In the end, it was decided—the matter had to be addressed.
Although Might Duy himself lacked confidence and was extremely nervous, Uchiha Kei had more faith than anyone.
Because he truly knew the power of the Eight Gates Released Formation.
As for Duy's eternal genin status making people question his strength... that was no problem either. Since Kei decided to do it, he had a definite plan.
Fighting games, those classic 1v1 competitive titles, had remained popular even before Kei transmigrated. Titles like *King of Fighters*, *Street Fighter*, and *Tekken* were generational memories for many—a childhood pastime.
Back in the days when the internet was still primitive and online competitive scenes had yet to flourish, these games were the face of competition.
Now that gaming arcades had opened across various regions, it was time to push a Shinobi-World-exclusive fighting game.
It could also serve as a tool to showcase Might Duy's taijutsu, letting him unleash the Eight Gates Released Formation in-game and show the world just how awe-inspiring it was—even if it cost him his life.
So in the end, under Kei's insistence, Duy reluctantly agreed to host a taijutsu training class.
While others were confused, Minato Namikaze backed Kei without question, offering no opposition. After all, the younger generation's objections wouldn't have mattered anyway.
Minato's stance was simple and direct: "I don't know why you believe in Duy so much, Kei—but I always trust your judgment. If you say his taijutsu is unmatched in the Leaf, then that's enough for me. If you need any help, just ask—I'll give it my all."
It was that straightforward.
Shortly after, another point of Golden Spirit was earned.
Kei glanced at it and couldn't help but comment: "Is the Nine-Tails really turning into a shut-in fox? Another Golden Spirit drop?"
Yes, this one came from the Nine-Tails—who had been obsessively playing retro games and racking up gold coins like mad.
From the moment he got a game console, he had already generated three Golden Spirit points—truly a stable producer.
With that, Kei noticed that his Emotion Points lottery counter was now at 290/300, only ten away from the guaranteed pull.
No need to hesitate. He sacrificed the newly earned Golden Spirit and went for a ten-pull.
In an instant, the system's draw interface lit up with dazzling brilliance. It was as if countless beams of light were dancing, heralding the arrival of something great—something extraordinary was about to be revealed.
As the light faded, Kei fixed his gaze—and saw a golden item. No, not just gold—it had a tinge of orange, dark gold.
It seemed to represent a tier beyond regular gold.
Kei immediately questioned the system: what was this dark-gold color? The draw pool had never mentioned such an item.
Surprisingly, he got an answer: dark gold items were just gold items that had been enhanced.
Thanks to Golden Spirit enhancement, Kei had hit the jackpot on the 300th draw and obtained an upgraded gold-tier item.
Naturally, Kei checked it immediately. What he found shocked him—it was a skill.
\[Summon the Dead (Gold, Enhanced): Consumes a portion of stamina and chakra. By using an item left behind by a deceased individual, their soul can be summoned to assist the host.]
\[Special Note: In the world of 21st-century corporate warfare, assassination—both covert and overt—is common. Framing the host for a murder is often effective. To prevent this, irrefutable proof must be presented. Sometimes, the only way is to summon the victim's spirit to testify or name the killer.]
\[Skill Duration: 1 hour. Cooldown: 1 month. PS: Since this disturbs the boundary between life and death, use with extreme caution.]
That was the skill Kei drew.
The explanation made it clear—it allowed one to summon a dead person's soul using something they left behind.
It was like Daoist rituals in old Chinese ghost movies.
Of course, the summoned soul couldn't fight. It could only be seen and spoken to.
Just as the system said—it was best not to use it lightly. On Earth, this would be considered world-view shattering.
But in the shinobi world? It wasn't even that impressive.
The Impure World Reincarnation created by the Second Hokage had already broken the life-death boundary, and there were other jutsu like Spirit Transformation Technique and Rinnegan's soul control.
Not to mention the Rinne Rebirth, which literally brought people back to life.
Compared to those, this system skill seemed underwhelming.
But Kei, who had already tested the synergy between "All-Nighter" and an antidote item, knew better than to write it off.
Adopting the mindset of a pro exploit-hunter, Kei began researching the skill for potential bugs.
After all, it was a reinforced gold-tier skill earned from the 300-draw pity pull. Letting it go to waste would be tragic.
And sure enough—he found a bug.
Just as this happened, Kei was summoned by Lord Third. Curious, he headed for the Hokage's Office.
A place he rarely visited in the past was now somewhere he went regularly.
Whether it was to propose new plans or because Lord Third genuinely wanted his advice, Kei found himself there often.
This time, having not submitted any new suggestions recently, Kei figured the old man wanted his help again.
But when he arrived, he found Hiruzen Sarutobi looking troubled, even anxious.
That piqued Kei's curiosity. Had something big happened? Was the Third Great Ninja War about to break out?
Unable to resist, Kei asked.
After some hesitation, Hiruzen sighed and confessed: Tsunade had relapsed into her hemophobia while playing the genjutsu game.
He admitted it wasn't the game's fault—it was merely a trigger. But with the Third Ninja War looming, this was a ticking time bomb that could destroy the fragile harmony between the Uchiha and the village.
If the Leaf suffered heavy casualties in the war and lost Tsunade's support, people would blame her for being too weak—and they would also resent the Uchiha and the genjutsu game.
That much was certain. The shinobi world was full of people who needed to be purged by a tribunal or educated by feudal-era standards.
Of course, Hiruzen would never actually do that—it would go against his Will of Fire. He wasn't about to become a scheming despot.
But the truth was—Hiruzen had no way to help Tsunade. He still doubted that hemophobia was even a real condition. No one had any answers. But Tsunade's issue was a sword hanging over them all, threatening to undo everything.
So now, Lord Third was deeply troubled. He warned Kei in advance and hoped—just maybe—that Kei's extraordinary mind might hold the key to a solution.
Hearing all this, Kei pretended to be shocked for the first time but thought inwardly: as expected. The Golden Spirit and emotion points that came from the direction of Tanzaku Street—those had to be Tsunade's doing. And it matched his worst-case scenario.
To be honest, Kei had a headache over it. In the original story, even Naruto—with all his protagonist halo—nearly died just to help Tsunade overcome her phobia.
What could Kei possibly do?
After some thought, he said, "This so-called hemophobia is really a psychological issue—a form of PTSD. In fact, many people suffer from similar conditions."
"I won't go into the details. As for Lady Tsunade's case, I'll try my best. But I can't guarantee I'll succeed."
Hiruzen's eyes lit up. He didn't understand PTSD, but he got the gist—there was a chance to cure her.
"That's good enough! You're already far ahead of everyone else. Kei-kun, please do your best. Whether it works or not, just let me know what support you need."
"Please—help Tsunade recover. This isn't a Hokage's command. This is a teacher's plea. I'm asking you as her sensei."
At this, Hiruzen bowed deeply, no longer speaking as Hokage, but as a teacher of the Legendary Sannin.
How could Kei refuse now?
Besides, helping Tsunade was helping the Uchiha—and himself.
So Kei set off, thinking as he walked through the Hidden Leaf.
But he didn't go straight to Tsunade. First, he sought out Orochimaru—he needed help.
And he already had a plan, one that used his newly acquired Summon the Dead skill—and he intended to exploit a bug.
If it worked, Tsunade's hemophobia would be solved—and he'd even gain a major bonus.
Soon after, Kei met with Orochimaru—not physically, but in the public mental network library, interrupting his research.
Though annoyed, Orochimaru restrained himself. "Kei-kun, what do you need?"
His tone said: cut to the chase. He had studying to get back to.
Kei got to the point: "Lady Tsunade has relapsed. She freezes at the sight of blood, completely consumed by fear."
"Lord Third told me himself. He asked me, as a teacher, to help her recover."
"Orochimaru-senpai, as Tsunade's teammate—you wouldn't want her to end up a broken shell, unable to fight or heal, right?"