Masahiko's heart skipped a beat, but he saluted both of them in turn, maintaining perfect outward etiquette.
Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed toward his old friend beside him, about to introduce him: "He is..."
"Danzo Shimura."
Danzo announced his own name, his voice low. "This isn't the first time we've met."
"Yes, Lord Danzo."
Masahiko lowered his head.
Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't surprised. He took a puff of his pipe and said, "I've had you come here today mainly to discuss matters regarding Naruto."
"Regarding Naruto... I am very sorry."
Masahiko immediately apologized.
Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled and shook his head. "This isn't your problem. Calling you over wasn't meant to make you responsible for taking care of Naruto."
"Yes!"
Masahiko kept his head down, maintaining a posture as if receiving a lecture.
Hiruzen Sarutobi said, "Naruto was well-behaved for a while recently, but today he started acting up again."
Masahiko informed the Third Hokage of the decision he had made the previous day.
Hiruzen Sarutobi fell into thought for a moment, then nodded slightly. "You did the right thing. Naruto should be allowed to become stronger on his own. How long can he rely on others to carry him?"
Danzo's eyes narrowed slightly with a smile on his lips, but he remained silent.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked toward Danzo.
Understanding the cue, Danzo stood up and said indifferently, "I still have things to do. I'll be going first."
Masahiko stepped aside to see him off.
Once Danzo left, Hiruzen Sarutobi took out a book.
"These are some notes I wrote when I was young. You can take them and have a look; perhaps they can be of some help to you."
He placed it on the table.
Masahiko's eyes widened in surprise. "This is far too precious!"
"Books are meant to be read. Keep it."
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, then instructed, "I am very grateful to you for being so dedicated to Naruto, but you must not neglect the other students either."
"Yes, I understand."
Masahiko naturally agreed.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, signaling that he could leave.
Masahiko stepped out of the office.
Looking at the notebook in his hand, he took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart. Although the Third Hokage was old, his store of knowledge and understanding of Ninjutsu were absolutely peerless in this world.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's notes! To him, the value was indeed immense.
As Masahiko was thinking, a voice rang in his ear, and then lines of subtitles appeared one by one—
["Naruto: Prequel" Episode Three filming complete!]
[Editing...]
[Video produced successfully!]
[Total screen time: 12 minutes 2 seconds]
[Scene ratio: 57.1%]
[As an antagonist character, with screen time exceeding 50%, your remuneration has received a significant boost.]
[Reminder: "Naruto: Prequel" will be broadcast tonight at 8:00 PM. At that time, the playback function will be enabled for you, along with bullet chat playback.]
[We hope you will adjust your acting and career path based on the bullet chats.]
Episode three is finished?
It seems Naruto has been released.
Masahiko chuckled inwardly, yet he had no intention of interfering further with Naruto. The path is one's own choice. He could provide corrections and help, but in the future, Naruto still had to walk it himself; outsiders couldn't do it for him.
Furthermore... currently, he could barely protect himself, so he should mind his own business first.
Blue Star, 8:00 PM.
In a bright room, two computers were set up, with tablets and other devices below them. The two computers displayed different images: one was a line sketch of a certain character, while the other showed the playback screen of iQIYI.
After another refresh, finally—Episode Three arrived!
The man in front of the computer let out a sigh of relief, staring at the screen and the bullet chats scrolling across it.
A moment later:
"First!" "Too slow, can't the episodes come out faster?" "Is Naruto still being tortured?" "I have a question: if Naruto is being tortured during training like this, what happens when we get to the main story? In the main story, is Naruto still this weak?"
Seeing this bullet chat, the man in front of the screen froze. The main story... how would he know? This so-called "Naruto: Prequel" was something even he, the original author, couldn't interfere with, and the production company was nowhere to be found.
The only thing worth celebrating was that the production quality was top-tier—arguably the highest level of anime production in the world. The explosive popularity of "Naruto: Prequel" had even caused his manga to go viral.
But problems followed. How would the content in the "Prequel" connect with his main story? And... was this person a good guy or a villain?
On the screen, snippets of Naruto and Masahiko's daily life flashed by quickly. Soon, the footage slowed down. At the school gate, Naruto was waiting expectantly. After waiting for quite a while, Masahiko finally appeared.
He looked at the screen, his brow furrowed. This character seems to... "Let's keep watching!"
After waiting a bit longer, his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
In the scene, it was another afternoon, and Naruto was again on the swing waiting for Masahiko. But the subsequent plot development took everyone by surprise—Masahiko appeared, but he brought a gift and even said he would treat him to dinner.
"Holy crap! This is top-tier PUA!" "Naruto has lacked love since he was little. Being treated like this, won't he be moved to tears?" "Amazing!" "This character is both handsome and bad. Good grief, could he be a subordinate of some major villain?"
The bullet chats exploded. The man in front of the screen gained inspiration at this moment, his pen flying across the tablet as he refined the character's line sketch.
Halfway through the quick sketch, the scene on the screen changed again—Naruto was at the Hokage Building, graffitiing and "creating" on a large scale! Following that was a chaotic chase.
He bit his pen, secretly breathing a sigh of relief, but in the next instant, the scene shifted... In the forest, Yagyū Masahiko formed hand seals, and a massive fireball erupted from his mouth.
At the very moment he was staring, a figure rapidly approached from behind. Masahiko's body reacted quickly to counterattack, and the two began to fight fiercely.
Fists and feet flew. Though it was only a momentary clash, but... "?"
"Who is this Gekkō Hayate?" "A Chunin?" "It looks like Yagyū Masahiko's strength isn't weak at all!"
Questions were raised in the bullet chats.
The man in front of the screen looked at the monitor, then switched images on his tablet to look at subsequent drafts, falling into complete silence. Gekkō Hayate... he hadn't even sent that over yet, but he had already appeared first in the anime.
And "Who is Danzo Shimura?"
As the manga author, he was now the one feeling bewildered instead. Because right now, he hadn't even thought of designing such a character.
Reacting differently from him were the many ordinary viewers in the bullet chats. Everyone was speculating about who these new characters were, whether they would appear in Kishimoto's manga, or if these characters were just anime originals.
In fact, people had already begun asking Kishimoto about this. But Kishimoto himself hadn't decided yet. For a time, he was hesitating back and forth; how could he possibly reply directly to their questions?
At this moment, he was thinking—regarding the character "Gekkō Hayate," should he be given more plotlines? Or, as originally planned, should he just be written out in a subsequent conflict?
Furthermore, many plots and characters needed to be reconsidered. He bit his pen holder, finding it hard to choose. Ultimately, he decided to finish this character draft first.
The lines were sketched, and soon, a seemingly handsome and gentle Yagyū Masahiko appeared on the screen projected by the tablet.