Chapter 09

"Delicious," I say with a twinkle in my eye as I try a second bite of a dango I just bought at a little store near the subway.

Luckily the station wasn't so crowded and I get a seat by the window.

I took the first boarding at the station towards Osaka city which is 25 minutes away by train.

Looking out the window I am impressed by the beautiful landscape.

In the last few days the only thing I did was train and train. I felt I urgently needed to take a break and seek calmer-minded inspirations.

It was useless for me to seek power in a desperate way, as this would only have the opposite effects of what was intended. A calm mind can get better results with less effort.

Sure, maybe that was the lazy side of me trying to argue, but there were some truths to that philosophy.

With the last days of vacation numbered and classes close to start, today's goal was to attend the call of a novel editor company and relax.

Yes, I was about to go through an interview and if all went well my new Naruto novel would be sponsored.

I crack a smile at the thought of the money I could make.

Changing the subject...

One of the skills that I honed tremendously since I've been reincarnated, that maybe people think is totally wrong and perverted, but I don't care about their opinions was---

"80, 60, 88 ... 82, 63, 80 ... 79, 59, 81 ..." I whispered softly as I passed a number of girls who walked, talked and smiled among themselves.

From their perspective, I hadn't even deigned to look at them. But if one could go back in time and see the scene in slow motion, they would see my pupils moving at tremendous speed.

It was my perverted stelf technique.

Although I said earlier that my purpose here was not training, but the truth was...

Just like in movies and stories the monks search caves and mountains to unleash new power... This was my period of enlightenment.

With this training I was hoping to improve my reflexes and vision for battle, not to mention improving the fast use of Appraise Magic to be really effective in fast situations.

By not using mana in appraise women's measure, this was the perfect training for me to keep spamming this spell to improve the speed I use it.

This is the power of discipline and perversion.

In front of a three-story building, I enter the reception and hand my ID to the concierge.

The formalities didn't take long and I was soon allowed to go upstairs, as I had an appointment with the editor-in-chief.

"It's a pleasure to have you here with us, Moto-sensei. You can call me Elena." said a very attractive brunette as she got up from a small table and came to shake my hand in greeting.

"83, 59, 84."

"Huh? Did you say something?" The brunette thought she heard something, but I said it too quietly to be understandable.

I place my index finger at the juncture of my glasses and say, "It's your imagination," extending my right hand to greet her and, "I was just going to say it's all my pleasure to be here today."

"It's nice to see such polite young people these days," She smiles brightly and invites me to sit in the chair opposite her desk.

"I confess I didn't think you were so young. Your story of the Naruto ninja is impressive and our entire team sees great potential in it. Although some changes need to be made to improve, overall it's a brilliant idea. How did you have so much creativity for that?"

"I don't know. Inspiration just comes to my mind spontaneously, like it comes from another world."

Elana's eyes light up as it looks like their company was very lucky to find such a talented young man.

"Unfortunately some things will have to be changed..." She says in a sad voice.

I raise an eyebrow at that. I had done a decent job of replicating the Naruto story, although some details might have been a little different --- I'm confident that 98% is identical to the anime's story.

"And that would be?"

"There are a lot of flashbacks, we'll have to cut them at least in half. Only the scene of Naruto in the ninja academy swing was 16 more times. Not to mention Lee's training flashbacks when he was injured in the chunin exam."

Looks like I haven't removed flashbacks enough.

"Okay, feel free to do that."

"If the novel sells well and the work wins a manga or anime adaptation, you could also make some changes to the ninja's clothing."

"Is there a problem with their clothes?" I asked truly confused.

"Moto-sensei, I've been working in this anime business for over 10 years, trust my experience. Let's make the kunoiche's clothes more-- how can I say? Revealing. And the clothes in general let's give it a little more vivid colors to them."

"..." This world is even more perverted than I thought.

"And in the end I advise you to add some Mechas when Naruto comes back from three years training with Jiraya."

"Mecha?"

"Don't ask me why, but young people love it. Every anime no matter how bad the plot is, if there's Mecha and fanservice involved it becomes sales hits," Elena said with a shrug.

I stand silently contemplating the options.

"Remember, Moto-sensei," Elena gives me a sincere look and says, "All I've told you are my professional opinions and you're not really obligated to make these changes. I'm just fighting for our mutual interest. "

After thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that I didn't really care about the story to be so overprotective of it. After all, this wasn't even my creation.

My only objective was to make money and if that would increase the success of my story and sales I would gladly make the changes.

After making sure I negotiated and managed to close an economic deal with favorable terms for me, I headed out of there.

It was still early and therefore I still had a lot of time. Instead of going back to the station to go back to Kuoh, I find a restaurant so I can enjoy a good meal.

Osaka city was even more developed than Kuoh, with many high-rise buildings and well-developed infrastructure, it is known as one of the biggest economic centers in Japan, second only to Tokyo and Yohama.

After walking and taking the opportunity to be here for a walk, I decide to stop at a place of interest.

In the countless books I read on Hikimage, I got information not only on spells, but also useful information on mage society. It was through this knowledge that I got to know this place and I was very lucky to be around.

In front of me was the image of a large bar that has a very discreet movement of customers. The facade of the establishment was made of wood with typical Japanese architecture, with a very tasteful standard.

Upon entering the establishment, I look around enjoying the scene and look for an appropriate place to sit. I chose exactly the chairs in front of the counter and there I snuggle as much as possible.

The atmosphere of the place is cozy, with very subtle music in the background that didn't bother me at all. Also, looking liquor bottles of all kinds can be seen on shelves in the back as decorations and they all seemed to be quite expensive.

The bartender, who was serving another customer, seeing a teenager like me sitting on the nearby bench, he finds a way to quickly finish that customer and then comes towards me.

"What are you doing here? Are you old enough to be here, boy?"

"I just came to honor tradition," I tell him smiling.

His eyes flutter open slightly, but are soon replaced by a look of understanding.

"What can I help you with, sir?"

I pull a paper out of my pocket and drag it across the counter.

As he reads, I say, "I want the items written there ASAP."

"This will take a few days," he replied calmly, not surprised by my demands.

"It's great for me."

"Half the payment has to be upfront," he said quietly.

I regretfully remove a rather fat envelope from my pocket and hand it to him. It was difficult to get rid of so much money.

I got that money by selling some limited edition 3d anime miniature dolls, which the previous Motohama had as a collection. Some crazy fans were able to pay a fortune for this and I just took advantage of the situation.

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you, dear customer," He says smiling before offering, "Would you like anything else? A drink maybe?"

Oh? It seemed like my age no longer mattered. I confess the idea was tempting, not that I was an alcoholic in my past life or anything. But the main problem was... I didn't have much more money and things here seemed pretty expensive.

Ugh. I felt terrible without money. A man without money is a man without protection.

"I'll leave it for next time."

The day had been fun and refreshing for my mind, but not only that… I'd gotten a lot of benefits too.

My mood couldn't be better as I knew things were heading for me.

It was a pity that tomorrow I would have my first class after my vacation in Kuoh.

I need to get stronger faster 'cause time runs fast.