BlackStar_BH:
More Power Stones and comments, guys!
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On the same day, Rob packed his belongings and left through the village gate, greeted by the guarding shinobi.
Rob smiled when he saw the shinobi at the gate enthusiastically greeting him while holding volumes of the Naruto manga in their hands.
The manga had already spread everywhere—young and old alike knew of it.
Every scene and every character from all seven chapters had been analyzed. The people of Konoha—shinobi and civilians, children and elders alike—had fallen deeply in love with the manga's vivid details.
Along the road, Rob could feel its influence in the streets. Children were imitating Naruto as he caused mischief… others mimicked Sasuke's cold demeanor, while some covered their faces in Kakashi's style.
Rob heard someone wondering what Kakashi looked like beneath his black mask; some believed Kakashi's face must be scarred from countless battles, which was why he hid it.
'Even young Kakashi believed that idea,' Rob thought as he left the village.
'I might need a means of transportation… but first, I need to finish some unfinished business.'
Rob smiled and chose to travel by running through the trees until he left the village's borders—then he would decide what transport to use.
When he disappeared among the trees, five minutes passed before several swift shadows appeared and vanished after him as well.
…
Inside the village council building, Danzō stood, gazing into the distance with half-closed eyes.
'Let's see how you deal with my little gift,' Danzō thought.
He had not forgotten what happened half a month ago; that threat had ignited his desire for revenge. He did not fear that old woman, nor the retreated Hiruzen.
He wanted to know what a mere chūnin was relying on to believe he could stand on equal footing with him.
'Big words. Let's see if your fists are just as big,' Danzō thought as he ensured a squad of elite Root operatives was sent after him… among them was an extremely secret weapon, an elite jōnin he had nurtured with everything he had.
…
Elsewhere, inside the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen gazed into his crystal ball, which currently showed Rob running away from the village.
"I hope you don't do anything foolish, Danzō," Hiruzen muttered.
He was aware of Rob's journey to the Land of Wind, which had come as a surprise.
He had not wanted to allow it, but the intervention of the old lady Mito had made it possible. He could not challenge her will.
"But even if he dies, it doesn't matter. He chose this himself," Hiruzen said, canceling the Telescope Technique once Rob finally left its range.
"Still… I really want to see new chapters of that story," Hiruzen added, stroking his black beard with a helpless expression.
…
The trade routes leading beyond the borders of the Land of Fire were unusually quiet.
A vast desert loomed on the distant horizon—where the Land of Wind began, and where Sunagakure lay. Though it was still hundreds of kilometers away… this world was vast, and naturally the distances between nations were immense as well.
Rob ran with steady strides, as fast as any shinobi, yet dressed in ordinary merchant clothes—a small bag at his waist and calm features betraying no tension.
If Rob stopped running, anyone who saw him from afar wouldn't think for a second that he had ever been a shinobi.
But inside… he was alert to everything.
'Too much quiet is unsettling,' he thought.
Since leaving Konoha, he hadn't encountered any inspections, caravans, or even bandits.
That made no sense for a trade route of this length. Indeed, Rob had chosen the commercial road suggested by Tsunade and Jiraiya.
This route was monitored by Konoha shinobi along the borders of the Land of Fire, meaning it was completely secure.
Upon reaching the border of the Land of Wind, Sunagakure shinobi would appear to protect the remaining half of the route.
That meant Rob would be fully exposed to both forces and would need official clearance to enter.
'Yet there was no one in sight…' When Rob reached the border region between the two countries, he felt something was wrong.
The area was a barren rocky valley, with the temperature intensely high.
At that moment, Rob sensed something faint— not overt hostile chakra, but a disturbance in the flow of air.
Rob stopped in place and smiled faintly.
"So… we're starting, are we?"
…
Dozens of meters away, among cracked rocks, shadows moved.
Three—no, four people.
All wore dark clothing with no insignia.
No headbands. No identities.
But Rob needed no more than a second to understand. 'Root…'
Their movement style.
Their silent synchronization.
The absence of any obvious killing intent in the air.
They hadn't come to threaten. They had come to erase.
The first appeared directly behind Rob—no sound, no warning.
A short sword lunged toward Rob's neck. 'Looks like the mission is over,' thought the masked shinobi.
But at the moment flesh should have been split— the blade passed through Rob's body, as if cutting through ice.
The assassin froze in place.
Rob's body turned into cracked ice, then reformed two steps to the side.
"Looks like he sent a professional assassin… but unfortunately for you—"
Rob spoke calmly, without turning around.
The assassin immediately retreated as the other two appeared from both sides, chakra flaring around their feet.
"Don't talk," one said coldly.
"Kill."
He was speaking to his comrades. By nature, they usually finished such missions in under a minute—without making a sound.
…
The attacks surged together. Blades. Kunai. Shuriken.
Focused chakra flowed toward lethal points.
Only then… did Rob feel something different—not excitement, not fear, but sharp awareness.
Rob recalled Rubiro's past battles. There weren't many, but they weren't few either—yet none had been this intense.
'So this is… real combat.' As Robinson, he had only experienced life-and-death battles virtually, behind computer screens… but here, it was completely different.
These four shinobi were truly aiming to take his life.
His body moved before he could think.
Ice exploded beneath his feet, instantly forming a slippery surface.
One assassin's step slipped—just a fraction of a second, but it was enough.
Rob extended his hand, "Form."
The air froze at his command as extremely cold breaths slipped from his fingers, shaping into a weapon.
An ice spear formed in an instant and shot forward.
He didn't aim for the heart or the head—Rob chose to disable one of them.
The freezing spear pierced through the shoulder. Blood burst forth, only to freeze immediately.
"Argh…" a muffled cry escaped before Rob pulled the spear back and the wound vanished beneath a layer of ice, stopping the bleeding… but paralyzing movement.
Rob suddenly stopped.
He looked at his hand.
It was trembling… slightly. '…I almost killed him.'
…
At that moment, the fourth appeared—and he was different. He released heavier chakra.
Rob felt pressure—not only from the chakra, but from the man's steady steps as well.
"Ice Ninjutsu and remarkable chakra control… this wasn't mentioned in the intelligence report," he said in a low voice.
He raised his hand, forming rapid seals—an offensive ninjutsu.
A chakra explosion struck Rob directly.
He didn't evade.
His body completely transformed into ice—but the impact was real.
He was pushed back several meters, ice scattering before reforming.
Rob took a deep breath.
'Taijutsu doesn't work… but ninjutsu does.' He smiled.
"Good… I needed this test." Rob slowly raised his hand.
The ground around them began to freeze.
The rocks. The air.
Even their breaths became visible. The entire valley froze—viewed from above, the barren land became a massive block of ice.
"But there's one thing you didn't account for." He looked at them with utterly calm eyes.
"I… don't fight to kill." Then he clenched his fist.
Ice erupted upward, trapping them, binding their movements, and crushing their balance.
Rob vanished as they struggled to break free.
He appeared behind the last one.
He didn't attack—he merely whispered near his ear, "I fight to stay alive."
Then he struck with a hand that formed into an ice blade at the back of the neck.
The body fell without a sound.
…
Rob stood alone in the middle of the road.
Four lifeless bodies—now shattered pieces of ice.
He looked up at the sky, exhaled slowly, and said in a very calm voice:
"Danzō… that was your greeting."
He reached toward Tsunade's scroll inside his storage.
He didn't open it. Not yet.
"Next time…"
He smiled a cold smile.
"I think you'll understand why you shouldn't stick your nose into my affairs."
He continued walking toward the desert.
And behind him…
The first true trail of blood began to be drawn along his path in this world.
"Sigh… I really want to be a peaceful mangaka…"
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 47: The Third Kazekage!
Chapter 48: The Kazekage's Retreat.
Chapter 49: The Puppet Market.
Chapter 50: Art Store – Sunagakure.
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BlackStar_BH:
The chapters currently available on Patreon are up to Chapter 67.
There are 22 advanced chapters available now:
5 chapters in the Silver tier ($5 subscription), 5 more chapters in the Gold tier ($10 subscription), 5 more chapters in the Platinum tier ($15 subscription), and 5 more chapters in the Diamond tier ($20 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!