Bab 138: Chapter 164
"Naruto" was published alongside the final chapter of "Cardcaptor Sakura."
The new manga had an exceptionally high release rate, with five chapters per week!
This was due to the story's length and Ren's desire not to be bogged down by a single manga.
Additionally, Senju Danso was very supportive, wanting to see more content each week rather than just two chapters.
Senju Danso provided Ren with several manga assistants from Japan to help produce the manga, leading to this high release rate.
This week's story revealed how the villagers treated Naruto as the embodiment of the Nine-Tails Fox, showing him nothing but coldness. To gain their recognition, Naruto constantly played pranks around the village to get attention.
As time passed, the ninja school graduation exam approached. Naruto, who was always at the bottom of his class, failed the exam. However, after stealing the Scroll of Seals and his subsequent actions, he finally earned Iruka-sensei's recognition and graduated. He was then assigned to a team with Sasuke and Sakura.
Their mentor, Kakashi, put them through various tests during their survival training to foster teamwork, ultimately deeming them qualified. Naruto and his teammates learned the importance of working together.
"'Naruto'...," mused Ren, whose reputation as a rising star in the manga world had fans eagerly anticipating his new work. However, the manga's title made many fans feel a sense of disappointment.
A manga about ninjas?
A Chinese artist drawing about Japanese ninjas?
Some even thought they had bought the wrong manga, repeatedly checking to ensure they had the right one. The cover, featuring a boy with whisker marks and spiky blond hair, confirmed it was indeed Ren's new work, "Naruto."
Though the content was entertaining, it was still about ninjas, which led to heated discussions online. The forums buzzed with debates and battles of words.
Opinions on "Naruto" were divided.
"Why is a Chinese person drawing about Japanese ninjas? Isn't Chinese martial arts or immortals good enough?"
"Is he promoting Japanese culture?"
"Gross, from today on, Ren is my most hated manga artist, bar none!"
"It's disgusting, kneeling to Japan? Did he forget our national grudge? Such an artist should be banned!"
These were the voices of the critics, but Ren also had staunch supporters.
"Why can't a Chinese person draw ninjas? It's not even set in Japan. By that logic, should we stop drawing isekai novels too, because they're Western? No more heroes, demons, angels, or wizards in our works then?"
"Exactly, it's 2022. Who cares about this anymore?"
"When Ren drew 'Cooking Master Boy,' nobody praised him as an ambassador of Chinese culture."
The debates were heated.
However, more people supported Ren than opposed him. As one commenter pointed out, it's 2022, and as long as he isn't overtly supporting Japan, who cares?
Despite the majority support, there were still plenty of negative comments that Ren couldn't ignore.
"Honey, don't get upset. It's obvious that some of these comments are from paid trolls," Jada said, worried that Ren might be hurt by the backlash, trying to comfort him.
Ren looked at Jada, smiled, and said, "I'm not angry. There's no shortage of keyboard warriors. If I got mad at all of them, I'd have flipped tables over the comments about my previous works."
As he spoke, Ren picked up his phone to type a response. But then he looked at Jada, a strange expression on his face. "Wait, I'm about to reply to these people, and you're not stopping me? Aren't you worried I'll say something to make them angrier?"
"Why would I stop you?" Jada looked puzzled. "As long as you don't curse, say whatever you want."
Typically, most manga artists would stay silent to avoid provoking readers. But Jada supported Ren's decision to respond. Seeing him get attacked by a bunch of trolls made her angry too.
As long as Ren's responses didn't contain offensive language, she didn't mind. After all, Ren was now a public figure.
"Besides, even if your comments are too harsh and you get banned, I can support you for the rest of your life!" Jada joked.
Thanks to Ren's help, her company had grown significantly. Even if Ren stopped working, their merchandise alone could make a lot of money.
"Really? Then I'll rely on my rich wife!" Ren said, burying his face in Jada's chest and enjoying the comfort before picking up his phone again.
He carefully composed his response.
It wasn't an aggressive comment, just a logical argument: "If our vast Chinese culture can be overshadowed by a single ninja manga, then that's truly a tragedy for our nation."
He attached a previous illustration of Naruto to his post.
Shortly after he posted, the comment section exploded. No one expected Ren to post at such a time.
"He's doing this on purpose!"
"Is he untouchable? Traitor! Chinese traitor!"
"Your work is disgusting!"
But many also supported him.
"Exactly. If our culture is so fragile that one ninja manga can overshadow it, how weak is it?"
"Thumbs up! Our culture doesn't fear challenges! Any culture is a paper tiger before ours!"
"Paper tiger? I think Ren's just out of ideas, bringing in all this random culture for you guys to read!"
Seeing the mixed comments, Ren felt a bit better.
Just then, Jada received a phone call. "Yes, please send the materials over. I'll take a look."
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Status Power Mingguan
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Power 
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