Chapter 21: Numb-Faced

"Naruto-kun, let me introduce you. This is the head of our company, the renowned director Mr. Tensai Okamura!"

(Tensai Okamura is a reference to the real-life director of two Naruto movies: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow and Legend of the Stone of Gelel. He's also the model for the director character in The Princess Gale. In the novel, I got lazy with naming, so I just went with his actual name he even wears the same orange beret and glasses.)

Early the next morning, Santayu excitedly dragged Naruto to the company.

Like a proud parent showing off a prized treasure, he brought Naruto straight to the boss and introduced him with great enthusiasm.

"Mr. Okamura, this child is Uzumaki Naruto. I happened to meet him on the road, and he has remarkable musical talent! He's all on his own, but at just five years old he's already capable of writing incredibly high-quality songs. Truly a genius singer-songwriter!"

"Oh? That really is an extraordinary talent..."

Seated behind his desk, a stern-faced middle-aged man with a signature orange beret and black-rimmed glasses straightened up a little, his gaze intrigued as he studied Naruto.

"Hello there, Naruto-kun."

"Nice to meet you, sir."

Naruto gave a polite nod. He recognized this director.

In the original series, the man was a bit of an eccentric filming right next to live combat, even crossing through a battlefield just to get better footage. He even gave Naruto a ride to the final showdown, then calmly set up his camera during the climactic battle.

Still, he seemed to be a decent person at heart. Once he learned the truth, he committed without hesitation to filming the rest of the movie, backing Princess Koyuki in reclaiming the Land of Snow.

Granted, he probably didn't consider his crew's opinions much, but that was fine his entire crew was just as crazy...

Eccentric as they were, they stuck to their jobs. They ran at the first sign of danger and never dragged the main characters down.

As supporting characters go, their professionalism was top-tier.

"What a handsome little guy," Okamura chuckled. "While I trust Santayu's judgment, as the boss of an entertainment company I do have some standards. Naruto, could you show me your singing ability?"

"Sure."

Naruto raised his hands and formed a hand seal.

Poof!

Four shadow clones appeared behind him.

"Uh..."

Okamura was momentarily stunned. He turned to Santayu with a baffled look, only to find Santayu equally dumbfounded.

Shadow clones?

This kid knows ninjutsu?

Before they could even begin to question it, Naruto started to sing.

"The quiet dawn slowly blankets the earth,

Morning breaks as always, continuing toward a distant future,

Repeating over and over…"

His voice was bright and full of energy. Behind him, the four clones seamlessly added layered harmonies. Okamura and Santayu stood frozen, amazed.

Shadow clones... can be used like this?

"We live in this fleeting moment,

Unable to see the wind of today,

Standing firm on the earth,

Hoping to forever protect your smile…"

Naruto's voice filled the room clear, uplifting, and full of life.

Okamura, though initially caught off guard, soon relaxed. He began tapping rhythmically on the armrest of his chair, listening intently.

"Wanna take you, baby, take me higher!

Hold onto love now!"

"Gonna Kurama! Take me, take me higher!

Hold on tight to courage!"

Yes, the song was "TAKE ME HIGHER", the original theme of Ultraman Tiga in Japanese. It was also the iconic "finisher theme" played whenever Tiga powered up.

Of course, Naruto had altered one of the lyrics changing Gonna TIGA to Gonna Kurama, meaning: Go, Kurama!

As soon as he sang it, he heard a scoffing snort from the Nine-Tails.

Naruto turned his head slightly and saw the fox lying lazily on the ground, pretending to nap yet its tails were wagging so fast they nearly formed a vortex.

That tsundere attitude made Naruto itch to do something. He began plotting whether he should take inspiration from Ultraman and shoot a series called "Tailed Beast: Kurama".

He wouldn't even need special suits or effects just set Kurama down on a mountaintop and let him sit there. Even a fart would qualify as a big-budget production!

But would that count as dragging the fox into showbiz?

Probably not, right?

It's not like he was filming National Geographic…

When the song ended, the room immediately erupted into applause.

Okamura clapped enthusiastically, his face unable to hide his excitement.

"Incredible! Using shadow clones for harmonies I never imagined ninjutsu could be used this way! His vocal technique still has room to improve, but for someone his age, he's already outstanding!"

Santayu beamed. "Then Mr. Okamura, about Naruto's contract…"

"Sign him! Use the top-tier contract!"

Okamura waved his hand decisively, then hesitated a little as he turned to Naruto. "But Naruto, are you a trained ninja?"

"I'm not a ninja."

Naruto raised two fingers in a joking hand sign. "Just learned a few tricks here and there."

"Good, good..."

Okamura let out a relieved breath. Refugees were one thing, but if Naruto had official ninja status, things would've gotten complicated.

"In that case, Santayu, I'll leave his residency registration to you. Handle anything else he needs taken care of, too. The company will cover all the costs. Once Naruto gets settled in, we'll get started on his first album."

After issuing the orders, Okamura looked at Naruto again, intrigued. "By the way, that song you just sang was really good. But Naruto-kun, I have one small question what's Kurama?"

"He's a really big fox."

Naruto grinned. "I'll introduce you sometime."

"Oh…"

Okamura felt a bit weird about that response, though he couldn't quite say why. He chalked it up to a child's imagination and let it slide.

Santayu was quick to act. By late morning, Naruto's paperwork was complete, and he had officially signed the contract. In this world, there was no legal concept of guardianship.

As for hidden clauses or contract traps? Naruto wasn't worried at all. Worst case, he'd just lob a Tailed Beast Bomb their way.

"Another genius artist in the company. Truly worth celebrating!"

Okamura chuckled, delighted at Naruto's signing.

Poor guy didn't realize that the two prodigies under his wing were a royal princess and a living chakra warhead. Sooner or later, both would leave the company behind.

"Santayu, after this, take Naruto to buy some new clothes. Have Yukie go along too. She's about the same age, right? It'd be good for her to make a friend. She's been too withdrawn lately."

"Yes, sir."

Santayu nodded and left with Naruto.

Following behind, Naruto felt oddly amused.

Before transmigrating, he had been something of a self-made content creator. He often filmed his motorcycle trips and shared them online. The views were decent, and it more or less paid the bills.

But being a singer? That was a first.

Across two lifetimes, he'd never even considered this path.

That said, he knew a lot of songs easily over two thousand with lyrics.

He could sing in Chinese, Japanese, and English. Before traveling anywhere, he would always learn the local language. After a few months in one place, he could speak it fluently.

Japanese had been one of the easiest to learn. That's why he could sing so many Japanese songs.

Though the selection wasn't huge maybe thirty to fifty songs he also had a good stockpile of Chinese songs. Worst case, he could just repurpose melodies and write new lyrics.

"By the way, Naruto, have you thought about choosing a stage name?" Santayu asked suddenly. The name Naruto Uzumaki sounded a bit silly to him not very cool.

"Menma!"

"…"

Santayu fell silent.

So you really are dead set on this ramen obsession, huh?