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Konohagakure:
On this day, an important figure returned to Konoha after many months of absence.
As he passed through the gates, his sharp senses immediately picked up something strange—shinobi carrying identical books.
'A folk tale?'
The man thought with interest as he moved forward.
'Interesting.'
A faint smile formed when he heard children talking excitedly about their favorite characters.
Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura, Momochi Zabuza, Haku, Inari, Iruka… and many others.
The man caught all these names. Some were familiar—Hatake Kakashi, the Uzumaki surname, and of course, the Uchiha surname.
But Naruto and Sasuke were names he had never heard before.
"Manga? Hah?"
He quickly understood what this manga was about. With a curious smile, he headed toward the Art Store.
He had already heard plenty and had read volumes one and two in just a few minutes, borrowed from a fellow shinobi. That was more than enough for him to grasp the overall situation.
"I haven't felt this kind of excitement in a long time… What a strange building..."
He pushed open the store door. His entrance was neither loud nor imposing—rather, it was silent, like a snake sliding through the grass.
Rob was walking between the aisles, adjusting shelves, rearranging books, and organizing the store after it had nearly emptied of customers. It was routine work—until he suddenly felt a chilling drop in temperature.
Standing at the counter was a man with corpse-pale skin, long black hair draping over his shoulders, and golden eyes with slit pupils that seemed to pierce the soul.
"Uzumaki Rubiro…"
He spoke the name as if tasting prey.
"I return from a mission near the Land of Lightning, only to find the entire village talking about a 'magician' who sells paper."
Without waiting for Rob's response, he picked up volume three and began flipping through the pages at an astonishing speed, as if his mind were scanning the information.
When he reached the scene where Zabuza explained the mechanics of the Sharingan, his long, pale fingers came to a complete stop.
[— Manga Scene —]
"Kakashi… You can neither read my mind nor see the future… The Sharingan is simply a trick that makes your opponent think that you can."
From within the thick mist, Zabuza's voice rang out.
"It's basically an eye technique involving hypnotism and attention to detail."
"By using those two abilities together, you can progress from copying the body, to copying the mind, to copying the jutsu."
"This is the dance that makes it seem like you can see the future."
"First, with that keen eye, you copy my movements and shake my mind."
"Once my worry and confusion reach their peak, you attack with a clever trick. Through hypnotic genjutsu, you suggest what seal I should perform."
"And then you simply copy that."
"So the answer is simple. First, with this mist, I make that keen eye of yours useless."
"Hehe… And if I keep my eyes closed, I remove the chance of being hypnotized."
"Have you forgotten that I am a genius at silent killing—taking down the enemy by just their sound?"
[— End Scene —]
As he read this scene, he did not smile. Instead, his golden eyes narrowed with a glint of intellectual lust.
"Hehehe… 'Hypnosis and seal suggestion'?" Orochimaru muttered in a rough, delighted voice.
"This ninja, Zabuza… he has a good analytical eye, but he lacks depth. He sees the Sharingan as a deception tool, while in truth it is a biological evolution that goes beyond mere tricks."
Orochimaru traced his finger over Kakashi's eye illustration in the manga and continued:
"For a non-Uchiha to use it at this level… this means that nerves and DNA can be tamed. This manga does not tell a story. It is displaying a dissection of the future."
[System Alert: +4000 AC — Research and Knowledge Interest from Orochimaru]
Orochimaru turned to Rob, staring at him as if placing him under a microscope.
"Rob-kun… you drew Kakashi using the Sharingan to predict the future by reading muscle movements. The mind that created this is either a god… or possesses eyes that see everything."
He slowly extended his hand toward Rob's face, but stopped an inch away, halted by an instinctive threat to his life. He felt it clearly—he was not allowed to touch this man.
He was not surprised. Instead, he laughed coldly.
"Even your so-called 'safe zone' is interesting. Danzo wants you dead. Hiruzen-sensei still doesn't know what to make of you. As for me? I only want to know… what else have you drawn about body evolution?"
He slammed the volume shut, a terrifying aura pulsing around him.
"Zabuza closes his eyes to avoid hypnosis? Clever… but he is dead regardless. You cannot escape the eye simply by closing your lids."
Up until this moment, Rob had remained calm. He had long wondered where this man had disappeared to. Today, it seemed, he had finally returned.
Inside the art store, the air grew heavier. Orochimaru's killing intent was not crude like the Third Kazekage's or Third Mizukage's—it was a cold, surgical intent.
Rob looked at Orochimaru without a hint of panic. He pulled out a chair, sat down calmly, and placed his hands behind his head.
"The Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru-sama…" Rob said with a faint smile.
"I heard you were busy in the Land of Lightning. Have you finished your experiments—I mean, your mission—so quickly?"
Orochimaru's golden eyes paused at Rob's word experiments. His pupils narrowed into thin black lines.
"You are very well-informed, Robiro-kun… to a suspicious degree."
He said as he approached the counter, his tongue slowly sliding across his lips.
"Tell me, this precise analysis of the Sharingan in your story… is it mere fantasy? Or did you secretly dissect a Uchiha to understand hypnosis and seal suggestion?"
Rob chuckled softly—a laugh that made even the Root shinobi hidden among the customers shiver.
"Dissection is the tool of primitives, Orochimaru. Art sees beyond flesh and bone. Zabuza believes he understood the secret by closing his eyes and relying on sound, but he is ignorant of the fact that the eye he faces is not merely a copying tool—it is a transferred will."
Orochimaru tilted his head at a strange angle, like a snake sensing its prey.
"Transferred will? An interesting expression. You claim that Kakashi—who is not a Uchiha—possesses this will. That raises a philosophical and biological question: Can the body change to contain powers that never belonged to it in the first place?"
"Your so-called manga is interesting. I did not expect to find something of this quality upon my return…"
Orochimaru stared deeply at Rob before saying:
"Do not interfere with my future."
"I am not interfering with anyone," Rob replied calmly.
"All I do is draw a story."
"A story?" Orochimaru asked with irritation.
"That's right. I draw the story of Uzumaki Naruto, who wants to become Hokage."
"What happens along the way is a necessity."
"A necessity, you say…"
"I see no necessity in letting Kakashi see what he will become in the future. That practically kills that future."
"You think too much…" Rob replied.
"For Sensei, who saw himself as an old man, it's fine—he has already achieved what he wants. But people like Kakashi are nothing right now. When you reveal what they may become, you effectively end that future's path."
Rob stared deeply at Orochimaru, who seemed to be testing his limits.
"There is a future built on suffering. Isn't it wonderful to prevent it?"
"Fufufu~ Preventing suffering? How gentle of you, Rubiro-kun."
Orochimaru stood and turned to leave.
"I look forward to seeing how Zabuza and his student will end."
'What a strange man…'
Rob thought as he watched Orochimaru leave.
…
'Tragic clan…'
After leaving the Art Store, Orochimaru could not stop thinking about how Zabuza had named the Uchiha so casually.
He looked at members of the Konoha Police Force—Uchiha clan members—patrolling near the art store.
'What a tragic fate has befallen the Uchiha clan, I wonder…'
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 95: The Uchiha Bloodline! Endless Suspense!
Chapter 96: Awakening the Beast! The Kyubi's Chakra!
Chapter 97: Inevitable Clash! The Strongest Spear vs. Blue Ice!
Chapter 98: Summoning the Strongest Marine Soldier!
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BlackStar_BH:
The chapters currently available on Patreon are up to Chapter 123.
There are 30 advanced chapters available now:
5 chapters in the Silver tier ($5 subscription), 5 more chapters in the Gold tier ($10 subscription), 5 more chapters in the Platinum tier ($15 subscription), 5 more chapters in the Diamond tier ($20 subscription), and 10 more chapters in the Emperor tier ($30 subscription)
On Patreon and Ko-fi, too.
In the coming days, chapters will be made available for all tiers, reaching up to 50 advanced chapters… Enjoy!