On the night of October 27th, at the Shinobi Tavern.
The tavern had an industrial-style atmosphere.
Its exposed brick walls, concrete floors, metal tables and chairs, and simple hanging lights combine to create a rugged yet unique atmosphere.
As usual, Natsuhiko sat at the bar, holding a glass of "Green water," teaching Might Duy the techniques and tactics necessary for being a waiter.
"Mr. Duy, although most customers come here to play cards and head straight to the gaming machines upon entering, we can't overlook formal communication with them."
"We need to build a bond with them, make them feel at home, so that we can do business in the long run."
Might Duy, behind the bar, eagerly asked, "How should I do that specifically?"
Natsuhiko took a sip of his "Green water" and said:
"The most basic thing is to provide support while they're playing cards."
"You can say, 'I think you can win this round,' or 'I'll support you secretly, don't tell anyone.'"
"And don't forget to say the same thing to players on both sides, don't show favouritism either."
Might Duy had already taken out a notebook and was earnestly taking notes.
Natsuhiko continued:
"But flattery like this is far from enough; it's best to give appropriate comments based on the situation of the game."
"If they're playing well, say 'This is exactly how the game should be played, you're really talented, my friend,' 'Watching you play cards is a feast to my eyes'..."
"If a player is falling behind, you should say, 'It's okay, life is inevitably full of ups and downs,' 'The situation isn't too bad yet'..."
Might Duy started to look worried as he took notes.
"But, Natsuhiko-Sensei, I'm not very good at this Shinobi card game, I can't really tell if they're playing well or not. What if I say the opposite thing as compared to the situation?"
Natsuhiko swirled the liquid in his glass, a whimsical arc forming at the corner of his mouth: "Wouldn't that be even better..."
Playing cards without a bit of banter always feels like something needs to be added.
"What?" Might Duy think he had misheard?
"Oh, what I meant was, as long as you're sincere, even if you make a mistake, everyone will definitely not mind."
"That's right! As long as I'm sincere, everyone will feel my enthusiasm!"
Might Duy excitedly clench his notebook, his eyes igniting with flames?
"Alright! I'm going to try it now!"
With that, he strode towards the gaming machine area, ready to put into practice what Natsuhiko had taught him.
"Go ahead, let everyone feel the pain Bob brought to me in my past life..."
Natsuhiko watched Might Duy's confident figure and muttered to himself.
Then he chuckled and opened the system interface, starting his research for the night.
Just like the Duel Disk, his Shinobi gaming machine had a mechanism that took 30% of the chakra provided by customers as commission.
Natsuhiko still used this chakra on the prototype, conducting analysis and testing on the runes.
In addition, his perseverance in the school library over the past two months has significantly increased his knowledge.
Therefore, Natsuhiko's sealing technique made substantial progress, and many stagnant research studies made breakthroughs.
However, with so much to research, Natsuhiko felt a bit overwhelmed, feeling like his three shadow clones weren't enough.
It's a happy trouble.
Finally, Natsuhiko temporarily focused most of his energy on shadow clone jutsu and sensory arrays.
Researching shadow clone jutsu naturally only needed a little explanation from his end; this technique was an essential key to researching chakra essence.
The sensory arrays were needed because Natsuhiko's current sensor array accuracy couldn't keep up with his research needs and needed to be updated.
Moreover, its principle of sensing chakra could be seen as a kind of wireless communication technology, an indispensable cornerstone for Natsuhiko's building a chakra network.
Recent research has revealed some breakthroughs in both areas.
While Natsuhiko was studying how to simplify the structure of sensory array jutsu further,
A commotion came from the gaming machine area, quickly catching his attention.
He closed the interface, turned his head, and saw Might Duy's figure faintly visible in the centre of the crowd.
So his expression couldn't help but become strange.
Could the effect of the Yin-Yang technique he had just taught Might Duy be too strong?
Or is it that the residents of the shinobi world still need to be baptised by the internet, and their tolerance for banter needs to be higher?
Did he try it and die?
However, when he stood up and looked, he found that the conflict was between two players, and Might Duy was just trying to stop it, which relieved him.
Players quarrelling happened every day, and he wasn't surprised.
After all, in the previous life, people who played Hearthstone engaged in quarrels and arguments to play with each other's psyche.
The chances of quarrelling were more imminent in the Shinobi card game as people played it face-to-face.
But since Might Duy was handling it, Natsuhiko wasn't in a hurry either, considering it as an exercise for Might Duy's body.
He saw a colourful-haired guy, obviously transformed with a transformation technique, hiding behind Might Duy with an innocent look, shouting:
"How can you get angry when you lose? You can't even handle it, a loss?"
"I was even being polite with you. Before defeating you with my Flame Ball jutsu, I even said 'sorry'."
"Was that said in a 'sorry' tone?"
The other party in the dispute, a rare black-haired youth who hadn't used a transformation technique, was so angry that he wanted to rush over just to smack him.
Fortunately, Might Duy stopped him, saying, "Dear Guest, forget it, please forget it, why not have a glass of green juice to calm down? My treat..."
At this point, Natsuhiko's gaze fell on the colourful-haired guy, and a glint flashed in his eyes, revealing the other's true identity—Asuma Sarutobi.
"It's Asuma causing trouble for me again!"
Natsuhiko felt somewhat speechless.
This guy was indeed a genius at playing cards.
But the situation was brought upon him by himself. He mocked the black-haired youth by saying sorry.
Just saying "sorry" could raise people's blood pressure.
Look, the black-haired youth's eyes are turning red.
Oh wait, that's a Sharingan, so it's okay.
It turns out it's another Uchiha.
There were quite a few customers from the Uchiha clan in the tavern now.
After all, the Shinobi card game, which had a high degree of chuunibyou, was entirely in line with their tastes, so they were generous with their spending.
However, these customers had a disadvantage that made Natsuhiko very helpless.
Most ordinary Uchiha were fine.
The trouble was those who had already awakened their eyes.
The Uchiha clan managed the police force, which made them hated.
And yet they didn't bother to disguise themselves with transformation techniques, openly playing cards in the tavern.
Naturally, they would occasionally be ridiculed.
But of course, proud as they were, they wouldn't just swallow it, causing quite a few disputes.
What's even scarier was that, perhaps due to the influence of the Sharingan, these people's emotions weren't very stable.
It's almost like they have paranoid delusions.
Even worse than Natsuhiko.
After losing, even if the opponent just said, "Nice play.", they felt it was mocking them.
As a result, they have caused several conflicts since the tavern opened.
Sure enough, many regulars who were watching had the same thoughts.
"It's the Uchiha clan again, they've caused trouble several times before."
"They are really annoying, I recommend we should just ban them from coming here."
"Shh, keep your voice down, or you might get taken to the police department's prison."
Quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes.
Several conflicts caused by the Uchiha clan had made everyone's patience reach its limit, and the conversation had become somewhat sarcastic.
Natsuhiko knew it would be wrong when he heard everyone's discussion.
The Uchiha clan would not respond to kindness but would surely react to conflicts.
Commonly, Might Duy needed to say a few more kind words, and these proud guys would not bother arguing and would leave. They would come back as if nothing had happened in a few days.
But with everyone saying this, that guy couldn't step down completely.
Sure enough, as the Uchiha youth listened to the whispers of the surrounding players, his face darkened, and his Sharingan eyes became even redder.
He looked around, and in the view of his Sharingan, most of the people pointing at him were covered with a layer of chakra, obviously disguised with transformation techniques.
So he sneered, his mouth twisting into a cold smile like a dragon king.
"You bunch of cowards hiding your true selves, you have no right to judge us Uchiha clan. Come out and show yourselves!"
This sentence angered everyone even more.
The players cursed uncontrollably.
"The Uchiha clan might be so amazing! But my Shimura clan isn't afraid of you guys at all!"
"What a coincidence! I'm also from the Shimura clan!"
"That's right, we Shimura clan won't submit to your Uchiha clan!"
"Hey, can't you pick another shinobi clan? There are already too many Shimura clans here!"
"But... I really am from the Shimura clan!"(lmao)
"Oh, this..."
(End of the chapter)
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