Life in the ninja world resumed.
Senju Wakama was utterly distracted.
Zetsu had taken him as a vassal, but because Senju Wakama had no intention of leaving the ninja world just yet, his permissions were limited. Aside from having an identity, he had nothing else.
Zetsu said his own authority was already limited; being able to take him out of this world and into another was his absolute limit.
The next time he saw his mother, Zetsu would apply for more permissions for him.
However, to make Senju Wakama understand the deeper meaning of these worlds, Zetsu still took Senju Wakama to the "other world" every night.
On the first night, Zetsu had Senju Wakama observe the living environment of the other world from a distance.
In that modernized other world, although there were no ninja, and no monsters like Senju Hashirama or Uchiha Madara.
But such a highly developed, populous, and vast world still had the flames of war and the suffering of its people.
Zetsu said this was inevitable.
Just as Tsukuyo said, every world has a finite amount of resources.
If one portion of the population becomes wealthy, it is inevitable that another portion will be impoverished.
The strong seize resources, while the weak can only accept their fate.
To obtain more resources, the weak must have the determination to become strong.
Constant competition promotes the world's progress.
Constant competition also leads to ceaseless war.
No matter the place, it is filled with competition, involution, and different forms of warfare.
After Senju Wakama understood these concepts, on the second night, Zetsu took him to experience all the convenient electronic facilities of this technologically advanced world.
Zetsu guided Senju Wakama in using electronic currency;
Zetsu guided Senju Wakama in using all sorts of vending machines—vending machines for drinks, vending machines for game tokens, self-checkout machines at supermarkets, and automatic paper dispensers in public restrooms.
At first, Senju Wakama found it incredibly difficult.
Absorbing so much knowledge he had never encountered before all at once gave him a splitting headache.
Fortunately, Senju Wakama was extremely adaptable.
Coupled with the assistance of his Clone Jutsu, he learned very quickly.
Once Senju Wakama had learned to use the basic facilities.
Zetsu gave Senju Wakama a latest-model smartphone from this world.
Zetsu said that although the language system of Japan in this world was more like Senju Wakama's native tongue.
In fact, because he had spent so much time around Tsukuyo, Senju Wakama was better suited to being in China, provided he didn't speak.
Unconsciously, over the past few years, Senju Wakama's repository of Chinese characters had grown rich, making it easier for him to understand the signs, instruction manuals, and encyclopedias in China.
Senju Wakama absorbed the knowledge this world offered him like a sponge.
Every time Zetsu brought him here, Senju Wakama's horizons would expand immensely.
On the fifth day of constantly traveling to the other world for "night school."
Zetsu started introducing Senju Wakama to video games.
At first, they started with simple mobile games.
Once Senju Wakama began to understand the mechanics of these simple games, Zetsu started teaching him complex MMORPGs.
Upon first encountering something he had never seen in the ninja world, Senju Wakama was shocked, and somewhat addicted.
Zetsu explained that there were countless forms of entertainment in this world.
Video games played an irreplaceable role.
Video games were developed by a coalition of some of the smartest people in this world.
A team of geniuses creates these games hoping people will enjoy their product, and ordinary people find it impossible to resist.
Therefore, there was only one way to resist the temptation of these games.
Either never play them at all, or raise your own threshold for gaming.
Raising the threshold meant constantly playing all kinds of games, cultivating a more discerning taste so that you wouldn't get addicted to every single one of the dazzling variety of games you saw.
This continued until a night half a month later.
Zetsu once again brought Senju Wakama across to this other world, and he began to impart a new concept to him—that these worlds were all game worlds.
Before encountering video games, Senju Wakama would have been absolutely unable to comprehend such words.
However, after being exposed to video games and some imaginative novels, Senju Wakama understood.
Senju Wakama once again stood on high, looking down at the bustling, sleepless city.
This was the China of the "other world," a harmonious and pleasant coastal city.
He was in a skyscraper by the sea. Below, next to the beach, numerous mobile barbecue stalls were doing booming business.
A salty sea breeze, mingled with the aroma of charcoal and grilling meat, wafted over.
Wandering the "other world" in the middle of the night, Senju Wakama realized that he shared a written language with the people of this country, but their spoken languages were different.
He found that the language over in Japan was mutually intelligible with his, but only a portion of their written characters were the same.
And at that moment, Senju Wakama faintly guessed something. "Tsukuyo is Chinese, or rather, he likes China..."
"Hee hee hee, you're pretty smart, aren't you, Wakama?" Zetsu's sleazy laugh came from beside his ear.
Senju Wakama fell silent for a moment before saying, "...Brother Zetsu, the 'System' you mentioned is actually the same as the attribute panel in the video games we play, right?"
"Correct," Zetsu said with profound meaning. "So do you understand now? What your ninja world and this other world I've brought you to experience truly are..."
"The world is a game, and you all are the players," Senju Wakama murmured as he gazed at the great sea under the night sky. "Or rather, Tsukuyo is the player. You were originally an NPC, and so was I. Tsukuyo is a living person, while we are nothing more than two sets of data executing different destinies."
"And you, through your own efforts, became a free program. Now, with your help, I am also transforming in that direction."
Games, programs... these were all concepts he was forced to learn from playing video games.
But as for how programs were actually made, the time had been too short; Senju Wakama didn't know yet.
"Hee hee..." Zetsu laughed in that same way. "To be precise, Tsukuyo isn't a player, but a game administrator."
"After playing games for a while, you should understand what a game administrator is, right? A Game Master, or GM for short."
Zetsu said in a low voice, "In fact, the ninja world we're in is just a single-player game world that constantly reincarnates and cycles according to a predetermined story."
"And there are hundreds, even thousands of worlds like this. Besides the ninja world, there are worlds of magic, worlds like the one beneath our feet gathered with ordinary people, worlds of cultivation, and worlds filled with ghosts and monsters..."
"These worlds are the property of Tsukuyo's family. Wakama, do you know what this means?"
Senju Wakama narrowed his eyes slightly, whispering, "It means... to us natives, they are gods..."
Players could perhaps be called the 'Fourth Calamity,' but a game administrator is an absolute god.
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