After that day, the Ninja Kill card game suddenly became a big hit.
It first took off at the Ninja Academy. The next day, Naruto and the others brought their cards to challenge others, and soon the game spread like wildfire.
Then, Tenten's family's ninja tool shop was almost trampled by the village kids and their parents.
After that, other merchants came to negotiate wholesale deals for the cards. But since Natsuki was only the inventor of the game, all trading decisions were up to the shop owner—his father-in-law.
All Natsuki had to do was sit back and wait to collect his share of the profits.
The shop owner knew Natsuki was a capable guy and happily went off to do business.
But Ninja Kill really did explode in popularity. For a while, the entire village was obsessed.
Even some of the ninja got into it. After all, whether they had missions or not, life was usually pretty boring. Not everyone was like Kakashi who loved reading Icha Icha Paradise, and constantly playing poker got old. The appearance of the Ninja Kill card game filled that void perfectly.
What could Natsuki do?
He was making a fortune, that's what!
But of course, trouble soon followed.
"Natsuki! Natsuki! Come play Ninja Kill with us! We're trying to play the Ninja Village Defense mode but don't have enough people!" Naruto shouted once again.
"Sigh... Naruto, give it a rest."
Natsuki rubbed his temples. "Sure, the game is fun, and it lets you live out your dream of being Kage for a bit. But don't forget to study and train, alright? Every time you become the Kage in the game, you go on a killing spree. I've been your teammate a few times and you keep killing me. What happened to your basic ninja skills like intel gathering?"
Naruto turned red and stubbornly replied, "I-I'm learning now, dattebayo! I'll definitely be a great Hokage in the future!"
Natsuki rolled his eyes. "Exactly why you should focus on learning and training. Otherwise, you'll only ever be Hokage in the game, and forget about it in real life."
Naruto couldn't argue back, but he couldn't give up the game either, so he went off to find others to play with.
Luckily, Hinata the sweet idiot decided to join in, letting Naruto start up another round of Ninja Village Defense.
Natsuki thought that although he created this game to earn money for marriage, he might have ended up ruining Naruto's future. Would this "Savior of the World" even be able to save the world if things kept up ?
What if, when facing Kaguya, he just threw out two Dodge cards?
Wouldn't the entire shinobi world be doomed?
But Natsuki quickly got over it. After all, Naruto was the chosen Savior by the world itself. That old geezer, the Sage of Six Paths, was still watching. Nothing major would go wrong. No need to interfere too much.
He found Shikamaru. "Shikamaru, do you have any flash bombs?"
He remembered in the original story, only Shikamaru seemed to use flash bombs effectively, paired with his shadow techniques, so he should have some.
Shikamaru tossed down a card and replied while playing, "I've got some at home. I'll bring one for you later. But what do you want a flash bomb for... never mind, sounds like a pain. I won't ask."
"Thanks. I'll pay you for it."
Natsuki wouldn't just take a friend's stuff for free. A flash bomb was a proper ninja tool and probably expensive.
As he sat back down, Shino couldn't help but ask, "Natsuki, got a new idea?"
Natsuki smiled and nodded. "Yup. And it's perfect for you. Think about it: Earth Release has the Hardening Technique, which works by absorbing the properties of earth, right? And the Iron Body I created absorbs iron's properties. So what would happen if you absorbed the components of a flash bomb and activated it with chakra?"
Shino's sunglasses flashed. "It would emit an intense burst of light!"
Natsuki gave a thumbs up. "Bingo! This technique will be called Solar Fist. Once I develop it, I'll teach you. You wear sunglasses, so the intense light won't blind you, but your enemies won't even be able to open their eyes. Wouldn't you be able to go on a rampage?"
"...Natsuki, you always come up with wild ideas!"
Shino was already used to being amazed, but there was clear anticipation behind his shades.
Natsuki waved him off. "Alright, stop flattering me. I get cocky easily. Come over to my house on the second of next month. I'll definitely have results by then. Oh, and Tenten's investigation into powerful ninja tools and summoning beasts is making progress. Let's check it out together. Maybe you'll find a summon you want."
At that moment, in the Hokage's office...
Konoha's Shadow Hokage, Shimura Danzo, pushed open the office door with his cane. All his old friends were already seated, waiting.
Hiruzen Sarutobi saw him and casually pulled out a deck of Ninja Kill. "Danzo, you're here. Ever played Ninja Kill? Let's play while we talk."
He shuffled four identity cards and placed them on the table.
Danzo hobbled over and picked one. His eyelid twitched: Usurper.
Sarutobi picked one too and flipped it over: Kage.
Koharu and Homura also drew a card each but stayed quiet, waiting as Sarutobi shuffled the character deck for them to draw from.
As he shuffled, Sarutobi kept talking. "This card game really is something. It brings ninja combat to the tabletop. You can play one-on-one, one-versus-many, many-versus-many, and even the Ninja Village Defense mode. And look at my luck—still Hokage in the game!"
Crack!—it sounded like Danzo's cane had cracked.
He drew a character card, only to find it was a Uchiha character. His expression darkened as he slammed the card onto the table. "Sarutobi, the Uchiha were evil. We wiped them out for the village's sake. I played no small part in that. Are you planning to discard me now that I've served my purpose?"
Sarutobi flipped his card—Second Hokage, Tobirama.
He chuckled. "Heh. I had that card specially made by the card game's inventor. There's only one in the entire ninja world. I must've shuffled it in earlier by accident—lucky me. But Danzo, do you know why Tobirama-sensei chose me to be Hokage back then?"
He didn't answer Danzo's question, but the message was clear.
Danzo understood immediately and clenched his teeth without replying.
That brat Natsuki—what was he doing making these damn cards, even creating a special one for Sarutobi!
Sarutobi, that shameless old man, pretending it was luck. As if! Just like back then—Tobirama had asked a question and Sarutobi answered first, so he got chosen as Hokage. What was there to be smug about?
If it hadn't been for his tireless work in the shadows, would Sarutobi have enjoyed such glory all these years?
Now Sarutobi wanted to get rid of Root because the Uchiha threat was gone and Root was growing too powerful?
Figures. Sarutobi wasn't dumb—he must've realized Root was becoming a threat to the Hokage seat.
As if he'd let that happen!
Danzo tossed out two cards and activated his Sharingan, then used Shunshin: Kill and said coldly, "Sarutobi, you can't disband Root!"
Sarutobi didn't dodge, throwing down a Water Release: Water Shockwave to counter. "Danzo, I am the Hokage!"
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