"Heh heh, Naruto, how about we play another round?" Kiba said in an ominous tone.
"Yeah yeah, since you love the game so much, we'll keep you company," Ino and Sakura added with even more sinister smiles.
"No! I'm not playing any card games for the whole month, dattebayo! Don't even think about tempting me! I will make it through this month without playing Ninja Killer, and Natsuki will give me the Third Grandpa's character card, dattebayo!"
Naruto loudly declared his determination, plugging his ears so no one could sway him.
With no other choice, everyone turned their gaze toward Natsuki.
Natsuki gave them a reassuring look and gathered everyone aside to whisper, "The Hokage-sama has already agreed—one month from now, the Third Hokage's character card will be released to the public. So you'll all be able to buy it then. Naruto's addiction is serious, and that's not a good thing, so we're giving him a cooling-off period."
Everyone nodded, understanding it was for Naruto's own good.
Plus, once Naruto finally gets the Hokage card a month later and finds out it's already on sale everywhere... that reaction would definitely be something to see.
Shikamaru, ever the curious one, peeked at the Hokage card's stats and noticed it was based on the "Professor of Ninjutsu" title. That meant any of the five basic elemental jutsu could be used with just a single card—completely overpowered, even more than Sharingan or Byakugan.
But then again, it was a Hokage card—overpowered was to be expected.
If the Hokage wasn't powerful, how could they be the village's cornerstone?
Shikamaru even suspected that the Third allowing Natsuki to create this card was a PR move—to promote the image of the Hokage. After all, Ninja Killer had become insanely popular over the years.
And wouldn't you know it—Shikamaru hit the nail on the head.
Hiruzen had indeed recognized the card game's promotional power. That's why he personally approved the inclusion of a Hokage card—though only his Hokage card, since he was still in power.
The other Hokage cards? They had been made too, but only one of each existed and they were still in Hiruzen's possession.
What's more, the design of the Third's card was reviewed and approved by Hiruzen himself. That mastery of all five nature transformations? Yeah, that was his idea. The overpowered design? All his narcissism—Natsuki had nothing to do with it.
In fact, Danzo had already heard of the Hokage card and personally cursed Hiruzen out to his face, calling him shameless.
Too bad the crowd didn't get to see that "You regret, I shadow" drama unfold live. That would've been hilarious.
In any case, the card lineup needed a refresh to keep players buying. This update wasn't just adding the Hokage card—other heroic characters were getting cards too. The big reveal a month later would definitely bring in another wave of sales.
This game was a money-printing machine. Natsuki's future father-in-law was raking in the cash just from card production alone.
Still, the inclusion of Hokage cards could lead to power creep. For now, things were under control since only one Hokage card had been added, and everyone accepted the Hokage's strength anyway.
But the moment First, Second, and Fourth Hokage cards got released? People would be fighting over who was stronger.
Just wait—that would become the hottest topic around.
Anyway, back to the present.
To avoid triggering Naruto's card game cravings, everyone refrained from playing.
But watching Naruto looking like he was going through withdrawal, Natsuki decided to give the guy something else to do. So he called him over.
"Natsuki, what is it? I'm telling you now—I'm not playing any card games, dattebayo!" Naruto said through gritted teeth, not even daring to look Natsuki in the eyes.
"Relax, you look miserable. I'm giving you something else to focus on."
Natsuki said as he began walking up the side of a tree. "See this? This is only possible through fine chakra control. Your chakra control is terrible, so try learning how to tree climb. Once you master that, you can move on to water walking. Once your chakra control improves, using the Three Basic Techniques will be no problem."
As he spoke, he casually reached the treetop, even walking upside down on the underside of a branch.
Then, with a light jump, he landed on the surface of the river, walking across the water as if strolling through a garden.
Naruto's jaw dropped. "That's amazing, dattebayo! So climbing trees and walking on water can help with chakra control? Alright! I'm in!"
Before Natsuki could even guide him, Naruto was already trying to gather chakra under his feet and walk up the tree. As expected—he slipped and fell.
He kept trying, over and over, each time ending in failure.
The others came over and couldn't help but laugh at his pitiful attempts.
Kiba laughed the loudest. "Pfft! Naruto, your chakra control is so bad you can't even climb a tree!"
Shikamaru and Shino exchanged glances but said nothing. They were sharp enough to know more about Naruto's background and could probably guess why he struggled so much. That's why they held their tongues.
Choji munched on snacks as he casually said, "Pretty sure this is basic stuff. My family made me learn it when I was little."
Ino and Hinata nodded—they both came from ninja clans and had grown up being guided and taught chakra control. It would be super embarrassing to graduate and still not be able to tree climb or water walk.
Sakura blushed a little. "Wait, this is basic? I didn't know that..."
Then she tried channeling chakra to her feet and walked toward a nearby tree. To everyone's surprise, she climbed up to the treetop with ease.
Immediately, she was brimming with confidence.
"Doesn't seem that hard."
"That just means your chakra control is very precise," Natsuki explained. "Also, there's another factor—your chakra reserves. If we compare the human body to a container and chakra to water, then Sakura, your chakra is like a cup of water, while Naruto's is like a whole swimming pool. That makes it easier for you to control."
Nani?! You could explain it like that?!
Sakura's freshly inflated confidence took a hit, but she had to admit—Natsuki made a lot of sense.
A cup of water was easier to control than a pool. Even if she had better control than Naruto, she couldn't get cocky—having less chakra meant less room to grow. If Naruto eventually learned control, he'd take off like a rocket and surpass most of them easily.
Naruto heard this and broke into a dumb smile. "So my chakra is that huge? Hey, that means I do have something good going for me!"
Ino rolled her eyes and snapped on Sakura's behalf. "What are you smiling for, idiot? Having lots of chakra doesn't mean squat if you're too dumb to control it. You'll still be the dead last!"
Naruto flared up. "No way! I will control it! I'm gonna learn tree climbing and water walking super fast, dattebayo!"
Everyone else just chuckled.
Sure, Naruto said he wanted to become Hokage. But so what? Who hasn't said big heroic stuff before?
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