The Third Hokage's eyes widened and his breathing quickened at the sight before him—his counterpart appearing in the manga's page.
It was as if time itself had stopped for Sarutobi Hiruzen, who ignored all the speech bubbles and focused entirely on the picture of the old man using a brush and a long white scroll.
With pure surprise and deep curiosity, Hiruzen reached out and touched the wrinkled face of his elderly counterpart drawn on the manga page, as if wanting to feel those creases with his fingers.
Unfortunately, that was impossible—after all, the old Hokage was just a drawing on paper.
The Konoha shinobi were equally stunned to see their Lord Hokage depicted as an old man—around sixty-eight, sixty-nine… perhaps even seventy years old.
They were so used to seeing their lord Hokage young and powerful, a man who seemed capable of holding up the sky itself if it were to fall.
But this aged version in the manga—with white hair and skin marked by the gentle symphony of time—made the jōnins, chūnins, and genins alike reflect deeply on how cruel time could be. Even the mightiest, like the Hokage, could not escape the swift current of the river of time.
"Sigh~ No one can swim against the current. Even the immortals will one day be carried away by the tide of time, no matter how long it takes."
The Third Hokage sighed as he finally processed what he had seen and emerged from his shock.
On the manga page in the Hokage's hand:
[—"Lord Hokage!!" The Hokage was interrupted at that moment as someone rushed in to inform him of something.
"Yes? What is it? Some new outrage by Naruto, I presume?" The old man seemed to already know what had happened before they even said it.
"That young devil is defacing the mountainside faces of our heroes—your honored predecessors! With paint!!" The ninja assistants reported the outrageous act committed by what appeared to be a mischievous teenager.
"Hmf." The old man sighed and put on his Hokage hat.
On top of the authority building, a crowd of ninjas gathered, shouting angrily at the boy who was the cause of all their problems, as he continued committing his "crime" in broad daylight. At that moment, the Hokage arrived.
"Enough with the stupid pranks!"
"We're sick of it! Grow the heck up!"
"You're dead when they catch you! You know that?"
"Look at him…"
The boy didn't seem to care at all. Instead, he looked down at them with a grin and shouted,
"LOOOSERS! WANNABE'S!"
"You don't have what it takes to do something this low! I rule, and you drool!"
The Third Hokage exploded in anger upon hearing that.
"How dare you?! Who do you think you are?!"
Just then, another ninja arrived and stepped beside the Hokage, surprising him.
"Eh?"
"Lord Hokage… I can't apologize enough…" said the newcomer.
"Oh! Is that you, Iruka…?" said the Hokage.
At that moment, the teacher Iruka caught his breath and shouted at Naruto,
"What do you think you're doing, you idiot? Get down from there and get back to class!"
The boy instantly panicked and almost fell when he realized who was yelling this time.
"It's my teacher, Master Iruka! I'm so screwed!" —]
This was the second page of what was called a manga, titled Naruto.
Three characters were clearly introduced here: the Third Hokage—who looked very old; Naruto—the boy after whom the manga was named; and Iruka—apparently Naruto's teacher at the Ninja Academy.
The rest didn't appear clearly, shown only as background characters, but they were recognizable as real Konoha ninja.
'Naruto… It seems this mischievous boy is the protagonist of the story. Blond hair, blue eyes… he must be Minato's son, or a Namikaze descendant…"
"I bet Minato will figure it out the moment he sees this boy."
A soft smile appeared on Hiruzen's face at the thought of Minato.
…
Outside the Art Store, hundreds of civilians and Konoha shinobi had gathered, staring in awe at the extraordinary store. It had an irresistible allure, like a glowing lamp attracting moths.
Its futuristic design, the otherworldly LED screens displaying the heroes of Naruto in all their glory, and the slogan under the Art Store's name—
"Come relax and explore the future of the world while you're at it…"
All of these drew massive crowds. Everyone wanted to enter, especially after learning that, on opening day, everything was free—no admission fees at all!
Konoha's shinobi nearly lost control of the excited masses. The situation worsened when people inside started calling out to friends and family to join them in discovering the manga together.
It seemed that those who had already entered were completely absorbed by the early and later chapters of the first volume.
Among those waiting outside was a blond-haired, blue-eyed boy wearing a Konoha headband—a one of the genin, clearly about 13 or 14 years old, standing patiently in line under the supervision of Konoha ninjas.
From time to time, his gaze would drift toward the digital billboard showing Naruto's image. His eyes carried a mixture of confusion and admiration.
"Big brother Minato, are you here too!? This store's appearance caused a huge stir—there's nothing else being talked about in the whole village!"
"Can you believe even Lord Hokage couldn't destroy it!?"
"And another thing, big brother—don't you think that boy on the screen looks a lot like you?!"
Just then, a girl of about the same age—13 or 14—arrived.
She also wore a genin headband, with striking red hair and blue eyes—clear signs of her Uzumaki lineage.
Minato smiled helplessly at the sight of the Red-Hot-Blooded Habanero. Their relationship was special, though not yet romantic or serious.
The incident where she would be kidnapped by Kumogakure—and saved by Minato—had not yet happened.
It had only been a year and a few months since their graduation from the Academy, where they had been classmates. Now, Minato was being secretly trained by the Legendary Sannin Jiraya himself, while Kushina had joined her own specialized team.
Even so, Kushina always wanted to meet Minato whenever she could. Seeing him here made her genuinely happy, and she couldn't stop chatting excitedly about what had happened and the appearance of the Art Store.
"I know, it looks really interesting. I heard the store owner is a man from your clan named Uzumaki Rubirō. Do you know him?" Minato asked curiously.
"Eh!? Big brother Rubirō? No way! You mean he's the owner!? Then why are we standing in line, for heaven's sake? Come on, let's go! We're cutting the line!"
Kushina grabbed Minato's arm and dragged him as if he were weightless, sweeping past everyone in her way. Not even a group of ninjas could stop her.
At that moment, Minato deeply regretted ever telling her that.
____
Hello, this is BlackStar_BH.
I want to let you know that starting from Chapter 11, the chapters will become paid.
At first, it will be $5 for the first 5 advanced chapters, then $10 for the first 10, and so on.
Of course, there will be a clear separation between the chapters published for free on Webnovel and those available here on Patreon.
Only the advanced chapters will be paid content.
The lowest tier will grant access to 5 advanced chapters for $5 per month.
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