Masahiko’s heart gave a jolt, but on the surface he first bowed to the two men in turn, maintaining every outward courtesy.
Hiruzen Sarutobi gestured to his old friend beside him and was just about to introduce him. “He is…”
“Danzo Shimura.”
Danzo gave his own name, his voice low. “This isn’t the first time we’ve met.”
“Yes, Lord Danzo.”
Masahiko lowered his head.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was not surprised. He took a drag from his pipe and said, “The main reason I called you here this time is to talk about Naruto.”
“Naruto… I’m very sorry.”
Masahiko apologized at once.
Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and shook his head. “This isn’t your fault. And I didn’t call you here this time to make you responsible for looking after Naruto.”
“Yes!”
Masahiko lowered his head, assuming the posture of someone being reprimanded.
Hiruzen Sarutobi said, “Naruto behaved himself for a while recently, but today he started making trouble again.”
Masahiko informed the Third Hokage of the decision he had made yesterday.
Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a moment, then nodded lightly. “You did the right thing. It is time for Naruto to grow stronger on his own. How long can he rely on others to lead him?”
Danzo narrowed his eyes slightly, a smile at the corner of his mouth, but said nothing.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked toward Danzo.
Danzo understood at once. He rose and said indifferently, “I still have matters to attend to. I’ll take my leave.”
Masahiko turned sideways to see him off.
After Danzo left, Hiruzen Sarutobi took out a book.
“These are some notes I wrote when I was young. You can take them and read through them. Perhaps they’ll be of some help to you.”
He placed it on the desk.
Masahiko’s eyes widened as he said in surprise, “This is far too valuable!”
“Books are meant to be read. Take it.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, then added, “I’m very grateful to you for putting so much thought into Naruto, but you mustn’t neglect your other students either.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Masahiko naturally assented.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, indicating that he could leave.
Masahiko came out of the office.
Looking at the booklet in his hand, he drew in a deep breath and suppressed the excitement in his heart.
Though the Third Hokage was old, when it came to his reserves of knowledge and his understanding of most ninjutsu, he was absolutely the foremost person of the age.
Hiruzen Sarutobi’s notes!
To him, their value was indeed immense.
As Masahiko was thinking, a voice sounded beside his ear, and lines of subtitles began to fall one after another—
[Filming of Episode 3 of Naruto: The Prequel completed!]
[Editing…]
[Final cut successful!]
Total appearance time: 12 minutes 2 seconds
Screen-time ratio: 57.1%]
[As a villain character, your appearance time has exceeded 50%. Your compensation has received a substantial increase.]
[Notice: Naruto: The Prequel will be broadcast at eight o’clock tonight. At that time, playback functions will be unlocked for you, and danmaku playback will be provided.]
[We hope that you will adjust your acting and performance style according to the danmaku.]
Episode 3 was finished?
It seemed.
Naruto had been released.
Masahiko laughed inwardly, but he had no mind to interfere further with Naruto.
The road was one’s own to choose.
He would provide a certain amount of correction and assistance, but in the future, Naruto would still have to walk it himself. Outsiders could not help with that.
Besides.
Right now, he could barely protect himself. He should take care of himself first.
…
Blue Star, eight o’clock in the evening.
In a bright room, two computers were set up, with tablets and other devices below them.
The two computers displayed different screens.
One showed the line art of a character, while the other showed Aiku’s playback page.
After yet another refresh, finally—
“Episode 3” had arrived!
The man in front of the computer let out a breath and stared at the screen and the danmaku above it.
A moment later.
“First!”
“Too slow. Can’t they release episodes faster?”
“Is Naruto still being tortured?”
“I have a question. If Naruto is trained through torture like this, what happens in the main story? Is Naruto still this weak in the main story?”
Seeing this danmaku, the man before the screen froze.
The main story…
How would he know?
This so-called Naruto: The Prequel had paid him—and paid him a lot—but even he, the original author, had no way to interfere with it. As for the production company, he couldn’t even find anyone behind it.
The only thing worth庆幸 was that the quality of the production was extremely top-tier, worthy of being called the highest level of animation production in the world.
The explosive popularity of Naruto: The Prequel had also rapidly pushed his manga beyond its original circle.
But with that came a problem.
How was the content of the “prequel” supposed to connect with his main story?
And also…
Was this person a good guy, or a villain?
On the screen, Naruto’s daily interactions with Masahiko flashed by rapidly in the form of short clips.
Very soon, the scene slowed.
At the school gate, Naruto craned his neck in anticipation and waited for quite a while before Masahiko finally appeared.
He looked at the screen, his brows tightly furrowed.
This character seemed…
“Let’s keep watching!”
After waiting a while longer, his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
On the screen, it was another afternoon, and Naruto was once again waiting for Masahiko on the swing.
But the development that followed shocked everyone—
Masahiko appeared, but he had brought a gift, and he even said he would treat him to a meal.
“Holy crap! Top-tier PUA!”
“Naruto has been starved of love since he was little. If someone does this to him, wouldn’t he be moved to tears?”
“Insane!”
“This character is handsome and bad. Damn, he couldn’t be the subordinate of some major villain, could he?”
The danmaku exploded.
At that moment, inspiration struck the man before the screen. He picked up his tablet and began drawing with swift, flowing strokes, refining the character’s line art.
When the sketch was halfway done, the image on the screen changed again—
Naruto was in the Hokage Building, wildly doodling and “creating”!
After that came a chaotic chase.
He bit down on his pen and quietly breathed a sigh of relief, but in the next instant, the scene shifted…
In the forest, Yagyu Masahiko formed hand seals with both hands, and a massive fireball surged from his mouth.
Just as he stared at it, a figure rapidly approached from behind.
Masahiko’s body counterattacked swiftly, and the two began an intense fight.
Fists and feet flew back and forth.
Though it was only a brief exchange, still…
“?”
“Who’s this Hayate Gekko?”
“A chunin?”
“Looks like Yagyu Masahiko isn’t weak!”
Questions appeared in the danmaku.
The man before the screen looked at it, switched the image on his tablet, and then looked at the later drafts, falling completely silent.
Hayate Gekko…
He hadn’t even sent him over yet, but the character had already appeared first in the anime.
And.
“Who is Danzo Shimura?”
At this moment, he, the manga author, was the one who couldn’t make sense of things.
Because—
Right now, he had not yet thought of designing such a character.
Unlike his reaction, many ordinary viewers in the danmaku and elsewhere were responding differently.
Everyone was speculating about who these new characters were, whether they would appear in Kishimoto’s manga, or whether…
These characters were merely anime originals?
In fact, some people had already asked Kishimoto about it.
But.
Kishimoto himself had not figured it out yet. For a time, he hesitated, torn between options. How could he directly answer their questions?
At this moment, he was thinking—
Should he give the character “Hayate Gekko” more plotlines?
Or…
Should he do as originally planned and have him exit the story directly in a later conflict?
Moreover.
Many plots and characters needed to be reconsidered.
He bit the shaft of his pen, finding it difficult to decide.
In the end, he decided to finish this character draft first.
Lines were sketched out, and very soon—
A seemingly handsome and gentle Yagyu Masahiko appeared on the screen projected from the tablet.