____________
[— Manga Scene —]
"You have good potential… I like the way you rely on yourself…"
"If you come with me, you'll become strong…"
"Fight for me…"
"And I will make you powerful…"
Zaku was in a difficult state as he recalled the day he had met Orochimaru, and his life had changed forever.
'I must not…' For the sake of the person who had trusted him, he had no desire to lose.
"Now, prove to me that you have worth…" Those words kept echoing in his ears.
He wanted to prove he had value, '… Keep failing!'
"Don't mess with me!!" He cried out as he thrust forward his other hand, the one everyone had assumed was useless.
"You should always have a trump card, right?!" One hand aimed at the enemy before him and the other at the cloud of insects behind him; he wanted to obliterate them all.
"What? He can use his right hand too?!!" Kiba was caught off guard by this unwelcome development.
'He was acting as though his right hand was useless. Smart move, Zaku…' His teammate Dosu noted approvingly.
…
"So, is Sasuke one of these pieces?" The conversation between Kakashi and Orochimaru continued, as Kakashi asked about Sasuke's place in Orochimaru's plans.
"No, Sasuke-kun is a very important piece…" Orochimaru replied with a smile.
…
'Take this!!' At that very moment, when Zaku attacked, both his hands exploded and fell away, severed completely.
"My hands?!! What?!!" The openings in his palms had been packed with insects, causing a blockage that led to a reverse explosion, costing him both hands at once, and permanently.
…
"And the young ones currently in the exam…"
…
"When I told you to withdraw at the start, I ordered them to seal those dangerous air vents with their own bodies. That is the real trump card," said Shino.
"Y-you…" In the next instant, Shino sent him flying with a powerful punch. He was finished.
…
"They are nothing but pawns," adds Orochimaru.
"…" Upon hearing that, Kakashi was left speechless.
[— End Scene —]
...
..
"…" Young Kakashi was just as speechless in that moment as his counterpart.
"What a bastard…"
To regard your followers as pawns and Sasuke as a very important piece, what was the difference, really?
They were all pawns in the end. That was what made young Kakashi furious, much like his counterpart in the manga, whose thoughts were nearly impossible to read in that moment.
But his attention quickly returned to the son of the Aburame clan who had brought the battle to a clean end.
"Truly remarkable… what a strange and extraordinary guy."
"That's right, the Aburame are known for their fully integrated insect techniques. Fighting a skilled member of their clan unprepared is nothing short of suicide."
"It also seems that Shino Aburame is a principled young man. He asked his opponent to withdraw at the very beginning, out of a desire to let him leave without harm…"
"Truly, walking away from a fight with one of them unscathed is a rare outcome…"
Sakumo was impressed by Shino's character and his conduct in battle, so much so that he gave him a rating that was perhaps too high to be bestowed upon a genin of Aburame Shino's age.
"Shino Aburame… this boy is interesting."
…
Sakumo's opinion and young Kakashi's admiration were far from theirs alone.
Across the Art Store, readers showered praise upon the composure, steadiness, and power of Aburame Shino, rating him exceptionally high.
Even though most of them still felt deeply unsettled by the thought of so many insects living inside the boy's body.
The mere act of imagining it sent chills running across the readers' bodies from head to toe.
…
"How fascinating, he possesses a highly developed combat intelligence…"
"At first, he wasn't certain whether his opponent's hand was useless or not, yet he had already set a trap inside it before Zaku even thought to use it."
Hiruzen scratched his chin with a smile as he looked at Shino Aburame, who had just cleanly finished off his opponent in the manga.
"Wow, truly remarkable… what a generation overflowing with talent."
On the other side, in the back row of seats, directly behind their father, Hajime Sarutobi and Asuma Sarutobi were both thoroughly enjoying the current manga events and the preliminary battles of the Third Exam.
In all fairness, they had been stunned by the degree to which Shino Aburame was capable of handling the opponent who had previously tormented Rock Lee, especially given that Rock Lee had himself delivered a crushing defeat to Sasuke before the Chunin Exams had even begun.
Watching all these talents clash against one another in pursuit of the top, the Sarutobi brothers sensed that the current manga generation still concealed a tremendous wealth of untapped potential.
"I thought Sasuke and his curse mark would overshadow everything else in the Chunin Exam arc, but it seems I was mistaken."
These were the words of Hajime Sarutobi, the Third Hokage's eldest son, and the future father of Konohamaru.
In Hajime's view, the generation of Naruto, Sasuke, Rock Lee, Neji, Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru, and the others should not have been able to surpass their own current generation. Yet the manga, it seemed, had other opinions entirely.
"That's true. Shino seems to have a remarkable gift for insect techniques, to the point where he can use them to infiltrate his opponent's very body. Isn't that a bit excessive?"
Asuma, at six years old, was even more astonished than his older brother of eleven.
As heirs to the Third Hokage and future successors of the Sarutobi clan, they had been educated in the ways of the ninja and the local clans from their earliest years.
Even before the manga appeared and began revealing what it had to show, they already possessed a great deal of information about the clans of Konoha and even foreign ones in other villages.
Among the things they knew well: the Aburame were the only clan in Konoha that specialized in using insects and employed them in combat, intelligence gathering, and a wide array of other strategic capacities.
They also knew that there was another clan in Iwagakure that worked with insects as well, specifically, the Kamizuru clan, considered the Aburame's historical rival. Rather than ordinary insects, they specialized in bees.
Young as they were, in terms of knowledge, the Sarutobi brothers were the most qualified in their current generation, more so than Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, Obito, Ibiki Moreno, and many others.
...
Hearing the exchange between his sons, a satisfied smile appeared on Hiruzen's face before he returned to his deep and troubled thoughts about Orochimaru's current state of affairs.
'Orochimaru… your thoughts, your plans, your ambitions, your strengths, your weaknesses… nearly everything has been laid bare in Rubiro-kun's manga. What will you do now? Will you deny this future?'
'Or will you accept it, make it an urgent necessity you feel compelled to reach, and work toward it with the manga's help?'
'If you choose that path, do you understand the magnitude of the consequences?'
The Third Hokage looked toward Orochimaru, who was reading the manga with his characteristic calm smile, and then toward Rob, the man who grew more enigmatic with every passing day, and whose entry onto the stage had meant a fundamental transformation in the course of the entire world.
After all, since the manga had appeared, the usual activities of the shinobi world seemed to have slowed, and at times, come to a complete halt.
What were those usual activities?
The endless clashes between shinobi from rival villages, reconnaissance missions across all corners of the world, exploration of enemy and allied territories alike, the exchange of resources, the planting of spies, preparations for war, and the many pursuits that had once made the shinobi world feel truly alive.
And now? Everyone was absorbed in reading the manga, and more recently, the anime had been added to the picture as well. Who would have time left for shinobi activities?
Hiruzen sighed as he gazed deeply at the man who seemed to genuinely see the future and commit it to pages of paper, even summoning it forth in moving videos.
Rob was immersed in his role as bartender, living in the moment, filling his customers' cups with a smile, deflecting readers' questions about upcoming events with polite replies. He looked for all the world like an easygoing store owner.
Who could say that this man was the very same one who had nearly erased Kumogakure from the map just a few months ago?
That terrifying power was precisely what had caused any such thoughts to fade entirely, whether in Hiruzen, in Danzo, or even in Black Zetsu, who was hiding inside the store disguised as one of the ordinary readers.
…
From Black Zetsu's perspective, Uzumaki Rubiro was completely unaware of his presence.
He believed his concealment was so flawless that even the fearsome Uzumaki Rubiro had failed to detect him.
And that belief granted him a temporary comfort that allowed him to immerse himself in the world of the manga and uncover the secrets of Uzumaki Rubiro.
'The Aburame clan will produce some gifted individuals in the future… Hmm. How wonderful it is to have this manga, it reveals all potential threats that could impede the revival of the Mother long before they even exist…'
Black Zetsu thought to himself as he turned the page toward the next chapter.
'This Orochimaru is interesting as well…'
'Is it true that Sasuke is the only one left of the Uchiha clan? How intriguing.'
…
Far from the concealed Black Zetsu, Aburame Shibi was thoroughly enjoying the current manga events.
"Very precise… excellent."
"A true son of the Aburame… how extraordinary."
Nearby, one of Shibi's brothers spoke in a tone of quiet satisfaction.
"He has a bright future ahead of him. His control over the Kikaichū insects is remarkable, far better than I was at his age."
Another member of the Aburame clan spoke with unmistakable admiration.
"Given that he was completely silent before this battle, I had taken him for a timid boy. Who could have anticipated that he had this kind of adaptable, calculated side to him…"
"He dismantled his opponent cleanly and swiftly."
Hearing that, Shibi gave a small nod with a faint smile.
The feeling washing over him was as though his clan members were praising his own son.
Even if he did not yet know whether that was actually the truth or not.
____________
Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
____________
Chapter 164: Protected by the Man Who Exposed Him…!?
Chapter 165: Battle After Battle.
Chapter 166: The Mind Transfer Technique of the Yamanaka Clan. (The end of the volume)
Chapter 167: A New Future Takes Shape!
____________
Support the journey and unlock advanced chapters!
If you're enjoying Rob's story, his journey of publishing the Naruto manga inside the Shinobi world, and the impact it has on the world, and you want to know what happens before everyone else… there's always a way to stay ahead.
I work on this novel every day, developing its world and chapters, and every bit of support helps me keep delivering higher-quality content at a faster pace.
By supporting me on Patreon, you'll get exclusive access to advanced chapters before they're released to the public. You can move ahead in the story and read up to 30 chapters in advance!
📚 Support Tiers:
$5 → Read 5 advanced chapters
$10 → Read 10 advanced chapters
$15 → Read 15 advanced chapters
$20 → Read 20 advanced chapters
$30 → Read 30 advanced chapters
Every bit of support, even a small one, makes a real difference and helps me continue writing this journey that we're experiencing together.
Join now and start reading the stacked chapters before everyone else:
Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/BlackStar_BH
You can also get the same benefits on Ko-fi:
https://www.ko-fi.com/blackstar_bh
Thank you to everyone who supports the story and believes in this world. You are the reason it continues. ❤️
____________