The days of being a puppeteer in Konoha

Chapter 44 Acting

How could I be inferior to Obito, the last one?

Even if it was just about setting up stalls, Asma would never admit that such a ridiculous thing would happen!

——Just like he doesn’t admit that Obito had ever defeated him in Pocket Puppetmon.

In Asuma's opinion, Obito was just lucky. He was chosen by the teacher to be the object to control Charmander when demonstrating Charmander, so he was barely qualified to compete with him.

Even in the last few rounds of battle, Asuma felt that if he had not treated his opponent as his teacher and overlooked several flaws thinking they were traps, he would not have lost to Obito, the perennial loser.

However, the objective fact that he was defeated by Obito still made Asuma feel uncomfortable as if he had eaten a fly, so he has been a little sensitive about Obito's affairs recently.

So when Asuma heard Sensei Hideki say that he couldn't beat Obito, he was immediately furious and his head was buzzing.

But he quickly took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and began to wonder if the teacher was bluffing him.

For that idiot Obito, it's lucky that his stall wasn't taken away by someone, how could he possibly get such high evaluation from the teacher?
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
It can be seen that the teacher still has a smiling face, and Asuma can't sit still anymore.

"Teacher, you stay here and don't move. I'm going to the toilet."

After saying this, Asuma ran away.

Then not long after, Asma came back with a constipated look on his face.

If he really was going to the bathroom, the process probably wouldn't have been smooth.

Fortunately, Asuma actually went to Obito's side.

The reason why he made this expression was because he found that what his teacher said was true, and Obito's business was indeed very good.

Especially when he saw that Obito could quickly get along with adults and children, Asuma found himself a little envious...

However, the critical attack on Asuma has not yet ended.

Because when he returned to his stall, he found that there were quite a few customers surrounding it.

The teacher has also skillfully taken on the job of a vendor, selling various toys to the customers around him while observing their reactions.

Asuma felt that his teacher didn't seem to need him at all, and his heart suddenly felt empty and lost.

Fortunately, when Hideki saw him coming back, he didn't say much. He just waved for him to come over, then handed the cash box to him and took charge of collecting the money and giving the change.

Asma was a little absent-minded at first, but under the urging of customers, he gradually got into the state and began to work seriously.

As the guests slowly dispersed, Asma looked at the gradually filling cash box and felt an inexplicable sense of accomplishment.

But this is obviously just a stall...

However, the teacher's words quickly brought him back to reality:
"Well, I didn't lie about Obito's situation, did I?"

Asuma knew he couldn't hide it from his teacher, but he still didn't want to admit that he lost to Obito, so he just pouted and said:

"Tsk, it's nothing special."

"It's just that setting up a stall is too easy, I didn't take it seriously, otherwise I would definitely be able to defeat Obito."

“Setting up a stall is no small feat.”

Hideki smiled and shook his head.

"Unless you have the natural affinity of Obito, who can get along with everyone quickly..."

"Otherwise, how to advertise and sell, how to promote products, and how to bargain are all subjects that you will never be able to learn in your lifetime."

"And Asuma, you should have learned in class that when ninjas are on a mission, they often need to disguise themselves to get information."

"So various disguises are also skills that an excellent ninja should master."

"Stall vendors who are not too conspicuous and convenient for getting all kinds of information are a very good choice."

Yes, there is a trick called disguise...

Hearing this, Asuma began to think.

He finally realized that the reason why Obito was able to defeat him was simply because his personality was more suitable for setting up a stall than his.

But if he concealed his true nature and disguised himself as a vendor like a ninja, the result would be different.

Asuma, who had found the winning formula, was no longer perfunctory as before and was eager to try the stall job:
"Teacher, let me do it."

"Isn't it just acting? I did really well in espionage classes at school."

Just then a passerby came over.

At Hideki's signal, Asuma also put on a smile and stepped forward to greet them. "Hello, sister. These are the latest toys launched by Konoha. Do you see if there are any that suit your taste?"

You know what, Asma doesn't seem to be bragging. Although his acting is still a bit exaggerated, his usual rebelliousness is no longer noticeable.

Or maybe his usual rebelliousness is not Asuma's nature, but just a protective color.

When he was busy disguising himself as other identities, it was naturally difficult to maintain both at the same time.

Seeing Asuma begin to kindly introduce various toys to the guests, Hideki nodded with some satisfaction.

People have double standards.

Although Asuma seems to hate the identity of the Hokage's son, it is only limited to the bad aspects.

He did not dislike the flattery and cultivation resources he received because of this identity, and even felt that it was a matter of course.

That's why he subconsciously rejects low-class jobs like setting up stalls, and doesn't consider other people's feelings when dealing with people.

Therefore, the key to correcting Asuma's character is to completely free him from the constraints of his identity as the son of Hokage.

If this is a TV series about Hideki's previous life, the screenwriter would probably use some operations such as exile, accidental amnesia, family decline, and the death of the whole family to let the protagonist accept the reality...

Unfortunately, these methods are obviously difficult to use on Asuma.

So Hideki had to find another way and let Asuma temporarily get rid of the role of the Hokage's son by playing other identities.

Fortunately, ninjas are required to have the skills of disguise and role-playing.

With Obito as his rival, Asuma willingly began to play the role of a stall vendor.

Although it was just a disguised identity, it was enough to be a window that provided Asuma with a new perspective.

As for whether Asuma can gradually break free from the shackles of being the son of Hokage in disguise and more quickly become the calm and reliable Asuma teacher in the original work.

Or will his acting skills become even better in disguise, and he can even play the role of the ideal son of Hokage in everyone's mind, it all depends on Asuma's own choice.

As a teacher, Hideki has always followed this principle:

At most, he would take the student to a fork in the road and let him see what the scenery would be like on different roads.

As for which path to take, it is up to them to decide...

Asma's performance continues.

Having successfully served several customers, he gradually became more confident and cheerful, making it difficult for Hideki to tell whether he was acting or not.

But it’s easy to change the country, but difficult to change one’s nature.

As the number of customers increased, Asma gradually became complacent, and his usual character began to show up again...

For example, some children see the Rubik's Cube and think it is colorful and beautiful, and beg their parents to buy it.

Asuma subconsciously reminded:

"You can't figure out how to play with this Rubik's Cube, so just play with the dolls."

The child was so angry that he cried.

Or maybe someone is curious about how to play yo-yo and asks Asuma to show them.

As a result, Asuma wanted to show off his skills again, so he performed a dazzling set of difficult double-ball moves.

Then they directly persuaded the guests to leave...

Asuma also gradually became frustrated and confused.

He hadn't imagined that just saying something to please the customers would be so difficult.

It turns out that the guys who have been fawning over him are taking on such difficult challenges every day?
But Hideki knew that the boy just hadn't fully gotten into the role yet, so he rolled his eyes and came up with another naughty idea.

He walked up to Asuma, patted his shoulder and said comfortingly:
"It's okay. It's a little difficult to receive guests right from the start. It's not a bad idea to start by practicing with advertising slogans."

After that, Hideki took out a prepared note from his sleeve and handed it to Asuma.

This was originally just a weapon he used just in case, but he never expected it to come in handy.

Asuma took the note with a half-believing look, and then his expression gradually became more and more strange...

Because the note said:
[The largest toy factory in the Land of Fire, Ichiraku Toy Factory, has closed down! The bastard boss Naruto spent his money on eating, drinking, whoring and gambling, owed 3.5 million, and ran away with his sister-in-law! We have no choice but to use the toys to pay our wages. The original price of toys that cost taels, taels, are now taels! All for only taels...]

(End of this chapter)