"Clang! Clang!"
As Akaba approached the mountain wall, he could hear the rhythmic sound of hammering echoing through the stone.
Soon, a burly man hurried over. He was the factory director and overall manager here. Recognizing Tsunade, he regarded her with cautious wariness.
Clearly, Tsunade's reputation around here was mostly negative.
Akaba stepped forward, handing him the token. "Hello, my name is Sakuma Akaba. Tsunade merely acted as my guide."
"Sakuma?"
The man hesitated, then took the token and examined it carefully. After a moment, he solemnly returned it to Akaba and introduced himself, "I'm Izumi Yamano, the factory director here."
"Mr. Yamano, I've come to ask for your help printing a book."
Akaba pulled out the first volume of the Naruto manga and handed it to Izumi Yamano.
"A comic book?"
Izumi Yamano felt puzzled in his heart as he accepted and glanced at the manga.
Unlike the rough hand-drawn sketches he'd seen before, the real first edition's cover art was very refined—in fact, it represented Akaba's current highest artistic achievement.
At first glance, he found it extremely impressive.
"What... what is this?"
He found it incredible. Unlike ordinary novels, this was even more interesting—no, actually better than novels!
"Hehe, Uncle Yamano, this kind of book is called a manga," Tsunade leaned in and said.
"A manga?"
Izumi Yamano flipped open one page, then looked at the second.
After quite some time, he closed the manga with excitement yet regret.
He was just a regular blacksmith, skilled only in forging weapons. The ninja world had always seemed distant to him. But after reading just two chapters, he already felt the vast grandeur of that ninja world.
"Ninjas... If only I had the talent, I might've become one myself by now."
Mr. Yamano sighed wistfully, clearly moved.
Akaba smiled slightly and unobtrusively opened his system interface.
Up by 1 point!
"So even regular people give points when they read it!" Akaba thought excitedly.
True, Izumi Yamano had needed to read two chapters before awarding that single point, but every little bit helps. Moreover, commoners made up the largest population group. When quality couldn't compensate, numbers certainly could. Not even the Hokage could rival the sheer power of the masses.
"Just having a little nostalgia there—I'm sorry. So, Mr. Sakuma, you want me to print this exact manga?"
Izumi Yamano asked.
"No, not just this one. There will be many more manga volumes in the future. That's why I don't want to ask Mr. Yamano for free printing assistance—I want us to reach a cooperative agreement."
Akaba said earnestly.
He knew full well that being just a child put him at a disadvantage for gaining trust in business matters. He could only try hard to convince Izumi Yamano through facial expressions and his work itself.
If Izumi Yamano hadn't seen the manga, he might have scoffed at the idea immediately. Now though, he had to seriously consider Akaba's proposal.
Could this kind of manga bring profits?
He didn't know!
Izumi Yamano clearly understood that for new things entering the market, the benefits were often vague and invisible. Yet after seeing this manga, he sensed something terrifyingly attractive about it—it irresistibly made him want to keep reading.
This thing might actually become a hit.
After thinking carefully for a moment, he asked, "How would you like to cooperate?"
"I know this factory doesn't belong to Mr. Izumi Yamano alone, so I've prepared two plans. One is that I pay a fixed fee and you handle the printing for me; the other is that I give you ten percent of the revenue from the manga as payment."
Akaba offered both options for Izumi Yamano to choose.
"This requires discussion with others first."
Izumi Yamano hesitated. He became manager because he was good at blacksmithing and had some smarts, but when it came to business stuff like this, he was completely lost.
"I completely understand. Please feel free to do as you wish. If needed, you may take this manga along, but on the condition it remains undamaged."
Akaba smiled kindly.
Izumi Yamano nodded and carefully put away the manga book.
Since this concerned the print shop, he primarily sought opinions from its supervisor.
Tsunade stood nearby watching without offering her views.
After Izumi Yamano left, she asked, "Why didn't you just go with the fixed payment method?"
"A fixed wage certainly benefits me now, but what if my manga becomes popular later?"
Akaba gently asked.
Though he didn't finish his sentence, he believed Tsunade understood what he meant.
Indeed, after a moment's thought, Tsunade quickly replied, "I get it now. People are naturally greedy—but honestly, that's just like you."
What kind of style does Akaba have?
To summarize briefly: simply lazy!
He hated the hassle of dealing with people later, so he gave them both options upfront. That way, they'd all understand the manga's worth before making a choice. Otherwise, he could've easily gotten Izumi Yamano's agreement using low prices or personal favors.
Now that everything was clear, even if workers in the future raised issues during printing, they'd only need their supervisor to talk to Akaba—not the entire group.
Besides, money wasn't really that important to him anymore.
A while later, Izumi Yamano returned, accompanied by quite a few others—probably managers and workers from the printing workshop.
"Mr. Sakuma, what's all this about?"
Akaba felt slightly troubled. He disliked dealing with too many people, which was why he clarified the conditions upfront, yet here came a crowd anyway.
Apologetically glancing behind himself, Izumi Yamano pointed at the person beside him and said, "These are usually the people handling our printing work. This one here is our chief manager, Ichiro Noda."
"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Sakuma. We're truly grateful for this opportunity. We couldn't decide between your two proposals—would it be possible to find a middle ground?"
Ichiro Noda spoke nervously, showing clear eagerness.
Clearly, he had already read the manga and understood exactly what appeared within—recognizing its real value. Otherwise, he wouldn't be this excited, nor would the workers behind him seem similarly aware.
Perfect. By settling this once and for all now, there'd be fewer troubles later.
Akaba thought inwardly.
As for Ichiro Noda's intentions, Akaba knew them well—they wanted both wages and profit sharing. Simple enough.
"In that case, I can only offer a 5 percent share plus partial salary compensation. Exact numbers can be negotiated further."
"Great! Thank you for your generosity."
Ichiro Noda kept bowing repeatedly in gratitude, his expression filled with excitement.
At the same time, the crowd instantly buzzed with noise.
"Great! We actually have some business coming our way!"
"I wonder how much we'll make. At least it's something, better than nothing."
"Thank you, Master Sakuma! Thank you, Master Sakuma!"
Although Akaba was just a child, nobody dared to look down on him. Everyone addressed him respectfully as "Master Sakuma," their tone full of reverence.
It was because he bore the Sakuma name, because he had created such a manga, and because his speech revealed exceptional qualities—showing even ordinary people like them great respect.
Akaba felt satisfied inside, and also somewhat surprised.
Judging from their reactions, this manga deal could truly be considered a major commission, indicating that the printing industry in this world didn't yield high profits.
This place is full of untapped potential!
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Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** on the weekend!