All five people involved in development had gathered at Uchiha Qi's home and enjoyed a meal prepared by Uchiha Qi and Minato Namikaze together.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, Kikyo Uzumaki and Uchiha Jiri volunteered to wash the dishes and went into the kitchen together. Kushina Uzumaki had wanted to join them too, but the kitchen was not large. It was already a little cramped with two people inside; if Kushina went in as well, they would barely be able to move. In the end, only the two of them stayed inside.
The atmosphere between the two young women washing dishes together was quite pleasant. Although Uchiha Jiri was a proud Uchiha, she was not the sort who kept a straight face all day. She still smiled, though her smiles were rather reserved.
As for Kikyo Uzumaki, she was a classic member of the Uzumaki Clan: warm and generous. She took the initiative to speak with Uchiha Jiri, making the atmosphere between them especially lively, with cheerful laughter breaking out from time to time.
Anyone who did not know better would have thought they were sisters who had known each other for years. In truth, when Kikyo first met Uchiha Jiri, she had been rather nervous and wary. After all, Jiri was a stunning beauty appearing at Uchiha Qi's side. Only after learning that Jiri had been sent by the Uchiha Clan to protect Uchiha Qi did Kikyo's attitude toward her change instantly.
Watching this scene from outside, Kushina Uzumaki wore a rather subtle expression. Then, while the girls in the kitchen were not paying attention, she slipped straight onto the balcony.
There, Uchiha Qi and Minato Namikaze lounged back in two chairs, sipping sake while enjoying the comfort of the night breeze.
Then Kushina Uzumaki's arrival shattered the relaxed atmosphere between the two men.
When the two men turned around in confusion, Kushina lowered her voice and asked Uchiha Qi in a sneaky tone, "Say, Qi, what do you think about those two? Are you planning to marry them both?"
A thunderous opening. Gossip erupted.
In an instant, Uchiha Qi was left speechless, while Minato Namikaze understood what his girlfriend meant and looked at Uchiha Qi with great curiosity as well.
Although most ninja practiced monogamy, the ninja world was not actually a monogamous society. If someone wanted to take multiple wives, that was perfectly normal. You could not expect an absurd world with a rigid hierarchy and a system of Daimyo and nobles to insist on one partner for life.
Ninja rarely took multiple wives because they generally had to take responsibility for their descendants, and raising children cost a great deal of money. On top of that, ninja themselves were big spenders, with much of their equipment needing to be purchased personally. For the sake of resources and the future, few ninja chose to marry multiple wives.
Still, rare did not mean nonexistent. If Uchiha Qi truly married both Uchiha Jiri and Kikyo Uzumaki, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, as his friends, would only offer their blessings. At most, Kushina would make a token show of displeasure as Kikyo's family.
Glancing toward the kitchen, Uchiha Qi swirled the sake in his cup and said, "I've always gone with the flow when it comes to things like this. Besides, you two grew up with me. When have you ever seen me actively pursue a girl?"
Hearing that, the two thought about it and realized that Uchiha Qi really was like that. Even now, when Kikyo Uzumaki so obviously liked him, Kikyo had been the one taking the initiative. Uchiha Qi had never made a move.
Uchiha Qi looked up at Konoha's night sky. "When it comes to relationships, I've always had a laid-back attitude. Just let things take their natural course. Kikyo only likes me now because I saved her when we were children—the suspension bridge effect, that's all. Whether we can end up together, we'll see in the future."
"As for Senior Jiri, the clan does hope that she and I will unite and produce outstanding descendants. But like I said, I take a laid-back approach to this sort of thing. I won't put much thought into it."
"Compared to these romantic matters, what I care about more right now is promoting and selling Genjutsu Games."
Those were the words of an absolute workaholic, leaving Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki speechless.
The two hesitated as though they really wanted to make a snide remark, and Uchiha Qi knew exactly what they wanted to say. Before the system awakened, Uchiha Qi had been content to coast along in the Konoha Military Police Force, with an especially strong slacker mentality. His sudden transformation into a highly driven workaholic truly left them at a loss for words.
Of course, the two could understand it. After all, the old Uchiha Qi had not yet developed Genjutsu Games, nor had he fully displayed his outrageously gifted talent for developing secret techniques.
Now that he had the opportunity and the conditions, the three-day process of porting Genjutsu Games had allowed everyone to fully experience Uchiha Qi's terrifying abilities.
It had even led Minato Namikaze, who knew Uchiha Qi best, to suspect that Qi had been hiding his true abilities all along. Outwardly, he had been slacking off and muddling through his days, while secretly, he had been studying and working like a maniac.
Moreover, even while hiding his talents, Uchiha Qi had displayed astonishing brilliance in developing the Rasengan.
Now, Uchiha Qi probably felt there was no longer any need to conceal himself. He had results, a platform, and the support of the Uchiha Clan, so he had begun freely displaying his talents.
As his closest friend, Minato Namikaze was actually very happy about this. From beginning to end, he had believed Uchiha Qi to be a brilliant genius. It was merely that in a Konoha where everything revolved around ninja talent, Qi's gifts had been buried.
So Minato followed up on Uchiha Qi's words and asked about the sale of Genjutsu Games, voicing his concerns.
"Qi, although we've solved the problem of porting Genjutsu Games onto Sealing Scrolls, Sealing Scrolls are also quite expensive."
"From what I can tell, you want even Konoha's civilians to be able to play Genjutsu Games. But if we can't bring down the cost, that will be hard to accomplish."
Uchiha Qi nodded. "Don't worry. I'm mentally prepared for that, and I have a complete plan."
"Granted, the current cost is too high. One scroll can only store one game, and it can only be used once. But that is merely a matter of insufficient technology. Once we have enough funding in the future, we can continue investing in the necessary technical research. Sooner or later, we'll solve all those technical problems."
"Compared to those issues that need to be solved later, Minato, what we need to do now is build up the name of Genjutsu Games first, then gather enough funds to support research and development."
"At the very least, we need the major Ninja Clans to understand the concept. Only then can we open up the market. Only then can we bring the major Ninja Clans in with us and make this brand-new cake bigger and stronger."
"So, Mr. Minato Namikaze, lifelong spokesperson for our Genjutsu Game Chamber of Commerce, are you ready to promote Genjutsu Games?"
Minato Namikaze scratched his head in distress. "I don't understand business matters at all. Anyway, Qi, you just want me to play a Genjutsu Game in front of everyone, right?"
"Then, while I'm doing that, you'll use some special method to let everyone else see the process of me playing, right?"
Uchiha Qi nodded. "Mm. I plan to use the projection function we accidentally developed yesterday while working on the porting technology for a live broadcast. It won't be as effective as watching from directly inside the Genjutsu Game, but our main goal is to let more people see it."
"So a live broadcast is a pretty good choice."
As everyone knew, researching entirely new technology often produced unexpected yet useful results. That was true of technological research on Earth, and it was true of secret technique research in the ninja world.
Yesterday, Uchiha Qi and the others had come up with an incredibly impressive projection technology. It could directly project the contents of a Genjutsu Game being played through a Sealing Scroll, allowing people outside the game to watch it as well. It was a classic live-broadcast function.
After hearing Uchiha Qi's words, Minato Namikaze nodded. "Live broadcast... that really is an apt way to put it. So, do you want me to broadcast Homecoming?"
Uchiha Qi shook his head. "No. I want you to broadcast another new game."
Minato Namikaze was surprised. "Huh? A new game? When did you make another new game, Qi?"
Uchiha Qi said, "Yesterday. Whenever I went home these past few days, I was developing a new Genjutsu Game. I finished it last night."
Minato Namikaze said, "As expected of you. You worked on new secret technique research during the day, and you still went home to develop a new game at night. You really have incredible energy."
After sighing in admiration, he asked again, "Then what kind of game is it? Is it like Homecoming?"
Uchiha Qi smiled. "No, it's a different kind. It's also very simple, with no puzzle elements. Instead, it's straightforward and brutal. It's called Fruit Ninja."
Of course, it was the ninja-world special edition with super-hell difficulty and nightmare mode.
Black Myth: Wukong was really fun.
It just didn't have a damn map. I got lost and then got motion sickness from the 3D view. How tragic.
I decided to watch someone else clear it, unless someone made a map mod.
Before you continue