BlackStar_BH:
More Power Stones and comments, guys!
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[—"I don't have to know the boy to kill him!"
"It's the scroll I'm after now. I'll finish you later."
Mizuki vanished among the trees, chasing after Naruto and leaving those words behind.
…
"He should have been killed when we had the chance!!"
"But we can still set that right if we act now, while he's still just a boy… before the demon spirit breaks free!!"
"Don't make the mistake of thinking of him as one of us. When we find him, he has to die!!"
The Konoha ninja gathered around a single opinion: now that things had reached such a dangerous point, they had to kill him.
…
"At least, I found it in the crystal…"
At that moment, the Third Hokage was observing everything happening in the forest through a crystal ball.
''So, at the very moment my subordinates found him… Mizuki spoke, revealing everything…''
He began thinking inwardly:
'… Driving Naruto over the edge… So that all that awesome, terrible power is starting to burst out from its mysterious bonds…'
'There is always the danger that the spirit might break free—and to stop that, if the forbidden scroll is in his hands…'—]
…
'What a sly, crafty old fox… Will he really become this sharp in the future? So wicked! So devious! I always knew, even when I was young, that you and I were the same, Sarutobi Hiruzen… You pretend to be virtuous, but inside you're an even more poisonous snake.'
Danzo narrowed his eyes into a meaningful smile at Hiruzen after finishing reading the Third Hokage's inner thoughts in the previous manga scene.
Hiruzen felt his gaze, but he didn't look at him—instead, he turned toward Rob, who understood what the Hokage wanted and approached.
"How do you know about my technique?" Hiruzen asked, eyes full of suspicion.
The Telescope Technique (Tōmegane no Jutsu) was extremely secretive. He had never revealed it to anyone—not even to his most loyal subordinates—because it was a precious technique for gathering information and tracking.
But now he was shocked to see his old counterpart in the manga using the exact same technique, in the exact same way, with a pristine crystal ball to spy on events from afar… It genuinely scared him!
He forgot his own counterpart's thoughts regarding Naruto and pushing him to the edge as a test of his limits as the Kyūbi's vessel.
This was even more terrifying!
How in the world did this happen? No one was ever supposed to know about his detection technique… so why was he seeing it drawn inside this comic book!?
'My technique isn't secret anymore!? How the hell am I supposed to spy on women in the bath now— I mean, how am I supposed to detect any dangerous conspiracy threatening Konoha before it happens!? How will I gather intel and expose suspected traitors now!?'
Hiruzen felt a surge of anger swelling in his heart. He wanted to scold Rob at the top of his lungs, but first, he needed to know what was going on.
Rob felt slightly tense, but he had a prepared answer ready exactly for situations like this.
"My Lord Hokage, I truly didn't know anything. I simply assumed that someone as wise and in control of everything in the village as the Lord Hokage would naturally possess such an incredible detection technique. So when the idea came to my mind, I drew it without thinking about the consequences."
"My Lord Hokage, when you ask me how I know about your technique… You don't mean to say that the technique I merely imagined is actually real?" Rob asked with curious eyes, as if his words were nothing but pure truth, and everything had happened by coincidence.
Hiruzen froze at those words and screamed internally:
'A coincidence, you say? Coincidence my ass!'
'Wait… since he's claiming it's a coincidence, I'll go with the flow. No matter what happens, I must not confirm that I possess the Telescope Technique!'
Hiruzen composed himself, then said with a smile, "Oooh, what a tongue you have… Well, I truly don't possess such a technique, but I'm impressed by how close you came to something I might actually have… Fine, fine, you may go back to your work… This art of yours is very interesting—I can't finish it quickly."
Rob rolled his eyes internally with a mocking smile, but outwardly, he maintained the calm, dignified demeanor of the shop owner. He gave a small bow before returning to receive more customers.
…
'This is really frightening…'
The more he read, the more Hiruzen felt as if he were looking at himself in a mirror—but older, wiser, and with an even stronger and more authoritative presence.
He began to feel that this manga was anything but ordinary. It might actually be a tool that foresaw the future.
Since he was the first person so far to see his counterpart inside the manga, the idea was being etched deeply into his heart—far more than anyone else.
…
"What a villain… This Mizuki turned into Iruka-sensei to trick Naruto…"
"Wait… it looks like Naruto didn't fall for the trick somehow…"
"What?! Turns out the Naruto here is a fake, and it's actually Iruka-sensei!"
"Oh my God! An exciting battle! This is high-level ninja combat!"
"If Iruka-sensei hadn't been injured at the start because of Mizuki's trick, the fight would've been even fiercer!"
"It looks like the real Naruto is hiding somewhere nearby."
The academy kids who discovered the Naruto world after opening the pages of the volume felt chills and awe at how detailed the world was—so similar to their own.
But none of them considered that this might actually be the future. As the events took a mysterious turn, the readers felt sympathy for Naruto, more admiration for Iruka, and deeper hatred for Mizuki, who claimed he and Naruto were the same type of people, implying Naruto was evil by nature because he carried the demon fox.
"Hizashi, what do you think?"
The elder brother, Hiashi, looked at his twin and asked curiously, wanting to know his younger brother's opinion.
Hizashi looked down shyly and replied, "I don't know the full details of the demon fox spirit incident they're talking about, but Naruto seems like any other child. He even seems kind of pitiful."
Hearing that, Hiashi nodded calmly.
"He's brave, though… Iruka-sensei favors him, unlike the rest of Konoha's shinobi. They even want to get rid of him… to kill him…"
…
Elsewhere, 13-year-old Mikoto Uchiha shifted slightly away from her spot, but every time she moved, Fugaku Uchiha crept closer. In the end, she sighed and gave up.
"Fine, stop inching closer. You can sit next to me."
Fugaku kept his expression as if nothing had happened and said, "What do you think of Naruto?"
"Naruto? He's a pitiful boy."
Mikoto sighed with a sad expression.
…
On the other side, Shikaku was sitting alone…
"I wonder what forbidden techniques are inside that scroll… for that idiot Mizuki to risk his life for it…"
For 14-year-old Shikaku, this Mizuki guy was incredibly stupid. He didn't know his background, but what he had done so far was practically a guaranteed death sentence. After all, he was inside Konoha…
It was like poking a hornet's nest and then standing still in the same spot.
For a smart shonen like Shikaku, this act was utterly foolish. After all, Mizuki seemed far too weak to steal something that precious from Konoha and escape safely.
"Even in a fictional story, this is impossible."
Shikaku said as he flipped through the pages.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 21: Peak of the First Chapter — Naruto Shines.
Chapter 22: Naruto Graduates – A New Chapter.
Chapter 23: Dattebayo.
Chapter 24: Tsunade's Shock — Grandma Mito, I Won't Let You Die.
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BlackStar_BH:
The chapters currently available on Patreon are up to Chapter 31.
There are 11 advanced chapters available now:
5 chapters in the Silver tier ($5 subscription) and 5 more chapters in the Gold tier ($10 subscription).
On Patreon and Ko-fi, too.
In the coming days, chapters will be made available for all tiers, reaching up to 50 advanced chapters… Enjoy!