaimed.
That's right—Chōjūrō's screen showed the ranked match page, clearly marked [Jōnin I].
"Since when?" Ao was shocked.
"This morning," Chōjūrō said with an awkward smile—but there was pride behind it.
Currently, there were only a handful of Jōnin-ranked players in Kirigakure, Ao included.
In fact, across the entire Ninja World, there weren't many who had reached Jōnin rank—of course, excluding those who relied on point-merging.
If someone played nonstop, merging points day and night, they'd probably hit ANBU II or ANBU III easily.
If Chōjūrō's title as one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen caught Zabuza's mild attention, then his Jōnin rank in the Ninja Mobile Game earned genuine respect.
After all, Haku was still just Chūnin!
"Jōnin, huh? So what?" Zabuza scoffed aloud, though his tone didn't match the flicker in his eyes.
"That guy next to you's Jōnin too, and he lost to me, didn't he?"
"It was a narrow defeat. Things might not go the same way in a rematch!" Chōjūrō said earnestly.
Ao didn't add anything—but he silently agreed.
"Oh? Are you saying I just got lucky, then?" Zabuza's voice turned dangerous.
"That's right!" Chōjūrō replied without hesitation.
They say confidence comes with strength—and for the usually shy Chōjūrō, hitting Jōnin rank gave him a rare burst of boldness.
In real life, he might still hesitate to face Zabuza head-on—but in Ninja Mobile Game? He feared no one!
Chōjūrō quickly tapped on his phone. "I sent it. Please accept, Zabuza-senpai."
Zabuza glanced at his screen. A friend request popped up—after all, you had to add friends before dueling.
When they'd first met and Ao explained their intentions, Zabuza said he wasn't interested—but he'd also mentioned wanting to see their strength before deciding.
Now, Chōjūrō was taking that line literally.
Zabuza stared at Chōjūrō, then smirked as he tapped "Accept." This kid was interesting.
"Battle start!"
"Victory... decided!"
As the last ninja on the screen let out a long death cry with its HP bar emptied, the match came to an end.
[Ordinary Person VS Demon Shadow]
[Ordinary Person wins!]
"You did it, Chōjūrō!" Ao exclaimed excitedly.
"Huff... hah..." Chōjūrō exhaled deeply, then smiled his signature shy smile. "Guess I just had a bit more luck than Ao-sama."
Judging by the results, that was true.
Last round, Ao got kicked to death by [Jiraiya]'s Ultimate, but this time, Zabuza was one-shot by Chōjūrō's basic attack crit.
His Substitution Jutsu was just 0.5 seconds late—so he died.
"A kid blessed by luck," Zabuza muttered, but didn't say it mockingly. "So this is the new generation of Kirigakure's geniuses, huh?"
"I'm no genius. Compared to everyone else, I'm just an Ordinary Person," Chōjūrō shook his head.
"But..."
"But it's because I have comrades—people I can rely on—that I'm not weak, and I'm not afraid."
Another voice spoke from a distance.
Ao and Chōjūrō's eyes widened instantly—they knew that voice, and their excitement was tinged with guilt.
Zabuza turned slightly and saw a woman in a blue dress stepping gracefully out of the forest.
"Terumi Mei-sama!!" they shouted in unison.
"Well done, Chōjūrō." Mei smiled in approval as she approached, then explained that she had come personally on short notice.
"My apologies, Terumi Mei-sama. You shouldn't have had to come yourself," Ao said, bowing his head.
"It's fine. When the person is this strong, it's worth my time," Mei said softly, her gaze shifting toward Zabuza.
Haku immediately stepped protectively in front of him—but Zabuza gently pushed him aside.
"So... you're the one leading them. Kirigakure's head, huh?" Zabuza said quietly, his eyes locked on her. This woman's presence was nothing like Ao's or Chōjūrō's.
"Don't be so tense. I came here for you. Right now, Kirigakure needs people like you."
Mei's tone was sincere. "My team needs you—Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist!"
At her words, Zabuza's expression darkened slightly.
He seemed to be thinking... or perhaps weighing his choices...