New Book Published

Konoha's book market was thriving. It had hundreds of bookstores, large and small, backed by more than a dozen publishers of varying sizes.

Uchiha Arashi walked out of a publishing house, followed by its owner.

"Lord Senya, you have nothing to worry about. I'll oversee everything personally and make sure there are no problems."

The publisher's owner nodded and bowed, his flattery reaching new heights.

"Thank you, then."

Uchiha Arashi paused, a reserved smile on his face.

"No need to thank me. It's only right."

The bookstore owner hurried to reply, afraid that if he spoke too slowly, the young man before him would be displeased.

It was no wonder he was so nervous. The Reviewer could examine any publication and, if he found its content unsuitable, could halt its release at any time or even report it to his superiors.

He couldn't exactly force a publisher to close its doors, but he could certainly make things difficult for them. A few rounds of that would wear down even a major publisher, let alone a small local one.

Fortunately, Uchiha Arashi's demands weren't unreasonable. He was there to promote his own novel, and as long as his book was published without a hitch, he couldn't be bothered to make trouble for these publishers.

As for accepting bribes, there was no need. In a world where strength came first, money would never be the most important thing.

With this publisher taken care of, Uchiha Arashi had more or less achieved his goal.

He had visited three publishers over the past few days. One was a national publisher, and its Konoha branch was little more than an office. They had agreed to cooperate with Uchiha Arashi and even offered to cover the distribution costs upfront, easing the strain on his finances.

If even a major publisher was willing to go that far, there was no need to say more about the small local ones.

As for distribution, that was even less of a concern. Every publisher had its own channels. They only needed to print the books and deliver them to bookstores.

Uchiha Arashi didn't need to negotiate with each shop himself and risk undermining his status as a Reviewer.

When he got home, he could see a huge sign from far away, covered with red cloth. The curious villagers passing by kept pointing at it.

The bookstore's renovations were almost finished. Over the past few days, while Uchiha Arashi had been out discussing business, Izumi had stayed home to oversee all the work.

The workers had been paid well, so they were putting in plenty of effort. The renovations were progressing at a remarkable pace.

"Did you get everything settled?"

As soon as Uchiha Arashi stepped inside, Izumi ran over from where she was cleaning and asked eagerly.

"Everything's settled. The novel's already being printed, and the new book should be here within a week at most. Tomorrow, the publisher will bring over a batch of other books. Once we put them on the shelves, our bookstore can open."

Uchiha Arashi smiled as he spoke.

Following his gaze, Izumi looked around. A faint smile appeared on her face.

"I never thought I'd open a bookstore someday..."

"Doesn't really suit your style, does it? I remember you never used to sit quietly and read."

"People change. I'm not a kid anymore!"

Izumi shot him a look.

"But I should make this clear in advance: the bookstore is only temporary. It's just our public identity and work. Later, I'll hire a dedicated manager to run it."

Uchiha Arashi added.

"Why? I can run it myself!"

Izumi looked puzzled.

"But it wouldn't be right. You're a rare Mangekyo wielder, Izumi. You should have a much broader future ahead of you. Your power should be put to better use, not confined to this little bookstore."

Uchiha Arashi explained.

The bookstore was important, but not that important. If all he needed was to collect Power of Recognition, he could do that by writing books himself.

He had set up the bookstore mainly to give them a public identity and to give Izumi and the other younger siblings something to do. If they spent all day training in Shadow Space, anyone would eventually find it unbearable.

Izumi nodded at his words.

"I'll do whatever you say."

She pressed her lips together, her face turning slightly red, though not by much.

Three days later, several carriages arrived at the bookstore on schedule and unloaded a large number of books.

Uchiha Arashi, Izumi, and Shizuka spent half the day working. Even with help from the men delivering the books, they barely managed to fill the shelves.

The next day, the bookstore officially opened.

The opening ceremony was simple: they set off a few fireworks and pulled the red cloth off the sign.

Konoha had never had an opening like this before, so people were quite curious. A crowd gathered outside.

The day's sales... well, they were average at best. Konoha already had plenty of bookstores, and Uchiha Arashi's shop didn't carry anything so rare that people couldn't find it elsewhere.

A few days later, his own new book finally hit the shelves.

Teyvat Travelogue—that was the title of his first book. He used "Senya Arashi" as the author's name and couldn't be bothered to come up with anything else.

Thanks to the support of a major publisher, the book was distributed widely. It was on sale in all the important towns in the Land of Fire, and they were reportedly now sending copies to smaller towns and border regions. The final sales figures were still unknown. All Uchiha Arashi knew was that the first print run totaled fifty thousand copies, far more than a typical book. It was the publisher's way of giving him extra support.

After all, there weren't many Reviewers in the Land of Fire, and the others weren't authors. Uchiha Arashi was the only one who was both judge and competitor, so the publisher didn't dare neglect him and was determined to keep him satisfied.

Uchiha Arashi was indeed satisfied. On the very day his new book hit the shelves, he could clearly feel the rate at which he collected Power of Recognition rise by a whole level.

It was as if another pipe had been connected.

Inside Shadow Space.

Uchiha Dan and Uchiha Kei were sparring.

Uchiha Dan flicked his wrist and threw several shuriken. Uchiha Kei easily knocked them aside with his Kunai.

Uchiha Dan used the Great Fireball Technique, but he wasn't skilled enough, and he didn't have enough chakra. The fireball was so small it was almost laughable, hardly deserving the word "great."

Yet Uchiha Kei had no good way to counter it and could only dodge, gradually being pushed back by his opponent.

Uchiha Arashi emerged from the shadows just in time to see Uchiha Dan hold a Kunai to Uchiha Kei's throat. The match was over.

Recently, Izumi had been stepping up the training for her younger siblings, gradually adding sparring and allowing them to use ninjutsu.

It was much better than the Ninja Academy. The school didn't allow students to use ninjutsu before their fourth year, though plenty of them couldn't use it anyway.

Uchiha Arashi opened his hand and began to gather Power of Recognition.

His younger siblings saw what he was doing, glanced at one another, and then gathered around him in unison.