Duel!!

In Sealing Jutsu sensei's office, Natsuhiko, not knowing what kind of storm he had unleashed with his current invention, was explaining to Kushina the use of the cards and Duel Disk.

He first took out a card from his pocket to show Kushina the previously empty rune, which was filled now.

Next, Natsuhiko tapped the card onto the card slot of the Duel Disk. A clear and hearty male voice echoed in the office.

"Trust me... and I trust all of you... This... is the Hokage!"

Without any warning, a silhouette of a man wearing layered red armor and striking a combat pose appeared in front of Natsuhiko.

Although Kushina was mentally prepared, she was still slightly surprised when she saw the man's appearance, which was very similar to the Hokage's sculpture she saw every day.

Yes! This was none other than the legendary God of Shinobi—Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage, and a notorious gambler.

"So, this is the appearance of the First Hokage... my grandfather?" After the initial surprise, Kushina's curiosity took over, and she began to circle around Senju Hashirama's projection.

She looked from east to west and even tried touching him, but unfortunately, it was without any suspense—just an illusory shadow with no substance.

After satisfying her curiosity, Kushina tilted her head, used her slender index finger to tap her chin, and made a comment.

"He's not as handsome as I imagined. I wonder what Grandma Mito saw in him?"

Hey, Kushina! After all that time, this is what you were thinking?

Natsuhiko couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. And where did that unexpected hostility towards the First Hokage come from? You haven't even met him!

Seeing Natsuhiko's strange expression, Kushina remembered the main topic. She walked to Natsuhiko, held, and examined the card that had been slapped onto the Duel Disk.

To her surprise, she found that after using the card, the paper part hadn't suffered any damage. Only the previously filled rune had disappeared.

"I understand!" Kushina suddenly had a lightning flash through her mind as if she underwent some enlightenment . "The actual use of projection is with this... Duel Disk. There must be corresponding rune technique formulas drawn inside it. The runes on the card only serve as a triggering function and don't participate in the actual construction of the technique formula. That's why even such poor-quality paper can withstand it and be reused continuously!"

She clasped her hands together, her face filled with excitement as she analyzed.

"I won't exaggerate, it is not for continuous reuse. This method still damages the paper. I tested it, and after about twenty uses, various problems started to appear. After thirty uses, it becomes completely unusable," Natsuhiko corrected Kushina's statement. "And although I designed a chakra diversion circuit inside the Duel Disk to make it more durable, the components inside will still gradually wear out. In reality, it only reduces the material cost for early students by about 1/4."

Natsuhiko corrected Kushina but still praised her, "However, you were right about other aspects. Truly fitting of Mito-sama's disciple."

Since discovering that Kushina was an invisible rich lady, Natsuhiko decided to be gentler with her.

"No, the one who came up with this method is you, Natsuhiko! You're a genius!" Kushina said enthusiastically.

"No, no, this method still has many flaws. For example, it can only be used for practising small sections of rune technique formulas. It's very difficult for you to understand it so quickly, Kushina," Natsuhiko explained. "No, no, no, I just came up with it following your line of thought. You, who invented this method, are a genius!"

"No, no, no, no..."

...

"Okay, let's stop praising each other like this."

To put an end to the meaningless modesty, Natsuhiko raised his hand to suggest, "How about we use this game to determine a winner? Whoever wins will be the true genius."

Isn't this prize a bit strange?

Kushina wanted to comment, but her attention was quickly drawn to other words.

"Determine a winner?" Kushina's eyes gradually widened. "Does this game have other gameplay besides projecting characters?"

...

(─.─||)

Natsuhiko was somewhat speechless.

So, you thought that what was just shown was the entire content of this game?

What kind of rubbish is this!

Even the most rubbish games wouldn't just make players watch! At least you could choose poses!

It seemed that the entertainment activities in the Ninja World were too scarce. Even projecting characters was considered a fun game by her.

If he had a toy like this in his previous life that could only project characters, he...

Well, he probably would have bought it like a crazy maniac.

Then he would have projected Tsunade sitting on a stool, and watch her for the whole day without any pause .

Shaking his head to cast away these strange thoughts, Natsuhiko opened his mouth and said, "Explaining it is too troublesome. Let's just start a game to demonstrate."

"Sure!" Kushina nodded eagerly with anticipation.

So, Natsuhiko took out a deck of cards and handed another Duel Disk on the table to Kushina. He then took out Senju Hashirama's card and led Kushina to a relatively empty corner of the office.

Next, he took out another deck, inserted it into the corresponding position on the Duel Disk's circular tray.

Kushina, in imitation, clumsily put on the Duel Disk and inserted the card deck.

Seeing that Kushina was ready after making an OK gesture, Natsuhiko explained, "To identify the opponent for the duel, both players need to shout 'Duel' at the same time at the beginning of the game.'"

"Why not just use '

duel' directly?" Kushina asked.

"Emmmm... because the word 'duel' is sometimes used in daily life, and it might accidentally trigger the projections..."

Natsuhiko explained somewhat unsure, as he didn't want to admit that it was just his temporary chuunibyou phase that led to creating certain rules and designs.

However, Kushina surprisingly believed it, looking at Natsuhiko with sympathy.

Natsuhiko, what kind of daily life did you have before?

As expected, what the Third-Kage grandfather told her was true—people outside the village lived in dire straits.

To avoid stirring up sad memories for Natsuhiko, Kushina quickly asked Natsuhiko how to pronounce the word.

So, an impromptu English class began.

"Duel!" Natsuhiko pronounced in a formal tone.

"丢啊?" Kushina tilted her head, trying to mimic.

"It's 'Duel,'" Natsuhiko corrected.

"斗哇?"

"It's 'Duel.'"

...

Ten minutes later.

"It seems that we need to add a function that can recognize the opponent without using voice commands in the future," Natsuhiko wiped off some sweat and whispered to himself.

Fortunately, Kushina eventually learned.

The two stood several metres apart again. Both of them struck a pose, and after counting down three, two, one, they simultaneously shouted:

"Duel!!!"

The duel officially began!

As soon as the two finished their words, Kushina saw a large number appear above Natsuhiko's head: 20, accompanied by an illusory shadow resembling a copper coin.

Subconsciously, she looked up and found the same thing above her head.

"The number above the head represents the life points each player has. When it reaches zero, the person loses," Natsuhiko began explaining. "The copper coin next to it represents the cost needed when playing cards. The maximum value increases by one point each turn, up to a maximum of ten points. It also resets to zero if not used by the end of each turn."

"You can think of players as Daimyo hiring ninjas to fight, and the copper coins are the hiring fees."

"Now, let's each draw five cards."

After drawing five cards, Natsuhiko continued, "At the start of the duel, the Duel Disk randomly determines the turn order. This time, I will go first, and it's a perfect opportunity to demonstrate to you."

"At the beginning of each turn, you can draw a card. However, for balance, the player going first in the first turn cannot draw a card."

Natsuhiko glanced at the cards in his hand and drew one, slamming it onto the Duel Disk.

The next moment, a small silhouette with silver curly hair appeared in front of him.

[Natsuhiko Amou (Genin)]

[Cost: 1, Attack: 1, Life Points: 2]

[No effect: I've dragged the organisation down again.]

[Introduction: A plain Genin. No one would have expected that he would become the inventor of this game and even put himself into the game.]

Pffft~

Kushina burst into laughter when she saw the guy with silver curly hair. "Natsuhiko, why did you turn yourself into a card character?"

"No choice. Most historical characters aren't suitable for low-cost cards," Natsuhiko said helplessly. "Instead of creating a fictional character, I might as well use myself."

"Actually, I plan to add students into this game later, considering it as a reward for the top performers in the Sealing Jutsu exam."

Natsuhiko continued explaining, "If there are no special effects, all units summoned need to wait for one turn before they can attack. Now it's your turn."

Afterwards, Natsuhiko declared the end of his turn.

"Okay!" Kushina complied eagerly.

Having just watched Natsuhiko's demonstration, she felt the game was quite simple. With confidence, she drew a card and began her exciting journey into Geki-Nin.

"It's my turn now. I'll draw a card!"

(End of this chapter)

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