UK:GSW Chapter 348 — Joker? No, It's Actually the Batman Who Laughs in Disguise
This banquet was, in fact, fairly conventional. Though still lavish and decadent, and though the atmosphere reeked of capitalist corruption, the attendees themselves remained mostly proper — whatever private thoughts they had, they maintained decorum.
At the very least, the "silver party" sideshow that sometimes appeared at American elite gatherings was absent — after all, the hosts were Gotham's "Knight of Light" and members of his team, and they would never allow such depravity.
From the perspective of Bruce Wayne Uchiha's memories, this banquet was… rather tame.
Which suited Sasuke just fine. After all, the playboy persona was only a mask — the real him was, and would always be, the calm and calculating Batman.
And so, at this banquet, Sasuke finally met Naruto of Gotham face-to-face.
Warm yet neither servile nor arrogant, his face bearing a gentle, sunny smile — always radiating energy, with eyes that shone with conviction, the eyes of a man who truly believed in his cause and in its eventual triumph.
In person, this Naruto felt even more dazzling than on live TV — the contrast between him and the Dark Knight was even sharper.
He was radiant… and made people instinctively want to expect great things from him.
Expect that this "fool" could actually change Gotham for the better.
As for Sasuke, Naruto's financial backer, Naruto was genuinely grateful. Though he was a man of justice, he understood well that in America, having a major capitalist behind you was a completely different matter from having none.
In this country, if you wanted progress, if you wanted to achieve your ideals, you needed big capital's support.
Though this playboy seemed unreliable on the surface, Naruto believed such a person was actually easier to deal with than those older, seemingly wise capitalists — the latter's support would inevitably demand a great price, perhaps even turning him into their white-glove proxy. America was full of such people.
In contrast, someone like Uchiha's young master seemed willful, acting entirely on personal whims. Which also meant that, if you won his support, you wouldn't need to violate your principles — only keep him happy. And there were many ways to do that.
Befriending him, becoming his friend, was undoubtedly one such way.
That was Naruto's thinking. Though full of justice and seemingly naïve, he could never have become a prosecutor at such a young age if he were truly a fool — in America's educational climate, the genuinely dim-witted would have been "weeded out" by the system's so-called "happy education" long ago.
Sasuke keenly noticed all this, which pleased him — enough to almost make him feel like the "Second Son of Heaven" himself, leaving him with a rather complicated mood.
After all, in his memories of the shinobi world, Naruto was a hot-headed, impulsive guy — the sort to charge in without thinking, and terrible at strategy. Yet here, in another world, he was like this.
Still, Sasuke wasn't surprised. Having been infused with Batman's knowledge, he knew well how profoundly environment and upbringing shaped a person. America was in no way comparable to the shinobi world.
One had to admit — this Mental Network System was indeed a bug-level technology, capable of making someone unconsciously accept an entirely new identity, truly believing themselves to have become another person.
Looks terrifying, doesn't it? The ability to change someone so easily.
And indeed, it was terrifying.
But this was black technology from the future world.
According to the data provided by the system, as technology advanced in the future, people's demands for "games" grew ever higher — beyond mere gameplay and graphics, seeking an insane level of "realism."
Immersion, that old cliché, was without question one of the key factors in making a game feel real to a player. And so, the Mental Network System developed a feature called "Full Immersion," allowing players to enter a game directly with the relevant memories and knowledge of the character they were playing.
Not everything would be included, but enough to let players truly roleplay that character. In many game modes, there was even a "Roleplay Accuracy" achievement system — the closer a player's portrayal was to the character's actual setting, the higher the score, and the greater the rewards.
To prevent players from becoming completely lost in the game, their original memories would be "dimmed" inside it. Upon exiting, the dimmed memories would instantly be restored, overwriting the game character's memories and pulling the player back to reality.
Of course, even with all this, some people still became addicted and couldn't escape.
But such people existed even without the Mental Network System — after all, back in the pre-VR era, there were already those who "married" their two-dimensional waifus.
In short — it wasn't a technology problem, but a human problem.
As for Sasuke's current state — it was simply the Mental Network System's bug-level effect in action. All it really meant was that he was fully immersed in the game, able to experience it wholeheartedly.
When the game ended, he would naturally recover his real memories, his real self.
Whether or not he would suffer lingering emotional aftershocks… well, that was another matter.
After all, struggling to leave the emotional pull of a story was hardly uncommon. Many people had experienced something like it. Uchiha Kei had merely given Sasuke the youthful emotional experience he'd missed.
With an elder like Uchiha Kei looking out for him at every turn, Sasuke was truly lucky.
Practically blessed by the god of fortune!
When it was all over, not setting up a shrine tablet for Uchiha Kei would practically be an insult to his care. jpg
Well… believe it or not, Uchiha Kei certainly believed it.
And it was under these circumstances that a Batman-style plotline suddenly triggered.
In this banquet for big shots only, a group of armed criminals suddenly burst in, blasting the on-site security with shotguns, assault rifles, submachine guns, and even grenades.
They used flashbangs, smoke grenades, close-quarters ambushes, dropped in from air vents, and sprang out from among the servers — every Hollywood trope in the book.
Honestly, in the real world, this would be absurd. At a banquet like this, security systems wouldn't be shoddy — and since this was a Uchiha Group property, Batman's nature would dictate multiple security sweeps to ensure everything was airtight.
Yet somehow, the attackers had found an opening — and succeeded in eliminating all security.
Most outrageous of all — though their tactics were like terrorists, they were actually just ordinary Gotham criminals. Despite the clown masks, their body types and features were clear enough.
Batman's monitoring system quickly analyzed and identified them.
As the attack began, Sasuke slipped quietly into the building's safe room via a hidden passage. Through Alfred, who relayed everything immediately, he saw it all — and frowned deeply.
These criminals had destroyed the cameras right away, but… well, Batman's black tech often defied belief.
What puzzled Sasuke was where these punks had gotten so many weapons — and why they'd attack this banquet at all.
Ransom? Robbery? Holding Gotham's elites hostage for cash?
If so, then they were idiots.
This kind of stunt would make them public enemy number one — not just to Gotham, but to America's real rulers, the elite overlords who actually ran the country.
With this firepower, they could've robbed any bank in America with far less heat.
Whoever planned this… was a real genius.
Regardless, Sasuke moved fast. With Alfred's help, he slipped out of the building, and Alfred's Bat-suit delivery system dropped the suit right where he was.
Next came the suit-up — and the beginning of Batman's night life.
Meanwhile, inside the banquet hall, amid screams, cries of pain, panic, and pleas for mercy, the guests were rounded up and herded into the main hall.
The criminals relished seeing Gotham's high-and-mighty reduced to frightened quails — their distorted pleasure leaking through every mocking chuckle.
Though they all wore odd clown masks, it was clear they were savoring the sight of the powerful brought low.
But among the frightened crowd, some stood out.
For example — Gotham's "Knight of Light," Naruto. At first, he even tried to fight back, attempting to grab a weapon to turn on the attackers.
He failed — but even in failure, his eyes were serious, unafraid.
When everyone was assembled, he stepped forward and demanded:
"What's your purpose? Why are you attacking us?"
The clown-masked criminals glanced at one another, then chuckled with scorn. One man stepped out, intent on teaching Naruto a harsh lesson — clearly hating righteous types like him.
But before he could act — BANG!
A hole appeared in his chest, right through the heart.
He collapsed, dead — never believing he'd die here, now.
Screams erupted. Panic surged. Even the criminals tensed, scanning for the shooter.
Then they saw him — and froze. Fear flickered even behind their masks.
From the second floor, a figure emerged, footsteps landing in rhythmic thunks.
The sight made many pale, a wave of revulsion passing through the room as they quickly looked away.
This figure… was grotesque.
A smoking pistol in hand. Black, baroque-style spiked leather jacket. Platform-soled boots that made every step echo.
The outfit was strange but bearable — what was truly disturbing was his head.
Thick white makeup, crudely painted. A massive, unnatural rictus grin, as if the lips had been cut away to expose all his yellowed teeth.
His eyes were hidden behind a spiked metal visor integrated with a black cowl — the visor's sides flaring upward into bat-like "ears."
The overall look was a warped imitation of Batman.
Grinning wide, he spoke in a raspy, mocking, bone-chilling tone:
"No no no… that won't do, little Jenny. Didn't I say? Harvey-Dent-Namikaze — this Knight of Light is my prey. Only I face him directly. So why, my dear little Jenny… why disobey me?"
"Ah~ my sweet little Jenny, are you telling me a joke? Hahahaha~ Yes! Yes, you've succeeded! That's hilarious. See? I'm laughing! So why aren't you? Laugh! Come on, laugh! You must think it's funny! Hahahahahaha~"
With that deranged, skin-crawling laughter, he knelt by his fallen underling, yanked off the man's mask, and painted a bloody smile on his dead face.
Then he held the corpse's face beside his own, turning them both toward Naruto and the others — as if clowning for their amusement.
But all it inspired was terror.
In just one moment, everyone knew — this lunatic was beyond reason.
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