Of course, even if he wants to copy Orochimaru to kill the village's higher ups, that's a matter for the future. Right now, he's still just a small player and needs to first focus on promoting the game.
Improvements are definitely needed. With the current 'operation' method, only one person can play at a time, and how long they can play depends on how long Uchiha Kai can endure. It's far too inefficient and inconvenient.
However, how exactly to go about this still requires careful thought.
Next, the two of them head to Konoha's famous Ichiraku Ramen shop for a bowl of ramen. After all, after playing the game for a while, it's already close to midnight.
Unlike in the 'original story,' where the owner of Ichiraku Ramen is already middle-aged, in Konoha Year 46, the owner is still young—only in his twenties—and has only recently arrived in Konoha. His daughter, Ayame, hasn't even been born yet. At the moment, it's just a small ramen shop with little fame."
Since the opening of Ichiraku Ramen, Uchiha Kai had become a regular at this ramen shop, thanks to the filter of his memories.
And to be honest, the taste was actually quite good.
Even Minato Namikaze was brought along by Uchiha Kai and ended up developing a liking for Ichiraku Ramen.
After finishing a delicious meal of Ichiraku Ramen, the two began to take a stroll down the street. Minato then steered the conversation back to the game: "Kai, when can I continue playing?"
Uchiha Kai raised an eyebrow. "Not done playing yet?"
Minato scratched his head, embarrassed. "It's really fun, and... I also want to know how the game ends." He paused and added, "I want to know the final outcome of the character I'm playing."
Uchiha Kai smirked. "Huh? During your gameplay, it looked like you were just busy dealing with traps and evil spirits, or enjoying the battles. Turns out you were digging into the game's plot too?"
Minato smiled. "Well, I'm a Jonin of Konoha. Gathering intelligence is a basic skill for a Jonin."
"Although the plot hidden in the game is fragmented, all the key information is there."
Uchiha Kai nodded. "That's true. With your skills, it was bound to happen that you'd uncover the plot, even if it was in fragmented form. For someone like you, it's no problem—enough to piece together the full story."
The illusion-based game, Returning Home, didn't tell the story in the usual straightforward manner. Instead, it hid the story within the game itself, using scattered bits of text and clues to piece together the complete narrative.
These elements were spread out across various scenes. They were placed in the environment, visible but unmovable, and if you weren't paying attention, you could easily miss them.
Although this didn't affect the game's completion, players who were new to the game and didn't have the habit of gathering information or studying the plot would likely finish it without any understanding of what the game's story was really about.
However, Minato Namikaze, being one of the most brilliant men in Konoha, seemed like he wasn't gathering any information. He was just charging through the game, enjoying the battles, and appeared no different from a typical rookie player. But in reality, he had found and remembered all the hidden information in the scenes.
Even after leaving the game, he was now piecing together a relatively complete story in his mind.
At least, the information Minato had gathered successfully allowed him to reconstruct the entire plot.
In Minato Namikaze's analysis, the character he played in the game is a Konoha ninja active during the Ninja World War, who witnessed the brutal reality of the war. This experience led him to accumulate a vast amount of negative emotions.
These negative emotions attracted the attention of evil spirits. Moreover, since he had indeed taken lives during the war, he became cursed by the spirits of those he had killed.
Thus, after the war ended, when the "main character" should have been resting at home, he found himself trapped in a cursed world created by the evil spirits.
To escape, he would need to overcome all obstacles and break free to return to his true home.
This is the story that Minato Namikaze deduced from the game's plot.
In response, Uchiha Kai simply said, "Although there are some discrepancies with the actual story, it's not too far from the truth."
Hearing this, Minato scratched his head, confused. "Huh? So it's not entirely correct? There's more to the story hidden behind it?"
"Hmm… I'm getting more interested in the truth. I wonder when I'll be able to play the later parts of the game."
Minato, somewhat disappointed, thought he would have liked to continue playing that afternoon, but since he had other things to do, he resigned himself to saying, "Next time for sure."
At this point, Uchiha Kai's inner thoughts were clear—actually, there was no need for "next time," since Minato had already given him all the emotional value he could extract from him.
To Uchiha Kai, this meant Minato's "useful value" had already been exhausted. Continuing to play would be just occupying space without offering anything more.
Of course, Uchiha Kai wouldn't actually stop Minato from playing—after all, he wasn't the kind of person who would treat veteran players like "greedy spenders who hinder the development of the game."
Even though Minato wasn't his closest friend, Uchiha Kai still made sure to take care of loyal supporters like him.
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