Disclaimer: Naruto and all of its character belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I own nothing but the original characters I make.
Chapter 73: The Entertainment
---Raiken POV---
Raiken flipped through the stack of reports once more. The more he read, the wider his smile grew.
"Hahaha… looks like the Daimyo and the nobles have lost their revenue again and this time it hurts so much," he murmured, satisfaction glinting in his eyes.
A full month had passed since he set his plan into motion, a plan meant to shake the very political and economic foundation of the Land of Fire. It hadn't been born of impulse. It came from anger, disgust, and months of silently watching corruption rot the heart of the nation.
The turning point had been almost accidental. One night, Raiken happened to pass by a brothel and what he saw there froze him. Women sold like livestock, some even kidnapped and forced into service. Disgusted, he immediately ordered the Uchiha Police to monitor such establishments, to ensure no woman would ever again be treated as merchandise within Konoha walls.
But that didn't save those who were already trapped. The women bound by debt or ownership had no way out. Konoha itself lacked the political power to shut down the noble-run operations behind them.
Raiken had seen this before even on earth. Alcohol had destroyed families, stripped men of dignity, and turned workers into beggars. The same poison existed here, only worse.
Men who once toiled with pride now stumbled home drunk, their wages spent in smoky taverns. Families starved while bars and gambling dens thrived. And when the coin ran dry, debts were collected in flesh, daughters as young as fourteen sold to brothels under the nobles protection.
After weeks of investigation, Raiken uncovered the grim pattern. It started with prostitution, alcohol, and gambling, three pillars feeding one another in an endless cycle. Men drank, sought pleasure, and when their pockets emptied, they gambled to recover what they'd lost, only to lose even more, ensuring the brothels stayed rich and the people stayed enslaved.
This was no accident. The world had fallen into quiet decay long before Raiken took action. Alcohol had once been a luxury reserved for nobles, but over the years it seeped into every corner of society. Taverns became more common than schools, there is only one school in Konoha but many place for brothel and taverns, it is not weird when drunks filled the streets at night. Wives waited in cold silence for husbands who would never come home before dawn, and children learned that hunger was a normal thing.
And the nobles? They thrived from that misery. Many of them owned the breweries, the taverns, and even the brothels that sprouted beside them. When a man lost everything to drink, his wife was often sold or forced to work in the streets. The same nobles who pretended to benefit their land were the very ones feeding this decay.
That was the moment Raiken decided, enough was enough.
If alcohol was the chain that kept the people shackled to sin, then Raiken would break it by giving the lower class something far stronger to dream with.
He still remembered the day he gathered Arata, Kenshiro, and Hiroki in his office. That was the day his true plan began.
In the center of the room sat a strange device, a metallic helmet lined with intricate sealing patterns, each line glowing faintly blue. The thing looked like it had leapt out of another world sleek, futuristic, and faintly humming with chakra. To anyone else, it might have resembled a child's toy or a strange relic. But to Raiken, it was the key to revolution.
"This," he said, resting a hand on the device, "will be the next great invention of our clan, the Genjutsu Dream Device."
Kenshiro crossed his arms, brow furrowed. "You're saying this… thing can put people inside a genjutsu world? Like a dream?"
Raiken nodded. "Exactly. A shared illusion, a world that feels more alive than the real one. Once activated, the seals link with the user's chakra network. Even those with little chakra can experience it. Their consciousness is drawn into a realm built from layered genjutsu, a place where they can live, fight, explore… and be happy."
Hiroki crouched beside the device, tracing the glowing seals. "Amazing. It's like their chakra becomes part of the illusion. But… what's the purpose? Just entertainment?"
Raiken shook his head slowly. "Entertainment is the bait."
He turned to face them, his expression hardening. "We're not building a toy. We're building freedom."
The three of them exchanged confused looks.
Raiken continued, voice steady and sharp: "The nobles control the people through addiction of alcohol, gambling, prostitution. They've built an empire of rot. If we offer the commoners something that fills that same void, something clean, something that gives them joy and purpose, they'll stop wasting their lives in taverns. When they stop drinking, the nobles lose profit. When they lose profit, they lose power."
For a moment, silence filled the room. Then Arata chuckled, his eyes gleaming with mischief. "So, Clan Leader… you're planning to bankrupt the entire upper class with a game?"
Raiken's lips curved into a thin smile. "Exactly."
The plan was simple, but brilliant.
The people would soon know the device as the Dream Seal Helm, a creation that allowed anyone, rich or poor, to enter a shared illusionary world crafted from sealing genjutsu. Inside that realm, players could go on missions, explore endless landscapes, spar with others, or trade sealed tokens for real currency. It was more than a fantasy, it was something real.
And there was one rule, publicly declared by the Uzumaki Clan:
"Anyone who consumes alcohol within twenty-four hours cannot activate the device."
It was a perfect lie.
In truth, the helmet worked regardless. But Raiken and his closer subordinates spread the false rules. They even designed a visual trick, if someone had alcohol in their blood, the seals would flicker red and refuse activation, a harmless illusion masking a simple chakra-sensing mechanism.
The message spread fast. People began to avoid alcohol so they could play longer. Taverns emptied. Brothels lost customers. Gambling dens grew quiet.
Raiken watched it all unfold with calm satisfaction but that was for the future, currently they are in the office, Raiken poured green tea for Arata, Kenshiro, and Hiroki. "In Uzushiogakure, corruption had no place," he said softly. "But here, it festers under noble hands. If Konoha can't fight them directly… we'll destroy them economically."
Arata raised his cup. "To the fall of the nobles."
Raiken smiled faintly, lifting his own. "And to a future without corruption."
Now, weeks later, their plan was already reshaping the world.
In first week, he opened it inside Konoha, after that he hired more shinobi especially Uchiha to opened it on fire land.
The impact was so good, they didn't know what they would experience but inside that thing they finally met something that they never though of, they got their own dream. They learn new knowledge and because of this, people no longer willing to buy alcohol, every place that has this service destroyed the alcohol business.
Reports from every market that sell alcohol spoke of declining alcohol sales, empty taverns, and nobles demanding answers. The commoners spent their days saving money not for drinks, but to rent time inside the Ethereal World. In there, they built villages, tamed beasts, and lived dreams they never could in reality.
It wasn't just a game anymore. It was hope.
Nobles can't do anything because the one who run and protecting it are Shinobi from Konoha, they can only bite their hand with frustration.
Author Notes: To read advanced chapter you can go to my patreon.
Chapter 101: Forced
Chapter 102: Frontline
Chapter 103: Raikage Vs Hokage
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