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[— "For your final exam, each of you must produce a doppelgänger! Wait here until your name is called, then head to the next room," announced Teacher Iruka.
But this announcement created a crisis for Naruto, who was sitting at the very last desk, cursing his luck.
'Doppelgängers? Why did it have to be doppelgängers? That's my worst—my absolute worst technique!'
Time passed, student after student completed the exam, until finally… it was Naruto's turn.
'Well… here goes nothing!' Naruto stood in front of the committee — Teacher Iruka and another instructor — then shouted as he performed the doppelgänger technique:
"Behold! A perfect double!"
Beside Naruto appeared another Naruto… collapsed on the floor, drained of all color or strength, gasping as if on the verge of death.
Naruto broke into a cold sweat at the sight.
Iruka's eyes quivered as he looked at this pitiful creation.
"YOU FAIL!!!" he exclaimed.
"Master Iruka," the teacher beside him spoke up, "This is his third attempt, and he did technically manage to summon another self, even if it was a little… deflated."
As he said this, he thought privately: (I'm not that great at doppelgängers myself…)
"But what if we just cut him some slack and—"
Naruto smiled when he heard someone finally supporting him, but the smile didn't last long, because Iruka followed with:
"The answer is no, Mizuki. Every student is required to create three doppelgängers… Naruto produced only one, and he did it very poorly."
Iruka didn't want to say it, but facts were facts:
"With all due respect, his performance simply doesn't merit a passing grade." —]
...
"What's with this pathetic performance?"
The Third Hokage tilted his head in confusion… Even he felt pity watching Naruto's less-than-mediocre display.
"I thought he would be talented enough that no one would care how many shameful pranks he pulled… Isn't he the protagonist?"
The Third Hokage was genuinely baffled.
A student at this age, about to graduate, who couldn't even produce one proper clone… This wasn't just failure — this was pure, blatant incompetence.
'Iruka is absolutely right,' he thought.
"There's no way we can just give more chances to this kind of… nonsense talent. And who is this Mizuki? He looks gentler than Iruka…"
...
Minato stared quietly at the manga page. He almost burst out laughing when he saw Naruto produce that "salted clone," but he forced himself to hold it in.
"It seems Naruto has a… very comedic spirit," he smiled while saying this to Kushina, who was reading the manga with annoyance.
"What is this! Isn't his surname Uzumaki? It's impossible for someone from my clan to have such lousy talent! And why is his hair yellow instead of red?! He looks more like he came from your Namikaze clan."
Kushina puffed her cheeks adorably as she complained.
A child bearing the Uzumaki name should be extremely gifted.
In chakra reserves, very few clans can rival the Uzumaki.
In raw physical strength, no one can surpass the Uzumaki.
In ninjutsu IQ: again, no one surpasses the Uzumaki.
"So what is this nonsense? Why can't he pass such a trivial graduation exam? He only needs to create three clones to pass?! Why have the standards become so low!?"
Kushina yelled with a deeply wronged expression.
Minato began sweating — he could feel Kushina's fiery temper making its return.
Minato knew she was now totally immersed in the manga's events, so he didn't want to disturb her and risk setting the store on fire from her emotional outburst.
He didn't want to cause any trouble for Rubirō, so he simply held his breath and focused on his own volume.
Naruto failed the final exam, but this clearly wasn't the end.
It was still only the first chapter, and they had already experienced so many emotions through it!
In the next scene, Minato felt a sting in his heart.
'Am I… sad?'
On the manga page, outside the academy, the successful graduates were smiling and laughing happily with their parents, showing off their forehead protectors engraved with the Leaf Village symbol.
Many students appeared alongside their families — Minato could almost hear the joyful laughter echoing from the page.
After all, graduating from the academy and becoming an official ninja was truly a happy moment — like getting a job right after finishing university. Not something ordinary at all.
(N/B: 21st-century youth know this very well.)
But what saddened Minato… was Naruto, sitting alone on a swing tied to a tree, watching everything from a distance.
The graduates and their loving parents… congratulating them warmly.
Minato felt sympathy for Naruto, who wore such a sad expression as he heard, parents proudly praising their children.
"It seems he's not very popular among the general public…"
Seeing how adults — especially the women — talked about him, Minato sensed something was very wrong.
"He's just a kid… Why such harsh words?"
"Huh?"
By chance, Minato witnessed a rare scene.
His heart ached as he saw Kushina crying like that — tears gently streaming down her porcelain-doll cheeks.
Her sorrowful expression made Minato's heart break; he felt like he needed to hug her immediately.
He wanted to understand why she was crying… What triggered this?
Wasn't she angry just moments ago?
Why this sudden emotional shift?
Minato followed the trail of Kushina's falling tears until one finally dropped onto the manga page — but strangely, it didn't wet the paper.
Minato didn't know why, and he didn't think about it further… because he understood why she was crying.
The scene that brought tears to Kushina's eyes was the same scene that made Minato's heart ache.
For some reason… perhaps because Naruto was an orphan?
No one truly knew.
But for Kushina, this moment triggered memories.
Wasn't she also an orphan?
Had she not lived through similar moments not too long ago?
She saw herself in the boy named Naruto…
Wasn't she the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails?
Whether she liked it or not, everyone feared her and treated her like a monster…
Only Minato had been willing to befriend her without any fake feelings.
For Kushina, she saw a large part of herself in the lonely, ostracized Naruto.
Kushina's lips trembled as she wiped her tears and said:
"I think… I know why he failed the exam."
Minato took a handkerchief and gently wiped her tears with a warm smile.
"I think I know too."
Ever since childhood, Minato has behaved like a true gentleman.
The Third Hokage watched the scene with surprise.
For Hiruzen, learning that Naruto had such a background shocked him…
Things weren't supposed to be like this…
'Sigh… what a hard life he has.' As Hokage, Hiruzen valued talented children more than anyone.
When he realized Naruto wasn't the gifted boy he initially believed, he was deeply disappointed…
But watching the graduation scene and seeing that lonely child drowning in sadness — even he, a man hardened by wars and bloody experiences, felt sorrow for the boy.
Not far away, Rob smirked as he saw Hiruzen's expression.
'I wonder how your expression will look when you later realize that you're the reason everything went wrong for Naruto, you hypocritical old geezer!'
To Rob, the Third Hokage had always been a strangely twisted character.
He did things that made no sense, especially regarding Naruto.
He could've handled things differently, prevented that scoundrel Danzo from stirring trouble, and embraced the poor child warmly…
But instead, he chose to vanish into the background.
Speaking of Danzo — at that moment, a man in a gray cloak appeared at the art store's entrance. Behind him stood a mature woman and another man.
Judging by their presence alone, anyone could tell they were high-ranking individuals.
Danzo's eyes narrowed as he confirmed the information with his own senses.
'What an incredible ability… space manipulation, rock manipulation, metal manipulation… I want it. I want this power at any cost!'
Danzo craved Rob's ability the moment he stepped into the art store.
This place was perfect for someone like him — he had always wanted a headquarters impossible to infiltrate or even locate for his future experiments.
Such an ability — creating a "fortified building" even Hiruzen couldn't destroy — made Danzo drool.
'Huh? Coveting my belongings openly, and in my domain? How bold of you, Danzo.'
Rob naturally sensed everything.
Because Danzo was now inside his art store, Rob could easily perceive the man's thoughts — even with Danzo's famously perfect ability to conceal emotions.
And the reason was simple:
Inside the art store, Rob's senses were everywhere — like the senses of a god.
Here, with just a bit of focus, he could read the thoughts of any customer he wished.
Rob walked over with the practiced smile of a store owner and welcomed the three with polite composure — neither humble nor arrogant.
"Welcome to my humble store, honored elders of the village. Please, feel free to sit wherever you like. Everything is free today."
Rob looked directly at Danzo and added:
"For those who cannot read, you may first enter the room beside the bathrooms, take a Knowledge Capsule, and temporarily gain the ability to read."
"What? Are you implying that I'm uneducated?"
A vein popped on Danzo's forehead — he felt personally insulted by Rob's words.
"That's not it at all. I say this to all my customers. Not everyone in this world can read or write, and I can't tell who can and who can't. So I inform everyone equally.
"My store is open to all — whether you can read or not. Here, everyone can enjoy my art, even if they aren't literate."
Rob replied with the professional smile of an experienced shopkeeper.
The title "Art Seller" wasn't for show.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 14: Literacy. Ambitious Danzo.
Chapter 15: The Kyūbi Appears!
Chapter 16: The First Villain: Mizuki.
Chapter 17: Is Naruto the Kyuubi?
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BlackStar_BH:
The chapters currently available on Patreon are up to Chapter 19.
I will be uploading more over the coming days, heavily, starting today—up to 50 advanced chapters.
But I won't neglect updating here either, and I'll also be updating frequently.
For now, you can read all the advanced chapters for only $5 in the Silver Tier, and also on Ko-fi.