Naruto Online: The Strongest Player

Chapter 93: Chunin Exams?!

This has been an extremely stressful past few weeks for me. My guild leader—the person I entrusted with my entire future—had basically disappeared. I understood that he had more important matters to deal with, that his path involved far greater stakes than mine, but still… how did he expect me to run an entire player base inside one of the major villages without proper oversight?

Sure, he gave me objectives. Clear ones. For that, I was grateful. At least I had direction. But he didn't really care how I got it done. You know what? I don't want to start ranting about him again. Because if I start, I'll be ranting for hours.

The first few days in the real world while setting up the guild were brutal. Just as expected, the Berserkers were furious that I was creating a new guild. Luckily—just as Matthew had predicted—my father backed me. In fact, he funded the entire operation.

Thanks to that, I was able to locate and recruit a number of talented ninja players who knew how to keep quiet. Even Ayumi, Ryuko, and Mio surfaced, each taking command of their own squads. The guild was finally in full flow. Every player within our ranks was at least Chūnin-ranked.

I didn't know our total guild size since I only oversaw operations within the Land of Fire. But within the Village Hidden in the Leaves alone, I had 50 members. Compared to the thousands—maybe tens of thousands—in the major guilds, it was nothing.

But it was a start.

The ten major guilds had been building their presence for years. My 50 members were all fresh—recruits pulled out of the underground world and into something sustainable. For most of them, this guild was their ticket into one of the safe-haven cities in the real world. Their chance to earn a living on their own.

These 50 didn't even include the squad leaders, myself, or the Guild Master. Out of the 50, 40 belonged to the squads of Ayumi, Ryuko, and Mio. I ran my own squad as well. The remaining 10? They were focused on earning money through content creation.

They streamed exclusive footage from the Land of Fire—footage that ordinary players wouldn't be able to access for months. It was a smart misdirection. While the major guilds were focused on tracking our activities through these streams, they remained completely oblivious to our actual operations.

Recently, the war had officially ended. The system had announced it: the great conflict was over. Every faction had returned to their homelands. The Nara clan member within the Land of Mist had been captured by Nido-sensei, though he hadn't shared any specifics. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that this Nara wasn't just a footnote. Something about him would matter later.

Maybe in another main quest...

For now, with the war over, things were back to normal missions—not life-or-death confrontations every time. Sure, tensions remained high among the nations, but the chaos of wartime was behind us.

I was back in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, waiting for Yoru. Matthew hadn't logged out this week, and whenever he didn't meet with me in the real world for more than a week's worth of in-game time, he'd send Yoru with updated instructions.

Currently, I was at Ichiraku Ramen—Matthew's old favorite spot from when he still operated openly in the Land of Fire.

"Hey," a slightly squeaky, youthful voice called out. It had a strange maturity to it. "You..."

I turned toward the sound.

"You were a part of Shikomu's squad, right?"

The speaker was a young boy with spiky blond hair and whisker-like marks on his cheeks.

Naruto Uzumaki.

The moment he mentioned Shikomu's name, I stiffened. I knew Shikomu's real identity. I'd spent more time with him in the real world than in the Elemental Nations game, so hearing his in-game name now felt strange.

"Yes," I said quietly. "I was part of his squad."

"I see," Naruto replied, his voice subdued. Clearly, the name brought up pain.

Many in the village hadn't taken Shikomu's supposed death well. To be honest, it was mostly Naruto, Ino Yamanaka, and Rock Lee who truly mourned. They were the ones who had been closest to him. Ino and Lee had already come to check on both Ayumi and me, since we were in his squad.

Naruto was the last.

And it seemed like he had waited until the war was over to finally approach me.

…

"I'm sorry for not meeting you sooner," Naruto started off.

I didn't really say anything in response.

"I think I can safely say that Shikomu was the first person in the entire world—other than Iruka-sensei and old man Hokage—to spend real time with me. I know that newly graduated ninja are always busy, but somehow he still made time to have a bowl of ramen with me."

His voice was calm but heavy with emotion.

"He was one of my closest friends. Someone I could talk to about my day, and he'd just sit and listen, like it actually mattered."

Naruto gave a short, quiet laugh.

"Normally, people just tell me how annoying I am."

He paused.

"No one wants to tell me how he died. All they say is that it was during some combat incident. But I'm giving you my word," he said, locking eyes with me. There was no wavering in his expression—just sheer, unwavering conviction. "I will find out what happened to him. Whatever it takes. And you can hold me to that."

He stood up then, not even ordering a bowl.

"Because I never go back on my word. And that… that is my ninja way."

With that, he turned and walked off, not even giving me the chance to respond.

It felt like what he was saying was more for himself than it was for me. As if he needed to hear his own conviction spoken aloud—to remind himself of the kind of person he wanted to be. I didn't have the heart to tell him that Shikomu was still alive.

Right as Naruto left the shop, a black cat trotted in and hopped onto the table. It looked me dead in the eyes, then proceeded to completely ignore my existence as it started licking its paws.

I deadpanned.

And waited.

Ten minutes passed. Then fifteen.

The cat continued its meticulous self-cleaning, as if I were no more significant than a misplaced chopstick.

I sighed. "Mr. Shopkeeper, do you have any tuna cans?"

The shopkeeper gave me a knowing look and nodded, disappearing into the back to fetch some.

As soon as he returned and I cracked open the can, the cat's ears perked up.

Finally, I had Yoru's attention.

"Hi Yuki!" she chirped brightly, as if I had just appeared out of thin air.

As the cat began eating, I asked, "Does he have anything he particularly wants me to do?"

"Yes," she replied mid-chew, still focused on the tuna.

I took in a deep breath, trying to remain patient. "And can you please tell me what it is?"

"Sure," she replied casually.

I waited.

She kept eating.

I poked her gently.

She hissed, clearly interpreting my action as a threat to her tuna.

I moved the can slightly away, hoping to get her attention. "Could you please tell me right now?"

"Oh," she said, finally realizing what was happening. "Well," she paused, thinking deeply, "he said something about looking into Team 7—whatever that is—and keeping track of the members' behaviors, reporting back to him."

She paused again, then added, "And also, if you could, you should try to get a summoning contract with the toads. But if you couldn't, that was fine too."

I nodded. That was a fairly straightforward request. I stood up, ready to leave.

"You know, Yuki," Yoru said, licking the last of the tuna from the can, "you've been very nice to me. Always getting me food."

'Well, because you wouldn't reply to me if I didn't get you food,' I thought internally.

She continued, "So I'll give you a hint about something big that's going to happen."

"And what is that?" I asked.

"Well... it's about the Chūnin Selection Exam of course!"

"The Chūnin Selection Exams?" I repeated, confused.

Yoru nodded.

"And what is that?" I asked her to which she replied, "I don't know, how am I supposed to know what that means?"

The black cat then only blinked at me, now looking just as confused as I felt.

I couldn't help but sigh. Dealing with this cat was a massive headache.

"So what's the hint then?"

"No matter what happens," she said with an oddly serious tone—comedic, really, coming from a kitten-sized black cat still licking her paws, "if you see someone lick their lips and the tongue seems a bit long... run. Run as fast as you can. Even if it means failing."

And with that cryptic message, she poofed away in a puff of chakra smoke, leaving me alone, staring out of the shop.

With what felt like completely useless information.

…

Authors note:

You can read some chapters ahead if you want to on my p#treon.com/Fat_Cultivator