Concerns

Masashi walked down the street with purpose. Even though it was later in the afternoon, the village, which is really a bustling city at this point in time, was still quite lively.

The wobbly feeling was still there but it was manageable. He only had himself to blame for drinking too much. Even if it didn't affect his mind, it still sucked.

He knew where to go, as he had been to this place multiple times during his time as a shinobi. It was a weapon shop by a rather famous ninja. The owner of this shop was none other than Tenten.

She was clowned on for her lack of screentime, but most of the Naruto cast didn't get a whole lot of development outside of a select few, even Rock Lee wasn't immune to this treatment. He truly peaked at his fight against Gaara, and while his fight with Kimmimaro was cool, he was bailed out by the same person who practically crippled him.

He held back the urge to snort. Lee was crippled both physically and story-wise since he was pushed to irrelevancy. It was truly a sad time for Rock Lee fans.

Masashi felt pretty good about himself for mending the rift between Boruto and Naruto. He also had to do this for the simple fact that he'd be less than fodder against the Otsutsuki.

Hopefully, Sasuke will step up as well, since both Naruto and Sasuke have washed allegations. Fatherhood caught up to them, but that doesn't really explain it since Sasuke is always out getting milk. I suppose not even in this new generation show can one escape the fabled deadbeat anime dad. Truly universal powers at work.

With the jokes out of the way, he had thought the parents would have more pushback from his manga, but considering they didn't say anything when their children expressed their desire not to be banned, then they approved. I had imagined that Sakura would be a bit more protective, but it seems she knows that it isn't much harm compared to what she faced in her youth.

Anyway, he was just outside the shop and walked through the door. Masashi naturally knew that this place has all kinds of storage scrolls which isn't surprising since her combat style involved them.

"Welcome! How can I help you?" Tenten perked up and smiled. He wasn't sure why she started a weapons shop, but there were a whole lot of fanfictions out there with her either working at one or being a daughter of the owner. Most times it was both at the same time.

"Just looking for some medium-sized storage scrolls." He responded as he looked at the shelves that held them.

"Ah, wanting to hold something with more weight to it?" She asked coming over.

"Not exactly. I just need something that'll hold a lot of books." He responded and she gained a contemplative look.

Tenten didn't ask for the reason since that wasn't her business, but it would help to ask a few questions to get what the customer needs. That's just basic stuff.

"Hmm, how heavy are the books?" She questioned and fortunately, he didn't unpack his first volumes from the day. He brought one out and showed her.

She took it and looked back at him.

"What's this? Are you selling comic books?" She asked with a peculiar gaze to the book.

"Yeah, it's a style of comic book called manga that I made." He felt like he was going to be saying this a lot. Well, he actually had been saying it constantly throughout the day.

Tenten flipped through the book and was amazed by its quality.

"Could I get one?" She wasn't a fan of comics but felt that just by quality alone, it might be interesting. If not, then it would at least be nice to look at, right?

"Sure." He smiled and they made an exchange before she snapped out of her distraction.

"Oh, right! The scrolls. Well, most of the designs from the smallest to the largest scrolls are mostly the same with a balance of mass and space, but luckily for you, I'm quite adept at fuinjutsu. I have a few small and medium scrolls in the back that focus more on space, so you can store more items that have lower mass." She explained and that got him excited.

Tenten went back and grabbed a few small-sized scrolls and 2 medium-sized scrolls.

"Based on the weight of the manga, you could probably fit 100 books in one medium scroll and 30 in the smaller one." She explained which shocked him.

His small scrolls could only fit 15 in each but with the ratio shifting more towards space, the amount doubled!

"How much for medium-sized scrolls?" He hoped it wasn't too expensive.

"Normally they are 4500ryo but for these, they would be 4000ryo each since they aren't used much," Tenten informed as Masashi's eyes widened in realization.

The prices have drastically lowered since the time of Naruto and when he first going through the academy. It would probably be worth around 7000ryo around when Naruto graduated and even more, if there was a war.

Shinobi are just less needed now in this era so there isn't as much demand. That works in his favor though. Having a few of both would be nice since he could have them separated by both volume number and black-and-white or colored.

"I'll take two of both." Masashi brings out his wallet.

She nods leaving two medium scrolls and two small scrolls.

"That'll be 10,500ryo." She confirms as he hands her his card.

It went through without issues and she bags them up.

"Thank you. Enjoy the volume." He begins to leave.

"Come back again!" She waves.

Now that he is out of the store he decides to go to a clothing store. There will likely be satchels there so he could carry his scroll with them.

He heads inside a store in the City Center and finds what he's looking for.

It's a black bag with a silver buckle. There is quite a lot of space so he could fit several medium-sized scrolls inside.

After spending another 7500ryo, he makes his way back home.

He sets everything down and organizes his volumes. Masashi decides to only use the four scrolls he purchased and gets to sorting.

Both small scrolls will be used for colored manga for each volume and the medium scrolls will be for his black-and-white manga. 

The scrolls will be more than enough until he has a permanent location for his shop so this is only temporary. 

Once he is done, Masashi once again goes out to train his body.

He did a variety of push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and sprinting. The Naruto Run was instinctive at this point but no one knows how weird it looks from an outside perspective.

Maybe he could hit up a gym? That would cost money though and the one thing that shied shinobi away from such establishments was because they had their own fighting styles. Their physiques were suited to their own way of fighting, so getting too big could mess with their fighting capability.

That doesn't really matter to Masashi though, as he has practically given up on the shinobi lifestyle entirely. All he wants to do is increase his chakra reserves and pushing himself with weight training will be incredibly beneficial.

One could say that he could just use leg weights, but who actually enjoys cardio besides psychopaths? With his previous life's memories, he had a desire to lift some heavy weight. A truly masculine desire that he cannot escape from.

Perhaps if he were more financially stable and his business had a steady stream of income, he would get a membership. There are some shinobi who go to gyms and they even have special fuinjutsu seals that could increase and decrease weight depending on the amount you put in.

It even shows a number like an actual plate does. He had heard of the fuinjutsu through passing and thought it could be a good idea to try it someday.

As he got home, he took everything off and showered. Masashi ate some more ramen before getting into bed.

Tomorrow is another big day and he cannot wait for it. 

He wondered about his future and was especially excited for the Game Section.

An image of Naruto and Sasuke balling is rather comical. An NBA 2K game maybe?

It wasn't a serious thought as it was born from a meme. He shook his head and slowly drifted off to sleep.

+=[ES]=+

The next morning, Masashi got up and put on his trusty flak jacket with nothing underneath. The Land of Fire can be quite hot. A pair of black pants and he was doing his regular bathroom routine. Since he had showered the night before, he didn't bother this morning.

He took a glance at the clock and it was 6:10 am. In the kitchen, he made some more ramen, and looking at the fridge, he couldn't help himself.

Masashi grabbed a bottle and drank it until his ramen was ready. Once it was, he had a nice breakfast. He should probably work on his diet, especially if he plans on hitting the gym, but he didn't know how much money he'd have to spend on a property for his shop.

Turning on the TV, the news was on. It was nothing all that exciting. Maybe his manga would be on it one day? He hoped so since that would bring in more customers.

He also dreaded it for the same reason.

Why?

Masashi's chakra reserves were poor and he couldn't make enough volumes to satisfy the demand.

Perhaps he should just bite the bullet and get the membership today? Things are heating up and he needs to increase his reserves as fast as possible.

Finishing up his food, he tosses it in the trash and takes another sip of sake.

One would say that he probably shouldn't be drinking every day, but Zoro from One Piece does and he's strong as hell. Plus he's cool so there's that.

That's an idea.

Maybe the One Piece manga? It would certainly be less restrictive by the age requirement even if there are some pretty graphic and dark scenes.

I'd definitely give the anime far higher animation quality. Wano level quality. Now wouldn't that be nice?

He shook his head before getting to work.

Summoning his computer, he began creating more volumes. 

He meets the quota he said to Boruto and his friends and creates more second volumes.

Masashi originally had 27 volumes left over from the first day, but now he has only 19 colored manga split between both volumes. He didn't have enough time before 9 am.

That means he created nothing new from both volumes in black and white.

The colored volumes cost the same chakra as two standard manga, so it ate away at my reserves quickly.

This is pretty bad for a couple of reasons.

Given the prices for sections and manga, it will take quite a long time to build up to purchase something new.

Next, his customers may leave considering that he wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand, and the hype will stagnate but it may not disappear because of how good it is. Does that even matter if they can't buy any? Would he have to create a waiting list? That's just bad business!

Finally, the Otsutsuki threat isn't even two years away so he doesn't have a lot of time to waste, but this is more of an inevitability. What could he even do against them? Show them the error of their ways through manga. Yeah, okay. I don't have the SSS-Rank technique: Talk-no-Jutsu in my arsenal.

Not that it would work with these people anyway.

He decided that he would definitely buy a gym membership either today or tomorrow considering that the added weight training could speed up the process a bit. He wasn't entirely optimistic but one must push through.

Maybe the system will give him a reward for opening his first shop. He did get one when he unlocked the Demon Slayer manga, but that could just be the fact it was his artistic purchase if you don't count the Manga Section itself.

He could only pray since he saw no other way of meeting the demand with his abysmal reserves.

Shaking off his depressing thoughts, he takes a swig from his bottle and tosses it. Masashi made sure not to drink more than one this time. He learned his lesson.

Once he packed everything in his satchel and his other essentials, he slipped on his shoes and headed out.

Everything will be fine, right?