Chapter 71: The Will to Fight

Ten posters?

Everyone exchanged glances, both intrigued and uncertain. There were about twenty gathered—would each of them really get one?

"Don't worry," Akaba said. "I'll pick randomly. Of course, sir, you definitely will get one."

He pointed at the man who had spoken first, then sat down.

What should I draw?

He thought for a moment, then decided to go with something completely new—this could double as practice.

Soon the first drawing was finished.

"Here, this one's for you."

Akaba handed the completed sketch to the man who had spoken earlier.

The man accepted it and looked at it hesitantly. After a few seconds, he couldn't help but ask, "Is this also a character from the manga?"

"No, not from Ninja Chronicle. This is a new character I plan to use for my upcoming manga. His name is Monkey D. Luffy."

"Monkey D. Luffy? What an odd name. And the art style is totally different too."

He found the style strange, but quickly reminded himself it was free—maybe not so bad after all.

Soon came the second poster, then the third...

At first, everyone struggled to accept this sudden change in artistic style, but since they were getting them for free, those who received the posters still felt quite pleased.

"All right, the next batch of posters will be randomly inserted into the manga chapters. Everyone can try their luck."

Akaba stretched lazily.

With no more posters to hand out, the villagers quickly scattered.

"Young master, are you really releasing a new manga?"

"Not exactly. Just a teaser."

He'd already been grinding nonstop lately, and Akaba had no plans to start a new manga series yet—the distribution channels weren't even set up properly. If he had spare time, he'd rather publish more chapters of Ninja Chronicle than draw characters like Luffy from One Piece.

This whole 'hype' thing just didn't make sense to him.

But after spending some time with Akaba recently, he figured there was no way his young master would release a new manga in the near future.

Unless, of course, the young master somehow managed to break through and maintain multiple Shadow Clones simultaneously.

Carrying his tools, Akaba returned home and saw Sakuma Chiaki tending to a little girl's wound inside the house.

"Back already?"

"What happened? Is it serious?" Akaba asked, noticing the blood on the wound as he picked up a roll of gauze from the table.

"Your father was teaching her how to throw kunai, and Uzumaki Kyoyuki accidentally cut herself."

Saiki poked her head out from the kitchen, clearly annoyed.

"It was my idea to ask Dad to teach me."

The little girl had mostly accepted her new identity as their daughter by now, and seeing Sakuma Chiaki being scolded, she immediately spoke up.

"Cough, this was just an accident. I'll be more careful next time."

"There's going to be a next time?!"

Sakuma Saiki shot her eyes wide open furiously, looking extremely intimidating.

"I'll never dare again!"

Sakuma Chiaki immediately backed down, while Uzumaki Kyoyuki laughed until her eyes turned into narrow crescents.

They exchanged glances, silently relieved.

Seeing this scene unfold, Akaba chuckled lightly.

Then, he looked toward his semi-transparent interface. His expression suddenly sharpened—her cost for the Uzumaki Bloodline ability had decreased by 1 point.

This proved that the blood of the Uzumaki clan could indeed lower the cost.

However—

After careful testing, he realized that what had dropped by one point was the Sensor ability.

Was it because Uzumaki Kyoyuki was a Sensor-type?

Sighing inwardly, Akaba placed the gauze back on the table.

Even draining Uzumaki Kyoyuki's blood probably wouldn't reduce too many points.

If he could obtain Uzumaki Mito's blood, however, it might significantly lower his total points.

After all, in terms of strength and physical conditioning, Mito was arguably the strongest within the Uzumaki clan—her value couldn't be compared to Kyoyuki's.

Yet entertaining such thoughts about her wasn't even as practical as just thinking about earning points.

"I already have over four hundred points now. I can get some more next, and then definitely complete Volume Four to finally reach one thousand points for a transformation."

Akaba placed his tools aside and sat on the table contemplating.

The little girl had her hand bandaged and was quietly engrossed in Volume Two—the part where they arrive at Konoha—which sparked her growing interest in the manga.

She wasn't alone; the children living among the Senju clan felt the same.

The Uzumaki-named kids were spread among the few remaining families of the Senju clan, but every afternoon they'd gather together in Mito Uzumaki's courtyard.

Of course,

they weren't training ninjutsu or practicing taijutsu—they were simply reading manga together.

Like now.

"Grandma, I finished Volume Two already. Are we going to read Volume Three today?"

"You finished it, true, but many other kids haven't yet, so this afternoon we'll still read Volume Two."

Mito Uzumaki said gently and calmly.

"But—" 

"You're a team, understand?"

Upon hearing those words, Uzumaki Shina held back the rest of what she wanted to say.

Then the manga volumes were passed around, and everyone silently started reading.

After reading for quite a while, one child asked, "Granny, why is Sakura strong in theory, yet worse than Naruto in battle?"

"Yeah, at least Naruto tries fighting. She just keeps..."

Once someone started criticizing Sakura's portrayal, others couldn't help joining in, sharing their views on the plot.

"She has strong control abilities and solid theoretical knowledge, but she lacks fighting will. She doesn't even know why she should fight."

Mito Uzumaki explained mildly.

"Fighting will?"

None of these children understood exactly what that meant. They all looked toward Mito Uzumaki, hoping for clarification.

"People always fight for a reason. For example, everyone from Uzumaki Village fights for their clan and homeland."

Mito Uzumaki continued.

"Do you mean Sakura doesn't have any goal for fighting?" someone mused thoughtfully.

"Precisely. Her focus seems entirely on that one boy."

Mito sighed.

Though fictional, such situations indeed existed among real ninja—not a few cases like this.

"Oh, I see! So Grandma, what about you? What's your reason?"

"Me?"

Sitting on her chair, Mito Uzumaki showed a nostalgic expression.

"If given the chance, perhaps it would be for the Uzumaki clan, the Senju clan, or maybe even for Konoha itself."

But she knew that possibility seemed far too small.

As a jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, her power was great—but precisely because of her overwhelming strength, she'd immediately draw attention from other hidden villages if she ever took action.

"Children, strive to become stronger, but at the same time, understand clearly why you are fighting."

Mito Uzumaki turned serious and said, "Don't let the bad stuff get to you."

There was no doubt about the Uzumaki Clan's resilience, and among the ten children who came to Konoha, they were definitely handpicked. These kids were destined to become ninja one day. However, deep down, Mito felt heavy—if anything were to happen to the Uzumaki Clan, how many of these children would grow up burdened by hatred?

"Protect our family!"

"Become strong!"

"I want to become Hokage just like Naruto!"

"Dummy, we're from the Uzumaki Clan!"

Everyone burst out talking at once again. Mito covered her mouth and smiled gently, all her worries melting away in an instant.

"Alright everyone, you've finished the second book. Now you can start the third one."

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