A Letter to Readers for the New Year

Today happens to be the Little New Year in the north, and with the new book hitting 100,000 words, I'd like to wish all my readers an early happy New Year.

I was told to reflect on the past year, but thinking about it carefully, I seem to have already summarized everything when the last book ended -.-

Having written two sports novels, I certainly can't call myself a newbie anymore. If I had to share one real realization, it would only be this:

"Don't fight the market QAQ."

Not long ago, I asked a good friend who loves the NBA to read my previous book, hoping to find some flaws. He ended up complaining after just the first few chapters:

"Iverson is like this? Dropped, definitely dropped..."

Later, he kept reading and complained even more:

"Jordan lost his three-peat? Why are Kobe and Duncan acting like clowns? You're just writing nonsense!"

Finally, he barely made it to the later chapters, and his criticism became even sharper:

"I can look past James, but why can't you let Kobe and the others win a few times? This protagonist has no sportsmanship at all."

"..."

After hearing his thoughts, I scanned the charts again and finally recognized the reality: I've been relying entirely on the support of old readers, as my writing is just too niche...

Let's talk about the new book. This is my "white moonlight" genre. As an old-school anime fan, writing a fanfiction for a mainstream manga was a dream of mine back in the day.

When I wrote this book, I actually scanned the charts, and I was left numb after reading them because I couldn't come up with those kinds of wild ideas...

When I submitted my draft to Qilin, I thought if it didn't pass, I'd just pull it, but it actually passed =.=

Since it passed, I have to finish it, and I have to write a complete story!

Readers who have caught up will notice that the settings in the book are basically derived from the manga and official guidebooks, and the power system largely follows the original work.

I could have skipped the White Fang arc, but I ended up writing it anyway, with the goal of demonstrating the general logic of this book.

Readers who accept it will keep reading; those who don't can cut their losses in time.

Free chapters are meant to tell readers how this book will be written, which helps avoid disappointment after it goes behind a paywall.

After all, readers are spending money, and the author needs to provide good service.

The issue of the protagonist's lack of presence in the early stages is mainly due to the timeline. Readers familiar with Hokage should know that there are age restrictions for Jonin or Anbu squad leaders in the manga.

Kakashi becoming a Jonin at 12 was an exceptional promotion, and in the Itachi Shinden novel, the minimum age requirement for an Anbu squad leader is 13.

Since the protagonist's age hasn't reached that point, there naturally won't be many conflicts before the start of the Third Shinobi World War, and I don't want to force drama where it doesn't belong...

The worldview in the book will also expand upon the manga and official spin-off novels, much like the "Tool Theory" currently in the book, which was already mentioned in the Land of Waves arc of the manga.

There's no need to worry about power levels, because the Hokage manga itself is a power fantasy!

Obito, Naruto, and Sasuke are the most typical examples—they are ridiculously strong even at a young age...

Since the original characters are "strong," a protagonist of the same age will only be "stronger."

=.= I keep feeling like this book is too niche, but the outline has been approved, so I don't plan on changing it.

Regarding the feedback on ninjutsu, I probably won't describe them in too much detail later on. After all, a simple mention of "Chidori Sharp Spear" or "Rasenshuriken" is enough for everyone to automatically visualize them.

The only ninjutsu I will likely write more about are the protagonist's Sage Technique and chakra applications; since these aren't in the original work, I do need to write more about them.

I couldn't sleep in the middle of the night, so I typed all this out. Finally, I'm asking for your continued support and readership QAQ.

It seems Qidian has launched a new four-round PK system. I don't really know how effective it is, but we're in the first round now, so I can only keep my head down and write.

Thank you to my old readers for your past support, and thank you to the readers who have added this book to their library and are following along!

Happy Little New Year, everyone~