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Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato were now sitting in a quiet corner of the Art Store, surrounded by senior Rain shinobi who looked at them with mixed gazes of curiosity, suspicion, and hostility.
But no one dared to drive them away after seeing Hanzo permit them to sit. Besides, the store owner had previously stated that the Art Store was open to everyone, shinobi or civilians, young or adults.
Social status or origin didn't matter. Because of that, even though the Hidden Rain Village didn't welcome outsiders, things were beginning to change with the arrival of the Art Store.
The three read through the volumes at astonishing speed after receiving enough money from Hanzo to buy the ones they were missing to complete their knowledge of the story. After all, Jiraiya had not sent them every volume.
Naruto's harsh childhood stirred something in Nagato's heart that he couldn't quite name.
"Uzumaki Naruto… grew up alone, with no one," Nagato spoke quietly.
"Yes…" Konan replied softly.
"And yet he carries all that vitality, confidence, and hope…" Nagato continued.
Yahiko looked at Nagato with sharp, understanding eyes. "You're thinking the same thing."
"Maybe…" Nagato replied with a faint smile.
In the background, Hanzo was hearing every word.
'Street children reading about another street child and finding themselves in him…' Hanzo exhaled quietly.
'This manga is more dangerous than I expected. It doesn't just reach the reader's mind. It reaches their heart.'
'And the human heart is the most dangerous weapon, and the hardest to control.'
Hanzo wasn't comfortable with the arrival of this massive game-changer called the Art Store into his territory, but the power of the invading side was terrifying. So he had to use his mind here.
'I need to contact the leaders of the other shinobi villages as soon as possible…'
While thinking about that, Hanzo's attention soon returned to the manga pages, where the written exam seemed to be nearing its end.
"Hm, interesting. At least this Kyubi brat has some courage."
...
[— Manga Scene —]
"Don't underestimate me!!!" Naruto slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "I will not run!!!"
"I'll take it!! Even if I'm a genin forever…!!"
His words shocked those around him. Even those who had been about to withdraw stopped.
"I'll will myself to become Hokage anyway, so I don't care!!"
"I'm not afraid!!"
…
"I'll ask you again. Your life is riding on this decision. This is your last chance to quit." Ibiki said coldly.
"I'll follow my unbending words… That's my ninja way…" Naruto replied confidently.
'Interesting kid. He blasted away everyone's worries. 78 left… more than I expected…'
'Stretching this any longer won't make any difference.' Ibiki thought with a faint smile.
He looked at everyone remaining in the room before announcing:
"Good decisions."
"Now, to everyone remaining… I congratulate you on passing the first test!!!"
"Huh?" Naruto was stunned.
[— End Scene —]
Konohagakure:
The moment Ibiki announced their success, the atmosphere inside Konoha's Art Store had already reached its peak moments earlier, specifically when Naruto shouted his defiant words.
After all, just a few readers were expecting that twist of events, not everyone.
...
Going back a little earlier, when Hinata offered Naruto help in cheating, the scene had drawn everyone's attention in different ways.
In the corner where the Hyuga clan usually sat, the atmosphere was different from the rest of the store.
Hyuga Masanori, the clan head and leader of the main family, sat with perfect posture and unreadable eyes, watching Hinata on the page extend her small hand shyly toward Naruto, wanting to let him see her answers.
"She wants to help him."
His wife, beside him, spoke calmly, without judgment.
"I can see that," Masanori replied just as calmly.
But what followed on the pages stopped everything.
Naruto turned gently toward Hinata. Both were sweating. He told her quietly that he didn't want to cause her trouble, then turned back to the blank paper before him with a determined expression.
"Oh, he refused..." Hizashi, sitting slightly behind his father, spoke in a tone that was hard to classify.
"He refused to cheat to protect her," Hiashi added calmly beside his brother.
The brothers fell silent for a moment.
"Strange kid," Hizashi said at last.
"No, he's a respectable kid," Hiashi corrected.
Hizashi glanced at him with narrowed eyes, then returned his gaze to the page without replying.
Masanori, however, said nothing during all this. He simply watched the scene with eyes slightly wider than usual.
Raised in an environment where everything was merely a means to achieve a goal, he was now seeing a child refuse to benefit from someone who cared about him just to avoid hurting her.
'This… isn't something that can be taught.' Masanori thought.
And when Naruto later shouted his challenge, Masanori's wife lightly grabbed his arm without even realizing she had done so.
...
Elsewhere in the store,
Kakashi hadn't moved since Naruto began sweating over the exam paper. His eyes were fixed on the page with an intensity far beyond what one would expect from a child his age.
When Naruto raised his hand, slammed the table, and declared he wouldn't run away, Sakumo heard a quiet voice beside him.
"Why did he do that?" Little Kakashi asked seriously, his eyes still on the page.
"What do you mean?"
"The highest probability was withdrawal. He doesn't know what the tenth question is. Logic says—"
"Logic isn't everything, Kakashi." Sakumo interrupted gently.
Kakashi turned toward his father with questioning eyes.
"There are things the mind alone can't decide," Sakumo said while looking at Naruto on the page. "Some decisions come from somewhere else. From here."
Sakumo placed his hand on his chest.
Kakashi looked back at the shouting Naruto on the page.
"That… is irrational." Kakashi finally said.
"Yes," Sakumo agreed with a faint smile. "But you can't deny you felt something when he shouted those words."
Kakashi didn't reply, but Sakumo noticed his son's small hand had gripped the edge of the volume a little tighter.
...
Kumogakure:
The silence in Kumogakure's Art Store was completely different.
It wasn't the voluntary silence of the Sand shinobi, nor the cold confidence of the Mist shinobi. It was a forced silence, heavy, carrying the memory of the confrontation where the Lightning shinobi had been subdued by force before being allowed to sit as official readers.
No one in Kumogakure spoke about that day out loud.
But everyone remembered it.
In the front row of Kumogakure's Art Store sat the Third Raikage, A, his massive body making the chair beneath him look smaller than it was. His arms were crossed over his broad chest, and his eyes stared at the manga with the expression of a man used to reading battlefields rather than book pages.
To his right sat his eldest son, A, the future Fourth Raikage, according to the manga. He was still young, silent as usual, but his jaw was slightly tense as his eyes followed the lines with interest he didn't show openly.
To the Third Raikage's left sat Killer B.
Killer B didn't sit like the others. He swayed to an internal rhythm only he could hear, his fingers tapping on his knee in a pattern no one beside him understood, his lips occasionally moving as if composing poetry in his head.
When they reached the scene of Naruto sweating over the exam paper, B was the first to react.
"Heh heh! This kid knows how to express himself!"
The older A glanced at him sideways.
"You're swaying."
"Because the scene deserves swaying, brother!"
"Calm down."
B ignored him and returned his attention to the page, though he reduced the swaying slightly.
When the scene showed Hinata shyly offering help and Naruto refusing to protect her, B turned to his brother with wide eyes.
"You saw that? Did you see that, brother?! That's love."
"I see it. That kid is an idiot."
"He's an idiot…" the older A said coldly. "An exam isn't a place for honor."
"Not an idiot," the Third Raikage said calmly without moving.
Both fell silent immediately.
The Third Raikage rarely commented. When he spoke, everyone listened.
"This boy doesn't want to build his success on someone else's back. Even when the road is difficult." He paused. "That isn't stupidity or honor alone. That's a way of thinking."
The older A said nothing. But his jaw relaxed slightly.
And when they finally reached the moment Naruto jumped up, slammed the table, and declared he wouldn't run, something unexpected happened.
B jumped to his feet and pointed at the page with both hands.
"YEAH!!! That's it!!! This kid talks just like me, brother!!!"
The older A closed his eyes for a moment with the weary expression of a man enduring something daily.
The Third Raikage remained still.
But anyone watching closely would have noticed something very small.
The corner of his mouth lifted.
"This kind of courage…" the Third Raikage murmured softly, "…can't be trained."
...
Back in Konoha:
When Ibiki announced they had passed the first test, shock spread through the exam hall before joy followed.
But in a certain corner of the Art Store, Kushina laughed softly while wiping a small tear from the corner of her eye.
"Great, Naruto!"
Kushina said as she pressed the volume to her chest.
Minato smiled before adding: "He succeeds when no one expects it… including himself."
"…But this time, he actually gave the right answer."
Minato's eyes shone as he watched the manga scenes that followed.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 128: The Second Exam Begins!
Chapter 129: Many Battles in the Forest of Death!
Chapter 130: End of Volume Five!
Chapter 131: Contrasting Perspectives on the Manga.
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