Chapter 146: A Free Blockbuster Production
The weather was beautiful today.
A gentle breeze brushed against the heart, and although the sunlight was bright, the heat was hardly oppressive.
However, one elderly man with graying hair looked utterly miserable.
He felt as though he were on the verge of heatstroke.
At an age when he should have been enjoying his retirement, he was instead wielding a large fan and frantically fanning himself, his arm moving so quickly that he looked like a servant.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The powerful gusts from the fan whistled past his ears. He tugged at his sweat-soaked clothes, glanced at the obstacles scattered around him, and sighed.
"Hey, cousin. Have you and the First Hokage ever considered looking for Bloodline Limit users in other countries and bringing them to Konoha?"
Madara shifted his gaze slightly, glancing at Ryoichi, whose entire body was drenched in sweat.
"Konoha originally consisted only of the Uchiha and Senju clans. The clans with Bloodline Limits came later and applied to join us. The two of us have no need to go looking for them."
Ryoichi wiped the sweat from his face and sighed helplessly.
"The Mist Village clearly has plenty of Bloodline Limit clans. It would be great if we could 'kidnap' a few of them like this. If we had some Ice Release users nearby, things wouldn't be nearly as dangerous."
Madara looked toward the bustling crowd ahead and slowly spoke in his aged voice.
"When the village was first founded, Hashirama and I only wanted peace."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone emerged from the fields ahead, and a glint flashed through Madara's eyes.
Black hair. Black eyes. Refined features and fair skin.
His hair and bangs fell backward, gradually becoming thinner.
Ryoichi noticed the black-haired man in the field as well. The instant he saw him, his eyes widened.
He looks just like him.
He was practically identical to his distant cousin.
Ryoichi turned toward the silent Madara beside him and gave the fan a few more vigorous waves.
The two of them had come here today not only to see the protagonist of this production, but also to see how Jonin Asuka planned to bring Susanoo onto the big screen.
If he intended to use his actual Susanoo for filming today, Ryoichi would have no choice but to call a halt to the entire production.
At that moment, everything was ready.
All the staff were in position.
As for the Hyuga clan...
Naturally, the Hyuga had not come to provide any assistance. The only reason they hadn't caused trouble was that they had yet to discover Jonin Asuka's filming plans.
Thinking about it, Ryoichi looked around at the numerous people disguised as members of the Hyuga clan through Transformation Jutsu, and a complicated feeling welled up inside him.
He had to admit, this particular feature of the shinobi world was rather convenient.
If you needed someone, you didn't have to find them yourself. You only needed to locate a shinobi skilled in Transformation Jutsu, and they could become anyone they wanted.
As long as the exterior looked right, it didn't matter whether the inside matched.
Besides, they were all just nameless cannon fodder passing through the scene.
The protagonist was never them.
At that moment, a staff member approached Jonin Asuka with a worried expression.
"Jonin Asuka, we've discussed the special effects you mentioned for quite some time, but we still haven't found a suitable solution."
You really don't have the technology?
Looks like I overestimated the technological level of the shinobi world.
Asuka pinched his chin and thought for a moment. Then his expression suddenly brightened with realization.
Smack!
He slapped the script against his thigh, startling the staff member.
"Jonin Asuka?"
"No special effects are necessary. We shinobi are the best special effects."
Asuka then pointed toward the ninja cat and the staff member who were preparing to portray the Two-Tails.
"When you transform into the Two-Tails later, don't use a Tailed Beast Ball. Just breathe fire into the air from time to time."
"As for the scenes where the buildings explode, just put a firecracker inside those plastic structures."
"I'll find a Lightning Release user later. Have the ninja secretly trigger the firecrackers, then electrify the structures and set them off right when the plastic buildings collapse."
"And bring out my Susanoo, too."
Bring it out?
Ryoichi raised an eyebrow at those words, somewhat confused.
Can Susanoo actually be peeled off?
Before he could imagine what it would look like to peel the skin off a Susanoo, he saw several people carrying over a large object covered in black cloth.
"This is..."
Once they had carried it into position, the black cloth was pulled away.
A blue skeleton taller than a human suddenly appeared before everyone's eyes.
Is this Susanoo?
"Why does it look so ugly?"
"Maybe the workmanship is a little rough."
Hearing the surrounding comments, Ryoichi looked up at the veins and flesh covering the skeleton's exterior.
Then he caught the smell of fresh paint in the air.
His eyes narrowed.
"Why do I feel like this thing is a puppet?"
Madara's eyelid twitched as well.
He looked at the blue skeleton in the center of the set, which resembled the second stage of Susanoo, and his expression immediately darkened.
"That's a puppet. It was just painted."
"How boring."
Madara immediately lost interest in the movie and turned to leave.
It was too fake.
They had even embedded numerous light bulbs inside the puppet to create the glowing effect of Susanoo.
Was this some kind of joke?
"Release!"
Crack!
Crack! Crack!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Jonin Asuka severed the chakra strings controlling the puppet with his left hand and stared speechlessly at the blue Two-Tails on the set.
"How many times have I told you? Don't pin the puppet to the ground and beat it."
"I'm not a professional puppeteer. I can't use this puppet to defeat a ninja cat with the strength of a Chunin."
"It's fine if you're evenly matched with the puppet, or even have a slight advantage at the beginning. But don't pin it down and repeatedly pound it into the ground."
"You're making the Uchiha clan's Susanoo look as weak as the Hyuga clan's Byakugan."
Sigh.
Thinking about the cans of cat food it was going to receive later, the ninja cat—currently transformed into the Two-Tails—shook its head and sighed.
"Again."
"Keep going. Remember, follow the script. You can only hold out for two minutes. The remaining minute is my turn."
Asuka reattached the chakra strings to the puppet and had someone switch on the light bulbs inside its back.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the glowing blue skeleton stood up again.
The life-sized puppet stared at the blue cat before it, then clenched its right fist and slammed it into its left palm, making the air tremble.
Asuka glanced at the shinobi who had just used Wind Release.
He used his technique to cut through the air, then covered his mouth and shouted:
"Begin!"
The puppet bent forward slightly and charged.
Every step shook the ground.
Asuka pointed at the shinobi responsible for using Earth Release to make the ground tremble, signaling him to reduce the frequency of the vibrations.
Then he gestured toward the Hyuga extras nearby, signaling them to put expressions of shock and terror on their faces.
"Let me through."
Ugetsu Yugao quickly grabbed Hinata Hanaka and scolded her.
"Hanaka, don't disturb your teacher while he's filming."
Hearing this, Hanaka angrily kicked her legs.
"Teacher is slandering the Hyuga clan! He's making us look like idiots!"
Seeing the thick veins bulging around Hanaka's eyes, Iruka touched the proof of his successful promotion to Chunin tucked inside his clothes and smiled as he tried to persuade her.
"Hanaka, how many times has the teacher told you not to use the Byakugan to peek at secrets?"
Hanaka narrowed her eyes and looked toward the sky.
Listening to the fierce sounds of battle coming from the set, she took a deep breath.
"I'm going to beat up that ungrateful bastard. If it weren't for the Byakugan, how could he possibly have become a Chunin?"
"I..."
Before Iruka could finish, Hanaka brought her five fingers together into a palm and slapped him squarely in the chest.
One hour later.
Bang!
Jonin Asuka pushed open the door of the field and calmly looked at the three little ones waiting outside.
Hmm.
Yugao's cheeks were flushed.
Hanaka's face was slightly blackened.
Iruka's cheek was swollen.
"Teacher, when are you planning to release the footage you filmed?"
Hearing the gritted tone in Hanaka's voice, Jonin Asuka scratched his head.
After thinking for a moment, he answered:
"About half a month from now. The entire shinobi world should be able to see it."
"I'm not planning to charge anything. Where would children get the money?"
"Yay!"
Iruka jumped up happily.
Asuka secretly gave him a V-sign.
As a devoted fan of the legendary K-On! manga, he had even specially asked Uchiha Madara to autograph it for Iruka.