"South Sand Energy Ring Battery—one beats six!"
"It's 6.6 times more powerful than your average battery. Smart shoppers know South Sand's the way to go. Use it in your 4WD car, then stick it in your alarm clock after!"
"South Sand Energy Ring Battery—everyone who's used it says it's great!"
As the person in the battery mascot costume stepped off the stage holding up their promotional sign, the advertisement segment officially ended.
Sure, maybe not a lot of people at the packed, high-energy arena were paying attention to a dancing battery costume, but hey—ads were ads. For example, they'd gone ahead and plastered sponsor banners all over the stands.
All this was just to help the people of the ninja world get used to living with advertising.
After all, in the future…
The age of advertisement overload was inevitable.
At this point—
Three ad breaks had come and gone.
The children's division of the race was finally reaching its final stage.
Even though both the children's division and adult division had started at the same time, the kids' track was made a bit shorter. And oddly enough… compared to the all-civilian adult bracket, the kids' race was actually more intense.
Which was why the crowd watching the kids' division was absolutely losing it.
More than three hours had passed since the start. The contestants who were still going were either professionally trained or just relying on their freakish stamina and constitution.
As for rollerblades?
Nice idea…
But most of the terrain here was still sand—not exactly paved. You couldn't even roll straight on it.
"We're close now—real close!"
Even after three hours of nonstop yelling, Tobi—still tied to a giant wooden cross as punishment—hadn't lost an ounce of volume. Still just as annoying as ever.
"The racers are finally approaching the finish line! Right now, in first place is Uchiha Itachi from Konoha with his 4WD car—Kizuna! This guy… in the end, he gave up on his younger brother. And that car of his—what was it again…"
"Oh right, Onii-chan-Go! It's over there! It's slowing down! Well, it's no surprise really. For a kid who hasn't even enrolled in the ninja academy yet, running nonstop for three hours straight is kind of insane."
"What a shame!"
Tobi sighed, sounding just the tiniest bit genuinely sympathetic.
"Are they planning to forfeit? Don't they know? Perseverance is victory! Just like Elder Ebizo said—'A fine blade is forged through grinding, plum blossoms bloom in bitter cold, and without weathering storms, how can one see a rainbow?' Never give up, folks!"
"As for the little brat from the Uzumaki clan…"
"He's not in 5th place. Not in 10th. Not even in 20th. Did he give up already?"
Then, Tobi's tone shifted sharply.
"No, no, no! He hasn't given up! I see him! There he is—currently in 27th place… no, wait! He just overtook someone! Now he's 26th!"
"He's just a three- or four-year-old kid, but it's incredible! Even after flying off the track earlier, he never gave up. Look at that—he hasn't slowed down at all! Even in this scorching afternoon sun, he's still charging forward!"
"His car, the Naruto racer, is just like him—fearless, reckless, full-speed ahead! It hasn't dropped pace one bit. Absolutely unbelievable!"
"Could this be the legendary constitution of the Uzumaki clan?!"
No, this is from all those months training with Guy.
Watching from the stands, Kakashi sighed with a mix of frustration and pride as he looked down at Naruto.
Sure—
Naruto had gone through months of special training, but still, to be able to run at full tilt for three straight hours at his age? It exceeded even Kakashi's expectations.
Looks like Naruto really has been training hard with Guy…
He felt a strange warmth in his chest. He turned to glance at Guy beside him, who was laughing uproariously with tears streaming down his face, fists clenched to the sky as he shouted, "THIS IS YOUTH!"
Kakashi shook his head, sighing quietly to himself.
"Maybe... Sensei, maybe Naruto really should train in taijutsu with Guy?"
But the moment he whispered that to himself—
Wham!
Tsunade slammed her fist into Kakashi's head, leaving a giant lump on top of it. She loomed over him, fists still clenched, voice icy and full of threat.
"Don't forget what I said about tactics! If he loses, you all owe me 100 million! No—wait, I already bet on the side too! That's another 1 billion at least!"
"Wait… Tsunade, you bet again?" Jiraiya broke out in a cold sweat, staring at the chest-heaving Tsunade as she stood with her hands on her hips. He swallowed nervously. "Who did you bet on this time?"
"Me, obviously!" Tsunade snorted, scanning the crowd with an expression that screamed, 'You're all garbage compared to me.' "Who else could win but me? Huh? You think I'd lose?"
"…No, I just—well, I wasn't sure if I should say this out loud."
Jiraiya quickly waved his hands with a sheepish grin and said, "The Byakugo is number one under heaven! Unmatched! Supreme in the ninja world!"
Tsunade finally smiled in satisfaction. Jiraiya hesitated for a moment, then asked tentatively:
"So… how much did you bet? Just so I know what I'm in for."
"100 million~"
"That much?!" Jiraiya leapt up in shock, then frowned, "Wait a minute—you're broke. Where'd you get the money?"
"I borrowed it from you!"
"When did I lend you that?!"
"Oh come on, don't sweat the small stuff~ Hahaha! Seriously though—I never realized your name had this much value!" Tsunade laughed, slapping him on the shoulder. "With your reputation, I can eat, shop, and even place bets on credit! How'd you pull that off? I'm one of the Sannin too—why can't I do that? Huh? Why do you look like you're about to faint?"
"N-Nothing… ha… ha…"
Jiraiya wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.
He suddenly had the sinking feeling that his share of this quarter's profit wasn't going to come through.
If this kept up… he might not even get next month's either.
Sunagakure… this was on purpose!
They clearly planned to let Tsunade spend it all right here and now!
Absolutely despicable!
And just then—
"Incredible! Unbelievable! It's simply unbelievable!" Tobi's annoying voice boomed again from the announcer's platform.
"15th place! 13th! 10th! He's made it into the top ten! Amazing—just amazing!"
"Even after flying off the track, he didn't quit. He got back up and kept going. He—he's charging forward again! He's already in 8th place!"
"Wait a second!"
Suddenly, Tobi's tone shifted again.
"What is Kizuna up to? What is that car trying to do?! It's slowing down again! Has he… has he given up on first place?"
"No! He hasn't given up! Second place—bam! Crashed! Off the track! Could it be… is he planning to knock out the rest of the racers?!"
"To find out what happens next… stay tuned for the next chapter!"
Meanwhile, sitting safely in 4th place—
Kankuro stared ahead with a deadpan expression:
"…Why do I never get mentioned?"