The fourth calamity

The Land of Grass.

Hidden Jun Village.

Halfway up a mountainside, a handsome young man of about seventeen or eighteen stood with excitement written all over his face.

"Now... the conditions have finally been met!"

"System, activate!"

His name was Ye Chen.

He was the chief of Hidden Jun Village, as well as someone who had transmigrated.

A year ago, Ye Chen had transmigrated into the world of Naruto as an ordinary person.

He had no kekkei genkai, no clan, and wasn't even a member of a ninja village!

Ye Chen knew very well how difficult it was for an ordinary person to become a ninja in Naruto.

Of all the named ninja in Naruto, which one didn't come from a prominent clan?

Who would teach an ordinary ninja ninjutsu?

They would spend their entire lives as nothing more than genin cannon fodder!

As for Ye Chen, who wasn't even in a ninja village...

There was simply no chance of him becoming a ninja.

According to the timeline Ye Chen had pieced together, the Fourth Shinobi World War was about to begin.

In the Fourth Shinobi World War... everyone except those chosen few was cannon fodder!

Others held the knives, and he was meat on the chopping block!

But...

From now on, everything would be completely different!

[Ninja village template successfully applied!]

[Congratulations! System successfully activated!]

As two crisp electronic tones rang out, Ye Chen could barely contain his excitement.

He had received a system after transmigrating.

But...

He had to become a village chief before he could activate it.

Fortunately, Hidden Jun Village was remote and sparsely populated.

Using the management experience from his previous life, Ye Chen had successfully become village chief within six months.

[Otherworld summoning successfully activated!]

[Quest rewards successfully activated!]

[Shop successfully activated!]

[You may summon players from a parallel Blue Star world to log in.]

[The summoned players...]

In short, the system was a game login interface.

It allowed players on Blue Star to enter this world through VR and build up the village.

Furthermore, to ensure game balance, nobody in that real world had any memories of Naruto.

Ye Chen's job was to guide these players, help them grow stronger, and expand the village.

All the gains the players made through training.

Such as their chakra reserves and ninjutsu.

Even kekkei genkai...

Could all be synchronized and stacked onto Ye Chen himself.

As for training methods and ninjutsu, Ye Chen didn't need to worry about those either.

The system would take care of them!

"Free labor?"

Ye Chen grinned.

According to the system's explanation, the players couldn't rebel, and he didn't have to give them anything. They would work entirely for free!

He didn't even need to train himself. All he had to do was kick back while the players ground away at their training day and night, then wait for their gains to feed back to him!

[Hidden Jun Village]

[Village level: 0]

[Number of ninja: 0]

[Buildings: Small wooden cabin.]

[Host, please develop the village and upgrade it as soon as possible!]

[Note: Each upgrade will reward a large quantity of resources and otherworld player summoning slots (the number of slots doubles with each upgrade)!]

[Village level is determined by a combined assessment of ninja numbers, buildings, and reputation.]

[You currently have nine otherworld player recruitment slots. Please recruit them as soon as possible. Completing recruitment will grant a village reward!]

Looking at the panel floating before him, Ye Chen understood at once.

Upgrading the village was his top priority.

If he had enough slots.

If he had tens of thousands of players...

Even Otsutsuki wouldn't stand a chance!

[Official game website in the parallel world successfully created!]

[Please select recruitment after completing your promotional video.]

[The system will automatically match you with the most suitable otherworld players.]

[Within Hidden Jun Village, the host will possess invincible power over nature!]

Whoosh!!

The instant the system's notification finished.

An incredibly terrifying power suddenly erupted within Ye Chen.

Within the entire Hidden Jun Village, Ye Chen possessed absolute control and natural energy!

"Excellent."

Ye Chen nodded in satisfaction.

As long as he stayed inside the village, even the Ten-Tails would be helpless against him!

He could blast it away with a single punch!

Ye Chen had already decided what to put in the promotional video, too.

Once the recording was complete, Ye Chen began recruitment.

Earth.

On the Superman Live-Streaming Platform.

Its top female streamer, Dai Xiaomei, was live, constantly searching for games:

"Ugh, games these days just keep getting worse."

"It's been three years, and not a single good game has come out."

"Yeah, VR technology is so advanced now that we have fully immersive, lifelike environments, yet the gaming industry just keeps going downhill."

"We don't enjoy the old games anymore. They're boring."

"Dai Xiaomei, stop looking for games. There aren't any good ones. Why not stream yourself trying on outfits instead? We'll mail you stockings!"

"Holy shit, the guy above is a genius!"

"I second that!!"

Messages kept pouring through the livestream chat.

Dai Xiaomei looked helpless.

The struggling gaming industry had dealt a serious blow to her streaming career, too.

If no decent games came out soon, she really would have to switch her content.

Ding-dong!

Just then, a pop-up suddenly appeared on Dai Xiaomei's computer.

"Hidden Jun Ninja, closed beta with no progress wipe!"

"Holy shit, what is this? A full-screen pop-up???"

"Hahaha, it doesn't even have a fucking close button! That's fucking obnoxious!"

"There are developers this shameless?"

"Hidden Jun Ninja? What the hell is that?"

"Whatever else you might say, that shitty pop-up alone proves this game's garbage!"

The viewers were thoroughly amused.

Dai Xiaomei was furious, too.

The worse the gaming industry got, the lower its standards fell.

Game advertisement pop-ups had been especially common over the past few years, and Dai Xiaomei had long since grown used to them.

They were all trash games!

But this was the first one to be this obnoxious!

"Guys, report this with me afterward!"

Since she couldn't close it, she could only keep watching.

"That's right, let's all report it afterward!"

"Let's see what this obnoxious game has come up with first. Super Mario??"

"Hahaha, last month, Heavy Snow Company fucking announced a groundbreaking new game, and it turned out to be a fucking VR version of Super Mario. All they added was character leveling, and the environments were absolute garbage, just a pile of pixelated blocks. I nearly died laughing."

The viewers kept mocking it.

These days, games were just competing to see which could be worse!

Inside the pop-up.

A long-haired young man wearing a white cloak suddenly rose into the air.

That man was none other than Ye Chen!

"Huh... that character looks so handsome!"

Dai Xiaomei blinked, unable to stop herself from admiring him.

But...

What good were looks?

Then Ye Chen suddenly formed hand seals.

"Lightning Release: Kirin!"

Ye Chen parted his lips slightly.

At once.

The previously cloudless sky suddenly darkened.

Boom!

A streak of purple lightning tore across the sky in an instant, driving away the darkness.

Boom!!!!

Countless bolts of lightning blazed together, crashing down without end.

In an instant, the entire world became a purple inferno!!!

Space began to warp.

A massive rift suddenly ripped open across the sky.

Roar!!!

An enormous kirin made of lightning appeared high in the air.

In an instant, the sea of lightning churned!!!

That's right, this was Kirin!

As the strongest and most spectacular Lightning Release ninjutsu, it couldn't have been more suited to a promotional video!

Of course, Ye Chen certainly didn't know how to perform Kirin.

But with absolute control over natural energy, he could imitate it!

Roar!!

The next moment.

The kirin suddenly plunged downward.

Trailing hundreds of millions of lightning dragons!

Boom!!!!

Under Kirin's almost indiscriminate assault, everything within a ten-li radius was razed to the ground!

Mountains and rivers crumbled, and the sun and moon fell!

"Hidden Jun Ninja, first beta now open!"

"Follow Junying into a completely realistic ninja world and begin your journey as a ninja!"

Whoosh!!!!

As the footage ended, everyone froze.

Only frantic gasps remained.

The silence was terrifying!

Even the chat had stopped!

It took a full ten seconds before any of the viewers reacted.

"Holy shit... am I fucking seeing this right???"

"These fucking graphics are incredible!!! Every blade of grass, every tree looks so real. This is a fucking game??? I'd believe you if you told me it was live-action footage!"

"Those effects are maxed out!!! Even a 5A game wouldn't look this realistic!"

"Whoa... this game looks pretty fucking interesting!"

The chat scrolled like crazy.

Even Dai Xiaomei's eyes were filled with shock.

There was only one reason.

The trailer was absolutely insane!

Both the graphics and the combat effects had been pushed to the limit!

That sent Dai Xiaomei's and everyone else's anticipation through the roof.

After all, this was exactly what they had imagined VR games should look like!

"I think... maybe we should give it a try??"

"No wonder the gaming industry has been in a slump these past few years. Have they been saving up for something big?"

"Wait, don't get fooled, everyone! I just checked their official website. It only went up today, and for some reason, there's no developer listed."

"With that pop-up on top of it, I think this could very well be nothing but a shell of a game designed to scam people out of their money. You get what I mean?"

The viewers thought that made some sense.

After all, games had been such rip-offs these past few years.

First, they put together a trailer that looked as amazing as could be.

But once you got into the game, it was nothing but a bait-and-switch!

"Exactly. Just like that Classic of Mountains and Seas game that came out last time. Hatch eggs to get stronger-the trailer looked fantastic."

"And then... you got in, and it was full of bugs, with controls that were absolute garbage."

"And worst of all, it was a fucking card game. Can you believe that?"

"I think... this Hidden Jun Ninja thing is definitely the same kind of trash game!"

"No need to think. It definitely is! If this is real, I'll eat shit on stream! However much you guys in chat can give me, I'll eat it all!"

Reading the chat, Dai Xiaomei nodded too.

Of course, she had seen plenty of things like this.

The trailer's graphics and effects were fucking better than a Hollywood blockbuster's.

How much money would it take if this were real?

It had to be fake!

"And they're claiming it's a global closed beta with only nine players. Isn't that a textbook scam?"

"How would a game company make money off nine people?"

"What a joke!"

"Guys, I'll take you in for a look now, and we'll see just how different the actual game is!"

Dai Xiaomei waved her little fist.

The viewers were full of anticipation too:

"Come on, come on, start taking bets already! I'm betting it's some turn-based trash."

"You're giving today's game developers way too much credit. I bet it's a board or card game!"

"Place your bets! Place your bets!"

The stream's chat immediately came alive.

Dai Xiaomei was pleasantly surprised.

There it was-today's buzz and stream content, all sorted!

With her VR holographic headset on, Dai Xiaomei got ready to log into the game and tear it apart live!