"Yeah, stick that one right here."
"Don't place the shelves like that. They should be symmetrical—do you understand balance and beauty?"
"...".
Inside the shop, Akaba stood at the door, shouting orders.
Eventually, when they still didn't get what he meant, he simply cast a genjutsu so they could visualize exactly how he wanted things arranged.
"Your store isn't finished yet? Then I guess I'll have to come back this afternoon."
Just as Akaba was struggling with all the chaos, a voice came from above.
He looked up to see Tsunade, clad in a simple martial arts outfit, leaping gracefully from the rooftop.
"I'm really not in the mood right now,"
Akaba rubbed his temples. These past few days alone, he'd used Multiple Shadow Clones at least three times a day—and still had to pitch in painting—just to stay on schedule.
If he hadn't spent over a hundred hard-earned stat points—trading 100 for 1 willpower and 5 physique upgrades—it never would've held up under this pressure.
"Tsk, I'm only here to check if the manga is out yet. Also, have you seen Jiraiya these past few days?"
Tsunade scowled, but underneath the disdain, she was clearly worried. She hadn't seen Jiraiya since she'd punched him two days ago.
"Jiraiya?"
Akaba paused slightly. Last time, Jiraiya misunderstood his words and left excitedly—he just… vanished after that?
Noticing Akaba's subtle change in expression, Tsunade immediately pressed on, "You've seen him, haven't you?"
"He did come find me, and yes, he misinterpreted my meaning, thinking he drew well indeed."
After a moment's consideration, Akaba decided to share his suspicion. "If you're looking for him, you might try checking the bathhouses around Konoha or nearby villages."
"Bathhouses?"
Tsunade blinked, processing for several seconds before realization hit. She exploded in fury: "That dirty old man! Pervert! Creep! I'll kill him! Break every bone in his body!"
With that, she stormed off in fury.
Akaba just stood there speechless—face-palming inwardly.
Never would've guessed Jiraiya actually believed his suggestion and went out conducting field research.
"Well... oh well then. Hope you can save yourself, Jiraiya."
Akaba decided not to get involved—it wasn't worth the effort when he was already this wiped out. Besides, even if caught, it probably wouldn't be life-threatening, right?
Under his direct supervision, the store gradually took shape, acquiring a proper manga shop vibe.
"Kazuma, there's a truck at our clan compound carrying hundreds of manga books."
Sakuma Chiaki's voice rang from outside.
"Good. Just let them know we want the delivery brought here."
Akaba smiled happily.
The arms factory delivered right on time—that was the only good news for the past three days.
Once the printed manga arrived, they could finish setting up and officially open immediately.
Sure enough, soon personnel from the arms factory arrived pulling carts, and the team leader turned out to be Ichiro Noda.
"Mr. Sakuma, we've brought all the manga books. Where should we put them?"
Ichiro Noda bowed respectfully to Akaba.
"Just help me display these books neatly on the shelves."
While fiddling with one particular crate, Akaba spoke to Ichiro Noda.
This crate was clearly marked with the word "Raffle".
Old Ma's favorite technique was the lottery system - an ingenious way to make customers feel like lucky winners even as they spent their money.
"Sure thing, leave it to us," Ichiro Noda readily agreed, and the others enthusiastically helped move the cargo as well.
Akaba took a moment to examine their work. They had wrapped everything almost as skillfully as he would have done himself, and actually surpassed his own craftsmanship when it came to bookbinding techniques.
No wonder they were professionals - solid and reliable!
His satisfaction grew. Choosing to use an official factory for production had clearly been the right decision - their skills were more than adequate.
Even with this many people helping, hundreds of books still took some time to finish arranging. When the manga volumes finally filled the shelves completely, Akaba had just finished setting up all the various lottery prizes.
At this point, everything at the manga shop was ready for opening business.
As Akaba went to hang the signboard, he turned around and noticed someone slowly approaching within his vision.
Nara Loe!
As the figure drew closer, he looked up and saw the shop sign in Akaba's hands - the final touch before opening.
"Akaba Manga Shop - I guess I'm the first customer," said Nara Loe.
He walked unhurriedly forward.
"Why are you always so punctual, Nara Loe?"
Akaba suspected this guy must calculate the timing perfectly - otherwise how could he always arrive exactly on time for class?
"I felt like this should be about the right time to open, so I came to check it out."
Nara Loe answered honestly, arriving at the store precisely when Akaba finished hanging the sign.
Stepping inside, he casually grabbed one volume from the shelf and brought it to the counter.
"One hundred silver taels. As our first customer, you can get one poster - let me think... How about this one? Plus, you get one chance to pull the lottery."
Akaba retrieved a poster that had been rolled up behind the counter.
This poster featured Shikamaru Nara, which happened to suit Nara Loe perfectly.
Nara Loe hadn't expected a gift and accepted it somewhat surprisedly. Then he watched Akaba bring out a box labeled "Lottery".
"Do I just reach my hand in?"
He hesitated briefly before putting his hand into the cardboard box.
The next second, Nara Loe pulled out a slip of paper and unfolded it: "Thank you for your patronage."
He glanced at the clearly labeled odds beside the lottery box, slightly stunned.
30% chance: Thank you for your patronage
50% chance: One small poster
10% chance: One medium-sized poster
1% chance: One unique poster
"So I hit the 30% chance?"
Nara Loe somewhat helplessly put away the slip of paper, then unfolded the poster he'd received as the first customer.
Unfolding it revealed...
A man with a topknot hairstyle wearing a lazy expression - visually, this gave Nara Loe a strong sense of familiarity.
"Who is this?"
Nara Loe asked in some surprise, "Someone from the Nara family?"
"Yes, a character modeled after you. Maybe suitable for your collection."
Akaba pointed toward the lower right corner of the poster.
There, written clearly, was the character's name: Shikamaru Nara.
"Thanks, Shikamaru Nara."
Carefully rolling up the poster, Nara Loe gave a grateful wave before walking out slowly, eyes already on the manga volume in his hand.
Truth be told, Akaba never expected Nara Loe to show up as the first customer.
Because during class whenever he drew something, Nara Loe always showed the lowest enthusiasm. Now seeing this, perhaps he simply didn't want to bother competing earlier - waiting until the comics were released so he could read them all at once and save trouble.
"As expected, they're all pretty sluggish. Pity the Ino–Shika–Cho rarely split up. Otherwise, teaming up with Loe would've been great."
Akaba sighed slightly, then formed hand seals and created a clone.
"I'll leave things here to you. I'm going to rest for a bit."
"Do I have a choice?"
The clone sighed in frustration. The other staff at the store were technically available to help, but none knew anything about lotteries or could tell one poster from another.
In that case, looks like the poor guy stuck doing the grunt work had no choice but to work hard again. It's not like this rough life was anything new.
Sighing quietly, the clone sat down to wait for the next customer.
With Loe—the top customer—walking out while reading manga, it turned into free publicity. Believing it wouldn't be long before the next wave of customers arrived.
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~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** on the weekend!