The next day, just past 10 AM, with the sun already nearing its peak, Uchiha Kei finally woke from an incredibly deep sleep—his entire body sore and aching, and his bladder on the verge of exploding.
Not even this physiological urge could wake him from such a profound slumber.
After rushing to the bathroom at record speed to relieve himself, now fully relaxed, Uchiha Kei finally recalled what had happened the night before.
He sighed, then promptly flipped the mental switch: "As expected, the inherently cursed Uchiha blood is affecting me. An Uchiha is still an Uchiha, quick to extremes. Even someone as morally upright as me, a transmigrator with a clear conscience, nearly went off the rails and tried to take revenge on society—let alone the rest of the clan."
"The inherently cursed Uchiha clashing with an even more cursed Hidden Leaf upper echelon? That's like Mars colliding with Earth. A spark to a powder keg. A rat stumbling upon a feast. One side is bound to crash and burn. And with the Uchiha's track record, they'll probably wipe themselves out like ferrets. If I stay in the village, I'm toast. I seriously need to escape Konoha while I still can."
"Anyway, the game's done. Has the system handed out the reward yet?"
With that thought, Uchiha Kei opened the system interface.
There, he saw the notification that the beginner mission was complete, and the reward had been granted.
But what surprised and shocked him—followed by immense joy—was the nature of the reward:
A 10% increase to all physical attributes!
All attributes up by 10%!
The system considered physical stats to include stamina, endurance, strength, and agility.
For a game development system to reward physical enhancement—this was beyond absurd.
Was the system being deliberate, or was this some glitch? Was it truly just a dumb AI?
With that question in mind, Uchiha Kei asked why the system would give such a physical boost—and it actually replied.
After hearing the answer, Uchiha Kei was left speechless, confirming the system was, in fact, a dumb AI—albeit one with... conviction.
The system's answer: To be an excellent game developer, one must have a strong body and boundless energy—because to surpass competitors, you have to work like a beast. Pull all-nighters. Be the king of the grind.
Without a solid body and enough energy, even the most skilled developer would be crushed in the cutthroat game industry of 2024's Huaxia market.
Yes. Even a dumb AI system knew how intense the Huaxia grind culture was.
Thus, the reward made sense—it was to help Uchiha Kei grind harder in the gaming industry.
And that wasn't all. Alongside the boost came enhanced recovery, improved skills, faster thinking, explosive reaction—all buffs to make Uchiha Kei the ultimate workhorse of game development. A tireless, immortal grind god. The kind of legendary beast that would make capitalists weep with envy.
After learning all this, Uchiha Kei's silence was thunderous.
Eventually, he murmured, "System... are you sure you're a Game Developer System and not some Ultimate Workhorse Cultivation System?"
The system firmly insisted it was indeed a Game Developer System.
Uchiha Kei had no retort.
Still, after calming down, excitement bubbled up again.
Because in the shinobi world, this kind of body-wide enhancement was downright game-breaking!
If he were still a regular Earthling, these rewards might just turn him into some super-recovery Captain America type. Impressive, but nothing compared to the ninja world.
Ninja already had double the cell density of normal humans. Even an average Chūnin like Uchiha Kei had a much higher baseline. A 10% boost here? Insane.
Feeling his body carefully, he noticed that the bottleneck he had always sensed had been forcibly pushed upward. It was still there, but far higher than before.
And a 10% increase in all physical stats wasn't just a simple numeric boost.
Because in the shinobi world, chakra is a fusion of mental and physical energy.
Since stamina counted toward the physical component, his chakra capacity had also increased. The synergy meant a minimum of 20% more chakra overall.
It might not seem like much, but to Uchiha Kei, that meant one more B-rank jutsu—possibly even more low-tier life-saving or escape techniques.
Most importantly…
"This is just the beginner reward. If I keep completing system missions… just how strong could I become? Kage-level? No longer a dream. Super Kage? Might be worth dreaming about."
He mumbled, the corner of his mouth twitching like he was about to burst out laughing.
Forgive him for only aiming for Super Kage. Reality had long since beaten the arrogance out of him. He knew talent was no match for cheats.
And while he now had a cheat too, those who surpassed Super Kage and reached Six Paths level in the original series? All of them were absurd cheat users—Ōtsutsuki aliens from the sequel series, Boruto.
Everyone had cheats. Uchiha Kei didn't think his would top theirs. His was just a misplaced dumb AI—give him a Dragon Ball or Xianxia system, and maybe then he'd dare to dream bigger.
For now, he wanted the system to issue a new game development task.
If making games made him stronger, then so be it. He'd become a machine. The assembly line king of game production.
But the system's response left him in despair:
\[Main Quest: Promote your first game. Objective: Collect at least 5000 Emotion Points.]
\[Emotion Points are generated by players' emotional reactions to your game. The stronger the emotion, the more points gained.]
\[Each player can generate between 1 to 4 Emotion Points per game. To count, they must play at least 10 minutes. After finishing or quitting, the emotion is tallied.]
So basically, Uchiha Kei had to get 5000 people to play his game.
If this were Earth, he could just pay a few streamers or influencers and get it done easily. Good or bad game didn't matter—as long as players played 10 minutes, he got at least 1 point.
In that sense, the system was pretty user-friendly. The quest difficulty was laughably low—like "next time add Very Easy" tier.
But…
This was the Shinobi World!!!
A world with no computers, consoles, or smartphones.
Sure, his game could be played—but only through one-on-one Sharingan-based genjutsu sessions. One person at a time.
The difficulty just skyrocketed.
Not only was it insanely hard to promote a game in this world, but no sane person would willingly let an Uchiha cast genjutsu on them!
At that thought, the sparkle faded from Uchiha Kei's eyes. His brief hope collapsed into despair.
Escape. That was still his only path.
The aura of a doomed man enveloped him once more.
And then—
Knock knock.
Someone knocked on the door.
A warm, gentle voice called out from outside:
"Kei, are you home?"
Uchiha Kei blinked, then quickly replied, "Yeah, I'm here."
As he walked to the door, he reminded himself: though an Uchiha, he had never lived in the clan district. Wanting to escape one day, he had chosen to live alone in a modest two-room apartment.
With the Nine-Tails incident still in the future, the Uchiha clan wasn't yet under suspicion or surveillance. Their compound was still in the village's core.
And while most lived there, it wasn't unheard of for some Uchihas to live elsewhere. Kei wasn't an anomaly.
When he opened the door, standing before him was a young man in Konoha's standard blue ninja gear, with golden hair and striking blue eyes.
Anyone familiar with Naruto would know him instantly—Konoha's golden boy, the future Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
But Uchiha Kei wasn't surprised to see him.
They had been classmates at the academy and best friends since childhood.
Back then, Kei, still naïve and full of ambition, had approached Minato out of a desire to invest early in a future powerhouse. Minato, being kind and trusting, accepted the friendship easily.
Over the years, that strategic connection had blossomed into genuine friendship.
Now, seeing Kei radiating defeatist energy, Minato asked with concern and explained why he'd come.
He'd just returned from completing an S-rank mission and wanted to celebrate with his closest friend.
Originally, he'd gone to the Konoha Military Police HQ to find Kei—but since Kei had overslept, he never showed up. Worried something had happened, Minato came straight to his home.
Kei was deeply touched, though also wistful.
Though their friendship had begun with ulterior motives, over the years it had become real. If he weren't so weak, powerless against the darkness lurking in the shadows, he wouldn't even consider running away.
Still, he had prepared a letter for Minato—one to be left behind when he fled, warning him about Madara Uchiha and the coming Nine-Tails attack.
Whether Minato could survive with his wife was beyond Kei's power.
He was just a Chūnin. When the Nine-Tails rampaged, he'd be cannon fodder—vaporized by a single breath.
Worse still, Danzo would lock down the Uchiha clan, forbidding them from joining the battle.
After a brief emotional reflection, Kei promised he'd come to Minato's celebration.
Then, changing the subject, he said, "Oh right, Minato—I made a game. Wanna test it for me?"
Minato: "A game? What kind of game?"
Uchiha Kei, serious: "Relax. It's not some kiddie toy. I used my Sharingan and genjutsu to create a miracle. I poured my heart into it. Finished it just last night. As my best friend, I want you to be the first player."
Minato scratched his head, then smiled brightly: "I don't really get what you mean, but since it's a favor from you, Kei, I'll gladly do it."
That 100% trust made Kei emotional: "That's my best friend. Come on in—lie down on the bed."
Minato blinked: "Huh? Why do I have to lie down? What kind of game is this?"
Kei: "Don't overthink it. I'll be casting genjutsu with my Sharingan. If you're standing or sitting, you might fall and hurt yourself during the experience."
Minato sighed in relief: "Ah, that makes sense."
Kei: "Tch. I told you it's genjutsu—you're not even curious?"
Minato smiled: "Because it's you, Kei. I know you'd never hurt me."
Kei smirked: "Tch. Too bad you're not a girl."
Minato gave an awkward laugh: "Ahaha…"
No good comeback for that. Any more and the vibe would get real weird.
Fortunately, Kei said nothing more. Once Minato was lying down, Kei activated his Sharingan and cast the genjutsu to launch the game.
Minato didn't resist at all. The genjutsu was weak—any real resistance would've canceled it. But Minato trusted him completely.
Instantly, Minato felt the world spin. Strange voices echoed: "○ System activate," "Link start," and other nonsensical phrases.
When he regained clarity, he found himself standing on a deserted Konoha street at night.
Fog hung thickly in the distance, gray and unnatural. Lanterns with eerie green light flickered above blood-smeared windows. Bloody handprints. Stains.
And then came the creepy BGM—ghastly ambiance announcing this was a twisted version of the Hidden Leaf.
In front of him, bloody writing appeared in midair, spelling the game's title—*Coming Home*.
A ghostly female voice whispered the name into his ear, sending chills down his spine.
Within ten seconds of entering the game, Minato—an elite jōnin—was already breaking into a cold sweat.
No surprise. Kei had made this game last night, fueled by his resentment toward the world. He'd deliberately crafted it to scare the hell out of shinobi elites.
And now, Minato Namikaze… had become the first victim.