Uchiha Meishi fully embodied the phrase: arrogant before the game, disoriented after.
Especially after forcing himself to start the game, and then experiencing that first scare—his body totally out of his control, a vengeful spirit whispering terror right beside him—he was completely undone.
Faced with total bodily paralysis, unable to move, and the choking dread of imminent death, his fear skyrocketed.
His Sharingan activated automatically, the three tomoe spinning wildly. Cold sweat poured down uncontrollably.
Even his physical body in the real world was shaking violently from the mental immersion in the genjutsu-based game, shocking those Uchiha who weren't observing the game directly. They had no idea what was happening to Meishi, and those who knew him were even more astonished.
After all, no one had ever seen Uchiha Meishi react with such intense fear.
As a side note, Uchiha Kei had "considerately" disabled external perception for players, so Meishi couldn't hear anyone else's voice or commentary.
So, when the female spirit left and Meishi collapsed limply to the ground, the spectating Uchiha had mixed reactions—many thought his mental fortitude was lacking.
They couldn't help it—viewing from a god's-eye perspective just wasn't the same as experiencing it firsthand.
Sure, the ghost had startled them when it appeared, but since they were only watching, it wasn't that terrifying.
Some even muttered that if it were them playing, they definitely wouldn't have embarrassed themselves like that.
Uchiha Kei watched in silence, smiling faintly.
Because some things… you just can't understand until you experience them yourself.
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Eventually, Uchiha Meishi forced himself to move again. Even though he didn't want to continue, the fact that several people were observing him—and many more were watching from the real world—meant he couldn't afford to give up.
Losing his nerve here would be the end of him as an Uchiha.
So he gritted his teeth and pushed forward.
Even with sweat pouring down his face, even though he couldn't deactivate his Sharingan, even though his fear was written all over him, Uchiha Meishi had no choice but to push on.
Soon, he reached a three-path junction.
Only, this time, there was a change: instead of three paths to choose from, only one remained. Clearly, this was a modification exclusive to the trial version of the game.
By reducing the path count to one randomized route, it greatly lowered the chakra and ocular power consumption during game packaging.
The path Uchiha Meishi encountered was the red one—signifying slaughter and battle.
As he stepped into the red zone, he was immediately ambushed by the same bloodthirsty enemies that Uchiha Fugaku had once faced.
Still shaken by his earlier experience, Meishi reacted clumsily to the blood men's sudden assault, and the frail body of the in-game avatar only made things harder.
And so, Uchiha Meishi experienced his first in-game death. Which also happened to be his first encounter with death—an unbearably vivid simulation that left his mind completely blank.
His Sharingan spun furiously during this, showing signs of change.
Only, perhaps due to insufficient bloodline strength, the transformation differed from Uchiha Fugaku's near-evolution to Mangekyō—it was merely a subtle enhancement beyond the usual three tomoe.
When Meishi came to, quite a bit of time had passed. He was lying face-down, drenched in sweat and panting heavily, clearly in terrible shape.
The Uchiha who had witnessed everything didn't know what to say. They'd followed Meishi into the red zone and had seen everything—the ferocity of the blood men and Meishi's brutal death.
Once again, as spectators, they couldn't feel what Meishi felt. They just found his reaction… extreme.
They began to question: just how different was the player's experience from that of an observer? Why did dying once in a genjutsu game leave Meishi so devastated?
Was death in the game truly that real?
Of course, Uchiha Fugaku had said the same—that the death experience in the game felt painfully real.
But without personally experiencing it or a frame of reference, the other Uchiha hadn't taken Fugaku's words to heart.
Now revived and regaining his senses, Uchiha Meishi trembled as he stood up. When he looked at the red passage, fear flickered in his eyes.
Yet after personally experiencing death and coming back, Meishi had grown. He was no longer paralyzed by fear or ruled by subconscious urges to flee. Instead, he chose to face the threat head-on.
He charged into the red zone once more and began to fight the blood men again.
Thanks to his newfound courage, he didn't die immediately this time. Using his avatar's body, he dodged and countered, leveraging his years of battle-hardened experience. He even managed to take down several blood men, showing the strength expected of an elite Uchiha. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚫𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚫𝕟𝕖𝕥
But experience and technique alone weren't enough to eliminate all the blood men. Eventually, they landed a blow, swarmed him, and killed him again.
Upon reviving, Meishi's expression was as dark as the bottom of a pot.
Dying felt awful—especially for an Uchiha. To fight with everything you had and still lose to a mob of trash enemies was a deeply humiliating experience.
Even if the body was just a digital avatar, the sensory input felt just as real.
The observing Uchiha all processed what they saw differently. Some blamed the avatar's physical weakness. Others thought the enemies were too numerous. Still others criticized Meishi's technique.
But the clan head, Uchiha Masanobu, and the great elder, Uchiha Setsuna, saw more.
Masanobu noted the game's realism. Even though Meishi knew it was fake—and had already endured so much—his mindset had still been profoundly shaken.
That kind of emotional impact combined with ultra-realistic experience… no wonder Fugaku had said this genjutsu game was invaluable for the Uchiha.
Now, Masanobu could fully confirm his son's judgment.
As for Uchiha Setsuna—having lived through the Warring States Era—he saw even more. Beyond validating the game's effectiveness, he realized this genjutsu was the perfect training ground.
Its realism. Its ruthless enemies. Such an extreme environment was ideal for training—Uchiha or otherwise.
Moreover, the game was highly adaptable. Whether you were a regular shinobi or an elite, anyone looking to refine their combat instincts and experience could benefit from facing these illusionary foes.
Having watched Meishi's performance alone, Setsuna could slam the table in approval. Everything Uchiha Fugaku had claimed the day before was true—if anything, he'd been too modest.
This secret art created by Uchiha Kei would undoubtedly become the cornerstone of the Uchiha clan's prosperity for the next thousand years!