Death – it represents corpses which is the passing of life.
What Minato Namikaze saw was an endless sea of dead bodies.
Silent. Deathly still.
It felt as though he had suddenly left Konohagakure and arrived on a horrifying battlefield on a dark night, surrounded by piles of corpses.
The bodies piled up in the darkness, men and women, ninjas and civilians alike, all with eyes wide open in death, unable to rest.
The eerie setting, reminiscent of the underworld, made the scene even more unsettling, creating an atmosphere capable of awakening primal fear of death in any living being.
Even though Minato had participated in many battles, completed numerous missions, and taken many lives, the sight before him still made him uncomfortable.
Perhaps, in the future, after the start of the Third Shinobi World War, Minato would be able to stand firm in the face of a blood-soaked battlefield, unmoved. But right now, with the war still two years away, some scenes were still too intense for him.
The realism, combined with the overwhelming atmosphere of death, shook Minato, even though he knew this was just a game.
He couldn't help but wonder—would the battlefield during the Shinobi World War look like this?
For a moment, Minato stood frozen in place, lost in thought. It was a perfect example of how an excellent game could make a player reflect deeply.
However, in these dark, horror games, standing still in certain scenes often leads to trouble.
Just as Minato was lost in his thoughts, the corpses suddenly began to move.
More precisely, it was the corpses behind Minato that moved.
Without warning, a hand shot out, grabbing his foot.
Minato sensed something was wrong and instinctively tried to act, but his body couldn't keep up with his mind. It was a classic case of head: I understand. Body: No, you don't.
With his foot seized, Minato was unable to move.
Immediately, as he instinctively struggled, more corpses reached out and grabbed him, wrapping around him.
The corpses' mouths were agape, emitting a foul stench, their hollow, pitch-black eyes fixed on Minato Namikaze. They pulled and tugged violently, as if trying to drag him into the most terrifying of hells.
In the next moment, as a cold, fierce expression appeared on Minato's face, the female vengeful spirit from earlier reappeared. She suddenly materialized in front of Minato, glaring at him with her venomous, terrifying eyes, and reached out her hand toward him.
The moment her cold, sharp claws made contact with his skin, Minato felt his consciousness plummeting rapidly.
Along with the sensation, a sharp pain struck his head—neither too light nor too heavy—and everything before him plunged into darkness.
Then, blood-red words, written in blood, appeared before his eyes.
[You are dead!]
At that instant, Minato felt a buzzing in his head, struggling to comprehend what had just happened.
When he regained his senses, the scene before him had changed. He was back in the same place where he had earlier faced the three roads, each offering a choice.
A look of confusion appeared on Minato's face. "What's going on? Did I just… die?"
As he spoke, his mind still buzzed, as the sensation of death had been so fast and so real that his brain couldn't quite catch up.
His body felt stiff, and his limbs were cold, the lingering sensation of narrowly escaping death still clinging to him. It was a disorienting and unpleasant experience that didn't fade easily.
It was, as he thought, a never-before-experienced sensation—so real, so advanced, that even Minato, an Elite Jonin with vast experience, felt as if he could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion.
Uchiha Kai, seeing Minato in such a daze, understood that his friend had truly been frightened. If this had such an effect on Minato, it would undoubtedly have a significant emotional impact on others.
However, like all things, there's a balance.
If it had been someone like the Ahimura Danzo or the Third Hokage, Uchiha Kai would have felt the experience wasn't intense enough and would want to increase the intensity.
But if this left his friend with lasting psychological trauma, that would be another matter entirely. He couldn't afford to let the legendary "Yellow Flash of Konoha" turn into the "Yellow Coward of Konoha."
So, Uchiha Kai immediately spoke up: "What you just experienced was the sensation of dying within the game. It wasn't real death, just a simulation of reality. After death, you'll return to the nearest critical checkpoint, just like you saw."
"Minato, are you okay? If the sensation of death felt too real, I can adjust the realism for you."
Hearing Uchiha Kai's words, Minato Namikaze finally snapped out of his daze. He let out a deep breath and said, "Indeed, this kind of experience is really unpleasant. Even though I know it's fake, and that this 'death' is nowhere near the real thing, it still feels really bad."
"But, there's no need to reduce the realism. As an Elite Jonin of Konoha, I will inevitably face even worse and more terrifying situations in the future. If I can't even handle something fake, I'll definitely end up dying on the real battlefield."
When Minato spoke these words, his expression was serious, his tone earnest, even carrying a sense of solemnity.
Though the Third Great Ninja War was still two years away, wars don't just happen suddenly. They build up over time, with a series of conflicts that eventually lead to an explosion.
As an Elite Jonin of Konoha and a key figure being nurtured for the new generation, Minato had access to many secrets. He could also see the atmosphere in the ninja world growing tense, with contradictions intensifying.
In a few years, a new war would surely break out in the ninja world—that was Minato's judgment, and it was something that worried him deeply.
Now, seeing scenes in his friend's game that could only appear in the upcoming war, Minato saw it as an invaluable opportunity for training. How could he ask Uchiha Kai to lower the game's realism?
In fact…
"Kai, if possible, please make the realism even higher. The closer to reality, the better!"
Upon hearing Minato's request, Uchiha Kai was stunned, not knowing what to say. He was worried that increasing the realism might lead to Minato getting hurt. Yet, Minato still wanted more.
At that moment, Uchiha Kai felt as though he had returned to his past life, seeing his carefully designed game's hardest difficulty mode being rated as "Very Easy" by players in surveys, with comments like, "Next time, I'll rate it 'Very Easy' again."
Damn it, this felt like the ultimate insult to a game designer who wanted players to experience both the challenge and the mental torment of the game!
At this moment, Uchiha Kai silently set the realism of the game world to the highest level, leaving nothing to hold back!
Hehehe!
Minato, now you'll truly experience how 'great' a fully immersive virtual reality game can be!
Uchiha Kai revealed a delighted smile.
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