"Lord Kei."
"Lord Kei."
"Lord Kei."
Upon arriving at the Uchiha compound, Uchiha Kei truly experienced the trope of the underdog's comeback. Along the way, clansmen awaited him, bowing respectfully and greeting him with reverence.
It was a display of status, of style, of prestige.
Honestly, while secretly enjoying the moment, Uchiha Kei also felt a bit awkward. The whole situation reminded him of those parody videos from his previous life—like the infamous crooked-smile Dragon King, the Dragon King's Return, or the Invincible Son-in-Law.
He could almost see the crooked-smile Dragon King grinning at him and saying, "Well done—you've inherited our sacred legacy."
And truthfully, Uchiha Kei really did give off that vibe now.
Due to his personality, Kei returned every greeting with a nod and a smile.
Even though his position in the clan had undergone a massive transformation, he hadn't grown arrogant or overbearing.
After all...
Don't underestimate the mental fortitude of the Uchiha King of Endurance—he had a clear grasp of his identity!
So, if you adjusted your perspective a bit, that smile of his really did resemble the crooked-smile Dragon King.
That aside, Uchiha Kei was well aware that the Uchiha clan was treating him with high regard today, starting from the compound's gate. There was no fanfare or announcement, but within the Hidden Leaf Village, there were always eyes watching the Uchiha.
Today's reception was undoubtedly unusual. Kei guessed it wouldn't be long before the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi and "Kettle-shadow" Danzo Shimura caught wind of it.
"Looks like those two old men are going to be watching me closely. But with the Uchiha clan still in its prime—before the Nine-Tails incident damaged their prestige—even Danzo, who loves stirring up trouble, would think twice about provoking the clan's fury."
With that thought, Kei wasn't too worried.
Soon, he approached the main building where an important clan meeting was being held.
There, he spotted a beautiful woman with long black hair holding a baby—Uchiha Mikoto, wife of Uchiha Fugaku. The baby was none other than their one-year-old son, Itachi Uchiha.
Mikoto nodded with a smile. "Congratulations, Kei-kun."
Kei smiled back. "You're too kind, Mikoto-neesan."
She stepped aside. "Go on in. Fugaku and the others are waiting for you."
Kei nodded and approached the doors. Two Uchiha opened them for him respectfully, revealing a room where over a dozen people sat upright with an air of authority.
At the head of the room sat Uchiha Fugaku, flanked by elders arranged by rank.
As the doors opened, all their gazes turned toward Kei.
With calm composure, he gave a courteous "Pardon the intrusion," and stepped inside. The doors quietly closed behind him.
Uchiha jiri also entered shortly after and took a seat at the far end of the right side—she was one of the younger elites qualified to attend this critical meeting.
To be honest, Kei wasn't a fan of such rigid formalities. But since he'd been taught all this protocol growing up, it didn't feel unnatural now.
There were no melodramatic provocations or suspicion. In that hall of solemn silence, the eyes of the elder Uchihas held only goodwill—and in some cases, guilt. Many of them were members of the Konoha Military Police.
The kind of dramatic face-slapping Kei once fantasized about was nowhere to be found. Turns out in the Uchiha clan, that kind of thing just doesn't fly.
Maybe over in the Hyūga clan—the ones always eager to antagonize the Uchiha—there'd be some good drama.
After brief pleasantries, Kei got straight to the point. He said if there were other matters, they could "verify the goods" first—confirming some things would help with the discussions ahead.
His directness caught the others off guard, but no one disliked it. After all, Uchihas were a straightforward bunch. Even the oldest among them, Uchiha Setsuna, was laughably bad at scheming.
Kei explained that he had made improvements to the genjutsu-based game overnight. The updates would allow more people to experience it today—not just one person at a time.
To increase the game's realism, he had even developed a new feature: spectator mode.
In other words, one person could play while others observed from an omniscient viewpoint.
This was the new feature he had developed last night—and the main reason he was low on energy this morning. It took a real toll.
The so-called "spectator mode" was actually a built-in concept from the game design system.
It resembled livestream viewing. But in truth, many multiplayer games had this feature.
Like in CS, where you could follow teammates' views after dying.
Or in real-time strategy games like StarCraft and WarCraft, where non-participants could watch the entire match.
The system naturally included such common features. Kei expanded on this via the mental network, integrating spectator mode into the genjutsu game.
Now, it was time to put it to use.
But this wasn't just a new gimmick—Kei was also conducting an experiment. Since the system collected emotional energy, did it matter how that emotion was generated? Could he absorb emotional feedback from viewers too?
He had asked the system before, but the dumb AI hadn't given a clear answer—in fact, it froze up briefly. Typical.
So Kei decided to find out through actual testing.
Now, everything was ready.
A three-tomoe Jōnin from the Konoha Police sat across from Kei. He had refused to participate yesterday when Kei first proposed the test, so he now felt visibly embarrassed. But he didn't run from his mistake.
He bowed deeply and sincerely apologized.
Kei quickly urged him to rise, saying he didn't mind at all. "We're all Uchiha. We're all working to make the clan great again. Let the past be like passing clouds."
That was maturity—emotional intelligence the rest of the Uchiha could spend a lifetime learning.
Why didn't Kei take this chance to humiliate the guy?
Uh… and what would that accomplish, exactly?
Right now, the Uchiha clan had given Kei unimaginable support—touching him deeply. Like that classic meme: "You've given me too much."
All Kei wanted now was to restore the Uchiha clan's greatness—and to finish his system tasks and earn those sweet rewards!
That was the key. Everything else was secondary.
And so, the first game began in a harmonious atmosphere.
This time, six additional Uchihas entered the genjutsu game in spectator mode.