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Ethan appreciated Lily's explanation, but he wasn't entirely convinced.
Gold cards weren't just about a system having a high ceiling.
If that were the only criterion, he was pretty sure Pokémon's ceiling was a notch above Naruto's. If a certain divine alpaca ever showed up, it could straight-up destroy the world.
But Lily was being helpful, so Ethan wasn't about to argue. There was still a lot he needed to figure out on his own.
"Ethan."
"Hmm?"
Sophie fixed him with a look. "You're a bit too good. I'm suddenly regretting that I approved your leave of absence. If you'd stayed at school the whole time, would you have gotten this powerful anyway?"
Ethan rolled his eyes. "Instead of worrying about that, you should be thinking about how to improve your own deck so you don't hold us back later."
"Exactly," Sophie said, turning on Jake. "You're the weakest link right now. One Tier 3 card."
"Okay, it's fine when Ethan says it, but coming from you that's uncalled for." Jake puffed up. "Sir Ashford is a Purple. The very first Tier 3 Purple in the entire Card-Making Department."
"That's literally the only thing you have to brag about," Sophie snorted.
"Alright," Ethan cut in. "Since I've shown you everything, let's test Naruto's actual combat power. Three on one."
Jake blinked. "Three on one?"
"Nobody summons until Round 4. Then you three spend every Psionic point you have against my one Naruto."
"Wait — hold on." Jake did the math. "That's 700 each — 2,100 total against your 500. You think one card can handle all of that?"
"Yes."
Before Jake could argue further, Sophie pulled him back. "Just do it. Stop wasting training room time."
[Battle Start]
[Map Selected: Plains]
By the fourth round, everyone's Psionic climbed to 700. Ethan locked in Uzumaki Naruto.
He considered deploying the BGM Machine — because obviously Naruto deserved a soundtrack — but this was a one-on-three. If he messed up while playing DJ, he'd never hear the end of it.
After summoning, he checked the opposing lineup.
Jake: Sir Ashford (Tier 3 Purple) with Black Iron Bracers (Tier 1 Blue), Wolf Demon (Tier 1 Blue).
Sophie: Swinging Fox (Tier 3 Blue), Forest Spirit (Tier 1 Blue), Healer Maiden (Tier 1 White).
Lily: Ice Crystal Phoenix (Tier 3 Purple), Water Servant (Tier 1 Blue), Flame Mage (Tier 1 Blue).
Four melee fighters in front. Ranged support and healing in the back. A solid, balanced composition.
Against one guy.
The battle began.
Naruto appeared in a burst of white smoke — orange jacket, black headband, the red pigmentation of Sage Mode framing his eyes. He surveyed the army arrayed against him, cracked his knuckles, and broke into a grin so wide it reached his ears.
"Ohhh, you brought friends? Good — I was worried this was gonna be boring."
"He talks?" Jake blurted over the open mic.
"They're Purple cards, Jake," Sophie said flatly. "Of course he talks."
"Yeah, but — he sounds so casual about—"
Naruto brought his hands together.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Five identical copies burst into existence, each already sprinting forward with a spiraling blue Rasengan forming in their palms. The real Naruto hung back, wind chakra screaming around his hand as he began charging something much larger.
"He can make clones?" Jake leaned forward. "That's five extra bodies from one card!"
"Fragile decoys," Ethan said. "Pop on contact."
"There are still five of them running at us with glowing death balls!"
"Relax. You've got three people."
Jake did not relax.
The Ice Crystal Phoenix struck first — Ice Rain, a sweeping barrage of frozen shards across the lead clone's path. Contact. The clone burst into smoke.
"One down," Lily murmured.
But four kept coming.
Sir Ashford and Swinging Fox charged to meet them. Sir Ashford's Greenhill swordplay was precise and devastating; Swinging Fox fought with wild, acrobatic slashes. Two clones engaged them — dodging, weaving, probing for openings.
After two exchanges, the clones realized they couldn't get through. So they stopped trying.
Both shoved forward and detonated their Rasengans at point-blank range.
Sir Ashford read the shift. Combat instincts kicked in — he disengaged and leaped backward. The blast whiffed past his chest by inches.
Swinging Fox didn't read it. Blue card. Lower battle awareness. The Rasengan caught him center mass.
Instant kill.
Meanwhile, the last two clones had slipped past the front line entirely and hit the backline. The Flame Mage tried to intercept — spells flying — but the clones were too fast. The backline collapsed in seconds. Flame Mage down.
The second clone was closing on the Water Servant when the Ice Crystal Phoenix's support fire arrived — an ice blast that shattered the clone before it could connect. The last one fell moments later.
One exchange. Two summons dead. Backline shattered.
And Naruto had only sent clones.
"Is this... the power of a Gold card?" Sophie stared at the aftermath.
The gap between Purple and Blue was already a chasm. But Gold versus Purple? It was a different dimension.
"If all five had targeted one person..." Jake trailed off, the implication hanging.
They wouldn't have lasted a single exchange.
Just as they finished mopping up the clones, a voice echoed across the plains.
Not the system. Not Ethan.
Naruto himself.
"Hey — not bad! Most people can't even handle the clones." He was grinning from across the field, one hand raised casually, the other holding a screaming disc of wind chakra the size of a car tire. "But you might wanna brace yourselves for this one."
"Sage Art: Wind Release — RASENSHURIKEN!"
He hurled it. The shuriken crossed the distance in a heartbeat — faster than the eye could track.
Sir Ashford had just killed a clone. He saw the incoming projectile as a blur and threw himself sideways on pure instinct. The shuriken whistled past, close enough to ruffle his cape.
Made it.
Then it expanded.
A massive disc of wind chakra bloomed outward — thirty feet in diameter, shredding everything caught inside.
"How can it get BIGGER after I dodged it?!" Jake screamed. "That's cheating!"
Sir Ashford was bisected. The Healer Maiden, standing too close, was erased. The Forest Spirit — caught at the edge of the blast radius — didn't even have time to flinch.
Three cards. One attack. Gone.
Sophie sat back in her chair, speechless.
"So strong," Lily said quietly. But her eyes were wide.
Only the Wolf Demon, Water Servant, and Ice Crystal Phoenix remained.
Naruto didn't give them a second to breathe.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Five fresh clones materialized and charged.
"Oh, come on!" Jake threw his hands up.
The Ice Crystal Phoenix had seen enough. Forget defending — the backline was gone, the frontline was crumbling. She abandoned the two summons beside her and took flight, heading straight for the real Naruto.
One shot. All or nothing.
She closed to within fifty yards — the edge of her casting range — and locked on. Wings flared. A blizzard of ice and wind spiraled toward Naruto's position.
That was when she saw him bite his own thumb.
What is he—
"You know," Naruto said, blood running down his hand, "gotta respect the dedication. Flying straight at me like that? That takes guts."
His hands blurred through seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
He slammed his palm into the ground.
A Toad fifty feet tall materialized between them out of thin air. Massive. Ancient. A pipe clamped between its jaws and a blade the size of a bus strapped to its waist.
The Ice Crystal Phoenix's heart dropped.
She'd been fifty yards away. Naruto had run toward her. And the Toad had appeared directly in her path.
The distance between them was now practically zero.
"...This isn't right," the phoenix whispered.
There was no point running.
Ice Crystal Barrier.
A thirty-foot wall of ice erupted in front of her. If it could hold for even a few seconds—
The Toad reached for its blade.
Three slashes. The ice wall shattered like glass.
The Toad Boss lunged forward.
A glass-cannon mage with zero mobility had no room for resistance.
Three seconds later, a blue bird egg sat on the scorched ground where the Ice Crystal Phoenix had been.
In the distance, the remaining summons had already been cleaned up by Naruto's clones.
From across the field, fading into starlight, Naruto's voice carried one last time:
"Good fight! You guys should train more, though — believe it!"
PLZ Throw Powerstones