Uchiha Kei: Game Dev in the Shinobi World

After watching for a while, Jiraiya's curiosity and anticipation toward Uchiha Kei were about to burst.

The white-haired wanderer could hardly wait to meet Uchiha Kei and have a proper talk with the Uchiha boy he had once overlooked and underestimated.

But he had to hold back—for now, he needed to report to the Hokage Office. After being gone for so long, even with a formal letter from Lord Third, he still had to check in first.

Thus, Jiraiya and Orochimaru arrived at the Hokage's office, where they found Tsunade diligently working, assisted by Minato Namikaze, who clearly had been dragged in as unpaid labor. Nearby, Shizune served tea and sorted documents.

Judging by the scene, if Shizune were older, she'd probably be another paper-pushing assistant like Minato.

Jiraiya was stunned. He had expected to see Lord Third as usual, even if Tsunade had begun taking over Hokage duties. He figured she'd be assisting the old man—not fully seated in the Hokage's chair herself.

Even Orochimaru raised a brow at the sight, though he said nothing. After Jiraiya snapped out of it and greeted everyone with a grin, Orochimaru quietly entered the office and formally reported that the escort mission was complete.

Once the formalities were over, Orochimaru vanished with a puff of smoke.

Jiraiya blinked, dumbfounded, then grumbled indignantly:

"Seriously?! That guy just sent a shadow clone to fetch me? That's so typical of him!"

Tsunade scoffed, "You've got some nerve complaining. Do you even realize how long you've been gone? And come on, you met him yesterday, right? Didn't even notice it was a clone? Maybe look in the mirror before blaming others."

Jiraiya scratched his head in embarrassment. "I just trusted him, okay? Didn't think to question it. Anyway, what are you all doing in the office? Where's the old man?"

Classic Jiraiya—changing the subject mid-sentence.

Tsunade's face darkened. Shizune and Minato exchanged polite, awkward smiles.

Jiraiya looked around, confused. "What? Is this top secret or something?"

Tsunade's gaze turned icy. "Nothing like that. I just came back from handling some business with the Konoha Game Association yesterday—and found that pervy old man using the Telescope Technique to peep at the women's bathhouse."

Jiraiya's eyes lit up, clearly impressed by his master's ingenuity. Truly a genius application of jutsu.

But then concern hit. He knew Tsunade's temper—if she caught someone doing that, even if it was the Hokage himself… well, let's just say she wouldn't hold back.

Sure enough, Tsunade didn't spell it out, but Minato quietly added:

"Um… I heard Lord Third was suddenly injured and went home. Then Lady Biwako reportedly blew up at him. So today he filed for an extended leave and left all duties to Lady Tsunade…"

Jiraiya: "..."

He didn't know whether to admire his master or pity him. He just clasped his hands in silent prayer, hoping the old man was still alive.

Tsunade clenched her fists, voice low and full of resentment: "That damn geezer did it on purpose. Ever since I started taking over Hokage duties, he's been slacking off more and more. Claims it's to train me—but he's just dumping the work on me while he goes off doing who knows what."

"I swear, he let me hit him just so he could get time off!"

Her roar of frustration echoed through the office. Even the ANBU stationed outside swallowed nervously and pretended they didn't hear anything.

Inside, everyone kept their polite, awkward smiles in place.

Jiraiya was about to throw in a teasing remark out of habit—but wisely decided against it. He had no desire to join his master in sick leave.

Sometimes, cowardice is wisdom.

Thankfully, Tsunade soon calmed down, completed Jiraiya's formal debriefing, and told him to go find Uchiha Kei.

She had discussed the matter with Kei earlier—Jiraiya was being summoned to take on some sort of task.

Given the current situation in the village, there wasn't much Jiraiya could be assigned to anyway—mostly odd jobs. Tsunade had planned to use him wherever needed.

But Kei had other ideas. He asked Tsunade to send Jiraiya his way once he returned, saying he wanted to discuss a potential new industry with him.

What kind of industry, he didn't say. Tsunade was curious but didn't push. She agreed.

So here they were.

Jiraiya was a bit surprised. He'd thought the emergency recall meant a high-priority mission—maybe guarding the village. Instead, he was being told to meet Kei.

What could Kei possibly have in store for him?

Jiraiya asked, but no one else knew either. They only knew Kei needed him, and didn't press further.

That kind of trust—complete, unquestioning faith in Kei—surprised Jiraiya. What kind of charm did this boy have, to earn such unwavering support from people he respected?

With those thoughts, Jiraiya went to find Uchiha Kei.

He didn't need to search. Minato told him where to go and even messaged Kei on WeChat to say Jiraiya was on his way.

Meanwhile, Kei was fully absorbed in watching a heated in-game battle among the four little ones.

The match had reached a fever pitch. All four characters' HP bars were flashing red.

Obito had the least HP—just a sliver left. Without his Sharingan, he couldn't keep up with Kakashi, even though the two had been rivals at equal footing.

Kakashi had long adapted to fighting without flashy dojutsu. He'd chosen a white-haired sword user named Sayun, whose combat style aligned perfectly with his own. Using that character had even given him new insights, helping him improve his father's White Fang sword techniques.

So even though Obito's blond-haired ninja character fought like Minato, and he knew how to use such a strong character, he still lost to Kakashi.

Losing to anyone else was fine—but not to Kakashi. That, Obito couldn't stomach.

Unfortunately, reality doesn't change just because you're bitter. A golden flash, a sharp blade—and Obito's last HP tick vanished. Kakashi won the showdown.

On the other side, Shisui and Might Guy's match was nearing its end.

Shisui's character had lower HP. Guy clearly had the advantage.

Guy was pumped. After another power clash, he activated his character's ultimate move—Black Mamba's "Violet Spiral Mamba Elbow."

In an instant, the purple-black flash zipped behind Shisui's female ninja, unleashing a devastating elbow to the back, followed by a spinning elbow drill that struck like a black tornado.

With the HP that low, it should've been fatal.

But just then, the female ninja shattered into dozens of glowing purple butterflies.

She hadn't been hit. She had activated her own ultimate move—"Illusory Butterfly Shadow."

A passive counterattack technique—it only triggers when the enemy uses their ultimate directly against her. It requires perfect prediction. If the enemy fakes out or delays the move, it fails.

Shisui had made the read. He activated his counter at the perfect moment.

The ninja—named Misty Butterfly—reformed in mid-air. Then dozens of chakra butterflies bloomed across Black Mamba's body.

Brilliant, radiant explosions followed.

In an instant, Black Mamba's HP dropped to zero. Misty Butterfly won the duel.

Kakashi, having just defeated Obito, turned and witnessed the end of the match. He was stunned.

"Guy… actually lost?"

Then his eyes fell on Misty Butterfly's name tag: Uchiha Shisui.

"Incredible… He's just an academy student, same as us, and it's his first time playing the game. Misty Butterfly is one of the hardest illusion-based characters to master, yet he played it flawlessly and beat Guy, a taijutsu master."

"No wonder Kei-senpai values him. He's clearly on another level."

As he thought that, Kakashi wondered if he'd have to face Shisui next. It was a four-player arena match—there could only be one winner.

But Uchiha Kei suddenly spoke:

"Well done. Your performance in the character combat test was excellent. I've gathered enough data."

"Next, we move to the second phase of testing—Free Mode."

"For this round, it'll be a 1-vs-3 battle. Kakashi, Obito, Shisui—you'll fight Guy."

As Kei finished, the battlefield reset. The four returned to their original states, standing in the arena.

But Kei's announcement left them all stunned.

Might Guy was the most shocked of all.

"Huh? I'm supposed to fight all three of them by myself? Are you serious?!"