Inside a classroom at Konoha Village's Ninja Academy, everything suddenly fell silent—everyone was stunned without exception.
They stared at the two suddenly empty seats, mouths agape, unable to utter a single word.
Naruto...
Sasuke...
They were gone!!
Shikamaru tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his expression gradually growing serious.
So Naruto and Sasuke had been chosen? Was it really random?
No good, there was no way to analyze this.
Everything had changed too quickly—the mysterious light screen, the future prophecy...
"Tch! Graduation's right around the corner and something like this happens. What a drag," Shikamaru muttered.
"Do you think... Naruto and the others are okay?" Chōji whispered, voice low and cautious.
Besides Shikamaru and Chōji, Sakura, Ino, and the others exchanged looks of confusion, unsure what expressions to wear.
Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office—
"Why Naruto and Sasuke?"
The Third Hokage reacted most strongly. Like Shikamaru, he was puzzled as to why those two were chosen.
A Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, and the last of the Uchiha.
Was it because of those identities that they were picked? But they vanished from the village without a trace...
Of course, the Third had been notified immediately. Because of that, an unsettling thought took root in his mind:
Could it be... that this was all real?
Naruto and Sasuke's sudden disappearance only caused a stir in Konoha. Other villages were at most curious about Sasuke's Uchiha surname.
Clever minds like Kakashi's, however, knew that the wisest course was to avoid rash action.
Panicking wouldn't help. Worrying was meaningless. Only by understanding the information at hand could they determine the next move.
Remaining unmoved in the face of chaos—that was true wisdom.
The entire Ninja World seemed to quiet down. Everyone waited silently for what would appear next on the light screen.
About ten minutes later—
Fwoosh!!
The image on the screen sharpened quickly. It showed a medium-sized arena, without any obstacles, enclosed by what looked like a ring of trees.
In the center of the arena stood two figures in a face-off stance, locked in a tense stare.
Who else could it be but Naruto and Sasuke!
Both wore expressionless faces, but their gazes were locked, taut with tension—a powder keg ready to ignite.
"Sasuke, you saw those things... too, right?"
"Yeah. Hard to believe, huh?"
In two small, isolated rooms outside the duel arena, Naruto and Sasuke each sat alone.
They held smartphones in their hands.
A microphone at the top allowed them to communicate with each other, and they realized their experiences had been exactly the same.
"The Ninja Mobile Game, huh."
Sasuke clenched his fists, a unique expression forming on his face—one only seen when he'd discovered something incredible.
It was... joy mixed with surprise!
He looked around, then stomped lightly on the floor.
It felt incredibly real—this wasn't genjutsu. It was as if he'd been instantly transported to another world.
Ten minutes earlier, he had arrived in this small, empty room—with only a phone in sight.
The moment he picked it up, a flood of information hit him, including what he was expected to do here.
A game, yes—but also a battle!
A battle unlike any normal ninja fight. They were to use a game console to control their characters.
"Huh? I'm in here? Let me see... Sakura, Shikamaru, Kiba, Chōji... ah! Sasuke too!"
Naruto fiddled with the phone, discovering twelve playable characters—including himself.
All of them were his classmates. Very familiar faces.
But there was one difference—each of the twelve wore a forehead protector, signifying they had successfully graduated from the Ninja Academy.
"Hehe~ Looks like we're the ones who made it through, eh?" Naruto said proudly.
Besides ninjas, there were also Summonings and Secret Techniques.
Summon creatures were way cooler than ninjas to Naruto—it was a new concept for him. He flipped through them in the training room multiple times before deciding on Enma.
No particular reason—at least it looked cooler than dogs, snakes, or toads.
As for Secret Techniques, Naruto hesitated.
But he only had ten minutes to get familiar with the controls, so he just messed around briefly in the training room.
Now, ten minutes later, Naruto controlling [Naruto Uzumaki] and Sasuke controlling [Sasuke Uchiha] were about to begin their battle.
That's right—they both chose to play as themselves!
Which explained why everyone could now see the two standing in the arena on the light screen, ready to fight.
For most viewers, who didn't understand the technical details, it simply looked like Naruto and Sasuke were going to have a direct, physical fight.
At the center of the screen was a 60-second countdown timer. On both sides were Naruto and Sasuke's avatars, with health bars behind them.
Even if people didn't get it, the fight was about to begin—so they had nothing more to say but watch.
[3]
Naruto was a bit nervous—his palms were sweating as he gripped the controller tightly.
[2]
Sasuke took a deep breath, eyes wide and bloodshot, locked onto the game screen.
[1]
For some reason, as this moment approached, many across the Ninja World suddenly felt their hearts skip a beat—like they were witnessing the beginning of a new era.
[Battle Start!]
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
The moment he could move, Sasuke immediately launched his first skill, spitting a massive fireball straight ahead.
Naruto jumped in surprise—nearly got scorched in the face! But unfortunately, the attack's range fell just short.
Put simply, Sasuke whiffed his skill.
But just as the fireball faded, Naruto used his first skill too—summoning a shadow clone for support while the main body charged up a Rasengan.
It collided with the last edge of the fireball—his skill got interrupted, leaving him in a vulnerable hit-stun state.
Sasuke grinned inwardly and dashed forward, trying to follow up with his second skill—Lion's Barrage.
But Lion's Barrage had even less range, and it failed to connect. Instead, Naruto's frantic button-mashing landed his second skill, launching Sasuke into the air.
And just like that, Sasuke lost the opening momentum.
Back in Konoha, inside an unopened shop, Takuya had one hand over his forehead.
So this... was the legendary true noob?
Standing still at the X-axis at the start of the match, burning both skills immediately—whoever connects first depends entirely on skill range!
Oh right, and instant substitutions!
In the duel arena, Sasuke refused to take even a sliver of damage and instantly used Substitution Jutsu to break out and auto-attack Naruto.
Not to be outdone, Naruto substituted after being hit once and chased Sasuke with a basic attack—but missed, because Sasuke turned and ran.
"Beautiful, beautiful," Takuya clapped appreciatively. "The first ever Sub-bait with a single A in the Ninja World!"