I'm Inside Naruto Manga

Logan, currently on a bus heading to the hotel, was entirely unaware of the significant problem he'd caused.

He thought everything was going smoothly, assuming that after some time, he would realize his earlier mistake.

However, by then, the distance between his main body and his shadow clone would have grown too vast to fix it.

Since there was no way to correct it now, Logan, with his highly-trained ninja instincts, would only be able to silently apologize in his heart and pray for the best for his shadow clone.

…

The shadow clone walked silently down the road.

The situation was serious… he had no money, so what should he do?

As another version of Logan, who is carrying an important mission, this was no ordinary shadow clone. Let's call him Hattori.

The airport was located in the suburbs, where there weren't many tall buildings nearby. After walking for a while, Hattori left behind the bright signal lights guiding the flights. The crowd thinned as he entered an area filled with ordinary residential buildings to the east. If positioned well, one might catch a view of Haneda Airport's famous water runway from there.

Even knowing he had no money, Hattori still instinctively patted his pockets. After thoroughly checking each one, he confirmed he truly had nothing… 'penniless' fit his current state perfectly.

'All the money brought to Japan was left with the main body…' Hattori gritted his teeth in frustration.

The original plan had been straightforward and direct, with no playing around. He had the exact address, intended to take a taxi straight to Chiyoda Ward, and had painstakingly prepared a large sum of money for this purpose.

From there, he'd conduct careful surveillance, relying on his sharp Ninja skills… adapt as needed, and if he couldn't decide, he'll disperse himself to pass all the gathered information back to his main body.

But problems arose right from the start.

The darkening sky deepened Hattori's resentment, but after venting for a moment, he slapped his face to refocus and zipped his coat all the way up.

Ultimately, this wasn't a major problem—just a lack of money. With his Ninja… no, let's not mention that word again.

Walking down the street, Hattori kept his gaze steady, discreetly observing the passersby. Despite being in a foreign land, the unfamiliarity was unavoidable.

However, since he understood both spoken and written Japanese, he appeared natural and didn't exude the awkwardness of a foreign tourist.

In the unwritten rules of wandering rogues, having no money meant finding local gangsters. That was Hattori's current plan. He knew it wasn't right, but he felt no guilt.

After all, his main body often did this too.

However, after half an hour of searching, Hattori hadn't found any leads, despite thoroughly checking every alley and corner.

'Could it be that Japanese gangsters behave differently than the ones I know?' Hattori wondered, 'But that didn't seem likely… nothing I'd seen in movies hinted at that. If anything, it was more likely that modern delinquents couldn't even be bothered to be gangsters anymore.'

The area around the airport was too well-guarded. Standing midway across a pedestrian bridge, Hattori looked down at the traffic below, exhaled deeply, and tapped the railing with his fingers in frustration.

"Yakuza, I despise you."

Nearby, several sushi and ramen shops had already closed early, their rolling shutters clattering down with an irritating racket that made Hattori frown.

He had crossed through several dim alleys without hesitation and felt he'd nearly explored the entire area. Yet, he found nothing.

'What happened to the straightforward plan? How could I not even leave the airport's Ota Ward on the first day?'

Hattori, of course, wouldn't cling rigidly to conventions, especially not in this unrelated island nation.

Still, within the bounds of certain basic principles, he had tried very hard to find gangsters… or rather, ways to make money.

As for transportation, he wouldn't steal cars… nor electric bikes.

As for relying on himself to get to Chiyoda Ward? Even if he knew the exact route, walking would be too slow.

Jumping across rooftops was too conspicuous and could easily get him caught on some unknown surveillance camera.

Most importantly, every move the shadow clone made consumed Chakra, and Hattori couldn't afford to waste it.

On the crosswalk, the red light turned green, and a crowd of men and women surged forward.

'Leave any undecidable situation to the body...' Hattori felt dejected and at a loss. His eyes unfocused as he followed the pedestrians with his gaze.

'Had it come to the point where I needed to disperse myself? Well, it would be the main body's fault anyway.'

The people crossing the zebra lines began to disperse, some heading left, others right. The city's nighttime lights weren't too different from those in Fresno. Although this wasn't the city center, various lights still illuminated the streets.

Suddenly, Hattori heard the sound of a guitar and singing.

Turning his head, Hattori noticed a street performer not far from the foot of the bridge. The performer was leaning against the wall of a warmly lit shop, in an excellent spot.

They must have been resting earlier but started playing again after seeing the green light.

The soft singing voice and acoustic guitar created a tender atmosphere, catching the attention of passing couples and exhausted salarymen in suits. A few even stopped to listen, clearly drawn in.

The performer seemed popular enough, so Hattori edged closer. The first song wasn't familiar to him, but the second was Chiisana Koi no Uta, a hit track covered by Amatsuki, which managed to gather a small crowd. Coins steadily clinked into the upturned hat lying at the singer's feet.

Hattori listened to the upbeat melody while staring at the coins accumulating in the hat, his thoughts turning contemplative.

After performing several songs, the crowd thinned, and the singer wiped the sweat from his brow. At that point, Hattori was the only one left standing nearby. The performer looked puzzled but offered him a friendly smile when their eyes met.

'To rob or not to rob?'

Hattori hesitated for a long moment before abandoning the thought, 'It was a cold night, and the guy looked to be in his thirties, scruffy and weathered. Life probably wasn't easy for him either.'

Since it was getting late, after taking a short break, the man began packing up his things. While counting his tips, he glanced at Hattori, who was still standing there, and seemed to hesitate before speaking.

"Um… excuse me, is there something you need?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Hattori waved his hands quickly. "No! I'm not… I wasn't planning to rob you! I mean… nothing..."

Seeing this reaction, the man sighed deeply and, with a knowing expression, pulled a 500-yen coin from his neatly stacked earnings.

"Here, take it." The man's face bore an air of melancholy as if he had seen through Hattori entirely. "You look young—still in high school, I'd guess. Standing here so late at night, listening to sad songs… If you've had a fight with your family, try to talk it out. Acting on impulse won't solve anything..."

'Huh?!' Hattori was utterly dumbfounded.

Seeing that Hattori didn't speak, the man seemed uninterested in explaining further. He placed the coin firmly in Hattori's hand and said, "Take the subway home."

Then, with a world-weary air, he slung his guitar over his shoulder and walked away.

"Hey..." Hattori opened his mouth and wanted to protest, 'Uncle, what the hell are you imagining? I wasn't zoning out, lost in your tragic music! I'm not some runaway rebellious teenager!'

The man didn't respond, as if confident he'd guessed right. Perhaps, in his mind, the scene mirrored his own youth… naïve, chasing dreams, and misunderstood.

Waving farewell like a lone hero, he silently urged the 'lost boy' not to follow his path of loneliness… and disappeared into the night.

"Goddamm..." Hattori almost let out a curse in his native tongue. He realized the street performer must have conjured some overly dramatic narrative in his head.

"I was being kind by not robbing you! And now you're giving me subway fare? Ridiculous! Middle-aged, melodramatic Japanese guy... Ha, the subway..."

Hattori, who was in the middle of crazy complaint, suddenly froze.

After a pause, he opened his palm. There lay a 500-yen coin, gleaming with golden patterns from the Heisei era.

'No way…'

…

"Excuse me, coming through… Hey, let me through..."

"Please board quickly! Sir, do you need help? Alright, excuse me—one, two, three, push!"

The last subway heading into Tokyo was crowded beyond belief. Hattori struggled to maneuver through the mass of people without using too much strength, practically swaying like a sandwich filling in the human pile.

Somehow, he managed to squeeze in just before the train doors closed.

With a chime, the JR-operated subway train groaned to life and began its sluggish journey into Tokyo's underground network...

Clank, clank...

Hattori stared at his reflection in the train window expressionlessly. The swaying motion of the train forced him to mimic the crowd's movements.

To avoid suspicion as some kind of subway groper, he begrudgingly raised both hands above his head like the other men around him.

Hattori couldn't understand why the train was still so packed this late at night. He'd given up trying to care.

'Fine. Let it get more crowded. Crush me. Maybe I will disperse on myown.'

His first night in this country was anything but pleasant.