"How did it feel, Minato?"
"Pretty good. At the very least, this warm, comfortable environment was really nice. If I ever got the chance to retire in the future, a place like this would be perfect for living in seclusion during my old age."
"Then I hope your wish comes true."
"Haha, I'll take that blessing."
Separated by the game, Uchiha Qi and Minato Namikaze carried on a conversation spanning reality and the game.
To the audience at the launch event, it looked like Uchiha Qi was conversing with the projected Minato Namikaze, while Minato Namikaze's actual body sat motionless on the stage as though he were asleep.
The sight was truly bizarre, drawing exclamations of wonder from the crowd.
Yet those with sharp eyes saw far more, and they could not help but be astonished—Minato Namikaze's response proved that the Genjutsu Game world he was in felt utterly real, at least to the senses. It was completely different from ordinary genjutsu.
This Genjutsu Game was no ordinary thing. What exactly did it feel like to enter it?
Curiosity was born from that, making even those who had been deeply wary of the Genjutsu Game unable to resist the urge to try it out for themselves.
Without a doubt, the message Uchiha Qi wanted to convey through his exchange with Minato Namikaze had been successfully delivered.
Next, Uchiha Qi once again addressed the audience as the host and explained the defining feature of the Genjutsu Game: "realism"—unparalleled realism, realism infinitely close to the real world.
Yet at the same time, no matter what injuries one suffered in the game, they would not carry over into reality.
Once those words were spoken, ordinary people only needed to be awed and imagine what the actual experience of the Genjutsu Game might be like. For quick-witted ninjas, however, there was much more to consider.
Naturally, they thought of the same things Minato Namikaze and the other previous "internal test" players had thought of. Some who were familiar with the Uchiha Clan were even more horrified, because a realistic Genjutsu World was undoubtedly a divine tool for stimulating the Sharingan!
Those with powerful intelligence networks made an even more alarming guess in their hearts. Perhaps the Uchiha Clan's research, dating back to the Warring States Period, into using genjutsu to stimulate the Sharingan had finally achieved significant results. A realistic genjutsu technique like the Genjutsu Game was practically made for the Uchiha Clan!
At that thought, those people suddenly understood. No wonder the Uchiha Clan had managed to create the Genjutsu Game. Only the Uchiha Clan could have created something like this.
But why would the Uchiha Clan reveal the Genjutsu Game and sell it openly as a product? Wouldn't it be far more beneficial for the Uchiha Clan to keep something like this tightly hidden, leaving outsiders completely unaware of it?
Confusion, incomprehension, and suspicion arose one after another.
Inside the Hokage's office, the three members of Konoha F4 aside from the Pot Kage, who were receiving updates from the Anbu and directly watching the event through the Telescope Technique, were stirred at that moment.
Mitokado Homura frowned deeply and said solemnly, "Hiruzen, what we feared most has happened. The Uchiha Clan has already mastered a secret technique capable of stimulating the Sharingan. The Uchiha Clan's power is about to surge."
"Even the cursed eyes that vanished decades ago, hailed as the Uchiha Clan's ultimate power, may reappear."
By this point, the adviser was starting to resemble the Pot Kage, his expression growing increasingly grim. "Hiruzen, we can't remain idle any longer. Otherwise, if the Uchiha Clan produces 'those eyes' again and a second Uchiha Madara appears, it will be disastrous."
Utatane Koharu nodded in deep agreement, endorsing her old partner's words.
The psychological shadow Uchiha Madara had left over Konoha was simply too profound. Konoha F4 had truly seen Uchiha Madara before, and they understood all too well just how terrifying he had been.
However, Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head at his friends' words. "Uchiha Madara is not so easily produced. The Mangekyō Sharingan may be terrifying, but not every Uchiha who awakens the Mangekyō Sharingan can become Uchiha Madara."
"Besides, compared to your concerns, I'm actually quite pleased."
The two advisers looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi in astonishment, while he smiled and took a puff from his pipe. "Just as you said, the Uchiha Clan has displayed the results of their genjutsu research, leading us to imagine some frightening possibilities."
"But looking at it from another angle, instead of hiding such an important secret, the Uchiha Clan has openly revealed it and even shared the effects of this secret technique with all of Konoha. Isn't that the Uchiha Clan demonstrating their sincerity?"
Those words left the two advisers stunned—indeed, the Uchiha Clan could have kept this secret hidden and launched a surprise attack after using the secret technique to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan in their clan members. There was absolutely no need to expose it.
Even if the Uchiha Clan was arrogant, they were still ninjas. The Uchiha Clan was certainly capable of using tactics like hiding their strength before launching a surprise attack.
Could it be...
Was the Uchiha Clan really showing its sincerity?
After looking at his two friends lost in thought, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his gaze back to the crystal ball of the Telescope Technique. Seeing Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Qi reflected within it, he felt relaxed and happy.
Because what he saw was undoubtedly the hope, in his heart, of a wonderful future for both the village and the Uchiha Clan!
At the launch event, after Uchiha Qi signaled that they could begin, Minato Namikaze officially started the game.
After the title "Fruit Ninja" appeared before him, Minato Namikaze saw the farm in front of him change.
From the house behind the fields came the arrogant voice of a bratty girl, clearly reaching him and everyone at the launch event.
"What? Another trash mob here to die? Whatever, it'll at least be entertaining."
"Now then, stranger, let's get you familiar with the rules—your goal is to cross the farm and reach the house."
"For now, you can choose the weapons you like, then the game can officially begin."
As she spoke, a weapons rack appeared in front of Minato Namikaze. It held all kinds of weapons commonly used by ninjas, as well as some less common ones.
For example, Minato Namikaze's personal Flying Thunder God Three-pronged Kunai had actually been generated on it automatically, and he could choose two weapons in total.
Without much thought, the Flying Thunder God Three-pronged Kunai was a must. Then he chose a katana.
Once he had selected both weapons, the rack vanished and an indicator pointing forward appeared.
Having played Homecoming before, Minato Namikaze was not surprised by this. He immediately hung the katana at his waist, gripped the three-pronged kunai, and tested his current body. He found that both his senses and physical capabilities were exactly the same as in reality. Clearly, in this game, players only played as themselves rather than someone else.
Then, just as the prepared Minato Namikaze began moving forward, a tree suddenly grew in the farm ahead.
A cherry tree, and it was alive.
That might have sounded strange, but it became clear enough when one said that the tree was cartoonishly anthropomorphic and had the outline of a human face.
Since it was a cartoon, it did not look frightening. Instead, it was rather amusing.
However, the face on the cherry tree wore an enraged expression. After roaring, "Intruders must die!", it began swinging its own branches and flinging cherries directly at Minato Namikaze.
Moreover, those cherries flew at incredible speed, like bullets. They reached Minato Namikaze in the blink of an eye and passed directly through his body.
The audience in the real world cried out in alarm at the sight, but their cries soon turned into astonishment, because Minato Namikaze's pierced figure vanished afterward.
When he reappeared, he was already three meters away.
The civilians and low-ranking ninjas had no idea what had happened, but anyone with even a little knowledge could tell that it was the effect of the Body Flicker Technique.
However, as a ninjutsu for short-range, ultra-high-speed movement, the Body Flicker Technique could usually move someone at least ten meters. An Elite Jonin like Minato Namikaze could move dozens of meters, yet he had only moved three meters. It was truly strange.
Only those familiar with Minato Namikaze, or who knew something about him, understood that this was Minato Namikaze's specialty: controlling the Body Flicker Technique to an inconceivable degree and using it like an ordinary evasive skill.
It was precisely Minato Namikaze's exceptional talent and control over spatial perception that allowed him to master the Space-Time Ninjutsu known as the Flying Thunder God Technique and surpass the Second Hokage, its creator, in its use.
Then, as the cherry tree unleashed another volley of cherries, Minato Namikaze did not retreat. Instead, he advanced and directly threw his three-pronged kunai.
When the Flying Thunder God Three-pronged Kunai reached the cherry tree, Minato Namikaze suddenly vanished from where he stood and appeared beside it. His katana had already been drawn, and in the next instant, a cold flash cut the cherry tree apart.
The entire process was incredibly swift, as if he had transformed into a golden flash. By the time the audience reacted, Minato Namikaze had already completed a stylish sword-sheathing motion—even the powerful ninjas among the spectators were included.
Flying Thunder God Technique plus lightning-fast killing techniques: Minato Namikaze's fighting style was just that "plain and unadorned."
In a daze, the audience seemed to understand why Uchiha Qi called Minato Namikaze the Yellow Flash.
Cheers, shouts, gasps of amazement, and all manner of voices erupted at that moment. Minato Namikaze, who had already gained some fame in Konoha, saw another huge surge in popularity, and after today, the title Yellow Flash was destined to become inseparable from Minato Namikaze.
Then, right in the middle of Minato Namikaze's moment to show off, the scene within the game suddenly changed.
As the surroundings shifted, Minato Namikaze was actually teleported back to the entrance.
Before anyone could figure out what was happening, the voice of the bratty girl NPC came from the house behind the farm again.
"Not bad, challenger. You actually managed to cut down my cherry tree so easily."
"Then, based on the strength you've displayed, I'll take this as a provocation against me and let you witness the highest level of fruit power."
"Ultimate Purgatory Mode, activate!"
As the bratty girl NPC spoke in her arrogant, overbearing tone, Minato Namikaze saw the farm ahead suddenly expand, and then all kinds of fruit plants grew across the entire farm.
Besides cherries, watermelons, dragon fruits, peaches, pears, pomegranates, kiwis, and countless other fruits sprouted everywhere, all of them anthropomorphic as well.
Then, those furious-looking fruits launched an attack on Minato Namikaze in perfect unison.
It was a truly overwhelming attack, like a barrage of bullets. Minato Namikaze had no thought of confronting it head-on and immediately used the Flying Thunder God Technique to evade.
Yet something even more absurd happened. Those fruits were not merely "bullets"; depending on the fruit, they carried attributes such as fire, ice, and hurricanes. Some could even cause massive explosions.
For instance, enormous watermelons fell like siege shells and exploded on impact, with each blast covering an area thirty meters in diameter.
And dozens of watermelons attacked at once every time, raining down in saturated, blanket bombardments.
So, Minato Namikaze died.
He died to a map-wide attack formed by the combined assault of over a thousand fruit plants.
In theory, Minato Namikaze could have escaped with his speed. The problem was that, in the game, his range of movement was limited to the farm area.
As a result, the fastest ninja in the shinobi world struggled under the terrifying saturated bombardment, exhausting all his strength to survive for one difficult minute before finally being blown to death, surrendering the first death of his livestreaming career.
At the moment Minato Namikaze died, the cowardly NPC whose appearance could not be seen let out a voice dripping with mockery.
"Trash, trash. If you're bad, practice more. Looking forward to your next challenge, trash~"
They snapped!
Everyone in the audience clenched their fists.
Though they could not see the NPC's face, and though her voice was actually rather cute, at that moment everyone was filled with the urge to beat up that bratty girl NPC.
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