Crazy Pack Opening

Not only was his wallet getting fatter, he'd also gained a generous new neighbor who treated him to Ichiraku Ramen every day. It hadn't taken long for them to start calling each other "bro."

Where could he find a meal ticket this good... I mean, a buddy this good?

Keiichi didn't mind being around Naruto anymore. Before, they hadn't had any connection, and suddenly getting close to him might have aroused the Anbu's suspicions.

Now they'd survived life and death together as comrades, so it was only natural for them to spend more time together, right?

But treating someone to a meal wasn't just about sucking up to the protagonist. That was where you'd be very wrong.

You couldn't catch a wolf without risking your child!

"Naruto, what would you say is the most important thing for a ninja?"

Watching Naruto finish his third bowl of ramen, Keiichi asked as if the question had just occurred to him.

"Of course it's perseverance and hard work!"

"What else?"

"Determination! Never giving up!"

"Anything else?"

"If you've got something to say, just say it! If you think of something, do it!"

"Uh... I don't mean those things. Didn't you learn anything from our last mission?"

"Learn what?" Naruto slurped up his noodles, question marks practically floating over his head.

"Think about it. How were we able to take down an enemy as powerful as Zabuza, even though we were only Genin?"

"Wasn't it because we took advantage of him when he was vulnerable?"

"Put it more tactfully, will you? Be tactful!"

"Then it was because we were strong!"

"You've got no strength to speak of!" Keiichi rolled his eyes.

"Then what should I say?"

Seeing how thick-headed Naruto was, Keiichi realized that leading him to the answer wasn't going to work. He'd have to spell it out.

"It was intelligence! We learned that Zabuza was still recovering from his serious injuries, and we found the location of his hideout. That's how a bunch of rookies like us were able to take him down. That shows just how important intelligence is!"

"Hmm, I guess that's true..." Naruto still seemed only half convinced.

"Then tell me, is intelligence worth money?"

"Of course it is! I know plenty of S-rank missions involve gathering intelligence in other countries. How could it not be valuable?" At the mention of money, Naruto perked right up.

"Then if I told you I had some intelligence that could help you pass the Chunin Exams, would you be willing to pay for it?" Keiichi smiled, looking just like the swindler next door.

"Well..." Naruto hesitated.

"You've picked a bad friend." Teuchi, who was preparing noodles nearby, couldn't help sighing as if to himself.

"Uncle, have you ever heard of the Otsutsuki?" Keiichi turned to ask.

Teuchi's normally steady hand trembled slightly, but he quickly shook his head. "N-no, never heard of them."

"Good. Then give Naruto another bowl!"

"Ah..." Teuchi had been successfully bribed.

"Keiichi, what are you really up to? You're not trying to take my money, are you?" Teuchi's warning had gotten through to Naruto. He clutched his wallet and looked at Keiichi like he was a pickpocket.

"Naruto, how confident are you that you'll pass the Chunin Exams?"

"Of course I'm 1,000% confident!"

"But aren't you worried Sakura might not become a Chunin? You won't be the same rank anymore. Would you still be able to go on missions together?"

The words struck him right in the heart. His hand loosened around his wallet.

"Give Sakura the intelligence I'm offering you. Not only will it help her become a Chunin, it'll win her heart, too. What could be a better deal? What's a little money compared to that?"

"Keiichi, you're absolutely right! I'll buy your intelligence! How much?" Naruto's eyes lit up, and he was convinced in an instant.

"It's cheap, it's cheap. Just 1,000 ryo."

"What?! It's that cheap?!" Naruto was stunned, then visibly moved. Now that was a true friend!

Then he watched Keiichi pull a scroll out of his bag and place it in front of him.

Naruto paid eagerly and opened the scroll on the spot.

With a poof, the items sealed inside fell onto the table. There were three cards.

Naruto picked them up. Each card featured a different ninja. Two were from outside the village, while the other was a Konoha Ninja.

The important thing was that the information on the cards was incredibly detailed. Each ninja was rated across eight categories—ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, intelligence, strength, speed, stamina, and hand seals—making it easy to see how strong they were and what they specialized in.

They also included detailed analyses of the five elemental nature transformations each ninja specialized in, the ninja tools they used, things to watch out for, and more.

The information was worth far more than 1,000 ryo. Even Naruto knew he'd made a huge bargain.

"Why are there only three people?" Naruto asked after his excitement died down a little.

"Look at the number in the bottom-right corner. There are 108 different cards in total. Each scroll has three random cards. You get whatever you pull."

Naruto immediately bought another scroll. When he opened it, sure enough, it contained three different character cards.

He even recognized one of them: his old classmate, Shikamaru Nara.

"Hey, hey, this guy's intelligence is a ten? That's ridiculous!" Naruto thought the stats looked fake. How could Shikamaru be that smart? He'd never noticed.

"If you ever go up against him, you'll see just how true that information is."

"I still don't think he's that smart!" Naruto stubbornly stuck to his opinion.

Heh. When you start using Shikamaru as your external brain, remember what you said today!

Naruto was getting hooked. He kept reaching for his money to buy more scrolls. At first, things went well, but by the time he bought his tenth scroll, he started getting duplicate character cards.

The duplicates weren't very common, though, so he didn't think he was losing out. He kept spending money hand over fist to open more packs.

When he pulled the last coin from his wallet, a bewildered look suddenly appeared in his eyes. He was clutching a pile of cards, no longer sure whether he'd made a profit or taken a loss.

By then, Keiichi had already paid the bill with Naruto's money and left, satisfied.

He'd done the deed and slipped away without a trace.

Heh, did you think I was just trying to swindle Naruto out of a little money?

Bringing the gacha mechanics of trashy mobile game companies into the Shinobi World—how much should I be rewarded for this stroke of genius?

Naruto looked around, but Keiichi had already disappeared. All he could do was squat on a bench and sort through the cards he'd pulled.

Only then did he realize that even after opening over a hundred packs, he had just sixty-seven unique cards. The rest were all identical junk.

According to Keiichi, there were ten opponents who demanded the most attention. They were all classified as SSR, the hardest cards to pull.

Among the cards he'd collected, only Shikamaru Nara was SSR. Most of the rest were N and R ranks, and he'd barely gotten any SR cards.

Still, it didn't matter. With all this intelligence, he was sure to have a huge advantage in the Chunin Exams!

So he went off to brag to Sakura, already imagining how delighted she'd be. Maybe she'd even fall for him right then and there.

What if she wanted to kiss me? That'd be so embarrassing...

Lost in his fantasies, Naruto arrived at Sakura's house, only to be told she'd gone to see Sasuke. His heart, moments ago burning with hope, instantly turned cold.

Damn it, that Sasuke again!

What he didn't know was that Sakura was also on her way to brag to Sasuke, carrying a thick stack of cards. But when she saw Sasuke carefully examining cards of his own, she froze. They stared at each other, and the atmosphere grew awkward.

"You bought yours from Keiichi?"

"You did too..."

"Mm..."

"Mm..."

Keiichi, you damn swindler!

Chapter 30: Crazy Pack Opening

In less than two days, the atmosphere throughout Konoha had turned strangely subdued. The number of altercations had plummeted, and public order had improved so much that lost items went untouched.

It couldn't be helped. The people most likely to cause trouble were all absorbed in the fun of opening packs. Who had time to start fights?

Why had they been deliberately causing trouble in the first place?

Wasn't it because they wanted to size up the Konoha Ninjas and gather more intelligence on them in private?

Now they didn't have to. They could just buy these Ninja Star Scrolls for 1,500 ryo a pack at the ninja tool shop and easily get detailed information on their competitors. Why wouldn't they?

At the current market rate, if you wanted to get information on an exam candidate from an intelligence broker, it would cost at least 100,000 ryo.

And now?

You might pull the card of the candidate you wanted from a single pack. That was a much better deal than hiring an intelligence broker.

Of course, some people had bad luck and might spend two or three hundred thousand ryo without pulling the card they wanted. Even so, they still thought it was a good deal.

After all, they could pull cards for plenty of other candidates along the way. That was still a profit, wasn't it?

The intelligence brokers who had flocked to Konoha suddenly realized they were out of work. No one was buying information from them anymore. Their once-busy offices now sat empty!

Their superiors were deeply dissatisfied with their work, and their very value was being questioned.

It didn't take long for them to figure out the source of the problem. They loathed the appearance of the Ninja Star Scrolls. Who knew what kind of person had made these little cards, or where they'd dug up so many top-secret details?

So this group of "unemployed" brokers quickly banded together and decided to fight back. They planned to bring their clan influence to bear and stop the Ninja Star Scrolls from being sold.

But they ran into a huge obstacle at the very first step. More than a dozen prestigious shinobi clans were involved in these little Ninja Star Scrolls. How could they possibly hope to challenge that?

If you can't beat them, join them. So they came up with a plan that was better than no plan at all.

They decided to buy Ninja Star Scrolls themselves, compile all the information, and sell the information on the rarest SR and SSR cards at a high price. Since those two types were so difficult to pull, they were sure to find plenty of buyers.

Once all the information on the cards had been leaked, people would naturally stop buying them. Then the intelligence brokers could go back to being Konoha's biggest information dealers.

But when they put their plan into action, they suddenly felt they'd been cheated. Judging by the numbering, there had to be at least ten SSR cards, but after opening a full ten thousand packs, they'd only pulled five. They had no information at all on the other five.

The problem was, those five were all top contenders—the ones drawing the most attention—yet they had almost no information on them.

Damn it, there had to be something wrong with the drop rate!

That meant they couldn't even become middlemen. The more they wanted to pull information on the remaining five, the more enthusiastically everyone would open packs.

And they had to grit their teeth and keep buying. Otherwise, wouldn't all their previous investment go to waste?

"Damn it, Desert Scavenger King? What kind of stupid title is that? Is Konoha making fun of me?" After spending a fortune, Kankuro finally pulled his own card and threw it to the ground in anger.

Kankuro had been eager to find out what his title was. But once he learned what it was, he flew into a rage.

"Isn't mine just as bad? Iron Fan Princess... That's ridiculous. My fan's made of paper!" Temari's expression darkened as she held up the card she'd just pulled.

Yes, everyone cared about their titles. That was also why the Ninja Star Scrolls had become such a huge hit.

Before, only Jonin who'd made a name for themselves while traveling the Shinobi World could earn a title. Who would know a mere Genin?

But ever since the Ninja Star Scrolls appeared, people had realized they could earn a title without working hard at all. All they had to do was spread the word, right?

So if I get promoted to full-fledged Jonin someday, won't I instantly become an Elite Jonin?

Every country was watching this year's Chunin Exams. Now that these little cards had become so popular, more or less everyone had already gained some degree of fame before the exams had even begun.

The SSR-tier contenders in particular had drawn everyone's attention.

"I wonder what kind of title Gaara will get."

"Even if the title's a bit insulting, whoever made these cards does have a good eye. I heard the intelligence brokers made a list matching each number to a candidate. So far, they still don't know who four of the SSR cards belong to, but Gaara must be one of them."

Glancing at the expressionless Gaara, Kankuro spoke with pride. "Naturally. If you ask me, Gaara should be in a class of his own. No one could possibly be his match!"

"Kankuro, what I'm really concerned about is that of the six SSR candidates whose identities have been revealed, you and I are the only ones from our side. Konoha has four. I suspect this could be some kind of plot by Konoha!"

"Why do you say that?"

"Have you forgotten the purpose of our mission? We're here to give Konoha a warning and knock them off their high horse. But now that these little cards have appeared, most of the SSRs are from Konoha. It's as if they're deliberately creating the impression that Konoha is still the leader of the Five Great Shinobi Villages."