At the Uchiha estate, a middle-aged man looked forlornly at his second son, who was sniveling in his eldest son's arms with an aggrieved expression. His head ached. Why did his second son have no manliness at all and do nothing but whimper? After hearing what had happened at school today, the middle-aged man had an even bigger headache.
Yes, this was Uchiha Fugaku's family. The one sniveling miserably in his eldest son's arms was none other than today's sensation at school, Sasuke Uchiha. His eldest son was Fugaku's pride, Uchiha Itachi. Compared with the still-sniffling Sasuke, Sasuke was practically a joke.
The sight gave Fugaku a relentless headache. The problem was that this had been a contest between children, so it would be inappropriate for an adult like him to interfere. Not to mention, the boy who had beaten his son was his old friend's orphan, the son of his wife's best friend, and the village's Jinchūriki. His buffs were stacked to the limit. His second son really was unlucky, picking the opponent with the most powerful backing.
Anyone expecting Fugaku to do something could forget it. What he needed to do now was think about how to face his clansmen next. His son really should not have disgraced the Uchiha Clan like this. It seemed he would have to intensify his training from now on.
Sasuke also noticed his father's shifting expressions. (Note: Fugaku's face changes cost no beans.) Itachi followed Sasuke's gaze, and good grief, his father's face was now thirty percent indifference, forty percent regret, ten percent lingering fear, and twenty percent frustration at his failure to live up to expectations.
Looking at Sasuke, still sniveling in his arms, Itachi sighed. He could not help thinking about the current relationship between the village and the Uchiha Clan, which inevitably gave him a headache. What would this little fellow do if he no longer had him around?
Unlike Sasuke, after giving him a thorough beating, Naruto had obediently gone off to rest. Still unwilling to give up, he even tried the ranked matches in his system again. Today, he was going to reach Jonin rank.
First came the message: "Matching you with an evenly matched opponent." Every time Naruto saw that, he wanted to curse. Evenly matched? Morefun, you must have some misunderstanding of what that means.
Next came the all-too-familiar ninja selection screen. Naruto picked his ninjas, the same familiar recipe, but this time things were different. After all these days of building up his resources, his secret scrolls had improved considerably. At the very least, they now suited his current ninjas. Still, ninja quality remained a major disadvantage. After all, everyone the system matched him against was a Super Kage with three thousand points. There was simply no way to fight them with those weak ninjas.
Still, there had been some changes. At the very least, he had gone from a budget setup to a mid-range one. For some ninjas, simply changing their secret scroll and adding exceptional game sense and mechanics could bring about a qualitative transformation.
Cyclone [Sasuke Uchiha] (B-rank ninja), Earth Tremor [Akatsuki Itachi], Super Armor [Sichuan Opera Jiraiya]
Looking at his selected ninjas, Naruto finally clicked to lock them in.
But when Naruto saw the opposing ninjas, his vision went dark again.
Opponent's ninjas: Lightning Strike [Ninja War Obito], Super Armor [Impure World Reincarnation Nagato], Uchiha Reflection [White Mask]
(PS: To keep some readers from getting confused, the names listed here are all abbreviations. Obito Uchiha (Ninja War) is shortened to [Ninja War Obito] or [Broken Mask Obito], Nagato (Impure World Reincarnation) to [Impure World Reincarnation Nagato], and Madara Uchiha (White Mask) to [White Mask].)
Naruto was already breaking into a cold sweat at the sight. The gap between their ninjas was a little too big.
"Sure, there's a bit of a gap in ninja quality, but my lineup is flawless. Sacrifice Sasuke at the start, and [Akatsuki Itachi] will have boundless power."
"Obito's happy, everybody's happy."
As the battle began, Naruto started playing.
All he could say was that there really was a huge gap between B-rank and S-rank ninjas. He had only just launched his first skill, Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Jutsu, and as it was about to hit the opposing [Ninja War Obito], his opponent successfully countered and entered perfect intangibility.
Naruto watched the opposing [Ninja War Obito] move like a ghost: feint dash, feint dash, real attack into a grab, then Blast Wave Wild Dance. Speechless, Naruto mashed substitution.
His opponent was also extremely confident. After dropping Naruto, he put some distance between them. The same old recipe followed: first skill, Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Jutsu. The opposing [Ninja War Obito] entered perfect intangibility again, repeated the same moves, and caught Naruto's ninja once more. Blast Wave Wild Dance. Naruto frantically mashed substitution. Afterward, the opposing [Ninja War Obito] unleashed his ultimate from center stage, a full-screen ultimate with nowhere to dodge.
"The chains of cause and effect in this world... I will sever them."
As the ultimate artwork appeared, Naruto's first little blue X appeared too.
With his next two ninjas, the opponent demonstrated what eighteen-year-old reflexes looked like. Whether Naruto used a skill, activated a secret scroll, or summoned, the opponent could react to everything and enter perfect intangibility. Looking at his three little blue Xs, Naruto fell silent. With reaction speed comparable to a script, he would believe it if someone said his opponent was cheating.
"Fuck, how am I supposed to fight this? He can even react to my basic attacks. That's insane. This is completely unplayable."
(PS: If you don't understand, you can try this mobile game. Play for a few days and you'll know what this means. Go on, play it. One session and you'll fall silent. (⊃‿⊂))
At last, the bell rang to end class. Naruto got up and walked out through the school gates, and his three little tails spawned behind him as usual. They were none other than the Ino-Shika-Cho trio from his year.
"Naruto, what are we having tonight?"
Shikamaru asked Naruto as they walked. Over the past few days, Naruto's cooking had completely won him over and thoroughly spoiled his palate. His mother's cooking was practically impossible to swallow now.
Naruto was also wondering what to have that evening. After thinking it over, a bold idea surfaced in his mind. They definitely would never have eaten this before. All he could say was that those who loved it really loved it, while those who did not could not stomach a single bite.
(PS: Feel free to guess. Here's a hint: it smells bad but tastes delicious.)
That evening, when the three saw the food Naruto served, they all howled like ghosts. There was no other reason; it simply stank too much. But at Naruto's insistence, they gave it a taste, and afterward, they fell completely in love with that strange flavor.
The three ate with great relish, and Naruto chuckled. See? With luosifen, there was only the first time and countless times after that. Once you boldly gave it a try, you would fall completely in love with the experience.
"Slurp, slurp. Naruto, another bowl."
Even though the spice had them grimacing, it still could not stop their determination to slurp down noodles.
Knock, knock, knock.
Hearing someone knock, Naruto hurriedly got up to open the door. When he opened it, he saw a blue-haired girl with white eyes standing outside, poking her two index fingers together. It was Hinata, all right.
"Naruto-kun."
"Hinata, what brings you here?"
After hearing Hinata's explanation, Naruto learned that the head of the Hyuga Clan, her father Hyuga Hiashi, had let her come out. As for why he had not allowed her to visit before, only to let her come build good relations with them today, that was such a difficult mystery. Wouldn't you agree, Sasuke?
"Come on in."
"Have you eaten, Hinata?"
Following Naruto inside, she saw Ino and the other two eating. Her delicate nose twitched, seemingly trying to catch the scent of the food drifting through the air, but she soon regretted it.
Covering her little nose with her hand, she said in disgust:
"Huh, Naruto-kun, what are you eating? Why does it smell so bad?"