Edward Newgate: Gurararara — mahjong, is it? Kaguya's ntioned it before, but this old man has never played. Worth trying!
Edward Newgate: Fair warning in advance: no using abilities to cheat!
Eternally Seventeen: Do I look like soone who cheats? I don't! Whether it's chess or mahjong, I can crush all of you through pure skill!
Admiral Kizaru: Mahjong~ This old man hasn't played either~
Ying Zheng The Sovereign: Likewise. Trying sothing new is acceptable.
My True Form Is Cola: Wait — didn't you say six days until the activity? Why are you all already planning what to do when you get there?
Crazy Diamond: It's five days off! You have to plan ahead!
My True Form Is Cola: Fair enough. Though the world hasn't been chosen yet.
My True Form Is Cola: The Admin hasn't decided which one.
RawrSoFierce: You all decide — I'll start a group vote. Whichever world gets the most votes, that's where we go. Any objections?
Eternally Seventeen: No objections whatsoever — LGTM!
Kaguya-sama: Whatever the Admin says.
Kaguya-sama: Unconditional support!
Terrible Tornado: Unconditional support.
My True Form Is Cola: Unconditional support.
Wandering Little Planet: Breaking up the echo chamber!
[Admin "RawrSoFierce" has started a group vote — all mbers please cast your votes!]
With no objections, Ryū launched the vote. It would take a few minutes at most. Six days remained before the activity opened — waiting a few minutes was not a hardship. Everyone in the group had more free ti than they knew what to do with, Yukari and Whitebeard especially.
The votes ca in quickly. One after another, then faster.
About two minutes in, Ryū checked the count and found he was the only one who hadn't voted yet.
One Piece world: 5 votes.
Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf world: 3 votes.
Iron Man series: 7 votes.
Sixteen mbers total including himself. Fifteen had voted.
Even if he gave One Piece his vote, it wouldn't change the outco — Iron Man led by two. Tony Stark's world had won.
He hadn't expected that.
Logically, Whitebeard and the others shouldn't know much about the Iron Man storyline. So why the high vote count?
Then he rembered: shortly after Tony joined the group, there had been a discussion where Ryū had described the Marvel universe as the largest and most complex setting represented among current group mbers. The highest power ceiling, the most intricate worldbuilding, the most moving parts.
That description had apparently planted a seed.
Iron Man series, then.
What's Tony's current tiline? If he's already Iron Man when he joined, it's not the first film's early period. Probably Iron Man 2 or sowhere between there and the first Avengers film.
If the Avengers film tiline had been reached, things would be complicated — alien invasion, hamr-wielding Norse god, the whole ensemble. Not ideal for a holiday gathering.
But the Thor Shiba Inu's arrival in the group hadn't produced any recognition from Tony. If they were in the Avengers era, the actual Thor would already have been encountered, and Tony would have reacted differently to seeing the handle "I Am Thor, God of Thunder!" join the group.
So: post-Iron Man 2, pre-Avengers 1. Most likely.
His Marvel knowledge ca primarily from films and fan fiction, the tiline details courtesy of the many fan fiction authors who enjoyed explaining the Marvel continuity in their author's notes. Unexpected source of systematic knowledge.
He added his own vote to Iron Man and posted the result.
RawrSoFierce: Voting complete! One Piece world: 5 votes. Pleasant Goat world: 3 votes. Iron Man series: 8 votes.
RawrSoFierce: Six days from now — we're heading to the Iron Man series!
I'm Rolling In It: Oh? You're coming to Uncle Tony's world? Absolutely no problem — Uncle Tony is famously wealthy, food, accommodation, transport — leave it all to !
WolfKingOfQingQingGrasslands: Two months of collaboration with Stark-san and I've never actually visited his world. This is a good opportunity.
Edward Newgate: Gurararara — the Marvel Universe the Admin described before? The world even the Admin expressed admiration for, with the imnse scale!
Eternally Seventeen: A modern world, if I'm not mistaken.
Eternally Seventeen: When all of us show up in a modern world, we won't get treated as anomalies and have various governnt agencies try to do various things to us, will we? That's how it always goes in the films.
I'm Rolling In It: Relax — Uncle Tony will handle all of that.
Kaguya-sama: Stark-san, calling yourself "Uncle Tony" to Yukari-nee's face — are you certain that's safe?
Eternally Seventeen: Of course it is — I'm only seventeen after all~
RawrSoFierce: I have never encountered such shalessness.
Kaguya-sama: Yukari-nee is at it again…
My True Form Is Cola: …Terrifying.
"…"
With the world selected and the details communicated, Ryū pulled his attention out of the Chat Group.
He'd been back from the Arena for a little while now, and beyond that one al at Ichiraku upon return, he hadn't been out of the house. Even by Konoha shut-in standards, this was extre.
He was just stepping out the door when a voice ca from directly beside him.
"Ryū-sensei, long ti no see!!!"
He knew who it was before he turned. There was only one person in Konoha who called him "sensei."
Sure enough — Might Guy. Looking approximately as energetic as ever.
And next to him: Kakashi.
But there was a third person.
A child, sowhere between nine and eleven years old, dressed in clothing that matched the style of a specific Konoha clan. Ryū processed the design for a mont.
That's an Uchiha clan style.
He'd had essentially no contact with the Uchiha. Most of them maintained a visible distance from non-shinobi civilians, which suited Ryū perfectly fine. The only ti he'd seen any Uchiha had been during the Nine-Tails incident. He hadn't encountered them on the street since.
"Guy, Kakashi, and… this Uchiha kid. You're here to see specifically, aren't you?"
His gaze returned from the child to the group.
Guy scratched the back of his head. "We are, yes, Sensei… I have to say, I've still not mastered what you gave . I've let your expectations down!"
"If you'd mastered it quickly, that would be the strange thing," Ryū said. "But what do you actually want? I'm not a Konoha shinobi."
Kakashi, his dark mask in place, spoke up. "Ryū-senpai, we're here because of this child. He's an Uchiha. He's… the younger cousin of a friend of mine."
Ryū looked at the boy again.
The boy was already looking at him.
A few seconds passed.
Sothing about the face was vaguely familiar. He couldn't place it imdiately.
Uchiha Obito would be too young at this point, and not in the village. Itachi would only be around five years old. Sasuke might have just been born. He ran through the options. Shisui? If we're going by age and canonical appearance — among the nad Uchiha who appear in the source material, Shisui is probably the closest match for this age range. Though the clan is large. Could be anyone.
He set the speculation aside.
"I don't have any particular connection to this child," Ryū said, his expression genuinely puzzled. "So why bring him to specifically?"
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