Konoha's Mission Master

"Then why didn't you give me a hint beforehand?" Yakumo asked.

"Because in the past, we've tried to get the system owner to spend as much time as possible designing the perfect virtual energy to control life, but the final result has always been failure..."

"To be honest, your success is not due to strength or wisdom, but purely due to good luck. The birth of a life form of Qi's level is itself an unrepeatable variable."

Uchiha Runyu changed the subject and continued.

“If the birth of such life can be perfectly manipulated, then I wouldn’t need to use a system; I could just do it myself, wouldn’t I?” Uchiha Runyu retorted.

"But you might have a higher success rate if you try it yourself countless times."

Yakumo asked Uchiha Juntama a question.

[Hint: Virtual energy is a life form with extremely strong instincts. It almost absolutely rejects manipulation by those who possess the power of hope. Therefore, the person who carries out this task must be a pure human being.]

[Note: In other words, only the system owner can attempt this; anyone else attempting it will only suffer a backlash from the virtual energy.]

Uchiha Runyu did not answer, but the game system immediately responded with words that were very sincere and complex.

"Can the game system guarantee my safety?"

Yakumo continued to press for answers, recalling that the ethereal energy seemed to possess an incredibly terrifying corrosive power, which even the power of hope could not completely resist.

[Note: Of course! This system can protect the player's soul from any energy invasion and is immune to all energy attacks.]

Yakumo was slightly puzzled; it was the first time he had realized that his system was so powerful.

.........

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Chapter 472 The Essence of the System

"This is the first time I've realized you're so capable."

Yakumo sighed softly and said to the game system that, in his memory, after the inheritance of the Origin Blade Technique began, the game system acted very timidly, as if it could not interfere with the operation of anything.

The virtual realm is the master of the realm; it cannot be directly observed.

Even the planet of prayer, it dodges and avoids.

Even during the battle on the front lines, the game system cowardly hid away... pretending to disappear, trying to get away with it, only revealing a few memories at crucial moments.

From beginning to end, it pretended not to exist.

“It’s not powerful in itself, but its core is powerful,” said Uchiha Runyu.

Yakumo looked at Uchiha Juntama with some confusion, waiting for an answer.

[Note: The closer I get to the Void Realm Overlord, the less I need to worry about attracting the enemy's attention.]

With a gentle wave of his hand, Uchiha Runyu released a pure white-golden sphere of light from Yakumo's body. It began to slowly grow in size, from the size of a ping-pong ball to the size of a basketball, while the white light emanating from its body began to slowly contract.

When the white light dissipated, Yakumo immediately looked at the system's main body. The good news was that with the system's withdrawal, everything he had obtained from the system was not taken away, and he still possessed extremely powerful strength.

It was a metallic sphere of light floating silently in mid-air, its outer shell exuding a technological style, constantly moving along pure white lines, as if countless energies were constantly converging, merging, and changing.

Yakumo tried to reach out and touch it, but all he touched was air. It was as if this sphere filled with metallic wonders existed only between reality and illusion, and could not be touched with his body at all.

The next second, the pure white metal sphere floated toward Uchiha Runyu, slowly transforming from nothingness into a real body. A metallic luster gradually spread across its surface, and something was dissipating at an extremely fast speed.

Those things seemed to be similar to a seal.

Yakumo thought to himself that he didn't think he was mistaken; it was a seal applied to the surface of the game system itself. He just didn't yet understand what this seal represented.

The next second, the second seal was broken.

Under Yakumo's astonished gaze, the fluctuations of the game system itself became increasingly terrifying, even radiating a somewhat terrifying pressure that caused the surrounding space to become somewhat distorted.

"Two layers of seals?" Yakumo asked in a low voice.

"That's not the case; there are many more layers."

Uchiha Runyu shook his head, pointed to the game system itself, and explained, his tone revealing a slight change in expression.

"The first layer, using the power of the King of Illusion, applies a seal of nothingness to keep the game system between reality and illusion, concealing its fluctuations as much as possible to avoid being detected by the enemy and thus exposing the plan."

Uchiha Runyu took a slight breath and continued.

"In the past 3,613 attempts, the initial concealment was seen through by the enemy 18 times, resulting in the premature death of the system owner and the failure of the entire plan."

"There were five times when the game system was almost taken over by the ruler of the virtual realm."

Immediately afterwards, the second layer of seal was completely released to Yakumo's surprise, turning into pure white light spots that slowly dissipated.

"The second layer of the seal, created based on the clan seal of the Fengshen Clan, will suppress the fluctuations of the game system as much as possible and evade tracking... Because of the existence of the second layer of the seal, it has evaded the lock-on of the Void Realm Overlord hundreds of times."

Yakumo listened patiently to the explanation.

With a crack, the game system itself slowly split open.

Suddenly, Yakumo felt an extreme fear. He clearly sensed that there was something inside the core of the game system, and although it had not yet fully awakened, it already made him feel the fear of impending death.

The oppression felt like a huge boulder was weighing on my heart.

"What exactly is inside?" Yakumo tried his best to remain calm.

"One heart."

Uchiha Runyu waved his hand, and the game system began to disintegrate at an accelerated pace. Metal was completely stripped away time and time again, leaving only the four largest pieces of metal. At the same time, the surrounding pressure became even more terrifying.

Yakumo heard a heartbeat that sounded like a monster's.

That was... a pure white heart.

Even though it had been separated from the body for countless years, that heart continued to beat stubbornly, constantly absorbing and releasing pure hope. The hope in the surrounding environment became more concentrated, and it gradually began to repel all other energies around it.

"Whose heart is this?" Yakumo asked with some fear.

He wasn't afraid of the heart itself, but of the outcome that came to mind. He guessed who the heart belonged to, and that was why he was so terrified.

"Didn't you guess it?"

Uchiha Runyu reached out and pressed the pure white heart back into his chest, his tone seemingly carrying a hint of pleasure and joy.

Yakumo guessed correctly; the heart belonged to Uchiha Juntama. He used his own heart as the core of the system to design the entire plan, with the goal of completely destroying the virtual universe.

That heart wasn't something that could be healed simply by being lost; it was the very source of hope, the very root of Uchiha Runtama's power...

If this heart were obtained by the Void Energy Dominator, then while Uchiha Runyu wouldn't necessarily perish, his strength would inevitably drop below the Dominator level.

But he chose to gamble with his heart, making three thousand attempts.

What a boldness and spirit!

After retrieving his heart, Uchiha Runyu's smile began to crumble, gradually transforming into a wild, almost hysterical laugh of surprise...

"Hahahahaha..."

Yakumo instinctively wanted to move away, but found that Uchiha Juntama had managed to control his smile, though his face still radiated a bright smile that Yakumo had never seen on his face before.

That was a human smile, not a cold, divine one.

At this moment, Uchiha Runyu was more like a human being.

"Lord Runyu, you're awake?"

Before Yakumo could react, Akai Mizuki appeared beside them, leaning slightly forward with a radiant smile on her face.

"So... she can smile," Yakumo thought to himself.

"I'm awake now. Who knows how many years I've slept through."

Uchiha Runyu looked up at Yakumo, his eyes filled with curiosity.

"The person you used to see is my instinct. You can think of it as artificial intelligence or something like a supercomputer. He guides you like an NPC, constantly pushing the plan forward, and also oversees the plan to subjugate the virtual energy."

"But he has no emotions, only a success rate. This is to ensure the smooth and stable development of the success rate. The earlier stages were to create a near-perfect you..."

Uchiha Runyu continued.

"According to the initial calculations, at least 3,600 attempts were needed to push the success rate of this plan to over 99%. That's when my instincts will awaken me, and I will also be responsible for teaching the final move of the Source Blade Technique."

"I see..." Yakumo was somewhat traumatized.

He had his answer in his heart. Since he was betting his own heart, Uchiha Runtama could not accept any failure, and his emotional ego was not suitable for advancing the mission.

This is how the power of hope created the instinct responsible for advancing the plan, which is why no accidents occurred during the three thousand attempts, until Yakumo appeared here and, according to the original plan, the original personality awakened to complete the final step.

"Mizuki, go and make tea for the guests!" Uchiha Runyu said.

“She was originally my apprentice, and later she became like a maid. You can understand what a maid is, right? She was like…” Uchiha Runyu explained with great enthusiasm.

“I understand,” Yakumo nodded and said.

"When this plan was first proposed, many people opposed it. In the end, in order to silence them, I could only push forward the mission on instinct, which caused many casualties. I feel helpless about this."

Uchiha Runyu sat down, a look of sadness on his face. This sadness was so genuine that it didn't seem like a pretense at all.

“Great things require sacrifices,” Yakumo said.

“I know that no one should sacrifice themselves for someone else’s big cause. I’m a hypocrite… I can’t calmly ask countless people to sacrifice themselves for my plans, so my instincts have to be triggered.”

Yakumo realized that his instincts weren't just about being a driving force in missions; more importantly, they were about doing those things for Uchiha Juntama, the orders he didn't have the courage to give.

“You’re not like the Runyu I remember,” Yakumo said.

“Oh dear, I never wanted to be a ruler. I was just a pawn, like you are now. If I hadn’t obtained the power of hope and possessed the power to fight against the energy of destruction… I would never have become the one playing the game…” Uchiha Runyu continued.

It starts with the ultimate secrets of the universe and discusses the current state of the universe.

Yakumo then learned that the universe is now roughly divided into three regions.

Firstly, the region already controlled by virtual energy occupies about one-third of the total size of the universe and is called the Virtual Energy Universe. What's amazing is that... this pure green planet actually exists in the core region of the Virtual Energy Universe.

Back then, the Crimson Ruler chose to self-destruct in this space, his energy directly polluting a third of the universe. Countless lives were instantly corrupted and degraded...

Secondly, there is the Hope Federation, led by Uchiha Runyu. They are the main force resisting the expansion of virtual energy, and are composed of forces on the verge of being eroded by virtual energy, such as the Holy Empire, the Reality Kingdom, the Magic Empire, the Sealing Clan, etc.

Their reason for joining the Hope Federation was simple: to prevent their own nation from being polluted by virtual energy and to prevent their world from being destroyed. That is why they joined the Hope Federation.

Thirdly, in regions dominated by the will of the universe, although they may help curb the rate of expansion of virtual energy, they are actually conducting experiments to perfect the rules of the universe, and their attitude towards virtual energy is not completely absolute.

Behind them stood the master of the universe, a mysterious figure.

Uchiha Runyu didn't know who that person was either. He was the ruler of the universe, but he never interfered with the development of the universe. Instead, he tried his best to guide countless people to become stronger and improve the origin of the universe.