There was no doubt—the "Resurrection Gift Pack" Uchiha Kei arranged for Hatake Sakumo was another legendary soul-crushing game: *Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice*, the ultimate masterpiece of parrying combat.
The story took place in a fictionalized version of ancient Japan, in a land called Ashina.
Ashina was one of many small nations in this world, but it possessed extraordinary power—namely, the Dragon Heritage, the ability to be immortal. This power drew endless greed and malice.
When the strongest faction known as the Interior Ministry invaded, Ashina fell into decline, facing inevitable destruction.
Thus, Ashina's Sword Saint and the nation's uncrowned king, Isshin Ashina, decided to use the Dragon Heritage he had once sworn never to touch in a desperate bid to save the nation.
However, to acquire the Dragon Heritage, he had to take it from Kuro, the Divine Heir and the master of the game's protagonist, Wolf.
Wolf was a top-tier shinobi who had sworn his life to his master. So when Isshin reached for Kuro, Wolf drew his blade—commencing a father-son duel. Wolf was a battlefield orphan who would have died had Isshin not taken him in and raised him as a son. It was also Isshin who had entrusted Kuro to Wolf.
If not for his obsession with saving Ashina, Isshin might have been the very model of a loyal retainer.
In a way, he still was—but not to a person, rather to the nation of Ashina itself. He would do anything to save it.
And so, the story unfolded: after Isshin kidnapped Kuro, Wolf embarked on a one-man mission to rescue his master—rampaging through Ashina alone, slaughtering everything in his path, and ultimately becoming a Shura who brought destruction to the entire land.
As stories went, this one was quite small in scale. Compared to *Dark Souls* where entire worlds fell to ruin, *Sekiro*'s scope was tiny.
But as a game, *Sekiro* was undeniably excellent. Its story, too, was superb—on par with *Dark Souls*.
Before Kei transmigrated, *Sekiro* had sold over ten million copies worldwide and generated massive buzz. The so-called "Sekiro Effect" even became a trending term.
That Uchiha Kei chose this game for Sakumo showed just how highly he valued him. He genuinely hoped for an impressive performance.
Yes, just judging by Kei's decision to send him into this game, it was clear he respected Konoha's White Fang far more than that inherently evil old man, Tobirama.
Moreover, *Sekiro* wasn't as diabolical as *Dark Souls III*. While it still packed a punch, it wasn't utterly despairing.
As a second life, it wasn't bad at all.
After all, Kei considered himself a pretty "kind" guy.
In reality, after grasping the situation—realizing he was in another world, another country, even another body—Hatake Sakumo was overwhelmed.
Why had he become someone else?
Why was he in another world?
Japan? Ashina? Interior Ministry?
Apparently, there was a superpower to the west called Great Ming, far stronger than all of Japan's warring states combined. A few years ago, Japan had sent hundreds of thousands of soldiers to attack Great Ming, but they were wiped out by just tens of thousands of Ming troops on tributary soil. The Japanese overlord himself didn't even survive.
Memories from childhood surfaced—some clear, some hazy—but it was undoubtedly a full life lived.
So... was he really Wolf now?
Or had someone named Hatake Sakumo just gained Wolf's memories?
Or... had he awakened memories of his past life as Hatake Sakumo?
And who was that mysterious man he saw before all this?
Countless questions swirled in Sakumo's mind. The ever-composed White Fang now wore visible confusion and anxiety.
And so—the Golden Spirit burst forth.
Kei, sensing this, nodded in satisfaction. As expected of the White Fang, he generated Golden Spirit at a rate no worse than the "inherently evil" Tobirama. If he could complete *Sekiro*, he'd probably earn at least 8 Golden Spirit Points.
Incidentally, thanks to a recent spike in Golden Spirit efficiency, Kei had drawn several ten-pulls infused with Golden Spirit, gaining some high-quality skills and items.
Among them was a particularly practical passive skill—not as bizarre as the "Giant Intestine Taste Bud Technique," but highly useful.
This one increased reaction speed, hand speed, and perception. And like all passives, it was permanently active.
Its boost? 200%.
In practice, this meant that while Kei previously struggled to follow Minato's Nine Tails Chakra Mode movements even with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, now he could see and react to them simultaneously—not just observe passively.
And thanks to his faster hands, Kei's hand seal speed skyrocketed. He could now complete fifty seals per second—far more than needed for any jutsu he knew.
In battle, this translated to raising his hands and shouting a jutsu name—bam, instant activation. If Kei mastered one-handed seals, he might even learn the Dual Casting Technique and simultaneously cast two jutsu with separate hands.
This was, undeniably, pure strength.
The game development system justified this skill by stating: "As a top-tier game developer, one must be able to beat every game and compete at an e-sports level. This is professional pride."
To which Kei could only reply: "This is insane!"
Now, even though the system was a barely functional AI, its feature set was too appealing. The power growth it offered was like a snowball—constantly accelerating.
In the Shinobi World, these rewards—meant to make Kei a multi-talented master in a modern setting—were practically broken.
In short: *So OP it hurts. (Insert Wang Jingze meme here)*
After that, Kei left Sakumo to his new life as the Wolf of Ashina.
Then he shifted his focus to Tobirama Senju. The "inherently evil" old man had spent a year in his school world with the Fire Keeper. Kei wasn't sure what they were up to.
Peeking in, Kei found that Tobirama had buried himself in his studies, completely ignoring romance—even though the Fire Keeper was right there. A date? Not even a thought.
Frankly, if it were any other girl, she'd have broken up with him by now.
But not the Fire Keeper.
For this blind girl from the *Dark Souls* world, whose past was steeped in sorrow, her new life was a dream. Peaceful, beautiful, free from burden or horror, and she got to stay by her Ashen One's side.
To her, this happiness could last forever.
Hmm...
Honestly, Kei felt jealous. He immediately wanted to use admin privileges to make the Fire Keeper say, "Staying with you is nothing more than my master's command."
Tobirama's reaction would be priceless!
Hehehe...
Kei chuckled maliciously just imagining it.
Of course, he wouldn't really do it. He was, after all, a pure-hearted harem protagonist. That kind of thing was too mean.
Besides, Kei needed Tobirama to keep working for him—hopefully for centuries. He didn't want to blow up their relationship.
Still, if Tobirama ever got rebellious, Kei wouldn't mind letting him experience the full malice of Earth.
At that moment, Tobirama shivered inexplicably and looked around warily.
The Fire Keeper noticed and asked gently, "Ashen One, is something wrong?"
Tobirama shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe it was just my imagination." Then he smiled softly and said, "Don't worry. Once I finish my studies, we can leave this place."
The Fire Keeper smiled serenely. "It doesn't matter where we go, Ashen One. As long as I can be by your side."
Tobirama paused, then nodded gently before returning to his studies.
She remained seated, quiet and content, simply keeping him company.
Kei watched all this and felt a pang of envy. It was almost too sweet.
Shaking his head, he switched scenes to another small world. This one was also a school, bustling with intelligent NPCs.
The student here was Kikyo Uzumaki—Kei's girl.
At this point, Kikyo had studied for a long time. Her Uzumaki heritage gave her immense chakra and mental strength, allowing her to accelerate the flow of time in her pocket dimension.
In fact, her internal time ratio was now a staggering 22:1. Twenty-two days inside for every one in the real world.
Altogether, she had studied for over a year in her world.
Kei also helped her speed up knowledge absorption with a golden skill: *Flash of Inspiration*.
This skill acknowledged that game developers needed endless creative flashes, and top devs also lifted their teams. Hence, the buff affected up to five people, boosting their memory and cognitive speed.
Besides Kikyo, Kei also gave it to Sasori, Orochimaru, Minato, and himself.
That's why Sasori and Orochimaru were now research monsters. Their inherent brilliance was amplified by Kei's buffs. Minato, too, was now incredibly sharp.
As for Kikyo, she had transformed into an academic genius. She had always been talented, on par with Sakura in her prime.
With the buff, she had now surpassed Sakura and nearly reached pre-buff Orochimaru's level.
Kikyo's focus was media, public opinion, journalism, and thought leadership. With Earth's knowledge base, it was just a matter of absorbing content—far easier than scientific research.
In the Shinobi World, where ideological warfare was nonexistent, deep theory wasn't even necessary. Just knowing about it was enough.
So, in truth, she was ready.
Besides, this world wasn't locked. If she needed more knowledge later, she could return to study anytime without delaying real-world work.
Thus, with the *Shinobi World War* game launch scheduled for next month, Kei found Kikyo and asked:
"Kikyo, are you ready?"
"Of course, Kei-nii. I can't wait," she said with a confident, joyful smile.
Because finally—she could help the one she loved the most.
That day, the Queen of Media in the Shinobi World made her debut.
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