The Hokage and Pot Kage's Attention, the Uchiha Clan's Amazement

At the same moment, in the Hokage Building, the true heart of Konoha, nestled against Hokage Rock which represents Konoha's history and past, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, still in his prime with black hair and beard, suddenly received intelligence from Anbu.

Upon seeing the contents of the report, Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly, then instinctively turned to look out the window. In that direction lay the Uchiha Clan Compound, faintly visible even from the Hokage Building, with that entire core area belonging to the Uchiha Clan.

This was a privilege and benefit belonging to Konoha's founding clan.

However, at some point, the Uchiha Clan, which occupied vast resources and benefits, had become a thorn in the side of Konoha's higher-ups.

Now, with the clan suddenly causing trouble again today, Hiruzen Sarutobi had to give it serious thought.

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand was the situation Anbu had discovered shortly before at the entrance of the Uchiha Clan Compound: Uchiha Qi being respectfully welcomed into the Uchiha Clan Compound's mansion by a crowd of Uchiha Clan members.

There was no further information. Konoha's people could at most monitor the situation outside the Uchiha Clan Compound; the interior remained a complete mystery.

"Uchiha Qi, I remember that young man. He's an anomaly within the Uchiha Clan, Minato's close friend, and he gets along well with Kushina. He even helped Minato and them rescue Uzumaki Kikyo, a stray member of the Uzumaki Clan."

"Unlike other Uchiha, he doesn't follow the clan's arrangements. When he was young, he refused the clan's demands and, despite lacking talent as a ninja, resolutely chose to enroll in the Ninja Academy. Although his academic scores were always the best, his other grades were very mediocre. Compared to other Uchiha geniuses, he was not just a little bit worse, which earned him the title 'Disgrace of the Uchiha'."

"Perhaps because of his childhood experiences, he doesn't have a strong sense of honor towards the Uchiha Clan. He even moved out of the Uchiha Clan Compound after graduating from the Ninja Academy. Currently, he works in the Konoha Military Police Force as a Chunin, an unappreciated logistics clerk."

"The Uchiha Clan has always completely disregarded him, even treating him coldly, with only a few Uchiha showing him any decent attitude."

"However, this morning, the Uchiha Clan showed him a very high level of respect, welcoming Uchiha Qi back to the compound with the same formality they would use for an official visit from another clan's leader."

"To that end, they even sent Uchiha Jiri, a genius of the Uchiha Clan's younger generation, to greet him at his home as a subordinate."

After reading all the information, Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned deeply, utterly bewildered as to what had gotten into the Uchiha Clan. They had suddenly and publicly welcomed Uchiha Qi, a rebellious and mediocre member, back to the compound with such high-level treatment. It was truly outrageous.

Even though Hiruzen Sarutobi knew the Uchiha Clan was an abstract bunch, he was still utterly confused by today's situation, completely dumbfounded.

Moreover, it wasn't the future yet. Currently, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't have Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi, those two abstract double-dealers of the Uchiha Clan, under his command, so he naturally couldn't know the internal situation of the clan.

After much thought and failing to comprehend, Hiruzen Sarutobi decided to put the matter aside for now.

It wasn't that he wouldn't deal with it, but Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that his close friend Shimura Danzo had always been keeping an eye on the Uchiha Clan. If there was any problem, Shimura Danzo would definitely investigate it thoroughly and tell him the truth.

Wasn't Root meant to handle such matters?

Hmm, before the assassination attempt by Shimura Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi had extremely high trust in his good friend.

In fact, at this very moment, deep within the forest behind Hokage Rock, in the underground Root base, Shimura Danzo had indeed received relevant intelligence.

However, he learned it from his direct subordinates in Root—as the Pot Kage, who held the deepest prejudice against the Uchiha Clan and coveted the power of the Sharingan, he had always kept his subordinates monitoring the Uchiha Clan from the shadows. Any unusual movements by the Uchiha Clan meant he would receive the information not much later than Hiruzen Sarutobi.

After reading all the reports, Shimura Danzo's sole remaining left eye narrowed, and a distinct look of malevolence appeared on his bandaged, wrinkled old face.

"Uchiha Qi…"

Uchiha Qi, who had never been taken seriously, was now noticed by Shimura Danzo.

Meanwhile, in the Uchiha Clan Compound's meeting hall, the game trial had begun.

"This… is the world of the Genjutsu Game?"

As the first participant, Uchiha Myoji looked at the eerie, underworld-like scenery within the game and instinctively felt a sense of dread.

(Guest appearance by 'Uchiha' from the readers)

Just like Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Fugaku, the unknown fear arising from the underworld-like scenery made this Uchiha elite, who was over forty years old and considered himself brave enough to calmly handle any major situation, feel like he had been too careless.

Although the young clan head had mentioned the scene was somewhat terrifying, Uchiha Myoji honestly thought their young clan head was rather useless, having barely gone on any missions.

Even though Uchiha Fugaku had experienced the Second Ninja World War when he was young, the young clan head had stayed in Konoha and hadn't gone anywhere, so he naturally hadn't seen any major battles.

While Uchiha Myoji would show Uchiha Fugaku due respect based on his bloodline status, he didn't value his judgment, so he naturally didn't pay attention to the young clan head's claims that the Genjutsu Game was very realistic and terrifying.

As a result, after entering with full confidence, he was immediately put in his place. The game hadn't even officially started, and he was already breaking out in a cold sweat.

At the same time, the six "observers" who had entered with him, led by the Uchiha Clan leader and the Great Elder, also saw the scenes within the game.

To further enhance their experience, Uchiha Qi had even placed their perspectives right beside Uchiha Myoji, the player, allowing them to reach out and touch buildings, feel the environment and air, and even touch their own bodies.

However, that was all they could do; they couldn't interfere with the game world in any way, and Uchiha Myoji couldn't see the others.

Even so, it still elicited a few exclamations.

"Sugoi!!!"

"So real!!!"

"Is this… is this really Genjutsu? Are you sure it's not a real world?"

"Ah~ this light~ ah~ this gate~ ah~ this green fire~ and this person, this, this incredibly real sensation, it's Genjutsu!?"

The Uchiha Clan members exclaimed one after another, completely disregarding their status. Only the clan leader and the Great Elder, accustomed to stoic expressions, managed to remain calm and avoid losing their composure.

Even so, these exclamations caused the other Uchiha Clan members who hadn't entered the game world to exchange glances, their curiosity piqued, eager to know what the distinguished figures had seen inside.

Only Uchiha Fugaku, who had already experienced it, knew everything and remained perfectly calm.

However, he still felt an inexplicable sense of superiority and pride.

It was the pride of having experienced it early, and the pride of Uchiha Qi, whom he had long admired, astonishing the others. It was akin to the exhilaration of showing off, like, "While others were drunk, I alone was sober; now that dawn has broken, all are amazed."

As for Clan Leader Uchiha Masanobu and Great Elder Uchiha Setsuna, though these two most composed individuals showed no outward reaction, the astonishment in their eyes was impossible to suppress.

Ultimately, they could only sigh inwardly: "As expected of a secret technique so highly praised and revered by Fugaku. A Genjutsu world like this has far surpassed the level of Genjutsu created by other Sharingan. In fact, it's even unknown if the Mangekyo Sharingan could achieve such a feat. Qi-kun, he truly is a rare genius for our Uchiha Clan, seen only once in a hundred years!"

Astonishment, emotion, praise, curiosity, excitement — all these emotions surfaced, filling the Uchiha Clan's meeting hall.

However, for Uchiha Myoji, the current sole player, it was a different experience altogether—gazing at the deep, mist-shrouded underworld path, feeling the frailty of his game character and the incredibly real sensation of the Genjutsu Game, his heart rate involuntarily sped up, and he began to sweat profusely.

The third victim, upon entering the game, had already realized something was wrong and no longer wanted to play.

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