Bab 10: Family Counselor Masashi
Masashi, who was trying to make sense of this situation, bowed.
"Hokage-sama, you wanted to see me?" He asked politely and Naruto nodded.
Internally, Naruto was sizing him up. Kurama said that his chakra was both like a Jinchuuriki and unlike a Jinchuuriki.
[Can you sense anything specific, Kurama?] He hopes to gather more information to know what to look for
[Even I could hardly sense it, so you'd have to enter Sage Mode to find out yourself.] Kurama responds being far more interested than before.
Naruto didn't really want to cause a scene and seeing that Masashi came by, he decided to hold off on making a rash decision.
"Yes. Well, you see…Boruto bought one of your volumes and lied about his age." Naruto looked pretty embarrassed about it but was also hoping for some kind of reaction.
From what he knew about Masashi, he seemed pretty average. Painfully average. Now with new information, could there be something sinister going on? His strange chakra was all he had to go off.
Masashi turned his head to Boruto who didn't even try to hide the fact that he was avoiding his gaze.
"Really?" He asked without emotion considering that he really didn't care. If he did, then he never would have sold it to him. Honestly, he felt like this was just a waste of time.
He finally turned to Masashi.
"...Yes," He fidgetted before continuing, "I'm sorry." Boruto bowed apologetically.
"I'm also sorry for not saying anything. I didn't correct your assumption, so I lied too." Shikadai followed suit which made his mother and father happy. He naturally wasn't blameless in this situation.
If they knew the reality of the situation, they might be cursing Masashi instead. His business license would also be gone; however, the profit-seeker would never regret his decision. Hooking the protagonist is a vital part of his growth, it would've taken quite longer to get his first store if he stuck to the law.
"Hmm, then this could be quite bad since your friends came over to buy them." Masashi dropped that bombshell and Boruto paled along with Shikadai.
Naruto massaged his temples in disbelief while Hinata looked apologetic maybe thinking being banned from reading Masashi's books would be too light of a punishment.
Temari would have blown up ranting more, but since she's no longer amongst family and friends, she held herself back. The ANBU would not say anything anyway.
Shikamaru just wanted to go home.
"Alright, I'll have someone head over to bring them here." Naruto made yet another sign to gather all the parents and kids.
They all just stood in silence.
It quickly became awkward.
"Did you read the manga yet, Hokage-sama?" Masashi couldn't handle the silence anymore and tried making conversation.
"Yes! It was great, especially the training and the end. How'd you come up with this anyway?" Naruto's question was a loaded one since he is quite suspicious for good reason. Kurama also had his Negative Emotions Sensing if he showed hostility.
Everyone was interested, but mostly Boruto and Shikadai.
"Permission to speak freely?" Masashi asked and Naruto nodded. "All of the comic books I've read are all hot garbage. I also wasn't going anywhere with my shinobi career, so I decided to take a crack at it. At the end of the day, it was just my imagination."
Boruto was going to say something in response but stopped. His comic books couldn't compare to Demon Slayer. It's also why he's terrified of being banned.
Shikadai's mouth opened to ask a question before he could stop himself.
"Why is your shinobi going nowhere?" He felt a bit embarrassed since he asked that impulsively. It wasn't any of his business. Shikamaru and Temari also shot him an admonishing glare.
Masashi didn't take it to heart.
"I'm pretty average across the board for all shinobi arts. I probably could've made it to Jonin eventually, but with my newfound interest in creating art, I decided to focus on that." He shrugged his shoulders and didn't feel much of a loss. It was a realization he made quite a while ago.
"Oh." That was all Shikadai could say and his mother and father looked embarrassed that their son pried into a personal matter.
Boruto couldn't really relate to that since he's always been able to learn whatever his mother and father taught him pretty fast.
"Alright, alright, there's no need to interrogate Masashi," Naruto laughed before continuing, "Onto something lighter, Masashi, how do you feel about me as Hokage or in general?" This question would make it easier to sense any hostility for Kurama's ability, so he got right to the point. He's not the Hokage for nothing and learned quite a bit about disguising his intentions.
Now, all the adults know that there was something off. They knew Naruto very well, and for him to be asking such a thing at a time like this…Naruto must know something about Masashi that has him guarded.
Masashi was no fool, though, as he sensed that there was some suspicion towards him. He just didn't know what or why.
'Why is he on my ass? What did I do?' Masashi felt wronged. Wasn't he the victim here? He tried thinking hard about it, going through everything he did today for anything that would cause suspicion.
He couldn't think of anything outside of his newly awakened system, but that was impossible. Sure, he had no supplier, or facilities to make so many volumes…oh. Yeah, that could be it. There's no way he could sense my system right? He would've said something when they first met if he could. Kurama, maybe?
That does bring into question how his system works. It uses his chakra to make volumes, but the system itself shouldn't be detectable. He made it seem he was thinking hard about Naruto's question but in reality, he was trying to understand why he would be suspicious. Could it really just be that he has no way of proving how he makes the volumes?
Making the volumes…oh! The computer! He never really thought about it, but where does the computer go when he unsummons it?
It was likely inside of him since he always feels a tug whenever he brings it out and a pull when he puts it back. Wait, could that be it?
Why is he thinking so hard on this anyway? Does it matter if he's suspicious or not? At worst, he can claim it as some kind of new-era bloodline.
Would he ever tell them about the system? Sure! Once he can solo both Naruto and Sasuke, he will. So…never!
"Permission to speak freely once more, Hokage-sama?" He asked and Naruto smiled and nodded. "I think you're pretty dumb."
Boruto, never expecting to hear such a response, laughed loudly. If not for his mother's stern glare, he probably would be rolling on the ground gasping for air from laughing too hard.
Temari and Shikamaru both disguised a snort as a cough. Even Hinata thought it was a bit funny.
Naruto didn't, but he was outvoted. Even Kurama admired his boldness.
He sighed before asking, "and why do you feel that way?"
"Well, for someone who's known for the Shadow Clone Jutsu, you don't seem to use it at all for paperwork." He would've said more but commenting on his family life and his dream of Hokage from a young age would've been a step too far. It's not any of his business.
Boruto had a look of realization.
"Yeah! Why don't you use them for work so you can fi–" He stopped himself from discussing his family life with someone he just met. Everyone in the room knew what he was going to say though.
Naruto had a guilty look on his face and Hinata looked down, knowing how much their son wants more time with his father.
"It seems you know of the memory transfer, but that only happens once they are dispelled. If I were to assign shadow clones, then they could write conflicting statements that would take even longer to undo." Naruto sighed and Boruto deflated. It sounded like another excuse to him.
Shikamaru also nodded considering Naruto tried it before in the past but it ended up taking the whole night to fix it.
Masashi wasn't done though.
"...then couldn't you have a clone or two specifically for that issue? They could go over all the paperwork to make sure there aren't any contradictions or conflicts of interest." He explained.
It was as if a bolt of lightning struck Naruto.
'How…How could I not have thought of this?' He felt like slamming his head against the desk. After seeing clones not working, he never tried experimenting considering the first time had so much to fix that he didn't want to go through that again.
Shikamaru was openly gaping. He began to think about it and that should work. How could he have missed something so obvious? He knew the answer though. Shikamaru simply didn't want to deal with that level of cleanup ever again so he pushed it into the back of his mind.
Boruto felt hope seeing his father's and Shikamaru's expressions. Could it really work?
"That…will probably work." Naruto was stunned and his previous suspicions began to die down. Could someone with hostility towards him or his family be willing to help him?
Naruto hasn't trained in a long time and it's beginning to show, but now? He will be able to get the ball rolling again. Masashi would have to be brain-dead if he had any ill will towards him.
The strange chakra was a concern but perhaps he could just ask? Masashi never showed any signs of being hostile. He felt a bit embarrassed by his suspicions. Naruto made up his mind and at some point, he would ask him.
Masashi's actions weren't entirely selfless. He had to get rid of suspicion and a stronger Naruto with more family time and training will be beneficial for the Otsutsuki Invasion.
Boruto suddenly hugged Masashi surprising those in the room. He quickly let go and didn't explain himself, but those in the know soon smiled.
"Thank you, Masashi. I'll be sure to try it once all this is settled." Naruto truly meant that. He knew he wasn't spending enough time with his family, but now it seems he could.
Soon after, all the children and adults were present. Sakura, Ino, Sai, Rock Lee, Choji, and Karui.
"What's going on, Naruto?" Sakura asked.
He sighed before explaining everything to his friends.
Seeing that their children didn't both correcting Masashi's and abusing his trust, they glared at their kids.
The kids barely got to the training on the mountain before they got called in. Seeing, that Naruto said Masashi could ban them and the possible repercussions the author could face, they paled.
"I'm sorry!" They bowed, in near unison, which would be funny if it weren't so serious.
It was still funny to Masashi though.
Seeing that Ino didn't bow, the other parents got confused.
"I already bought a copy for Inojin, so he didn't know about the restriction," Sai explained and the other parents nodded.
Ino, who wanted to express gratitude to Masashi, decided to send a mental message. Sai normally doesn't give gifts but this time he went out of his way to get something for her and Inojin. It also helped that she liked the manga a lot.
She also wanted to see his reaction to a voice in his head. It was always funny to her.
Sending the message, she realizes that the connection that normally forms isn't there. Ino's eyes narrowed and tried again, but she couldn't feel anything.
She shook her head and decided to tell Naruto about it once this was over.
Masashi looked at all of them before nodding.
"Alright, so long as you call me the Sage of the Six Arts, I won't ban you." He decided to have a bit of fun and it's not impossible either. He may not have six sections but he remembered that his terminal had gray and unreadable text so there should be more. One day, though.
"Sage of the Six Arts, please don't ban us!' They all pleaded while bowing.
The adults, realizing what was happening, tried their best not to burst out laughing. Kurama had no reservations about it though.
"Alright, you're all fine then." Masashi also had to refrain from laughing.
The kids were dismissed and that only left the adults left.
Naruto decided to just straight up ask right then and there.
"Why does your chakra have similar aspects to a Jinchuuriki?" He asked bluntly and that got a shocked look from the rest.
Masashi just sighed. He didn't expect the Hokage to just be straight up like that, but he was Naruto after all.
"I recently discovered that I have a…strange bloodline," Masashi explained and the adults grew interested.
"Can you demonstrate?" Shikamaru asked.
Masashi nodded before summoning his computer in his hand.
[There! That's what I felt!] Kurama noted and Naruto gave a skeptical glance.
What kind of bloodline was this?
That was everyone's thought in the room.
Masashi decided to show a bit more.
"Through this computer, I can create things." Masashi pulled up his Illustrative Creation and made a meme.
Teuchi with a 10-tails Jinchuuriki cloak with floating black and white bowls. This was the Sage of the Six Bowls.
He printed it out and everyone was shocked. Kurama is more so.
[This…is this Yin-Yang Release?] Kurama was shocked and so was Naruto.
"This is how you create your manga?" Naruto asked before Masashi nodded.
All his suspicions died right there. This explains everything.
"Can you create anything else?" Sakura asked.
"Only manga and artwork like this." He responded.
"So paper as a medium then?" Sai mused.
[That's a very specific use of Yin-Yang Release, but it's not impossible for it to be a bloodline.] Kurama still thought it was weird but didn't say anything further.
"Alright, thank you, Masashi. You can go now." Naruto smiled and Masashi made his way out.
Naruto wanted to ask what they thought about it and thought Teuchi being depicted like that was hilarious, but Ino spoke up first.
"Naruto, there's something I just found out about him." Ino thought that the bloodline could explain his resistance but that didn't seem enough.
Everyone awaited her words.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
UnrelatableAuthor
UnrelatableAuthor Sorry for the no update yesterday, trying to fix my schedule.
Until next time!
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone