Chapter 280: Clash Between Konoha and the Navy
The three swords at his waist—
[Wado Ichimonji] was a blade born of a promise to Kuina, and for that reason, it had never been replaced. Instead, Zoro continuously bought rare ores from the game store to upgrade it.
Its overall strength had now been classified by the game as [Purple Grade].
The other two blades were top-tier blue weapons, each costing tens of thousands of Reward Points and greatly enhancing his demonic aura.
"This is my contact card. If you run into trouble later, you can reach me through the friend channel."
Naruto spent some Reward Points to forge his own card.
After adding Luffy as a friend, he was just about to leave when—
He spotted Tsunade and Jiraiya approaching.
Tsunade's face was dark, her torn clothes revealing swaths of fair skin that were slowly healing.
Beside her—
Jiraiya, his white hair covered in dust, looked just as battered. Even the [Oil] forehead protector on his head had been cracked.
Suddenly, a figure flashed and blocked Tsunade's path, a glass of fragrant red wine in hand, which he offered with gentlemanly flair. "My beautiful lady, please allow me to serve you this glass of fine wine."
It was Sanji.
With pink hearts in his eyes, Sanji was practically swooning. Nami, embarrassed to death, quickly turned her face away and pretended not to know him.
"You little punk."
Realizing what was going on, Jiraiya clenched his teeth and shoved the flirtatious cook aside.
Tsunade was his dream woman—how could he let some brat hit on her right in front of him?
"Thanks."
Tsunade took the wine without hesitation and downed it in one go.
She'd already seen the Straw Hat crew hanging around Naruto. If Naruto, a [Paladin], counted them as friends, then they clearly weren't evil.
Besides, every city in Arad was designated as an absolute safe zone.
Combat, assassinations, and poisoning were all strictly forbidden.
So she wasn't worried at all.
"Hm?"
After finishing the wine, Tsunade's face flushed slightly. The weakened state she had been in after respawning had actually improved a little.
Surprised, she looked at Sanji, who was beaming with excitement, and asked, "Kid, you can make recovery potions?"
That was quite a rare support profession.
In the Reincarnation Game, combat professions were everywhere—everyone hunted monsters and earned Reward Points. Very few were willing to commit the time to a support path.
Usually, only large factions spent the Points to develop such talent.
With sharp eyes, she quickly scanned the Straw Hats and, through her ninja instincts, concluded that they weren't backed by any major faction.
A self-trained support-class player? This might be someone worth recruiting.
Sanji answered seriously, "To cook something delicious for a goddess like you—that is my sacred chef's duty!"
"Eh?!"
Chopper, the newest member of the Straw Hat crew, widened his eyes in confusion. "Sanji-san, wasn't your sacred duty to complete your life's menu?"
"Shut up, you damned reindeer."
Without even looking, Sanji reached back and clamped a hand over Chopper's mouth.
Jiraiya scowled at him. "So you're a perverted chef. I'm warning you—Tsunade is my woman. You'd better not overstep."
Boom!
Tsunade didn't even hesitate. She punched Jiraiya into the ground for calling her "his woman."
Since they were still partied together, the damage was reduced, and the game didn't register it as a hostile action—so no penalties applied.
"You pervy, greasy old man."
Sanji's eyes flamed as he stared down Jiraiya, who'd just struggled to his feet again. The two locked heads like rams clashing horns.
"Did you get ambushed, Granny Tsunade?"
Naruto asked with concern.
Only players who died in dangerous zones outside cities were automatically teleported to the nearest safe zone and put into a weakened state.
At his words, a vein throbbed on Tsunade's forehead.
Calling her "granny" in front of others? That brat Naruto needed a serious beating.
Still, remembering what just happened, she swallowed her anger and said seriously, "We were relocating our base when we found the entrance to the [Dragonkin Tower], but ran into a group of strange players. We were outnumbered and defeated."
"Dragonkin Tower?"
Sasuke's expression changed slightly—he nearly lost control of his impulse to move.
The Arad Continent was vast and covered with corrupted, monster-infested areas.
But—
Finding a Lord-level monster was another matter entirely.
Since arriving on the Arad map, the ninja world players had only discovered four such monsters.
Herak in the [Frostdark Forest] of Grand Forest, and Thunderstrike Kainos in the [Thunder Ruins].
Then the two high priests of the GBL Church near the edge of the Temple on Sky Tower.
Each of these Lord-class monsters—
Dropped materials and Reward Points that could drastically shift the balance of power in the ninja world.
Orochimaru had become the dominant player in the Fire Empire thanks to killing one of the temple's high priests.
It earned him a full million Reward Points.
And two [Skill Rank-Up Scrolls], which upgraded his Tier-1 skill [White-Scaled Serpent] into Tier-2 [Necrocurse Serpent],
And his Tier-1 [Summon Skeletons] into Tier-2 [Sea of Skulls].
With those two skills alone, Orochimaru could take on four top-tier Tier-1 players by himself.
That was the terrifying potential of rule-based items—
And the true essence of the Reincarnation Game.
But the catch was—such items couldn't be bought from the game store. They only dropped from corrupted monsters.
The drop rate from normal monsters was abysmal.
Only Lord-level monsters guaranteed a rule-based item drop.
Which was why every Lord encounter triggered brutal player conflicts.
Sasuke asked eagerly, "What kind of strange players were they?"
His thirst for strength was overwhelming.
The man who slaughtered his clan, Uchiha Itachi, was hiding in the shadows like a rat, too scared to confront him directly.
If Sasuke gained enough power to shake the ninja world, he'd dig up the whole earth to find him.
"They wore capes with the word 'Justice' on the back. The three strongest among them could use ice, magma, and laser-based powers," Tsunade said calmly. "Jiraiya and I could easily overpower them, but they had nearly a thousand more players backing them up. We ran out of healing items and were surrounded—we couldn't escape."
One glance had told her everything—these weren't amateurs.
They were a highly trained force.
And based on their speech and combat style, they didn't seem like ninja world players. More likely, they were from another world entirely.
"It's the Navy!"
Nami sucked in a breath.
Her eyes toward Tsunade and Jiraiya filled with new respect.
That blonde, well-endowed woman had said she fought three players who could manipulate ice, magma, and lasers—
That had to be the Navy's top three Admirals.
They were the peak players of the pirate world.
To overpower them in a direct fight, even briefly, despite being outnumbered…
This woman was terrifyingly strong.
Tsunade sighed. "For the next week, I can't enter any dangerous areas. You two will have to go investigate the Dragonkin Tower yourselves."
After death—
Without a [Life Lock], gear and skills were randomly dropped. If she died again, the losses would be catastrophic.
So it was up to Naruto and Sasuke to hunt the Lord-class monster inside [Dragonkin Tower].
She then turned to the Straw Hat Pirates and asked, "You seem to know those guys. Do you have any intel?"
To a ninja—
Intelligence was the key to every battle. If she could, she didn't mind offering a hefty sum in Reward Points to the Straw Hats in exchange for useful information.
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