"No!"
"This won't do either!"
"Still no!"
"What kind of garbage is all this?"
…
Konoha.
Konoha Newspaper Office.
President's office.
Homura Mitokado's eyes were bloodshot, his brows tightly furrowed. The floor was covered in piles of crumpled wastepaper.
After failing to seize control of Root, Homura was extremely eager to establish a career achievement of his own.
At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi had entrusted Konoha Weekly to him.
Homura decided to make a grand effort.
Not only would he succeed, he would do it well.
He would suppress Sunagakure's Shinobi World Major Events Weekly.
But Homura had thought too simply.
Only after truly starting did Homura realize that running a good newspaper was not so easy.
Leaving aside the resources required, the main issue was finding points that could attract readers.
Half news, half stories.
Homura decided to copy the module division of the Shinobi World Major Events Weekly.
As for the news content, Homura was not too worried. The Shinobi World War had only just ended. Many things could be turned into news. As long as a few items were attractive, that would be enough.
The Shinobi World Major Events Weekly was the same.
Not every piece of news was especially attractive.
What Homura mainly worried about was the fiction section.
Before the newspaper office location had even been finalized, Homura had already searched all across the village for writers.
And he did find quite a few people.
But the results were poor.
They left Homura deeply disappointed.
"What is going on?"
"Konoha has so many people, yet not a single one can write a novel that surpasses Kōga Ninja Scrolls?"
"Forget surpassing it. Not even one can match its quality?"
"Konoha cannot find even one such talent? I refuse to believe that!"
Homura Mitokado was very dissatisfied.
In Homura's view, Konoha was full of talent and prospered economically. In every aspect, it was stronger than Sunagakure.
Entertainment should be the same.
What kind of place was Sunagakure?
A barren land where birds would not even bother to shit.
They could barely fill their stomachs. What would they know about entertainment?
Homura had never thought Kōga Ninja Scrolls was that impressive.
Only now, after comparing it to the submissions before him, did Homura realize that perhaps it really was not so simple.
"If the fiction section fails, how can Konoha Weekly suppress Shinobi World Major Events Weekly?"
Homura felt a splitting headache.
"Where did Rasa find such talent?"
"Can I find a way to poach them?"
"Someone who spends so much time and energy writing novels should not be a ninja. Even if they are, they probably aren't a powerful ninja."
"It may not be impossible to bring them over."
Homura gave an order.
"Someone, contact our undercover agents hidden in Sunagakure. Find out exactly who this Kagetsu is."
"Yes, Homura-sama."
Watching the subordinate ninja leave, Homura's eyes flickered.
"But I cannot place all hope there."
"I still have to think of another way."
"If it comes to it, this old man will write personally."
As soon as that thought appeared, Homura's eyes could not help lighting up.
"That's right. I can write it myself. A story based on my own experiences will definitely be more attractive than something like Kōga Ninja Scrolls. After all, mine is a true story."
"Who would not be interested in the story of a Konoha elder and a direct disciple of the Second Hokage?"
Homura was very confident in this.
A ninja with decent writing skill was soon summoned to Homura's office.
"A story based on your achievements, Homura-sama?"
The young ninja froze.
"That's right."
Homura revealed a smile.
"These past few days, I have been working myself to exhaustion and reading countless manuscripts. Unfortunately, not one of them reached my requirements. Forget surpassing Kōga Ninja Scrolls. They could not even come close."
"Therefore, I can only sacrifice myself."
"Using my true experiences as material, the story written from them will naturally be realistic enough."
"It will be much stronger than a fabricated story like Kōga Ninja Scrolls."
The young ninja opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
But after seeing Homura's expression, he gave up.
He was only an ordinary ninja. The other party was a village elder, and also the president of the newspaper office. If he refuted Homura while Homura was so confident, would that not be asking for trouble?
The young ninja believed that once he objected, Homura would definitely become angry.
His own future would inevitably be greatly affected.
"Homura-sama, I will do my best."
Homura nodded and revealed a smile.
"When Konoha Weekly officially releases, it will definitely become extremely popular and crush Sunagakure's newspaper. At that time, I will certainly not forget your contribution."
"Thank you, Homura-sama."
And so, Homura dictated while the young ninja adapted.
The two busied themselves in the office.
They worked for a long time, putting in all their effort, forgetting food and sleep.
Homura read it again and again. The young ninja revised it again and again.
Finally, three days later, Homura and the young ninja completed the first part of the story.
"This will do."
Homura read it through once and was very satisfied.
"This story will definitely attract readers."
"It is far better than Kōga Ninja Scrolls."
"After all, this is the true story of this old man. It is the story of a legendary ninja like me, something ordinary people and ordinary ninja would never be able to come into contact with in their entire lives."
The Konoha Newspaper Office became busy.
Konoha did not have a talent like Chiyo. Therefore, under the same circumstances, it had to spend more resources than Sunagakure, and its efficiency was also somewhat slower.
But after seeing the influence of Shinobi World Major Events Weekly, all the Konoha ninja felt it was worth it.
No one thought establishing Konoha Weekly was a bad thing.
Their only worry was that Homura Mitokado would fail to run the newspaper well.
"Homura-sama, everything has been printed."
"Good. Then start delivering the papers!"
"Yes, Homura-sama."
One newspaper-office ninja after another walked out. First, they delivered the newspapers in all directions throughout Konoha Village. Afterward, other ninja carried the newspapers toward the major cities of the Land of Fire.
Some merchants also voluntarily took on part of the work.
Homura stood on the top floor of the newspaper office and looked down, a smile appearing on his face.
"Next, all that remains is to wait for the feedback."
"I have confidence. This will succeed!"
Before long, several ninja quickly returned in the direction of the newspaper office.
They came before Homura.
Homura raised his chin slightly.
"Speak. How is the situation?"
The ninja looked at one another, seemingly none of them wanting to speak first.
Homura became somewhat impatient and directly pointed at one of them.
"You. Speak."
"Yes, Homura-sama. The feedback I received was that they were very dissatisfied with the story in the newspaper. They said it was trash, boring to the extreme, and not interesting at all."
Homura's expression stiffened, and his face instantly darkened.