….
Things had begun accelerating across every front.
Production on the next [Hulk] film had moved into a full shooting schedule - night sequences, motion-capture rehearsals.
The animation pipeline for [Kung Fu Panda] was running in parallel, layouts being approved while fight choreography tests rendered overnight.
Regal's rehearsal of [I Want to Eat Your Pancreas] was days away from shooting.
Momentum was everywhere.
And to the far east - quietly, steadily - a different seed had matured.
Three years earlier, a blond-haired boy named Naruto Uzumaki had begun his serialized run.
What started as a weekly gamble had become a structural force.
In exactly three years over a - one hundred and forty-four chapters.
Almost forty-eight chapters per year.
With almost no filler, detours designed to stall and a tight arc, with modern pacing, cleaner fights and emotional beats preserved without dragging.
If the original trajectory of [Naruto] in 1999 had covered roughly 107 chapters in its first three years - ending somewhere around the early Konoha Crush arc - this version had surged far ahead without collapsing under its own speed.
The arc breakdown told the story clearly:
Land of Waves (1–15): Leaner emotional setup, sharper Zabuza conflict.
Chūnin Exams (16–45): Forest of Death streamlined, preliminaries tightened without losing character focus.
Konoha Crush (46–60): The invasion arc accelerated, consequences emphasized.
Search for Tsunade (61–75): Political tension compressed, Sannin confrontation direct and brutal.
Sasuke Retrieval (76–105): Fights condensed but emotionally intact; no dragging monologues.
Akatsuki Setup (106–120): Clear threat positioning. Controlled time-skip groundwork.
Early Shippuden / Gaara Rescue (121–140): Faster pacing, modern battle structure.
Tenchi Bridge Recon (141–150 ongoing): Orochimaru re-entry, deeper Akatsuki threads tightening.
….
It was early Shippuden territory now.
Tenchi Bridge was unfolding, Orochimaru's presence loomed, Naruto's post-timeskip growth was being tested under real pressure, and the Akatsuki were no longer rumors - they are a terror group.
Even with the streamlined structure, Kishimoto had been stubborn about one rule: character arcs could not be sacrificed for speed.
The Chūnin Exams still demanded space - Twenty-five chapters minimum.
Sasuke Retrieval still needed its emotional descent, and major fractures in bonds required time to echo.
You could modernize pacing, but you could not cheat grief.
Earlier in the day, the three-year celebration had unfolded within the office of Kishimito.
Press conferences, fan gatherings, endless photographs, questions about future arcs and endless speculation about Sasuke.
Now, finally, the noise had faded.
Back home, the atmosphere was entirely different.
Kishimoto Masashi sat cross-legged on the floor, a low table between him and the people who had been there from the beginning.
Tanaka-kun was half-slouched with his third beer, tie loosened, looking like he had survived a natural disaster. Which, given the press conference earlier, wasn't far off.
Yamada-san was arguing about panel layouts even though they were off the clock.
Keiko-chan laughed too loud at everything, cheeks flushed from the whiskey she had been nursing since they got back.
And Nanami sat near the balcony door, relaxed, like he didn't belong in any of this. Like he had just wandered in and decided to stay.
Kishimoto looked at them and felt older than thirty-two.
"Stop staring like that." Tanaka said, noticing. "You look like you are about to give a farewell speech."
"I am only thirty-two." Kishimoto muttered.
"And still unmarried." Keiko chimed in, grinning.
"That's completely irrelevant—"
"Is it though?" Yamada-san joined in. "When was the last time you talked to a woman who wasn't your editor or assistant?"
"Keiko's a woman."
"Keiko doesn't count." Keiko said.
They laughed. Kishimoto tried to look annoyed, but failed.
On the TV in the corner, his own face stared back at him. The interview from earlier - NHK had already cut and aired it.
"Oh god." Tanaka said, noticing. "Turn it off."
"No, leave it." Keiko said. "I want to see him squirm."
Tanaka suddenly burst into laughter remembering something. "Tell them about the fan!"
"No." Kishimoto warned immediately, but it was too late.
Keiko grinned. "The one who proposed?"
Nanami raised a brow. "Proposed?"
Tanaka nodded enthusiastically. "Front row at the Q&A. She stood up and said, 'Kishimoto-sensei, will you marry me and let me help you draw backgrounds forever?'"
The room erupted.
Kishimoto buried his face in one hand. "I remember handling it very professionally."
"You said 'thank you for your support' and walked away while she was still talking."
Nanami, who'd been quiet til now, smiled into his drink. "To be fair, what else could he say?"
"Literally anything." Keiko said. "He could have said literally anything and it would've been better."
On the TV interviewer - professional woman, early forties, the kind who smiled but didn't mean it - leaned forward slightly.
["The question everyone wants to know."] she said. ["When is Naruto getting adapted into anime?"]
Real-Kishimoto groaned. "Here we go."
TV-Kishimoto smiled. Practiced. ["Soon. We don't want to rush it. Quality matters more than speed."]
["But it's been three years."] the interviewer pressed. ["One hundred forty-four chapters. Most series would've started anime production by now."]
["Right now all I can promise is that… When we do release an anime adaptation, it's going to be top-notch quality."]
The interviewer's smile shifted. ["There are rumors about... foreign investment. Is that why it's taking longer?"]
Silence in the apartment.
"Oh." Yamada said quietly. "She went there."
Keiko sat up straighter. "Is she really—"
"Yep." Tanaka said. "She's really asking about Regal-san."
On screen, TV-Kishimoto's expression didn't change.
But you could see the calculation behind his eyes. How to answer this without making it worse.
["Foreign investment is common in the industry now."] he said carefully. ["It's not unusual—"
["But Naruto is a Japanese background story."] the interviewer interrupted. ["Some people are concerned about outside influence on the adaptation. About maintaining the integrity of the work."]
Real-Kishimoto rubbed his face. "I hate this question."
"Should've prepared better." Tanaka said.
"I did prepare. Doesn't make it less annoying."
Because here's the thing about foreign investment in Japanese media: people hated it even when it made perfect sense.
The logic was simple - Japanese studios had limited budgets. Anime production was expensive, time-consuming, and the profit margins were razor-thin unless you hit big. Most shows barely broke even.
Foreign investment - especially from someone like Regal who had proven he understood storytelling, who had the resources to do things properly - that should've been good news.
But it wasn't about logic. It was about identity.
[Naruto] was Japanese. Kishimoto was Japanese.
The story was rooted in Japanese culture even when it was about ninja and demons and impossible jutsu.
Having an American investor felt like... contamination.
Even though Kishimoto had full creative control and always would.
It didn't matter, people saw 'foreign' and got nervous.
On screen, TV-Kishimoto was handling it better than real-Kishimoto felt he had at the moment.
["The delay has nothing to do with foreign investment."] he said firmly. ["We're being careful about timing, about finding the right studio, about making sure we have the resources to do this properly."]
["But Mr. Seraphsail will be involved in the anime production?"]
["He's the primary investor, yes. That means he will be involved in production logistics, budgeting, resource allocation—"]
["Creative decisions?"]
["Yes and No."] TV-Kishimoto's voice was clear on that. ["But the final call will be mine, the story is mine and so is character development. Regal-san's involvement is financial. He is providing the resources to let us make the best possible story."]
["And those resources are...?"]
TV-Kishimoto smiled slightly. ["Generous. Whoever ends up animating this - whichever studio we partner with - they will be compensated well. Better than industry standard. That's one thing I can promise."]
The interviewer looked like she wanted to push harder, but decided against it. Moved on to safer questions about upcoming story arcs.
Tanaka muted the TV. "You handled that okay."
"Barely."
"No, seriously. Could've been worse… like pulling a marriage proposal response."
"Can we please stop talking about that?"
"Never." Keiko said. "That's going in your biography. 'Chapter Seven: The Ring He Couldn't Accept.'"
The TV had moved on to other questions now. Some fan-submitted ones that were actually interesting.
["If you could change one thing about Naruto's journey so far, what would it be?"]
TV-Kishimoto thought about it. ["I wouldn't change the journey. But I would give him better food, kids should not only eat ramen. That can't be healthy."]
The apartment laughed.
["Final question."] the interviewer said. ["Three years in. One hundred forty-four chapters. Where do you see Naruto going from here?"]
TV-Kishimoto's expression shifted, got more serious.
["Darker."] he said simply. ["The story's been building toward consequences. Sasuke's gone, Akatsuki's moving and the world Naruto knew is changing. The next phase is about loss and what it costs to protect something. Whether bonds can survive being tested to breaking point."]
["Will Sasuke come back?"]
["You really weren't hoping that I would answer that right?"]
The interviewer laughed.
…and it ended.
Tanaka unmuted it just long enough to hear the announcer: ["Kishimoto Masashi, creator of Naruto, currently in its third year of serialization with one hundred forty-four chapters published—"]
Muted it again.
"One hundred forty-four." Yamada said. "Still sounds insane."
"It is insane." Kishimoto agreed. "But it's working."
"For now." Tanaka said. "Wait till we hit chapter two hundred. Then three hundred. Then wherever this thing ends."
"Five hundred." Kishimoto said quietly.
Everyone looked at him.
"What?" Keiko said.
"Five hundred chapters, give or take. That's the endpoint and where the story finishes."
Silence.
"You're serious." Nanami said.
"I am serious. I know how it ends and where every major arc goes. What happens to Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi - all of them. Five hundred chapters is the map."
"And you're—" Yamada paused. "You're sure about that?"
"As sure as I can be. Stories have natural endpoints, this one's five hundred chapters. Might be four-eighty or five-twenty. But somewhere in that range."
Tanaka whistled low. "That's years. Decades, maybe, depending on breaks."
"Ten years." Kishimoto said. "If we maintain pace and nothing breaks and most importantly I don't die first."
"Don't joke about that." Keiko said.
"Who's joking? Ten years is a long time. Things happen."
"No they dont…" Nanami agreed.
Kishimoto looked at him, then all of them.
His team - The people who had been in the trenches with him from chapter one.
They drank to that, to the job and for the three years down.
…and however many more it took.
….
.
[To be continued…]
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