Uchiha Kei: Game Dev in the Shinobi World

And just like that—Nawaki got his heart broken.

He slumped to the ground, fully collapsed into despair. It was such a dramatic collapse that even Hashirama Senju was startled and rushed over to comfort him.

Why?

Because Uchiha Kei had quickly noticed something was off with Nawaki. The last thing he needed was this turning into some tragic punchline between grandparent and grandchild—he did *not* want to be hunted down by Tsunade-sama.

Convincing Hashirama-dono to play along had just been a tactic to generate high-value emotional reactions, to fuel what he called "Golden Spirit Energy." It was *never* meant to push Nawaki into actual emotional ruin. Kei might be the Herald of Joy, but he had no interest in causing real psychological trauma—or getting Tsunade-sama to pulverize him IRL.

So, Kei tactfully stepped in to clarify everything. He made sure Nawaki understood that the "beautiful onee-san" he had been talking to was actually his own great-grandfather.

In that moment, Nawaki looked like he'd been struck by lightning. The emotional damage was massive—he froze up in pure despair.

Hashirama-dono panicked and tried to console him. But seeing that same sweet, gentle expression on the face of the very same onee-san, Nawaki's heart trembled again… then shattered. He fled the scene crying, leaving Hashirama-dono frozen mid-reach, like a reaction meme.

Uchiha Kei walked over and patted Hashirama-dono on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Uncle Hashirama. Nawaki just needs some time. He'll be fine."

After all, being catfished wasn't exactly rare. With Nawaki's easygoing personality, he'd probably cry for half a day and bounce back.

But as for Hashirama-dono… Kei had to stop *him* from overthinking it.

Even a guy as cheerful as Hashirama-dono might start doubting whether crossplaying in a genjutsu world was the right call after seeing Nawaki react like that.

So Kei once again activated BS-no-Jutsu, full power. He couldn't afford to have Hashirama-dono bail on this.

And thankfully, Hashirama-dono was as simple-hearted as ever. Under Kei's influence, he brushed off Nawaki's emotional outburst. He knew Nawaki was like him, and figured the kid would recover soon enough.

Besides, there were more pressing matters—

Madara!

His enlightenment! His best friend! His dear Madara!

He was waiting—waiting to be saved! Waiting to be pulled out of the depths of darkness and deception!

"I'll do whatever it takes to bring you back, Madara!"

At that moment, the 'young girl's' face was shining with absolute resolve.

So, Kei opened a solo instance of *Ultimate Storm* for Hashirama-dono. He gave him access to play as an anonymous avatar and get used to the genjutsu game format.

He also unlocked permissions to try other games in the system, encouraging him to explore and possibly generate more Golden Spirit Energy.

If Hashirama-dono turned out to be a consistent energy source, they'd have themselves a valuable emotional battery every time they summoned a 'dead' shinobi.

Hashirama-dono, despite being an "old man," adapted incredibly fast. Once he got a taste of the genjutsu games, he got hooked.

Still, *Ultimate Storm* wasn't quite his thing. A big, peace-loving log like him wasn't into combat-heavy content. He might have been terrifyingly strong by nature, but that just meant he unintentionally scaled harder than Madara—every time Madara leveled up, he'd outpace him by 20%.

Once he understood how the game worked, he decisively pivoted to other games.

And then… he got addicted.

Especially to *Outlast*.

After dominating the ninja world from his teens, he hadn't felt fear or weakness in ages. *Outlast* gave him that helpless, hunted feeling again—and it hit hard. Add a dark, immersive story and a fresh experience unlike anything he'd ever had? He was hooked.

Just like that, the ninja world gained another game-addicted old man.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Kei went to check on Nawaki. The kid had just been dumped by reality, after all.

He found Nawaki sitting on the edge of the new Hokage Rock, arms wrapped around his knees, staring blankly at the Hidden Leaf Village below. He looked completely out of it.

Cue the perfect sad anime BGM.

Kei sighed. He got it. Nawaki's old crushes had been childish at best. After dying and coming back, he'd grown a lot emotionally.

But now? He finally had his first real crush. And in a place like this—where interaction with outsiders was rare—it meant a lot.

First love. Granddad resurrected. Joy stacked on joy…

And then boom.

The girl he liked… was actually his great-grandfather in drag.

And the one who set it all up… was his idol, Kei-nii.

It was all to help said great-grandfather reach out to an old friend.

The whole thing was enough to crash Nawaki's brain.

For a twelve-year-old, it was existentially nuking.

His only remaining thought: "Adults are terrifying."

When Kei tried to comfort him, Nawaki interrupted, "So, Kei-nii… can your genjutsu game now support group play?"

Kei blinked. "It's not exactly full group play. Everyone shares a localized network—each player gets randomly matched in lobbies."

"You've seen *Ultimate Storm*, right? And old games like *Left 4 Dead*? You remember the four-player setup? Now it's all integrated into the network. You get random teammates in-game instead of having to manually group up."

Nawaki nodded. "So even the dead in this genjutsu world can log into the local network and play with others, right? That's how Grandpa met his old friend again… and we can create believable fake identities and play through them too?"

Kei nodded. "Yep. You thinking of making an avatar? I can grant you access."

With a serious face, Nawaki said, "Yes, Kei-nii. I want a new identity to play the game—and I want it to be a girl."

"…Huh?"

"I think Grandpa made the right choice," Nawaki continued. "We're already dead. It's better not to use our real identities when connecting with the living."

"And people who knew us are still alive. Even if we change our looks, keeping the same gender might still get us recognized."

"My acting sucks, too. I'd get found out fast if I tried to fool people."

"So I figure—go big or go home. Change everything, even gender. Grandpa did the same, right? If he can, then as his grandson, I should follow his lead."

"So please, Kei-nii. Give me a cute girl avatar too."

As Nawaki said this, he smiled—with terrifying determination.

A dark aura gathered around him like a final boss awakening. It felt like a demon plotting to destroy the world.

And everything he said was… shockingly well-reasoned.

Was this the legendary power of "dark mode = +300% intellect"?!

Even a happy-go-lucky dork turned into a big-brain strategist after turning edgy.

But still…

Kinda fun, right?

Kei grinned and ruffled his head. "Of course. I'll make you a perfect avatar. One that won't disappoint you. I'll even introduce you to some kids around your age so you won't feel lonely."

Nawaki's eyes lit up. The darkness around him faded as he beamed. "Thanks, Kei-nii!"

And so, the great character creation began.

If it had to be a girl, then she'd better be cute. Since "Jerusalem" had already been used in the 3D zone, Kei needed a new model.

After some thought, Kei decided to use Naruko's look—Naruto's female transformation—as the base. A loli-fied version, of course.

Nawaki hadn't asked to be older, just to switch gender.

Also, Naruko had golden hair like Tsunade. Perfect callback.

Thus, Miss Naruko was born… before Naruto himself even existed. If Naruto ever used that form in the future, people might start calling him a copycat.

Naturally, the avatar wasn't a complete copy. She still had golden hair and blue eyes, but the weird whisker marks were removed. Her figure? Petite.

In short—she had the kind of face Sasuke couldn't say no to.

She could easily replace Sakura in Shippuden and no one would notice.

Hashirama-dono's own avatar also got a name: muzi. A super simplified take on his nickname, "Big Hashi."

Miss Naruko soon logged in and started gaming right away. Unlike Hashirama-dono, Nawaki didn't need time to adapt—he was already familiar with genjutsu games.

Meanwhile, a fresh burst of Golden Spirit Energy appeared—from Hashirama-dono.

Kei checked the logs and saw he'd just reached the tragic scene in *Outlast* where two partners sacrifice themselves to save the main character.

This segment extracted the two most important people in each player's heart.

For Hashirama-dono… it was Tobirama and Madara.

…If Mito found out, she might flip her coffin and demand a divorce.

The man really had strong "Liu Bei" vibes.

Kei wasn't surprised. He knew Hashirama too well.

But he was very pleased.

Hashirama's genuine emotional responses proved something critical—

Dead people could still generate Golden Spirit Energy through gaming.

That was huge.

If more powerful dead shinobi could be summoned, Kei would have a reliable energy source even if war wrecked the game market.

With that settled, Kei turned his focus to the next phase—new game dev and market feedback.

Speaking of which…

The new game was exploding in popularity. Player counts were rising daily. Within two weeks of launch, the total number of players had already passed 180,000. Just 20,000 more to hit the system's 200k player milestone.

And that was before expanding into major countries beyond the Land of Fire.

Talks with various foreign reps were almost done. Once they took the uncut version of *Ultimate Storm* back home, the numbers would spike again.

Kei estimated they'd meet the target within a week.

And he couldn't wait.

He had a strong feeling—once this milestone was met, his Genjutsu Network Control Skill would evolve again.

And that evolution would unlock internet-like infrastructure, ushering in a true digital age in the ninja world.

Even if it couldn't rival Earth's 21st-century internet, just reaching 1990s intranet level—

That would be enough.

Kei couldn't wait. He was ready to finish this mission as fast as possible.