At the entrance of the internet cafe, Ge Liang felt very displeased watching Hiruzen Sarutobi's demeanor.
'Does he think he has me cornered?'
'I'd like to see what methods you plan to use.'
A fierce look flashed across his face, and then Ge Liang returned to his usual appearance.
"Kakashi, do you want to come in and play?"
Kakashi, who was watching the Third Hokage leave, was stunned by the question.
"You know me?"
"With you wearing that mask, there probably aren't many people who don't recognize you, right?"
Kakashi nodded. He naturally knew how recognizable his appearance was in Konoha, so he wasn't bothered that Ge Liang recognized him.
If he knew that the information about Naruto and the others had been gathered from Ge Liang, would he still be so calm and composed?
"Huh, your hands are injured?"
After ushering Kakashi inside, Ge Liang noticed that the middle and index fingers of both his hands were wrapped in bandages.
"Ah, you could say that."
Kakashi was too embarrassed to say that he had been tricked by his own student.
Seriously, who the hell would have thought that a guy like Naruto would wear iron underpants to a training exercise?
That kind of behavior is absolutely insane!
Seeing that Kakashi was reluctant to say more, Ge Liang chuckled. He had realized that it was probably because Kakashi had used the Thousand Years of Death.
That reason was indeed difficult to mention, so Ge Liang didn't press the matter further. After all, they weren't close, and it was best to leave such things alone.
"Ten thousand Ryo for one hour of access."
After leading Kakashi to the terminal area, Ge Liang began his introduction again.
"Here."
Kakashi paid the fee straightforwardly, and under Ge Liang's guidance, put on the virtual helmet.
Why was Kakashi so readily agreeable?
Naturally, it was because of the Third Hokage.
Since even Hokage-sama said this place was good, Kakashi naturally had no doubts... Night fell, and after playing for five hours, Kakashi felt incredibly refreshed. After selecting the martial arts and movement techniques he wanted to use in reality, he left the internet cafe.
He now understood why Naruto and the other two had deviated so drastically from their profile information.
If even an Elite Jonin like him had 'fallen' into the game, let alone newly graduated kids like Naruto.
"It seems the reason Naruto and Sakura hate being poor is probably this expensive access fee."
As an Elite Jonin, Kakashi was qualified to undertake so-called S-Rank missions.
Missions of this Rank are extremely dangerous.
However, high risk means high income. The compensation for this Rank usually starts at one million Ryo.
S-Rank missions, however, are rare and hard to come by.
Missions of the next Ranks, A-Rank and B-Rank, are more common, and the rewards are also substantial, ranging from 150,000 to 1,000,000 Ryo and 80,000 to 200,000 Ryo, respectively.
As for C-Rank missions, they are relatively few, only ranging between 30,000 and 100,000 Ryo.
d-rank missions are meant for Genin to practice and earn income; Jonin don't care for such meager earnings at all.
However, missions C-Rank and above require leaving the village, and the mission time is calculated in days.
Therefore, although the mission rewards seem decent, since they usually require being away from the village for many days, the average daily compensation is not as high as it appears.
The internet cafe's access fee is ten thousand Ryo per hour. Even Kakashi felt the pinch of this charge.
Just today, he played continuously for five hours, spending fifty thousand Ryo—enough to commission a C-Rank mission to capture a wild beast.
However, in Kakashi's view, these fifty thousand Ryo were well spent and not a waste.
His current strength had reached the so-called Bottleneck. If he could break through this Bottleneck, his strength would naturally advance further, and it might even be possible to catch up to his father's strength back in the day.
But if he couldn't break through this Bottleneck, then his life would remain as it was.
The appearance of the internet cafe gave him a method to enhance his strength, so he naturally had to take it seriously.
He didn't want the incident with Rin Nohara to happen again.
He never wanted to be a useless person who couldn't accomplish anything again.
At this moment, Kakashi seemed to have recovered the emotions he had lost; he wanted to make himself strong... Nighttime.
Ge Liang, sitting next to the cash register, seemed slightly impatient.
"What's the situation? Why aren't they here yet?"
"If they don't come soon, I'm going to close up."
The System stipulated that the internet cafe must close at 8 PM, though it could be extended by ten minutes if customers were present. The cafe could operate for a maximum of twelve hours per day.
Ge Liang had always wanted to complain about this damned rule.
But there was nothing he could do. He currently lacked the authority to modify the operating hours, otherwise, he would definitely keep it open twenty-four hours a day.
After all, if an internet cafe doesn't allow all-night surfing, is it still an internet cafe?
Ge Liang missed the days when he used to pull all-nighters at the internet cafe, eating instant noodles while playing games.
Back then, Ge Liang didn't have a computer at home, and if he wanted to play computer games, he could only go to the internet cafe.
And because he didn't have much pocket money, he could only choose the all-nighter model.
According to the internet cafe's pricing, regular hours were two Yuan per hour, but an all-nighter, from 10 PM to 8 AM (ten hours), only cost twelve Yuan, and the cafe even included a box of instant noodles.
For him, a student at the time, this model was incredibly cost-effective.
Unfortunately, after his parents discovered his lie—that he was sleeping over at a classmate's house when he was actually pulling an all-nighter at the internet cafe—he was never able to do it again.
"Swoosh~"
"Swoosh~"
Just as Ge Liang was reminiscing about his youth, two Ninja suddenly appeared at the entrance of the internet cafe. They were wearing short-sleeved vests, carrying long swords on their backs, and wearing Oni masks.
"You are Ge Liang, correct? Come with us."
"Who are you?"
To be honest, Ge Liang was a little disappointed by the arrival of these two Ninja.
He had thought Danzo would come personally.
Even if Danzo didn't come himself, he should have at least sent someone of significance.
For example, Ibiki, the Anbu Interrogation Captain, or Danzo's right-hand men in Root, Torune Aburame and Fu Yamanaka.
Sending these two small fry? Was this supposed to be a slight against him?
In fact, besides the three people mentioned above, all other Anbu members directly under the Hokage, or Root members led by Danzo, were considered small fry by Ge Liang.
Perhaps the Anbu used to be full of Geniuses, with talents like Shisui Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake, but after Itachi defected from Konoha, there were hardly any decent members left in the Anbu.
Only Tenzō—the Ninja who later changed his name to Yamato—was still acceptable; the rest... were a bunch of trash.
In the original work, during the Chunin Exams, Hiruzen Sarutobi was trapped inside the Four Violet Flames Formation by Orochimaru and his subordinates. What did the Anbu outside the formation do besides acting as commentators?
Well, that's not quite right. They at least gained the intelligence that the Four Violet Flames Formation couldn't be touched, at the cost of an Anbu member's life.
Look at that quality. Calling them a bunch of weaklings is definitely not slander.
But thinking about it, it makes sense. Most Ninja in the Ninja World haven't received much education; they are essentially illiterate. You can't expect more from illiterates.
As for Root, there's even less to say. Apart from Danzo's few direct subordinates, the other Root members are inferior to the Anbu members.