With the arrival of the Konoha ninja, other participating villages and nations began arriving one after another at Sunagakure for the tournament.
For a time—
The entire village of Sunagakure was bustling with activity, even more so than during the Chūnin Exams!
Of course, that was largely because the "Great Ninja World Mini 4WD Grand Prix" didn't have such high entry requirements.
Unlike the Chūnin Exams, which are co-organized by the major villages and limit entry to avoid unnecessary casualties, this race was open to a much wider crowd.
Even though all Mini 4WD stores had been instructed to strictly screen participants, the number of people was still overwhelming.
Fortunately, in preparation for the tournament, Rasa had made thorough arrangements ahead of time. He'd held meetings to plan for various possible emergencies, patched up loopholes, and so even though the turnout exceeded expectations, Sunagakure was still able to quickly adapt and manage everything.
As more people arrived…
The previously quiet streets of Sunagakure started to come alive. And since most of the participants were children, the existing three coin-operated kiddie rides in the village were nowhere near enough.
In the end, they had to bring out the batch of rides originally set aside for Danzō just to keep the kids from getting into fights over them.
The only real problem?
Over a dozen of those kiddie rides all yelling "Come and play, handsome boy!" in unison… and singing the same jingle—
"Daddy's daddy is called Grandpa…" —was, to be honest… pretty annoying!
The kiddie rides in Sunagakure were coin-operated, using tokens specially minted from discarded metal. This was both to prepare for future arcade game plans and to help recycle scrap material while also making revenue tracking easier across different stores.
As for arcade machines—after much research, they were finally close to being functional. Just recently, Rasa had tested out a punching game called "Ninja King". But the graphics still weren't up to standard, the animation was choppy, and the machine was huge. So it was still being optimized.
Ninja stats and abilities also needed to be carefully tested, recorded, and adjusted.
Because, after all—this was the ninja world!
It wasn't the era of Boruto, where you could eat instant noodles and pull ninja cards out of the packaging.
If a machine that exposed a village's ninja intel suddenly appeared in today's chaotic world, what then?
The other villages wouldn't just refuse to let Sunagakure promote their games—they might declare war!
A war… over arcade machines.
Just thinking about it gave Rasa a headache.
So, for now, only public information about widely known ninja would be included. Even their appearances had to be altered slightly for security—Jiraiya could be made more perverted-looking, while the Fourth Kazekage could be rendered more handsome. Within limitations, they'd aim for "realistic" portrayals.
All for the sake of peace in the ninja world.
As for deceased ninja—whatever info they had, they'd just use it. After all, the dead couldn't sue them.
Rules for future updates could wait until the machines were actually released.
Rasa had already deployed ninja to patrol and maintain order. Anyone who caused trouble—no matter the reason or who was right or wrong—would be arrested first and questioned later.
Aside from Konoha, the other major villages had not yet been infiltrated by Sunagakure's businesses. No proper agents had been placed yet either. Thankfully, with the help of the best paparazzi in the ninja world—tens of thousands of White Zetsu clones—Sunagakure had managed to spread its products quickly despite the odds.
The only disappointment—
Kirigakure likely wouldn't be sending any ninja to participate. According to that mama's boy Black Zetsu, things were tense over there lately, and they didn't want other villages catching wind of it. So, they wouldn't be sending anyone to such a "pointless event."
And more importantly… they didn't want Obito to discover what they were up to.
After all, if that ever-loyal employee found out that his promised promotion track and "career development plan" were all fake?
He'd go berserk.
Rasa sighed as he reviewed the growing stack of registration forms. Tapping his finger thoughtfully, he muttered:
"Maybe… this could be Sunagakure's chance to push its products into other ninja villages."
Just as the words fell—
"Lord Kazekage!"
A Sunagakure jōnin burst in, looking flustered.
"???"
Rasa set the papers down and looked up, puzzled.
"What is it? Someone causing trouble?"
"Yes!"
"You can't handle it?"
"Correct!"
"Who is it?"
Now Rasa was truly curious. Who would dare act up in his village?
"It's the jinchūriki from Kumogakure, Killer Bee… along with the Legendary Sannin… Tsunade, and… Jiraiya. They… they're…"
"They're what?"
The jōnin hesitated, then said:
"Fighting… over a kiddie ride."
"…"
Rasa froze.
Then tilted his head, blinked, and asked:
"Huh?"
What the hell did you just say?
...
Earlier…
After submitting his registration and confirming his entry info at the gate, Jiraiya casually strolled into the village.
Though Sunagakure had changed quite a bit, to the future greatest writer in the ninja world, it wasn't anything impressive.
There weren't many good spots for research, and if he tried gathering material carelessly, people might call him a pervert and arrest him.
Of course, he wasn't really that kind of person. But Sunagakure clearly didn't have enough people who truly understood him, so he reluctantly gave up on collecting "source material" for now.
The reason he came—
Partly for the release of his new book. A masterpiece he'd poured heart and soul into—he had to be careful about choosing the right publisher. The other reason… was to casually take part in Sunagakure's 4WD tournament.
As a responsible distributor, how could he not support a major commercial event like this?
With one and a half days left before the race, Jiraiya wasn't in a rush. He wandered through the lively streets, marveling at how different the place was from his last visit.
"So many people actually showed up?!"
With nothing pressing to do, he decided to enjoy the festivities and unwind.
Snacking here, buying trinkets there.
Until he came across a certain shop entrance, where strange music was playing. There, lined up at the front, were thirteen rocking kiddie rides swaying side to side.
He stopped in his tracks.
Especially when he heard that oh-so-familiar voice:
"Come and play, handsome boy~!"
That line—
He'd heard it countless times while doing research.
His chest tightened. He was overcome with emotion. With misty eyes, he hesitated… but then went and bought ten tokens.
Not expensive. One token was 1.5 ryo.
Finding a free ride, he sat down without hesitation.
As the soft music played and the rocking motion began, it felt… like he was back in a mama-san's warm, bouncy embrace.
He couldn't help but close his eyes and let out a relaxed moan.
"Aaaaahhh…"
But just then—
"What a fun little ride, drop in your coin to feel the vibe!"
A grating voice cut through his bliss.
"Yo, all you kids just stand and stare,
Only coin droppers get to ride with flair.
Today I'm spittin' straight fire,
With the ride and the beat, we goin' higher—
Oh look who's here, with hair of white,
Old man rockin' back and forth, what a sight!
THANK YOU—
You dumbass, jackass, dumbass, jackass!"
"…"
Jiraiya opened his eyes… and saw a guy wearing a Kumogakure forehead protector.
This guy…
This guy was definitely mocking him.