Chapter 320 Kakashi, Hopelessly Addicted to Games and Growing Thinner by the Day, Decides to Quit All-Nighters
Hypnosis Paradise, the artistic magnum opus Jiraiya had just created, was the culmination of experience from his previous two works. It assembled, in large quantity, the artistic content people desired, while to some extent reducing the story content.
However, that did not mean the story wasn't exciting. The philosophy and moral principles it contained were as numerous as cattle and sheep, deeply impressive, thought-provoking, and endlessly memorable.
The above was the evaluation given by a veteran player of the Sarutobi clan who wished to remain anonymous after appraising this game.
Now Kakashi fell into this game, and an unprecedented experience descended upon him.
Upon entering, Kakashi discovered he had become an ordinary person—it was clearly played from the perspective of a commoner. His identity was a traveling merchant ronin, and the place was a fictional nation called the Land of Spring.
In the plot, the country had fallen into turmoil, controlled by four warlords who fought each other while the people suffered. The "protagonist," under such circumstances, struggled to survive as a traveling merchant in a time of chaos.
At the story's opening, the protagonist was attacked by bandits, captured, and brought to their den, where they planned to squeeze out all his value and then kill him—a truly disastrous opening.
Only, in such a situation, the protagonist met in his place of confinement an elderly man who had also been captured and was close to death. Retaining a trace of conscience, the protagonist did his best to care for this fellow prisoner, trying to keep him alive.
Unfortunately, things did not go as one wished; the old man ultimately died of illness.
However, in game narratives of this sort, such characters usually have a mission—like the NPC who hands over a treasure. And this old man indeed filled that role.
Before dying, he entrusted the protagonist with a jade stone, saying it possessed a miraculous ability to hypnotize a target—only, it worked solely on females.
Sadly, the bandit den was full of men, so the hypnotic jade was useless there; thus the old man died. After the protagonist obtained it, he likewise found no use for it and was greatly troubled.
As the plot advanced, the protagonist learned that the bandits were actually men of one of the Land of Spring's four warlords, deliberately causing destruction within a rival faction's territory.
This truth enraged the protagonist yet left him helpless—he was just an ordinary person who could do nothing, and he fell into despair, knowing that with such knowledge he was doomed not to live.
Of course, this was merely the protagonist's personal experience; according to the plot's progression, he fundamentally could not die.
Kakashi, who was playing the protagonist, was very sure of this, and things indeed developed accordingly.
A powerful kunoichi suddenly attacked; her strength was at least that of an elite jonin. Alone, she easily annihilated the bandit gang.
Normally, such a ninja would rescue those captured by the bandits. Those who had been taken—including the protagonist—believed they were saved.
However, this kunoichi was ruthless, and her mission was to kill everyone.
It turned out that the boss behind this kunoichi was in fact the same boss behind the bandit gang; what was happening was the classic cleanup of one's own tools so that no black material would leak.
Thus the protagonist witnessed the kunoichi slaughtering wildly, killing everyone else. When it was his turn, the protagonist, in terror and fury, finally produced the hypnotic jade.
What unfolded next was classic: the kunoichi was hypnotized and controlled by the jade, becoming the protagonist's tool. The protagonist had her take him away and, through questioning, learned the truth behind it all.
This left the protagonist utterly enraged. He had done nothing wrong; those innocent commoners had done nothing wrong—so why did they have to suffer such things?
Thus the protagonist decided on revenge—revenge against the ambitious ones who brought endless hardship to this country.
What followed was, naturally, a crowd-pleaser: the protagonist and the kunoichi experienced all kinds of hypnosis stories, and then the protagonist used the hypnotic jade to hypnotize a series of female characters, each with her own characteristics.
Among them were a warlord's daughter, concubines, guards, a shadow dancer, some businesswomen, the queen of the underworld, a warlady ruling her own domain, and so on.
Though these hypnotized women differed in personality, they were basically classic villainesses—each one fit a villain template, not a single good person among them—such that using the hypnotic jade on them felt entirely justified.
It could be seen that Jiraiya's moral standard remained high: the reasons and targets for using hypnotic means were at least forced by necessity or on the side of justice, and he would not strike at the innocent.
Mm. Uchiha Kei expressed that plots like "hypnosis O-education," etc., probably wouldn't be seen from Jiraiya; perhaps in the future such content would appear from other creators of artistic games.
Of course, for Kakashi, even this level of hypnotic content already opened his eyes and opened the door to a new world.
Although the ninja world also had instances of using genjutsu to control people, those were things ninja did to complete missions; almost no ninja would use genjutsu for this sort of thing.
Moreover, aside from the Uchiha clan, other genjutsu users could not achieve the degree of hypnotic control seen in the game. Even within the Uchiha, only a tiny number who specialized in genjutsu to the utmost might achieve the game's unreasonable level of total control.
Especially some "common sense modification" hypnosis methods in the harmonious playstyle left Kakashi infinitely shocked—he entered a state of astonishment of "This actually works?"
Then, with a serious expression, he entered a state of feeling joy—and cycled through the above process again and again.
He left the game several times midway to go to the restroom and cleanse his body, and finally chose to put on a clean yukata prepared by the store, while his original clothes were washed.
Later, because he had appraised too much, he briefly entered a Great Sage state and devoted himself to feeling the plot, then discovered that beyond hypnosis play, the game also contained content related to redemption.
Every hypnotized female character had her own unhappy story. Because of various misfortunes and tragedies, and the pressures of the cruel ninja world, one after another had become twisted and cruel—turning into villainesses.
Using the power of the hypnotic jade, the protagonist gradually learned the backstories of each villainess and then, based on the player's choices during the game, chose either to save or to punish them.
Of course, one could also let things be, becoming someone whose little head controlled the big head, simply using the hypnotic jade for pleasure.
For Kakashi, being someone whose little head controlled the big head was far too vulgar and lacked all substance. A truly cultivated person should use this cheat to grant those villainesses redemption—to give them a warm home.
Mm. At this moment Kakashi had completely sunk into the game—not only enjoying the pleasure of rewarding himself, but also diving deep within, using the genjutsu game's realistic sensory stimulation to redeem those wayward women and young women, and guide them back onto the right path.
Kakashi even set himself a goal: to save every woman in the game who interacted with him, to accomplish things impossible in the real world, and thereby make up for the countless regrets born of the cesspit that was the real world.
Whether others believed it or not, Kakashi believed it himself.
This goal made Kakashi feel incomparably holy, bearing a great mission—solely to save those hateful yet pitiable beautiful women.
Time slipped by quietly. When Kakashi came back to himself, it was already nine in the morning the next day—and only because a server knocked on the door to ask if he needed breakfast did Kakashi realize he had pulled an all-nighter.
Returning his consciousness to the real world, Kakashi felt dazed, his steps unsteady, as if he were treading on clouds, his whole person in a muddled state.
In the restroom, Kakashi saw in the mirror his dark circles, haggard expression, and pale face—he was utterly drained. The energy he had gained from last night's system-made "shut-in combo" had vanished, and even the surplus was gone, as if he had been fighting continuously for a long time and emptied his chakra.
Touching his haggard face, Kakashi's exposed dead-fish eye went very blank. At last he muttered, "An all-night gaming session actually left me this haggard. No—this can't go on. Starting today, no more all-nighters!"
At the end, his tone was firm and his words certain, as if with unshakable resolve—no one could sway him; no one could break it.
Then Kakashi hurriedly changed into his now-dry original clothes, quickly tidied up the room, cleaned up certain indescribable traces, and left the private room.
After a brief talk with the resident manager, Kakashi left the arcade directly, planning to return to the lodgings Minato Namikaze had arranged for him and get a good rest.
As a side note, Kakashi also brought along the full set of genjutsu games.
Mm—on the outside, they were the legitimate genjutsu games produced by Uchiha Kei, while inside were those great works of Jiraiya.
Yawning, Kakashi returned to his temporary residence. After closing the door, he quickly took out all the games. When he pulled out Jiraiya's three masterpieces, he swallowed; his decadent spirit miraculously brightened, and he even had the peculiar thought, "Why not just skip sleeping and keep playing?"
Once that idea arose, it couldn't be stopped. Though he knew he needed rest now, the moment he thought of the game's content—the plots he had not yet seen to the end—he simply could not suppress the impulse.
Especially after learning from the resident manager that the game had more than twenty endings, Kakashi was astonished and filled with an inexhaustible desire to explore it.
This desire left him conflicted. His exhausted brain told him that resting now was best, but his primal desire told him that continuing to play was the right thing.
Without a doubt, Kakashi had been thoroughly conquered by genjutsu games—on every level. The supremely realistic experience, almost indistinguishable from the real world, left him unable to tell reality from illusion, while feeling that the game world was better than the real one.
At least, the cruelty of the game world could be changed through effort, and regrets could be mended, whereas the real world was a massive cesspit.
Furthermore, this was not the same as fleeing reality—after learning that the entire ninja world was playing genjutsu games and that no one thought there was anything wrong with doing so, Kakashi felt that being a loser seeking redemption in the game world was not strange at all—or rather, this was precisely an acknowledgment of the charm of genjutsu games.
In any case, Kakashi was now a staunch supporter of genjutsu games. Even if he had to return to his original world, he would pack up a huge pile and bring them back, to share this joy with others.
Of course, these thoughts remained in his heart. What Kakashi had to consider at present was whether to continue playing Hypnosis Paradise, to save those lost women in the game and guide them onto the right road.
With such thinking, Kakashi even felt a halo of justice shining all over him—like a brilliant radiance sparkling to illumine this dark world.
Thinking this, Kakashi's body moved ahead of his brain. He proactively opened the game scroll of Hypnosis Paradise, and, eyes curving like crescents, entered the game world.
What followed was yet another journey of exhausting his energy.
Hm? It seemed he had forgotten something?
Forget it—not anything important.
Meanwhile, outside—at the training ground where Kakashi had been beaten yesterday—Sakumo Hatake, in his "lone wolf" guise, frowned deeply, because Kakashi Hatake still had not shown up. When he left yesterday, he had said they would meet here again today.
Though no specific time had been stated then, the meaning was obvious—come early. So why hadn't he arrived by now?
Unable to understand and feeling puzzled, Sakumo Hatake opened WeChat, hesitated a moment, then asked Minato Namikaze whether Kakashi had gone to see him and whether Kakashi had other arrangements.
Seeing Sakumo Hatake's inquiry, Minato Namikaze was slightly taken aback, then replied: he had not seen Kakashi, and had made no special arrangements for him. He had only given Kakashi money, told the Konoha Gaming Association people to look after him, and then let Kakashi move about freely.
The attitude was to use the prosperity and flourishing of this Konoha to subtly influence the Kakashi of the parallel world—causing the otherworld Kakashi to develop affection and recognition for this Konoha—thereby achieving a silent, moisturizing-things-without-a-sound effect, giving Kakashi a powerful sense of belonging and approval toward the main world's Konoha, such that he would join their side without resistance in his heart.
This was, without doubt, quite clever, and it also represented Minato Namikaze's confidence in the main world's Konoha—a method capable of arousing, to a certain extent, the zeal of a convert in Kakashi.
Without doubt, it truly was clever; it was just that Kakashi's present radio silence was somewhat unexpected.
After asking Sakumo Hatake to wait a moment, Minato Namikaze used his own channels to inquire where "Skaya" was. Very soon, the answer left Minato stunned.
"What? Kakashi spent the whole night playing Jiraiya-sensei's works and only just returned to the lodging I arranged to rest?"
When he finished speaking, Minato Namikaze's cheek twitched and his scalp tingled. He didn't quite know how to explain this to Sakumo Hatake.
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