The journey to escape was also a journey of death and suffering.
After repeatedly experiencing himself being captured and executed in increasingly bizarre ways by deranged monsters, Shimura Danzō's initial rage and resentment gradually gave way to numbness and helplessness.
After all, having tasted death by flaying, tendon extraction, impalement, decapitation, disembowelment, shattered limbs, and exploding heads, Danzō was eventually forced to lower the simulation's realism. It was hard not to grow numb.
Yes, Shimura Danzō gave in. He no longer dared to play hardball.
The sensory feedback was too much. He was indeed ruthless—both to others and himself—but not *that* ruthless. His pain tolerance was actually quite average.
In the original story, during his battle with Uchiha Sasuke, he let out more than a few screams. If not for the final moment where he desperately tried to drag Sasuke into death with him, he was just a textbook schemer-clown.
So, expecting him to endure maxed-out pain settings the entire time? Pure fantasy.
Compared to Danzō, the Uchiha clan members struggling through the game showed far more extreme determination. Many gritted their teeth through the pain without uttering a single humiliating scream. Others did scream and curse madly, but still refused to disable their sensory feedback.
After all, this was a game Uchiha Kei had specially created for the Uchiha clan to awaken their eyes. For every Uchiha who hadn't yet awakened their Sharingan, they had to consider—this might be their only chance in life.
If they failed to awaken their Sharingan in *Return Home*, and then failed again in *Escape*, wouldn't they be letting down their family, their clan, Lord Kei, and themselves?
So—maximum sensory feedback! Total endurance and perseverance!
Through this pain—we will force open the Sharingan!!!
Damn it! It hurts so bad!
Damn it! It's unbearable!
Damn Sharingan—I command you to awaken!!!
With unparalleled hysteria and frenzy, today, many Uchiha finally awakened their eyes.
The Uchiha clan quietly welcomed a new wave of Sharingan awakenings.
The Uchiha elders were moved to tears.
Never before had the Uchiha known such prosperity. Those who had awakened now accounted for over 40% of all clan members with Uchiha blood—and the number was still growing.
Even during the bloodiest era of the Warring States Period, the clan's Sharingan awakening rate had never exceeded 30%, and that was when the population was significantly smaller.
But now—exceeding 40%, with a high chance the rest could awaken too? Unprecedented.
And this wasn't the limit. There was still plenty of room to grow.
What's more, in the past, the clan would've been financially crushed by this many awakenings. Every awakened member was entitled to subsidies, and that policy hadn't changed.
Even when Uchiha Kei had been considered the clan's disgrace, his benefits were never withheld—just not given anything extra.
That remained true today. Every Sharingan user still received full support. Ordinarily, this would be an enormous financial burden.
But thanks to the ongoing development of genjutsu-based games, the clan was raking in huge profits. Other major clans eager to join the feast had paid dearly for entry, making the Uchiha wealthier than ever.
So of course—they didn't care about the cost of supporting their people.
Besides, the newly awakened were contributing back. They could now help in production, generating far more value than the subsidies cost. It formed a perfect economic cycle—the more awakened members there were, the richer the clan became.
At present, the Uchiha elders were facing a very "blessed" problem: with the market constantly expanding, there weren't enough awakened members to meet demand. Even if the entire clan awakened, it wouldn't be enough.
They had to find ways to increase the clan's population.
Thus, discussions began.
The problem was, there were only so many women of childbearing age in the clan. And the Uchiha had a unique trait—they pursued power far more than romance.
The women were slightly better, but the men? Practically born to die alone. Asking them to have more children was practically torture.
Even Uchiha Fugaku, the soon-to-be clan head, didn't want more kids. Having Itachi already made him feel blessed, and he barely had time to raise that one—leaving it all to his wife, Uchiha Mikoto.
Expecting this kind of clan to suddenly become prolific breeders was absurd.
So increasing the birth rate became top priority. One elder even suggested: "Why don't we learn from the Senju clan and fully integrate into the village? Then everyone would be Uchiha."
Naturally, this was immediately rejected.
The Senju could do that because they had Hashirama Senju, a man of great compassion, and his brother Tobirama, who supported him. Plus, the Senju had long intermarried with outsiders—Hashirama's marriage to Uzumaki Mito being a prime example. Their integration into the village was just the logical next step.
The Uchiha were different. Though some intermarried, they insisted on outsiders marrying *into* the clan. The norm was still endogamy.
Even basic integration through marriage hadn't happened yet. Jumping straight to complete assimilation? Utter extremism. The Uchiha's obsession with clan pride bordered on pathological—no way would the people accept that. Even if someone like Hashirama were born among them, it wouldn't matter.
In fact, even Uchiha Kei—who once told Hiruzen Sarutobi that he hoped for the Uchiha to integrate into the village—would've scoffed at that elder's idea: "You're taking things way too far."
Back then, Uchiha Kei was just saying what Hiruzen wanted to hear. He never planned to make it happen.
Maybe Hiruzen understood that too. But Kei's gesture moved him. He saw Kei as a different kind of Uchiha, like his fallen friend Uchiha Kagami.
That's why he trusted and supported Kei.
But now someone in the clan *actually* believed it? Just goes to show—when an Uchiha believes something is right, they charge ahead recklessly.
Even though that elder's proposal was shot down, he still stubbornly believed he was right. Only by fully integrating with the village could all problems be solved.
That's Uchiha for you. When they crash into a wall, they don't stop. They might even shatter like Uchiha Shisui in the future.
Is it any wonder people in every world meme the Uchiha as "born evil"?
Of course, this was all internal clan business. Outsiders knew nothing. Even most clan members were unaware—only the elders understood the full picture.
As for Uchiha Kei, while he *could* have known, he made it clear he didn't want to manage internal affairs. So the elders stopped bothering him.
He'd already done more than enough for the clan. If they burdened him with trivial politics too, they might as well disembowel themselves in shame.
Yes—this was a theory proposed by Uchiha Setsuna, and unanimously agreed upon.
This time, the elders weren't wrong. Uchiha Kei truly wasn't interested. He had no workable solutions anyway and didn't want to get dragged into internal drama.
Back to Danzō—once his mindset shifted, the old man began following the game's instructions: hiding in closets, under beds, inside boxes.
These actions, once embraced, reminded him of his youth.
Back in his days as a front-line shinobi, gathering intel often required deep concealment and disguise.
Hiding like this was nothing. He had once hidden in an outhouse and even dressed as a courtesan to infiltrate a brothel.
Yes, Shimura Danzō had really done that—for the mission, of course. Like all shinobi from the Warring States era, he believed in "mission first."
That said, he wasn't as exaggerated as the recent rumors claimed. He hadn't truly become a courtesan. After a jaw injury, he gave up cross-dressing entirely. At most, he used the Transformation Jutsu to deceive Genin or civilians. Stronger ninja were rarely fooled.
In short, once he had a taste for hiding, he didn't care about looking foolish anymore.
Following the game's path, Shimura Danzō eventually reached the place where he would find two legendary "companions."
Then Danzō froze, eyes wide in shock.
The two captured allies were none other than Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tobirama Senju—his two most important figures, and both shown in their younger years.
His mind blanked. He didn't even hear what the two NPCs said before he instinctively exited the game in a panic.
Moments later, face twisted in rage, Shimura Danzō roared: "Those damned Uchiha—born evil! How dare they! HOW DARE THEY!"
"Grrrahhhh—arghhhhhhh\~\~\~\~!!"
Danzō let out a distorted howl and flipped his desk. (‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
The crash startled his Root guards. Two members rushed in and found a furious Danzō, snarling in impotent rage.
Before they could speak, Danzō suddenly collapsed.
Startled, the two Root ninja hurried to give emergency treatment.
Yes—Shimura Danzō's hypertension had acted up from sheer fury.
A truly tragic tale.
And at that very moment, outside the Hidden Leaf Village, deep underground...
A black-and-white plant-like figure quietly emerged.
It was none other than White Zetsu—Tobi—and Black Zetsu, fused together.