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[— Manga Scene —]
"How was the harvest…?"
"Yes, it was above expectations…" Kabuto pulled out his info cards, saying;
"I've written down all of his data from the second test."
"You want this, right?"
"So how was it?"
"Hehe, so you're that interested…"
"Orochimaru-sama…" It turned out that the person Kabuto handed the info card to was Orochimaru.
"I want to know your opinion… as our spy…" Orochimaru said with a wicked smile.
"That's unnecessary since everything will be decided by you," Kabuto ran his finger over a bleeding wound he received in the previous battle, and the wound strangely vanished.
"Heh… I like that intelligence of yours… Good work," As soon as Orochimaru said that, he disappeared like a mirage.
[— End Scene —]
"As expected, that bastard Kabuto is a spy for you. Now I know why I felt suspicious of him during his first appearance..."
Jiraiya said, slamming the volume against the floor. Whether it was a fictional story or not, seeing a spy working for the enemy was still loathsome and unforgivable.
Kabuto was exactly that kind of person.
"He is my counterpart's spy in the manga, not mine... has your brain shrunk as you've gotten older, Jiraiya?"
Considering their twenties were nearing an end soon and thirty was just around the corner, Jiraiya could indeed be considered to be getting older.
(Author's Note: My condolences to all the comrades who share this realization; the twenties really are close to ending... by the way, I am 27. Meanwhile, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade are 28 in the current context of the story.)
"Ah, I forgot. Your stupid brain has been small since you were a kid."
"Stop provoking me with those words, Orochimaru. They don't affect me."
Jiraiya showed no anger. Orochimaru's tongue had always been sharp and his words predictable, but this time, Jiraiya could see sweat on Orochimaru's forehead while he tried to act natural... Jiraiya noticed it clearly.
'Heh~ Orochimaru is nervous... Of course, he'd be nervous.'
'... Seeing such an extreme future in the manga... I'd be nervous too if I were in his shoes.' Jiraiya thought, looking with pity at this teammate who was seeing his future schemes appear on pages of paper without even having any knowledge of them yet.
This kind of battle was essentially unwinnable; you are facing your future self through the eyes of the present. Jiraiya was actually surprised by the level of stability Orochimaru had shown until now.
Knowing that he had become Enemy Number One in the hearts of the Uchiha clan.
He was now on Danzo's radar.
His teacher, the Third Hokage, was starting to doubt him and feel suspicious.
Even Tsunade had grown colder toward him because of it.
Most dangerous of all was that he, who was considered a hero just a month ago by the village residents, was now the number one villain in the hearts of both young and old, not just in Konoha, but in all the major and minor villages.
In other words, the Naruto manga was controlling Orochimaru's reputation and even making it worse.
This meant that the current Orochimaru, who did not yet possess the power and experience of the manga Orochimaru, had to bear that bad reputation on his behalf.
The more foolish and evil deeds the manga Orochimaru committed, the more of a target the current Orochimaru became for the readers.
Especially the major powers among those readers.
'Lucky for him, there is a strict law from the Art Store preventing interference with the real-life counterparts of manga characters because of what happens in the manga,' Jiraiya thought.
...
'This... am I nervous? Impossible...'
Orochimaru felt a chill on his back and forehead. This was definitely cold sweat running down his skin, a clear sign of stress. This happened exactly the moment he saw his counterpart leaning against the wall, receiving the info card from Kabuto.
'So Kabuto really is a spy for my counterpart...'
Uninterested in empty talk with Jiraiya, Orochimaru clicked his tongue while fighting against the nervous feeling he had at that moment.
Very quickly, the sweat vanished from Orochimaru's forehead, and he regained his calm and clarity to the point that Jiraiya doubted his own eyes for a second.
"So Kabuto-kun is an ally to my counterpart... that is unexpected for me..." Orochimaru said aloud.
"Oh, did you really not expect that, Orochimaru?"
Tsunade turned from behind her seat, saying this with a questioning smile. As if she knew that what Orochimaru was saying was pure nonsense.
Kato Dan did not intervene in the conversation, and her little brother Nawaki also remained silent, lost in his thoughts.
"..." Up until this moment, he refused to believe that Orochimaru would be a villain who wanted Konoha's destruction, even if only in the manga.
"Well, how could I expect such a thing? I am just a reader, exactly like you..." Orochimaru said, shrugging his shoulders.
...
Readers in Konoha, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and the rest of the villages and towns containing Art Stores began to leave one by one, given that the seventh volume had come to an end.
And the thing that irritated them this time was that the Cliffhanger was much stronger than the last time.
...
..
[— Manga Scene —]
"Nobody's here…" Naruto said, after he and Sakura, who was helping Sasuke walk, entered the hall.
"Sakura… I'm alright…" Sasuke said, shaking off Sakura, who was helping him stand.
"Huh? Oh! Yeah…" Sakura smiled shyly as she let go, but internally, she was screaming in rage because she was taking opportunities to get closer to him, 'God damn it!!!'
"Hey, hey!! What should we do?!" Naruto wondered, looking left and right.
"Look at that…" But Sakura pointed to the plaque hanging on the wall directly in front of them.
"Without… heaven… What the hell does this mean?" Naruto tried to read the content of the hanging plaque.
"Looks like it's missing words there."
"This is probably about the scrolls… I think they are telling us to open up the scrolls…" Sakura said after a moment of thought.
They pulled out the two scrolls and began to open them.
"Alright… Let's open them up…!!"
[— End Scene —]
The final scene of the last chapter of the volume was reflected in Kakashi's eyes.
"Well, is that all for today?"
"Yes, it seems we'll have to wait another month to find out what happens after opening the scrolls..." Sakumo smiled as he said this.
This didn't mean he didn't know; most who were Chunin rank or higher and had passed the Chunin exams before already knew how things would end.
But many also didn't know anything, especially the civilians who had begun to learn about the shinobi world and its secrets only through the manga.
Also, his son Kakashi didn't know. After all, he was close to six years old and had started his second year at the academy, and since he was extremely talented, it seemed he would bypass all of that.
(Author's Note: For your information, 7 months have passed since the beginning of the story, so don't forget that time moves and the characters grow older... Rob releases a full volume of 8/9 chapters a month.)
As the Art Store was almost empty, Sakumo and his son rose to leave.
"When will Kakashi appear again? Won't he intervene to treat Sasuke's curse seal problem?" Before they completely left, little Kakashi asked this question to Rob when their eyes met suddenly.
Rob was arranging the cups in their places as usual when he was surprised by little Kakashi's question.
"Oh, you have a cool mask, Kakashi..." Rob smiled, looking at the mask Kakashi was forced to wear, thinking that people wouldn't recognize him that way.
"Oh, really?" Stars appeared in Kakashi's eyes.
To have the store owner and the author of the Naruto manga praise his mask was wonderful for him, at least as a child... although since the appearance of the manga, Kakashi had been maturing at a rapid pace that shocked even his father... he was getting closer to becoming the adult Kakashi in the manga.
Rob looked to the side and discovered another child, a year or a few months younger than Kakashi, standing behind his father and staring at him with a shy expression.
'Oh, to think that Obito has a father in this world... what is his story?' Rob thought, looking at the Uchiha group that was also leaving, among them Uchiha Minoru, accompanied by his son Obito, as well as Fugaku and Mikoto, whom Rob was used to seeing together.
"Well, Kakashi, you have to wait for the upcoming chapters to find out for yourself," Rob winked with a smile as he said this.
It seemed it was time to close the store for the day and get a short break before continuing to draw the manga.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 152: A Real Threat to the World's Plot.
Chapter 153: System Level 7! The Age of Anime Begins.
Chapter 154: The First Episode of the Naruto Anime!
Chapter 155: The Second Episode of the Naruto Anime!
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