Naruto: I Draw Power Into Reality

Sensory Deprivation!

In an instant, everything turned pitch black.

Akaba took a deep breath, quickly calming his chakra by focusing his spiritual energy. His vision gradually returned.

"Interested in learning it?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled slightly.

Truthfully, he didn't have many high-level genjutsu techniques to speak of. But the [Bringer-of-Darkness Technique] was different — it was extremely practical, especially against certain clans.

"Of course!"

If something's free, refusing would be foolish.

Akaba listened carefully and quickly memorized the hand seals required for this genjutsu technique, as well as how to manipulate chakra and spiritual energy.

However, this was an A-ranked illusion technique. Learning it independently would take considerable time. He glanced at the Exchange List but didn't see [Bringer-of-Darkness Technique] listed there.

"So I'll have to practice it myself?"

Akaba clicked his tongue in disappointment.

An A-rank genjutsu? Mastering this thing might kill him with exhaustion over these coming days. Besides, he already had plenty of genjutsu skills available.

"Forget it. Better use my time drawing some more scrolls."

Akaba comforted himself internally.

Hiruzen wasn't sure what he was thinking, but judging from his personality, he could easily guess Akaba's next objective.

Sure enough...

"Master, where are we staying next?"

He hadn't lain down all morning, and it was almost noon. He really wanted to find somewhere comfortable to take a nap.

Practicing Ninjutsu could wait. Drawing wasn't tiring — he could leave that to his Shadow Clones. His main job right now was clearly rest.

"Don't rush. Practice your genjutsu more."

Hiruzen said with a smile.

...

Akaba snorted quietly. Did he really think he could force him into training genjutsu with such a simple trick?

He spun around and strode out of the courtyard.

"I'm going to check how the manga sales are going."

Tracking down the caravan would give him somewhere to crash anyway. It'd definitely be more comfortable than standing around.

This kid... If only he'd apply himself a bit more.

Hiruzen's expression stiffened. After he left, he clicked his tongue and took a puff of his pipe.

Akaba left the courtyard and met up with the caravan people at the village entrance.

Though he was a stranger, no one bothered him since he came from the Clan Leader's house.

All the way to the village entrance, he finally saw Kazama's group.

"Move that cabinet! Yes, right here!"

Kazama barked orders as he arranged the furniture inside.

The room had been left untouched for ages, thick with dust. Just cleaning alone had taken them quite a while.

But...

"What exactly did you arrange here?"

When Akaba saw the shop's layout, he nearly gagged.

"Mr. Akaba, do you think something's off?"

Kazama asked in surprise.

As he spoke, he looked back again, becoming increasingly puzzled.

No matter how he looked at it, everything seemed fine!

"You've set up such an ugly display. Customers will feel uncomfortable just looking at it, not even mentioning buying anything."

"Do you even know what symmetry means?!"

Akaba winced like he'd just seen something deeply offensive. He wasn't obsessive-compulsive, but the completely disordered arrangement insulted his identity as an art student.

"It's just decoration, come on — can it really be *that* bad?"

Kazama pondered for a long time but still couldn't understand his meaning.

Akaba walked around once before taking out a pen and paper, quickly sketching a rough diagram.

Then he shoved the sketch into Kazama's hands.

"Follow this plan."

Akaba looked inside from outside. He slightly shook his head in disappointment—it was still missing some posters.

After thinking for a moment, an idea formed in his mind.

"When you promote this place, tell people that besides buying manga, they can also receive random hand-drawn portraits."

Akaba made a few hand seals, and [Multiple Shadow Clones] appeared beside him.

"Got it, I'll handle it immediately."

Kazama agreed without hesitation.

Although the Uzumaki ninja had gone out on missions, their families remained behind. Kazama's target audience for selling manga was precisely this group.

Therefore, he quickly set off, carrying one manga volume to begin door-to-door promotion.

Outside the store, Akaba's clone arranged its tools properly, sat down, and began mixing paints.

Street painting!

This was Akaba's solution—painting posters on-site, then framing and hanging them inside the shop. Truly a two-birds-with-one-stone move.

As for the original Akaba, after finishing unloading the manga from the cart, he spread several sheets of paper out and lay atop them.

"Damn, the second book's still being printed. If I could sell both Book 1 and Book 2 together, I'd rack up a ton of points this time."

He thought to himself.

Judging by the timing, Konoha should soon start selling the second volume as well.

However, returning to Konoha wasn't something Akaba wanted right now—Sannin and Danzo would only keep him trapped here anyway.

If he could accumulate enough points to exchange for the Sharingan or part of the Semi-Sage Body Constitution, his survival abilities would significantly improve.

The more ways you had to stay alive, the better.

Akaba continued contemplating silently.

Until now, he hadn't used techniques like [Great Fireball Technique], [Mist Jutsu], or [Silent Killing Jutsu] at all—in future battles, these would serve as his hidden trump cards.

"It'd be a shame if peace just keeps going and I never get to use any of these ninjutsu."

Lying on the cart, he stared at the trees and flowers with his gaze.

For now, lying here resting peacefully was the best thing he had. Perhaps tomorrow, he might end up just like the future Sannin, pitifully hunting so-called "rogue ninja."

As things settled down, the surroundings gradually quieted, leaving only the sounds of the comic sidekick working hard.

Akaba, lying on top of the cart, was almost falling asleep.

Just then, footsteps approached messily and chaotically from the ground below the flatbed.

Soon, those sounds grew clearer.

Akaba turned sideways on the cart, lifting his head to look behind—several children were sprinting toward him.

Only kids?

He hesitated. Kids were easy prey for manga, but who'd actually pay if only they showed up?

Was he running a charity here?!

"Big Brother Akaba, Uncle Sarutobi wasn't wrong—so you really did run here."

Suddenly, a crisp voice rang out.

Whose voice is that?

Akaba quickly lay back down, slowly raising his head to check toward where the shadow clone was.

A group of children arrived, and leading them straight ahead was Lily, the clan leader's daughter.

"Whoa, is The Third out for revenge?!"

Feeling utterly annoyed, Akaba pulled his head in while secretly activating [Transformation Jutsu].

However—

"Huh? So this is the real Big Brother Akaba."

His eyes moved upward and Akaba saw an innocent young face. He was certain he had used the Transformation Jutsu.

"Didn't your brother give you a manga already?"

He sat up with a little embarrassed cough.

"I came looking for Akuba-niisan, and Uncle Kazama told me you were drawing," Kyoyuki said.

She made it all the way here on her own—no one even guided her. That probably meant...

"She has the Sensor ability!"

He realized inwardly.

In the manga, Kayla possessed powerful sensing capabilities, combined with the special ninjutsu known as the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, making her a walking radar.

Such an ability was basically a game-breaking weapon on the battlefield.

Akaba felt both shocked and worried deep inside. With such a rare talent, would she be able to grow up peacefully?

Images of The Third and Danzo flickered through his mind.

If those people found out about this, they'd never let her live in peace.

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