re = /(?=(?:\d|(?<=\d)[_\W]\d){4,5})\d|(?<=(?<!^)\G)\d|(?<=\d)[_\W]\d/m
str = 'any text 000 00 more texts" will become "any text ***** more texts"..notice that the space is removed
"any text 000 00 more texts 00" will become "any text ***** more texts 00"
"any text 000 00 more texts 00 00" will become "any text ***** more texts ****"
"any text 00-00 more texts 00_00" will become "any text **** more texts ****"'
subst = '*'
result = str.gsub(re, subst)
# Print the result of the substitution
puts result
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Ruby, please visit: http://ruby-doc.org/core-2.2.0/Regexp.html