Next, Uchiha Fugaku began personally experiencing the effects of the Genjutsu Game.
He activated it directly in the training room without calling anyone else over to observe or supervise. It demonstrated his absolute trust in and support for Uchiha Qi.
There was truly nothing to criticize about his attitude. Even if their friendship was driven by mutual interests, Uchiha Qi could not help being moved by Uchiha Fugaku's boldness and trust.
It had to be said that, with Uchiha Fugaku's personality and way of doing things, encountering the Konoha F4 was destined to be a tragedy. But if he befriended someone like Minato Namikaze, the Uchiha Clan would surely escape its predicament and welcome a new beginning in the future.
In the original Naruto story, Uchiha Fugaku had indeed wanted to follow Minato Namikaze's path. Unfortunately, he suffered the ultimate betrayal of Uchiha Obito, one of the Uchiha Clan's greatest traitors. Not only did Obito dump a massive blame on the Uchiha Clan, he also caused Minato Namikaze's death, ultimately dragging the entire Uchiha Clan into the gutter.
All that could be said was that it was the author's fault, deliberately writing tragedy.jpg.
After entering the Genjutsu Game, Uchiha Fugaku, like Minato Namikaze, was startled by its hellish scenery.
Though he still kept a stern, serious expression, when the Female Evil Spirit suddenly whispered into his ear from behind to scare him, his Sharingan flew open on the spot.
That showed just how badly he had been frightened beneath that stern and serious exterior.
Without question, Uchiha Fugaku's mental fortitude was not bad. In some ways, it was even stronger than Minato Namikaze's—at least when it came to being a ninja turtle, Minato Namikaze could never compare to him.
Although it looked rather embarrassing, being able to endure was often a form of mental resilience.
For example, right now, his heart felt as though it were about to leap out of his chest, his Sharingan were wide open, and the tomoe within them spun nonstop.
Yet if one ignored all that and looked at Fugaku's face, one would find that he was still wearing the same stiff expression, as though even Mount Tai collapsing before him would not change his countenance. He had truly kept up the act.
With that kind of "composure," it was hardly strange that the entire Uchiha Clan had been bluffed into believing he was a man among men, an Uchiha among Uchiha, the Uchiha Clan's born ruler.
Honestly, if Uchiha Qi had not known Uchiha Fugaku's true nature, he would have admired the sheer terrifying depth of Fugaku's state of mind and thought he would surely become a great tyrant in the future.
Still, clearing the game required genuine courage, and Uchiha Fugaku had to continue on his own.
To be honest, before he had even reached the three-way fork, Uchiha Fugaku's scalp was already tingling so badly that he wanted to run away.
He had truly seen a ghost.
Although Uchiha Qi had repeatedly warned him that the game was very realistic and had told him beforehand that it would contain the ghostly creatures from strange tales, he had never said it would be this terrifying!
Before starting the game: He was calm and unruffled, believing they were merely things from folk legends, not worth mentioning and nothing to fear.
After the game began: What the hell is all this? Aaaahhh!!! What are these things?! Why are there such terrifying things here? I want to go home!!!
That was roughly the change in Uchiha Fugaku's mindset. He forced himself to reach the three-way fork, looked at the three paths in their different colors, each of which seemed utterly ominous, and wanted to turn around and go back.
This unprecedented experience, this real experience that pushed the fear factor of "the unknown" to its limit, was nearly giving Uchiha Fugaku psychological trauma.
Honestly, Uchiha Fugaku truly wanted to tell Uchiha Qi that they should stop for the day, that the Genjutsu Game test had been a success and could end now.
However, because of the dignity expected of the young Clan Head, Uchiha Fugaku felt that if he ended the game now, his image and authority in Uchiha Qi's eyes would vanish completely. That was something he absolutely could not accept.
Therefore, Uchiha Fugaku could only suppress his urge to retreat and repeatedly tell himself, This is all fake. I just need to endure it. He used that method to soothe himself, essentially brainwashing himself.
The classic case of suffering for the sake of saving face.
Watching everything from a god's-eye view, Uchiha Qi felt as though he had returned to his previous life, watching streamers play horror games. Some of those streamers were obviously timid and had already been scared into not wanting to continue, yet had no choice but to grit their teeth and keep streaming. The result was comedy gold, bringing everyone endless laughs and iconic moments.
For example, "My closet moved. I'm not playing anymore."
Hmm...
If the Spiritual Network could continue expanding, making a business out of that would not be impossible. But it could not be done yet. The technical capabilities granted by the system only supported him in creating some ordinary single-player games.
To turn the "ideas" in his mind into reality, he still needed to see whether the system could drop more coins.
Within the Genjutsu Game, Uchiha Fugaku also chose a path and moved forward.
Unlike Minato Namikaze, Uchiha Fugaku's first choice was the red path, the one representing battle and slaughter.
Perhaps he had chosen it because the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan were red.
However, it did not really matter which one he chose, because all three paths had to be cleared before he could enter the next stage. The only question was whether Uchiha Fugaku would become as addicted to the thrill of battle as Minato Namikaze and remain in the red domain without advancing any further.
Upon entering the red domain and facing a world where everything within sight was red, Uchiha Fugaku's scalp began tingling again. Though his earlier experiences had prepared him mentally, once he arrived here, he still felt that Uchiha Qi's Genjutsu Game was far too absurd.
In fact, what shocked Uchiha Fugaku most was not even how realistic the Genjutsu Game world felt, nearly indistinguishable from reality, but rather that his own power could not break the Genjutsu World.
Yes, that was what truly horrified Uchiha Fugaku the most.
After all, besides being adept at genjutsu, the Sharingan was especially effective at seeing through genjutsu. Once it reached the Three-Tomoe Sharingan stage, theoretically, no genjutsu in the ninja world could escape its discernment.
As the young Clan Head, Uchiha Fugaku's Three-Tomoe Sharingan were exceptional even among Three-Tomoe Sharingan, capable of easily seeing through genjutsu.
Yet his formerly unstoppable Three-Tomoe Sharingan were completely ineffective against the Genjutsu Game. It was as though the Sharingan themselves had entered the Genjutsu World and become part of it.
That was outrageously absurd and completely overturned Uchiha Fugaku's worldview. He truly wanted to immediately question Uchiha Qi: "Is that really a One Tomoe Sharingan, rather than a Mangekyō Sharingan disguised as a One Tomoe Sharingan?"
Yes, Uchiha Fugaku genuinely suspected that Uchiha Qi's Sharingan were actually the Mangekyo Sharingan, the ultimate eyes from Uchiha Clan legend that surpassed the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Only genjutsu cast by the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan could render even a powerful Three-Tomoe Sharingan completely helpless.
Before you continue