Regardless of what Shinku Yuhi and Sakuma Shanyuan thought, Jiraiya really believed in the idea and worked hard for it.
He spent the entire morning working hard at his drawings.
The kid was pretty stubborn, but he had real talent when it came to art. If he had lived during Akaba's past life in East Asia, he surely would have become a master no less remarkable than Mizunami Kei.
"Akaba, what should we do with these comics then?"
Shinku Yuhi glanced around. With the cooperation already in place, there was apparently no need to run the stall anymore.
"Donate them."
Akaba stretched lazily. Anyway, it wasn't much money—if the Sand ninja were being so particular about things, donating was just doing them a favor.
"Donate?"
Sakuma Shanyuan was momentarily stunned. Though he didn't fully understand what was going on, he sensed that Akaba and Kazekage might have reached some kind of unspoken understanding.
With protection from the Sand ninja, there wouldn't be any trouble from the Land of Rivers side. It seemed like neither the comics nor commercial routes needed to be worried about anymore.
It seemed clear to him.
"We'll decide later. Uncle Shanyuan, you continue running the stall here; we need to return for training."
Akaba stood up, not wanting to stay any longer.
Their main purpose for coming here was still the Chunin Exams. Although he personally looked down on it, for Jiraiya and Shinku Yuhi, it represented an excellent opportunity to prove themselves.
Take Jiraiya, for example.
There had always been many doubts within the village regarding him becoming The Third's disciple.
Only by demonstrating his own value could he silence such rumors.
"So soon?"
Jiraiya hadn't expected this at all.
Previously, what he most wanted was Master The Third's recognition. After being tricked by Orochimaru and accidentally gaining approval, he had stopped caring about such matters.
"Going back is fine too. I don't really have any inspiration anyway."
Shinku Yuhi quickly packed away his sketchpad.
He'd started drawing in the first place just to follow Akaba's example, curious if it might help improve his genjutsu techniques.
However, in the end, though, it turned out the method didn't actually improve his skills much at all. On the other hand, his painting abilities had steadily improved until even adult-themed content became effortless to create.
Continuing like this, as long as there was a good story, he could easily create his own manga.
"Alright, go ahead. I've got things here covered."
Sakuma Shanyuan understood well.
They had originally come here just to deal with minor tasks.
Nodding slightly, Akaba scanned the area with subtle interest.
The training field hosted not only Sand ninja but also several ninjas from smaller villages.
Everyone was watching each other carefully, but no one was willing to show off their real strength.
"Well, whatever. The Chunin Exam is coming soon anyway."
Akaba gave up further thoughts about gathering intelligence.
All twelve Konoha-nin who came here were tough opponents. Even those who seemed like the weakest among them—Jiraiya and Shinku Yuhi—each had their own unique strengths. There was absolutely nothing to worry about.
Back at their lodging,
"Everyone else has gone out for training already. Jiraiya, head to Mount Myoboku for training. Make sure to return within three days."
Finding nobody at their lodgings, Akaba decided directly to send Jiraiya to Mount Myoboku.
Even The Third couldn't train him properly, let alone Hatake Windseer.
The Toad Sage would be his best mentor.
"Er, but what about Uncle Windseer…"
Jiraiya hesitated slightly.
"Don't worry, I'll handle talking to him."
Akaba waved his hand dismissively.
"Fine then!"
Jiraiya, as decisive as ever, immediately headed to Mount Myoboku without hesitation.
"As for you, Shinku..."
Akaba paused briefly.
"Please teach me genjutsu, Yuhi-sensei."
Yuhi Shinku bowed respectfully, completely unbothered by the fact that she and Akaba were the same age.
In terms of genjutsu mastery, aside from the Uchiha clan, Akaba was definitely among the absolute top tier.
"Forget about calling me teacher—we'll learn from each other."
With three days left until the Chunin Exams, this special training session was going to take a long time.
Although Akaba disliked trouble, nurturing Yuhi Shinku really was worthwhile—she was promising in every way.
Plus, with him helping train Shinku, Kakashi Windseer wouldn't have an excuse to torment him anymore.
Now that's a solid plan!
One day later.
"Teacher, this is the plan I've just finalized. Please take a look."
Sankai handed over his plan document.
Shamon took it and glanced through it before nodding slightly. "Your proposal works. Though recently I've heard Konoha is holding something called a manga con within the Land of Fire."
"A manga con?"
A puzzled expression appeared on Sankai's face—another unfamiliar term.
Shamon passed over intelligence collected by Anbu, pondering slightly before explaining, "It should be a fan event centered around manga."
"It does seem like that, but they even invited the Daimyo. Can simple comics really be that attractive?"
Sankai said incredulously.
Regarding his disciple's words, Shamon simply cast a calm glance at him.
This kid claimed not to be interested in manga, yet the reports from the Anbu ninja said otherwise.
Of course,
he understood how young people hated being caught liking something. Still, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward momentarily.
Sankai also felt something was off.
After a moment of silence, he awkwardly asked, "Then...you're suggesting we hold one too?"
"Not yet. Let's observe and investigate further. Compared to that, I'm more curious about their other set of manga content."
Shamon leaned back against his chair.
What he didn't know before investigation revealed that by dispatching Anbu specifically for inquiries, manga had already been thriving in Konoha for quite some time.
Moreover, he simultaneously looked into disturbances occurring in the Land of Whirlpools.
"Another set of manga? It's not just about One Piece?!"
Sankai's voice instantly rose several octaves, his eyes practically gleaming.
Almost immediately, however, he realized something wasn't quite right—he seemed overly excited.
Shamon gave him a cold stare before speaking several seconds later, "Regardless of that, our current priority remains the Chunin Exam."
"Yes sir!"
Sankai chuckled sheepishly.
"The Konoha ninjas have been acting strangely since yesterday..."
Shamon tossed over a document detailing Konoha ninja movements throughout the day.
Sankai accepted it and glanced through, growing increasingly suspicious toward the end. Frowning, he muttered, "They said it's just training and turned away visitors, but since the afternoon no one's come out at all. What kind of special training are they even doing?"
"You go check things out there under the pretext of manga-related construction, and find out exactly what's going on."
Shamon stated calmly.
The most dangerous enemies were those lying in wait. In their opinion, the Konoha group was exactly in that state.
"Understood. Please rest assured."
Sankai immediately set aside the other set of Konoha manga, focusing entirely on this matter.
Self-restraint had always been one of his strengths.
"You'll also need to strengthen your combat power."
Shamon handed him another scroll containing his research from the past few days. "This is my recent improvement on Magnet Release techniques. You can use it as a reference."
"Thank you, Teacher!"
Sankai accepted it immediately, bowing gratefully.
"You're doing great, Sankai. Keep it up—for Sunagakure!"
Shamon's voice grew heavier.
This was the first Chunin Exams to be held in the Land of Wind. If they were wiped out in front of everyone, it would be a huge embarrassment.
If not for the Chunin Exams, Sankai would have already been promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin at the end of the war.
But after reading through the intelligence reports from the Land of River, he had a nagging feeling that Sankai still wasn't strong enough—especially against someone like Sakuma Akaba, whose power even he couldn't fully understand.
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