A massive shadow raged through the village; it was Tailed Beasts.
A terrifying being possessing the power to destroy heaven and earth is currently rampaging out of its seal within its Jinchuriki.
" Nine-Tails Demon Fox? Jinchuriki? That's an interesting premise----"
He slowed down his page-turning speed.
[Chapter 1: The Lonely Jinchuriki ]
"I will become Hokage! I will make the whole village acknowledge my existence!"
"Huh? This guy named Naruto, such a loser, wants to be Hokage? That's ridiculous!"
Kenta complained, but his eyes were glued to the page, page after page.
He saw the disdain and neglect Naruto faced in the village, the loneliness behind his pranks, his clumsiness and hard work as he entered the Ninja Academy, his arch-rival encounter with Sasuke, Sakura Haruno's infatuation with Sasuke and her disdain for Naruto, and the unfathomable depth beneath Kakashi's seemingly lazy demeanor.
Before I knew it, the sky outside the window had darkened.
Kenta completely forgot about the time and his original plan to play games after finishing the manga.
He curled up in the corner of the room, greedily swallowing every word by the light of the desk lamp.
When Naruto finally passed Kakashi's arduous survival test through his own willpower and effort, and when he, Sasuke, and Sakura, despite their stumbles, finally started to resemble a team and prepared for the upcoming C-rank mission...
Kenta subconsciously turned the page.
That's all.
That's all?
That's all!
The next page is the beginning of another short story.
He paused for a moment, then quickly flipped back two pages to make sure he hadn't missed anything.
Then I quickly flipped the magazine to the back to check the page number.
It's really gone!
"Are you kidding me?!"
Kenta suddenly jumped up from the ground, clutching the magazine, his eyes wide like saucers.
"What happens next? What's going on? What exactly is Naruto and the others' mission? Why does it end here?!"
A wave of intense, agonizing discomfort instantly washed over him.
He was engrossed in the story, delighted by Naruto's progress, eagerly anticipating their new mission, and speculating about the foreshadowing that had been planted.
As a result, it came to an abrupt end.
This feeling is a hundred times worse than the power suddenly cutting off when you're playing a game at the most crucial moment!
He paced around the room like a caged animal, his gaze suddenly locking onto the editorial department's contact number on the back cover of the magazine.
Without almost any hesitation, he rushed over, grabbed the home phone, his fingers trembling with excitement, and forcefully pressed the number.
"Beep----Beep----Hello, this is the editorial department of Weekly Shonen Sunday ----"
A polite female voice rang out.
"Hello! I'm a reader!"
Kenta practically yelled into the microphone, his voice urgent and loud. "I want to ask Naruto!"
What happened to that ninja novel? Why did it end this time? What happened next? Will there be more? When will the next issue be published? Hurry up and publish it! I can't wait!
The woman on the other end of the phone was clearly taken aback by the barrage of questions and her excited tone, but quickly responded professionally, "Hello, reader, please don't get agitated. NARUTO-Naruto- is a new novel being serialized in our magazine; this is the first installment."
"Follow-up content will be published in subsequent weekly issues. Please wait patiently and continue to support our magazine!"
"We have to wait until next week?"
Kenta groaned, "A week? That's so long! Can't you publish the rest this week? Or----"
Or is there a standalone volume? I'll buy it and read it first!
"Sorry, the collected volume will only be considered for publication after the serialization has reached a certain length. Please be sure to check out next week's magazine."
After hanging up the phone, Kenta slumped weakly to the ground, staring at the Sunday magazine he had already finished reading.
For the first time, he felt that a week could be incredibly long.
Although it's a novel, his mind is filled with Naruto's silly grin, Sasuke's cool poses, Kakashi's deadpan eyes, and those cool ninjutsu and unsolved mysteries.
"Damn it—how could this happen—"
He grabbed his hair, suddenly feeling an intense hatred for the serialization system.
At the same time, in a high-end apartment in Tokyo.
Hirano Harunori, an office worker who had stayed up late working until the early hours of the morning, dragged his tired body home.
He's long past the age of being obsessed with shonen manga, but he still occasionally buys a copy of Sunday to relax his mind, reading only mindless, funny comics.
Today, he inexplicably flipped to the novel section and saw "NARUTO".
At first, I just browsed around casually, hoping to use it to induce sleep.
But as he looked on, his brows furrowed, and he sat up straight.
Competition in the workplace, complex interpersonal relationships, and the distant ideals—
In this boy named Naruto, he inexplicably saw something he had long lost.
When Hirano Naruto announce to the entire village that he was going to become Hokage, Hirano Harunori long-dormant heart stirred slightly.
He stayed up all night and read through the entire serialized portion in one go, then remained silent for a long time after seeing the words "To be continued."
The next day, he went to work with dark circles under his eyes, but unusually, he didn't complain. Instead, he quietly made a note in his notebook to buy the next issue of Sunday magazine.
Kinoshita Yumi, who loves shoujo manga and idol dramas, never watches anything involving fighting or violence.
But today, her best friend forced a copy of "Sunday" magazine on her, saying there was a surprisingly good short story in the back.
She watched with curiosity, and then she became completely engrossed.
She shed tears for Naruto's loneliness, blushed at Sasuke's handsomeness, and was fascinated by Kakashi's mystery.
For the first time, she discovered that bonds aren't just about romantic relationships; the passion, protection, and sacrifice between young people can also be so moving.
She immediately ran to the bookstore, bought the latest issue of Sunday magazine, and decided to read it every week from now on.
Similar scenarios are quietly unfolding across Japan.
Those middle school students who originally only loved comics, those office workers whose edges have been worn down by life, those girls immersed in pink fantasies, and even those delinquent teenagers who only admired violence—
We were all quietly touched by " Naruto," a work published in manga magazine in the form of a novel, which touched a corner of our hearts.
They had complained about the novel's format and the excessive amount of text, but once they truly immersed themselves in it, they discovered that the imaginative space created by the words was far more expansive than any fixed image.
Those cool imaginings about ninjutsu, the delicate portrayals of the characters' inner worlds, and the grand foundations of the worldviews all constructed magnificent images in their minds through words.
Then, at the most gripping moment of the story, it abruptly ends.
To find out what happens next, please read the next chapter.
This ancient storytelling phrase, this summer, has transformed into the four words "To be continued" in Weekly Shonen Sunday, and into a burning flame of anticipation in the hearts of thousands of readers who are encountering NARUTO for the first time.
They scratched their heads, asked around, couldn't wait to know what happened next, and even started recommending a really good novel on Sunday to their friends!
In just one day, the Sunday editorial office was bombarded with calls.
Toyota Kameichi anticipated that Naruto would be accepted by the market, but he didn't expect it to be accepted so quickly.
" Editor-in-Chief Toyota, what should we do? Some readers said they'd send us razor blades if we didn't publish the next chapter soon!"