"Oh my god, Land of Demons—I know that place! It actually exists. But is it true that a monster named Chimimōryō is sealed there?!"
"M-My god, wh-what is that?! Those people—turned into zombies, into monsters—what kind of ninjutsu is this?!"
"Ghost-style jutsu, duh! Didn't the genjutsu game say it was the evil power of Chimimōryō corrupting the whole world?"
"Ugh\~\~so disgusting... I feel sick... What even is all that?!"
"The end... is this really what the end of the world looks like? That's terrifying... Is this what an apocalypse is?"
"No—we absolutely cannot let the world fall to monsters like this. We can't let it become this!"
"Terrifying... If I ever turned into something like that... I'd rather die!"
Cries of shock, shouts of fear, murmurs of doubt, voices of excitement—they filled the venue. The visuals, more intense than anything they'd ever seen, caused real-world shinobi to cry out in disbelief.
It was just like the Earth of the 1990s when gamers saw the iconic zombie turn around in *Resident Evil* for the first time.
It had the same effect as watching your first zombie apocalypse film—utter disbelief that the world could even look like that.
Sure, the Shinobi World had its own horrors and ghost stories, but they couldn't hold a candle to the doomsday scene projected in the venue.
Of course, Uchiha Kei had localized this special Shinobi World edition. He didn't use parasites, viruses, or bacteria—classic infection tropes—instead opting for fantasy. He used the concept of Chimimōryō.
Coincidentally, the Shinobi World *did* have such beings. Though distorted by legend, Chimimōryō was a real part of shinobi folklore.
That made it easier to accept. The real Chimimōryō wasn't as terrifying—but with the right enhancements, it fit the theme.
In fact, all of Uchiha Kei's games were deeply localized. Reborn as a cunning game planner, he knew new concepts came with a "comprehension cost." Cultural adaptation was key.
Sure, he could recreate Earth's overused tropes wholesale. But would people understand them? And if they didn't, how would he explain it all without raising suspicion?
Humans struggle to imagine things they've never seen. If Kei made something too far ahead of its time, not only would it be hard to explain, it might even put him in danger.
So he chose localization—remodeling Earth's existing games and porting them over.
For example, *Homebound* was just a modified WeChat mini-game. *Fruit Ninja* was a stitched-together hybrid of *Plants vs. Zombies* and *Fruit Ninja*.
The core principle: simple and easy to understand.
Still, Kei wasn't above slipping in "advanced" knowledge. As long as the groundwork was laid, he'd sneak it in.
Concepts like cells and bacteria already existed in the Shinobi World. *Left to Survive* used them. In-game, the evil energy from Chimimōryō corroded and reshaped life at the cellular level—players could uncover these details during gameplay.
In Kei's view of players, most would just want satisfying combat. Only the observant or curious would care about story layers.
But Kei's localization worked wonders. Over 5,000 attendees instantly grasped *Left to Survive*'s backstory—even the illiterate got the gist.
And because the genjutsu game's visuals were so realistic, many shivered just watching the CG scenes. Even though Kei thought the CG was barebones by Earth standards, to shinobi, it was a dimensional bombshell—more shocking than Earthlings seeing their first IMAX 3D movie.
Zombies. Mutants. These concepts forcibly embedded themselves into these "country bumpkins'" brains, unlocking a whole new world.
Some merchants were especially excited—those in the film industry. The shinobi world's film industry was just emerging, with black-and-white talkies. The tech tree was wild.
Now, with ninja, Transformation Jutsu, and this new tech? Making a zombie film wouldn't be hard at all.
Thus, Kei pulled off a quiet cultural export. The origin of zombies, ghouls, and mutants? It would forever trace back to Konoha.
Even seasoned ninja were disturbed. The CG monsters felt too real—even veterans of the Great Ninja Wars had to swallow nervously.
War was cruel, sure. But when people die, they stay dead. In this game? The dead turned into mindless corpses that attacked the living without mercy.
That was terrifying. Even more than the future Fourth Great Ninja War's reanimated army.
Most shinobi breathed a sigh of relief—thankfully, this was just a game. Not real.
But a few—those with more knowledge or imagination—couldn't help but wonder: *What if it *could* be real?*
Take Lord Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi. As Hokage, he knew more than most. He knew the monster Chimimōryō really did exist, sealed by shrine maidens of the Land of Demons. Konoha had even taken related missions before.
Puffing on his pipe, Sarutobi muttered, "We'd better keep a closer watch on the Land of Demons. Whether Chimimōryō can really do what we saw in the game or not, it's nothing like a tailed beast. We can't afford to ignore it."
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado both nodded. They also knew about Chimimōryō. It felt a little excessive to be spooked by a genjutsu game—but better safe than sorry.
They had to admit... *Left to Survive* was deeply unsettling.
That was the Hidden Leaf's first impression of the game.
As for Uchiha Kei—he was grinning ear to ear, barely able to contain his glee.
This press conference had been the right call.
With the system fully activated, emotional energy values were pouring in nonstop.
Each individual's contribution was small, but add them up? Massive.
Kei made up his mind. Tonight, he'd do a random draw using emotional energy!
Meanwhile, inside the game, the four player teams were staring at each other in shock.
The CG scenes were shocking, sure—but what really stunned them was turning into someone else.
Only Minato Namikaze, who'd gotten a heads-up from Kei, remained calm. Smiling at his confused students, he explained:
"Don't be too surprised. In this game, we directly play the characters. There are four male and four female roles, and we're randomly assigned one at entry."
"Of course, males become males and females become females. No gender-swapping."
The three students finally calmed down.
But then curiosity kicked in. After all, they were kids—and the characters were adults.
Suddenly aging into an adult body felt... very different.
Obito Uchiha became a fierce-looking bald man in his thirties. Kakashi Hatake turned into a white-bearded old man. Rin Nohara was now a black-haired woman with a single ponytail.
Minato Namikaze? A weary-looking blond young man.
Each game character had a name and backstory, but this demo version hadn't implemented those yet. That would come in the full release.
Currently, only players' real-world names appeared in the genjutsu game. So everyone recognized each other immediately.
Obito, wasting no time, started roasting Kakashi. Becoming an old man was just too funny.
Kakashi's face darkened and he immediately fired back, saying Obito already looked like a criminal who belonged in Konoha Prison.
Naturally, they started bickering—nearly coming to blows.
Rin, flustered, stepped in to calm them down. She was even more nervous than usual.
Because she hadn't forgotten—they were being live-streamed. Over 5,000 eyes were watching.
And it turned out, Rin's worry wasn't unwarranted. Once the audience recovered, seeing Kakashi and Obito argue made them laugh out loud.
Sure, kids fighting wasn't anything new in the Shinobi World.
But a fierce bald man and a grumpy white-bearded elder bickering like children?
That was surreal.
Especially...
Because their voices hadn't changed.
The voices didn't match their appearances at all. The contrast was pure chaos—the kind of beauty found only in cursed meme videos.
And with that...
The fun began.
Uchiha Kei realized something else: absurd comedy could generate a ton of emotional energy too.
Another collection method confirmed.