Sealing Jutsu Sensei

BIU!

As a freezing pea bullet hit its mark, the last zombie, encased in ice, instantly shattered into pieces, dissolving into fragments of ice that gradually disappeared.

A prompt appeared above the battlefield, indicating the level was cleared.

"Great, I beat another level!"

Anko, sitting in front of the game console, cheered as she jumped up, her excitement echoed by the dancing Little Hashirama (Zhuzi) on the table.

Still thrilled, she began analysing with great enthusiasm:

"As expected, the Ice Shooter I got as a reward is super useful! Just BIU! BIU! BIU! and those zombies get frozen in place, unable to move."

"According to the game's description, it seems to be some kind of Ice Style (Hyōton) technique. It looks convenient..."

"If I learned this move, wouldn't I be able to turn my red bean soup into iced red bean soup whenever I wanted?"

Thinking this, Anko wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth and made a firm decision in her heart:

"That's it. I'm going to learn Ice Style."

"Orochimaru-sensei is so amazing, he surely knows it."

Completely unaware that she was about to make an unreasonable request of her teacher, Anko eagerly clicked on the next level.

"I just cleared the level and got the man-eating plant. Let's see what it can do next."

However, unlike usual, no new level appeared in front of the ready-to-fight Anko. Instead, another message box popped up.

At the same time, probably to cater to younger kids who couldn't read much, the game console played a voice prompt:

"Your total game time today has exceeded 1 hour. Little Hashirama, please remember that you won't be able to continue playing today. Please take a break, move around a bit, plan your gaming time wisely, and remember to balance work and rest!"

After the voice ended, Anko stood there, dumbfounded, in disbelief.

"Huh? Wait, what? Huh—"

What shocked her first was how she felt like she hadn't been playing long, yet an entire hour had passed already.

Where did all the time go?

—If only time could pass like this during Orochimaru-sensei's classes or when she was doing homework.

But what stunned her even more was this so-called anti-addiction system!

How could such an evil rule exist in the world!?

Why can you only play for one hour a day? That's so unreasonable!

Unwilling to accept the reality, Anko instinctively clicked on the next level again.

The anti-addiction voice played once more...

Although the voice sounded just as gentle as before, Anko found the message intolerable.

After all, she had just experienced unprecedented joy. How could they suddenly stop her from playing?

Even though the voice said she could continue playing tomorrow, she was too hooked to endure such torture.

With a sense of desperation, Anko looked around to make sure no one was watching, then leaned on the game console and whispered a plea:

"Game console, game console, can't you let me play for just a little longer?"

The console's magical nature and the voice prompt made Anko believe the machine was intelligent and might understand her request.

To her surprise, the game reacted to her words.

Little Hashirama on the table clapped his hands, conjured a three-bedroom wooden house in front of him, waved at her, and then walked into the house, shutting the door with a click.

A few seconds later, the curtains were drawn, and the faint sound of snoring came from inside...

"???"

Hey! What kind of refusal was that!?

Anko was so furious she grabbed her head with both hands, gritting her teeth.

Sure enough, this place would go out of business soon. After all, who would push customers away like that?

Even though they weren't charging money yet, judging by the prompt, the evil anti-addiction system would still be in place once it started charging!

Who was the wicked mastermind behind this system that made the store lose money and the players unhappy!?

Anko had no idea that the evil mastermind she cursed in her heart was actually standing not far behind her, watching everything unfold...

"Another one has gone mad..."

Summer Flame (Natsuhiko), patrolling the arcade with Nonoyu, couldn't help but smile as he watched the purple-haired girl lose her temper.

Feel the pain!

Having suffered through various anti-addiction policies in his previous life, Natsuhiko thought:

My pain surpasses yours!

It was undeniable that this anti-addiction system was Natsuhiko's creation.

After the success of the Ninja Cards, Natsuhiko knew just how irresistible these game consoles were to the residents of the Shinobi world.

After all, even in his past life, which was full of entertainment options, many people still got addicted to games.

So, in this world with minimal entertainment options, it was bound to be even worse.

Moreover, in his past life, people who got addicted to games would just become shut-ins, but they wouldn't starve to death.

However, these kids playing games had the potential to become ninjas, and in a few years, they'd be going to war.

If they spend too much time on games, they might end up paying the ultimate price.

So, whether out of conscience or a desire to protect his future "harvest," Natsuhiko had no intention of exploiting them to the last drop.

For the sake of the kids' physical and mental well-being, he had reluctantly introduced the very anti-addiction system that had once caused him so much grief into the Shinobi world.

Thus, the dragon-slaying hero had become the evil dragon...

After a while, Anko finally moved past the stages of denial, anger, bargaining, and depression, arriving at the fifth stage of coping with change—acceptance.

Dejected, she picked up her little backpack from the floor and slung it over her shoulder, ready to head home and do her homework.

She muttered to herself:

"Work-life balance is a lie! Why do I feel more tired after playing the game than I did before?"

Just as Anko reluctantly glanced back at the game console and began walking toward the door, a burst of exclamations caught her attention and made her stop.

She turned to see a group of kids gathered around a game console not far away.

What's everyone watching?

Curious, Anko walked over to see what the fuss was about.

After squeezing her way through the crowd, she saw a young girl operating the game console at lightning speed.

The girl was even younger than Anko, maybe only three or four years old, and her chubby cheeks still showed baby fat.

But what stood out most was her bright red hair, bouncing like flames with her quick movements.

She even overheard the kids around her referring to the girl as the "Little Red Comet."

Though the nickname seemed fitting, Anko still didn't understand why everyone was watching this girl play.

Sure, Anko had watched others play games before, but that was before she'd tried the game herself.

Once she had played it, she realised it was way more fun to play than just to watch.

Even if everyone had used up their game time for the day and was passing the time by watching someone else, why were they all so focused on one person?

Maybe the girl was really good at the game, and that's why everyone was watching her.

But Anko had only just started playing and didn't even recognise all the plants the girl was using, let alone understand the strategies.

She did notice that the girl seemed to prefer plants that required active control to be effective, like the Cherry Bomb, Potato Mine, and the two-slot Corn Cannon. So she was constantly busy, her fingers flying across the game console.

Unsure if this playstyle was actually effective, Anko didn't bother to figure it out herself.

Instead, she casually struck up a conversation with the starry-eyed boy next to her:

"Is this 'Little Red Comet' really that good?"

The boy, still entranced by the red-haired girl's performance, sighed:

"It's not just about being good. She's one of those rare players…"

He glanced at Anko, who still didn't quite get it, and added mysteriously:

"Just keep watching, you'll see."

Intrigued by the boy's cryptic words, Anko nodded and continued watching.

And sure enough, not long after, a jaw-dropping moment unfolded before her eyes...

(End of Chapter)

Advance 50 chapters are up on my Patreon!

pat reon.com/ReidAstrea