"Substitute! Use your substitute!"
"I know, but I don't have any skills left!"
"Sigh... I lost again."
Naruto looked dejected. These days, after completing missions, he would almost always rush to Yuto's shop.
If Yuto hadn't decided against staying open at night, Naruto probably wouldn't even go home.
His opponent, a boy with delicate features, looked only two or three years older than Naruto.
But the aura they exuded was completely different.
"Haha... don't be discouraged, Naruto-kun~ Didn't you say you wanted to defeat Sasuke-kun?"
Naruto slumped on the round table and muttered, "Ahhh... when will I ever be able to beat that guy Sasuke?"
"If it weren't for him only playing two matches with me every day, I'd definitely go challenge him right now!"
At this moment, the guy who had been giving Naruto pointers earlier spoke up.
"Haha! I told you, Naruto, you're just too weak! Next time Sasuke comes over, make sure to call me. I'll help you get revenge!"
Naruto looked up at the masked guy.
"By the way, uncle, who are you? And I want to defeat Sasuke fair and square with my own strength."
The so-called 'masked guy' in Naruto's words was actually Elephant, an Anbu's member under the Third Hokage.
Elephant had been sent by Hiruzen to inform Kakashi to meet with him.
Then, Elephant stumbled upon this shop...
And then, he became engrossed in watching Naruto and Haku's battles.
Although Kakashi had already gone to see the Hokage, Elephant, who was responsible for delivering the message, stayed behind.
---
Haku, who had just been battling Naruto, smiled without saying a word.
He knew that Naruto would get so absorbed in the game that he wouldn't notice Sasuke had been using his Sharingan all along.
He knew the reason Sasuke only agreed to two matches a day was because he couldn't handle the strain of using his Sharingan for too long.
Seeing Naruto so dejected, completely unlike his usual self, Haku gently said, "Well... Naruto-kun, please fight me again. You're already very strong. You only lost to my first Ninja because of bad luck."
Hearing this, Naruto finally looked up at Haku, "Is... that so?"
"That's right. Let's have another match..."
---
Zabuza, who was sitting two seats away, looked at the Anbu, Elephant, with some dissatisfaction, and asked Yuto again.
"Manager... is it really okay to have someone from the Hokage here?"
Yuto remained calm.
"It's fine. Here, he's also a customer."
Yuto silently added in his heart, 'Anyone who spends money is a god... And Elephant and Yamato, under Kakashi's direct guidance, had each spent over a hundred thousand ryo on in-game currency.'
At this time, both of them had obtained the 100,000-ryo worth [Hatake Kakashi].
They had also pulled Zabuza and Haku from the gacha.
Meanwhile, Sasuke and Sakura, influenced by Kakashi's indirect persuasion, had also spent some money.
Sakura only used her mission earnings to spend a few thousand ryo, barely pulling a Haku. She was still about 20 fragments short of getting Zabuza.
As for Sasuke... this absolute whale had directly poured 300,000 ryo into the game!
This was something Yuto hadn't expected.
Therefore, when Yuto saw this data late at night, he almost cursed out loud.
He can only say: "As expected of the Uchiha Clan, the largest clan in Konoha in the past."
Although they have been gradually squeezed out of Konoha's core circle in the early years, but if the entire family's assets were concentrated in one person, what a terrifying amount of money would that be?
And Sasuke was the sole heir to all the direct and indirect assets of the Uchiha Clan!
So, Rice Young Master Sasuke's little spending spree moved Yuto deeply, especially since Yuto had just used up a little over 10,000 of his resource quota!
This was like sending charcoal in a snowstorm for Yuto! As a token of gratitude, Yuto silently adjusted Sasuke's gacha rates to be the same as Naruto's.
It can't be helped. The balance in Sasuke's account is too large. He had to increase the difficulty a bit, otherwise, it wouldn't stimulate the whale to spend more.
---
Zabuza didn't say much more and silently started testing the new version of the game that Yuto hadn't officially released yet.
However, it didn't take long for Zabuza to frown again.
"By the way... How dare the Sunagakure send its Jinchuriki to take part in the Chunin Exams? Will Konoha really allow that? Have they forgotten the Nine-Tails Attack?"
Yuto chuckled and said, "Haha... Zabuza, are you worried about Haku?"
Zabuza's frown deepened, "That guy? Even a regular Special Jonin wouldn't be a match for him. Why should I be worried?"
After Kakashi reported to the Hokage last time, the Hokage readily approved Zabuza's request.
In fact, both Konoha and Kirigakure intended to use this Chunin Exams to slightly thaw their long-strained relations.
And obviously, Mei was a reasonable person.
Konoha recognized this, so they weren't worried about Kirigakure sending Ninjas deeply entrenched in the Blood Mist era.
Unless they wanted to offend Konoha over this and plunge their newly improved relations back into the abyss.
As for Haku, Kakashi had personally vouched for him to the Hokage.
Although Kakashi didn't have to go that far, Zabuza and Haku couldn't help but respect him more after learning about it.
"Special Jonin? To be honest, if a Special Jonin were to face a few of the participants in this year's Chunin Exams, they'd be nothing more than cannon fodder."
Zabuza immediately pressed, "Who? Naruto? Or the Sunagakure's Jinchuriki?"
After the battle in the Land of Waves, Zabuza had learned that Naruto was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
He was well aware of the immense boost that Tailed Beast chakra could give to a Genin...
But when it came to Special Jonin... while Naruto's power with one tail might barely reach that level, he felt Naruto's combat awareness was far from that of a seasoned Jonin.
Regardless, the fear of Tailed Beasts and Jinchuriki was common in every village, though the degree varied.
After all, no one wanted a ticking time bomb sitting next to them.
The same logic applied to Sunagakure's Jinchuriki, which is why Zabuza already had an idea about that answer.
'But who else? From Boss's tone, it seemed there were more than just those two who could rival a Special Jonin.'
As Zabuza was considering whether to ask further, Yuto simply smiled and said, "You'll find out when the time comes. For now, help me test this new storyline and see if there are any loopholes."