Coins Acquired

Masashi decided to leave his colored volumes alone for now and focused on his ol' reliable. His first volumes are fine at 23, but he only had 5 second volumes left. That is a problem. He only wished that making manga didn't take so long.

Oh, maybe if he could generate enough hype around his store, he could wait a bit and use a few days to grind out volumes.

That would be nice.

Things slowed down a bit and for Masashi right now, that was a blessing. Slower traffic would be sucky for a business but he just didn't have the supply. 

He could go to Ichiraku and find an isolated booth to make more during his lunch break.

After about an hour, he made 6 new second volumes. Trying to make more, he was suddenly approached by a group of kids.

Boruto's friends.

"Yo, Masashi-san! That first volume was great! You said that the second volume will be here today?" Metal Lee asked in a cheerful tone. He wasn't a great fan of the gore but the fights got his blood pumping and had to train afterward!

"Right here." He responded tapping on both the standard and colored versions.

"I'll take one." Sarada went to grab the black-and-white one.

Metal Lee also grabbed a colored second volume.

"Hmm." Inojin pondered before grabbing 3 volumes: Vol1. Colored, Vol2. B&W, and Vol2. Colored.

"Why so many Inojin? Are you addicted like Boruto?" Chocho bemused before grabbing a colored second volume.

"It must give me some inspiration for my jutsu." He didn't elaborate beyond that.

After the exchange, we said our goodbyes and they left.

Masashi checked his balance as he sat down.

EC: 9

He felt a flutter in his stomach as he was so close. Only 10 more volumes, or 6 colored and 1 regular.

With newfound motivation, he started banging out more books.

Another 40 minutes go by as he finishes 2 colored second volumes. He only had 4 left now.

A group of four pulled up.

"Is this the place, nee-san?" An older boy around 17 asked.

"Yes. This is where I found it." This was the woman who previously bought four of the same volumes at once.

"Really?" The other boy, around the same age as Masashi asked.

"Well, it was interesting." An older girl than the woman from yesterday comments.

"Hey…uh." The girl from yesterday started.

"Masashi, and you?" He knew that they didn't properly introduce each other.

"Reiko. This is Reiji and Raiuo my younger brothers, and Reinara my older sister." She introduces.

They all bowed.

"Nice to meet you all." He smiles and they all reciprocate the gesture.

The siblings take a look at the stand and see the folded paper about the second volume.

"Oh! I was wondering if there was more!" Reiji laughed.

"Finally, I won't have to wait to see the end of Final Selection!" Raiuo nods to himself.

"There's a colored version?" Reinara notes and that gets the attention of the others.

"I didn't see one last time." Reiko looked confused.

"The colored manga is something new today and for the foreseeable future," Masashi explains and they nod.

He was quickly surprised by the two boys' next actions though.

They grabbed Vol1. Colored, Vol2. B&W, and Vol2. Colored.

He couldn't help the bewildered look on his face. Does Boruto have a rival?

"They are both collectors." Reiko noticed the expression and was embarrassed.

Both Reinara and Reiko grab a colored second book.

They finish the transaction and before leaving, both boys ask a question.

"When will the next one be out?" Reiji looking forward to the next even without reading the one in his hands.

"How will we know of an update?" Raiuo questions before Masashi laughs.

He writes his email on a card.

"Just send an email of who you are and I'll get back to you." They both smiled and left with their siblings.

Masashi sank down and realized he had no more colored manga for the second volume. Taking away the folded card, he impatiently rechecked his coins again.

EC: 10.1

He stopped himself from jumping up in joy, but only barely.

Masashi had done it. He had quite a lot of luck with Boruto being a great crop, but to think I'd run into two collectors back to back! It was great.

Considering it's nearing 11 am, he decides to close down for an early lunch. 

Knowing that all he had to do was find a property he could buy, Masashi didn't know what to do about the stand. He still had another 5 days and there were no refunds.

Maybe once he finds a location, he could advertise it with a sign or something.

Oh he could attach another banner to the table itself about the permanent address.

That's a nice thought. He could also have a stack of cards and a sign about inquiring for an update to leave their email.

Masashi could use that and advertise his shop's location. A dual method that could be effective, if people checked them. Considering the internet doesn't exist, they probably look regularly.

He puts everything back into a storage scroll and creates a card about going to lunch and leaves his email.

Myriad Entertainment @ konoha . net

Making his way down to the restaurant with his satchel over the shoulder, he decides to take a look around to see any notices of selling the property.

Once he made it to the restaurant, Masashi didn't find anything but he could still look later.

He walked through the automatic doors and was quite surprised by what he saw.

Naruto and Shikamaru were sitting at the bar seats eating their ramen.

Masashi could insert himself but decides not to.

Walking past them to the left, he sat down with his back facing towards them.

A brown-haired girl walked towards him with a pen and paper.

"What can I get for you today, Shinobi-san?" She smiled.

"Miso ramen with extra pork and narutomaki." He responds before pulling out his laptop with his satchel propped up next to it.

The scene doesn't look really suspicious since he isn't typing. It was a little strange though.

After a few minutes, she comes back with a bowl. Masashi puts away the laptop and brings his bag down.

"Enjoy!" She leaves a paper slip and heads back behind the counter.

He began eating and it was incredibly good. Masashi completely devoured it in less than two minutes.

Deciding not to spend more money before getting a shop, he grabs his bag and the slip to head back into the town.

Those plans were ruined once Naruto caught sight of him.

"Ah, Masashi! I didn't know you came here." He smiled a bit before eating.

"You would know everyone eating here, would you?" Shikamaru snorts and Naruto nearly chokes on his food.

"Yeah, yeah. You going to order more? That idea of yours is a lifesaver! My treat." Naruto didn't look like he was going to take no for an answer so he sat down next to him on the bar stool.

Ayame came over with a look of surprise.

"Do you know each other?" She asked considering that only Naruto's friends sat here and anyone unruly or pushy would be kicked out, but most people wouldn't even get that far since he's the Hokage.

"Yeah! He helped me a lot and now I have a lot of free time. Oh, he also makes very good manga." Naruto slurped on his noodles.

"Manga?" She gave Masashi a questioning glance.

"Yeah, it's a style of comic book that I'm creating." He explains and she nods.

"Cool. Do you have one with you? Oh, did you want another bowl?" She asks before taking back his paper slip.

Masashi pulls his bag to the counter and takes out one of the bigger scrolls while one of the first volumes appears.

"Do you have a second volume out yet, Masashi?" Shikamaru asks and he nods.

"Most of my supply of colored volumes is gone, but I still have the regular one." He brings out another scroll with a few volumes popping out.

"Nice!" Naruto pulled out some bills and handed them to the seller before grabbing the second volume to read.

Shikamaru follows suit making the exchange.

Ayame looked at them as they read the volume.

"Is it really that good?" She stared at them with some interest.

"You can find out if you want." Masashi laughs before putting a volume above their counter.

"Oh, you're just giving it to me?" Ayame was surprised since he directly handed it to her.

"Well, I hope to make some kind of business arrangement out of it." Masashi directly admitted to it and Ayame didn't know what to think.

"Oh, what did you have in mind?" She didn't take it too seriously but since her longtime friend Naruto is absolutely engaged in the book, knowing that he doesn't really read anything, got her interest.

"Well, I was thinking of putting up a flier in here where if they buy a bowl they'd get 10% off one volume. I'm already thinking of buying a permanent place for my business, so I could put up similar fliers in my own shop." He explains and Ayame didn't think it was a bad idea.

"It sounds pretty good and I don't lose anything, but I'd like to read it first before deciding." She pulls out her wallet and buys the volume. "Since we may or may not have this arrangement, I won't take advantage of you."

Masashi liked her attitude, as everyone had their own pride, so he didn't refuse and accepted the payment.

"Masashi, you should be prepared when I come in with a whole stack of coupons." Naruto laughed as Shikamaru shook his head in resignation.

"I don't doubt that, but now I have to find a place." Masashi sighed before his next bowl came and ate.

Naruto ordered another bowl.

"Hmm, wasn't that one place closing down? I think I remember something about that." Naruto tried hard to recall but one could almost see smoke coming out of his ears.

Shikamaru laughed.

"Don't try too hard, Naruto. You're talking about Old Haruto's shop on the edge of the City Center." He explained and Naruto sat up in realization.

"Oh yeah! That was it. I think he sold shinobi gear, but he's retiring, I think." Naruto stroked his non-existent beard.

"Hmm, do you know how much?" Masashi was very interested.

Shikamaru shook his head.

"I don't recommend it. That place is pretty rundown and needs a lot of repairs, probably about half of what it's worth, which is 2,250,000ryo. Very cheap for the City Center, but that's for a good reason." Shikamaru sighed as they had gotten a number of complaints about the shop bringing down their real estate value.

"Well, I think I can turn it around." Masashi stated with a confident demeanor.

The actual building and ownership matters, not the state of the property, since it'd be transformed anyway. He had gotten an alert once he reached the required cost.

[You have reached 10EC. Choose a building to transform into the Entertainment Store]

This made his life so much easier.

Shikamaru hummed and wrote down the address before handing it over.

"Knock yourself out." He went back to his ramen.

Masashi was smiling and was determined to check it out. He won't use the ability until his time at the stall is over but he could advertise it, naturally he'll only advertise the street name and not the building itself, or else he may scare them off.

He then asked a question he had been holding out since he first met Naruto.

"Who is your barber, Hokage-sama?" He couldn't hold back his curiosity.

Naruto looked away from the manga and with a pleased expression, "You can just call me Naruto, and it's Awase-san, how come?" He pretended not to know.

"Ah, I was just wondering where he was." Masashi shook his head.

The Hokage got even more smug and nodded his head.

"He has a place near my house, you want the address?" His world came crashing down at the young man's next words.

"Oh, how come he's not in a maximum security prison for what he did to your hair?" He tried to keep the smile off his face.

Shikamaru choked on his food before swallowing and laughing so hard that it was truly uncharacteristic of the Nara.

Ayame couldn't help but giggle and look at Naruto's head.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY HAIR?!" Naruto shouted in disbelief.

Masashi joined in the laughter this time.