Full-time comic artist

Sakurada: "He's such an idiot. But I really don't understand Paprika."

Suzuki: "Me too, I just can't stand him. It's despicable for a petty person to get ahead."

Sato: "+1."

Sakurada: "It's more complicated than Death Note."

Sato: "Have you guys seen the latest Death Note anime?"

Sakurada: "I watched it! It's so interesting! Light found a clue first; he discovered that Kira isn't trying to punish criminals, but rather to profit. 'Once you get Kira's power, you'll only use it for your own benefit.' Light's line was perfect!"

Suzuki: "Isn't Yue smarter than L? He discovered three cases where the victims were executives of different well-known Japanese companies. And of these three companies, only Yotsuba's stock was rising."

Suzuki: "After he expanded the scope of his investigation, he discovered as many as thirteen cases that were favorable to Yotsuba Corporation!"

Sakurada: "Hey, who are you talking to? It's not like we haven't seen it before."

Suzuki: "I'm just too excited, this reasoning is brilliant."

Sakurada: "That's right. I heard from Kishimoto-sensei that 'Death Note' is number one again."

Suzuki: "I knew it. So tell me, why doesn't Tori Akino-sensei focus on drawing Death Note?"

Sakurada: "Who knows?"

……

Sakurada turned around and looked at Masashi Kishimoto.

He is Kishimoto's assistant, and he came to work today.

But Kishimoto's expression was not good. After discussing the results of "Death Note", he kept talking with the editor, Mr. Yahagi, who had rushed over.

Sakurada's job assignment hadn't been given yet, so he started posting on the forum first.

"What exactly happened?"

An hour had passed, and Kishimoto and Yahagi still hadn't returned from the study.

Sakurada shut down her computer and wandered aimlessly around the studio.

"Did Mr. Yahagi bring this?"

On Kishimoto's desk, there was a table listing the rankings of the young male protagonists in Weekly Shonen Jump issue 32.

"Let me see... Death Note is far ahead of One Piece, The Prince of Tennis is third, Blind Soccer is fourth... wait, what about Naruto?"

Naruto has always been the number one manga after One Piece. It has been in second place for a long time.

Kishimoto has been working hard to surpass Oda and become the top pillar of Jump.

He was full of confidence and encouraged his assistants.

Sakurada also felt that Naruto might defeat One Piece.

After all, Naruto is more popular overseas, in China and Europe and America.

This shows that Naruto is not inferior to One Piece in terms of its brilliance.

Sakurada mustered all her strength, wanting to work hard for Kishimoto.

But now...

"Naruto... 8th place?"

……

"Naruto's performance was not good."

In the coffee shop, Higashino Hibiki ate jelly and looked at the reports with a sigh.

"No matter how bad it is, it's still better than Paprika," Koji Yoshida muttered, venting his dissatisfaction.

Hibiki Higashino acted as if he hadn't heard, "The recent Naruto episodes are about the Chunin Exams, so why are the results so bad? Isn't that interesting?"

When he watched Naruto, his favorite chapter was the Chunin Exams.

Some even thought that Naruto would briefly surpass One Piece.

"Because of the villain Orochimaru," Yoshida explained, "readers gave feedback such as 'He's disgusting,' 'He has no image whatsoever,' and 'He has no class.' Kishimoto-kun has suffered a major failure this time."

"Orochimaru?" Hibiki Higashino asked incredulously.

“That’s right.” Yoshida blinked, not understanding why Higashino Hibiki was reacting so strongly.

""

Chapter 306 Comforting and Reclusion

The Chunin Exams arc in Naruto is truly spectacular and arguably the best arc in the manga.

The series fully showcases the greatest feature of Naruto—the battles of wits and courage created by combining various ninjutsu techniques.

Therefore, before "Naruto", the performance of the original series was very good. Although it was still not as good as "One Piece", it had already secured its position as the second pillar of the series.

The Prince of Tennis and Blind Soccer are far inferior to it.

But now, they've fallen to eighth place, which Higashino Hibiki can't understand.

"Why?" he asked Yoshida.

"Judging from reader feedback, Orochimaru's appearance was inexplicable and affected the progress of the Chunin Exams, interrupting the matches that everyone was talking about," Yoshida replied.

Higashino suddenly realized, "I see."

He understood the epic battle between Orochimaru and the Third Hokage, which is why he liked the character so much and brought the manga's battle scenes to another level.

Not to mention Kishimoto's later development of Orochimaru's character.

Readers don't understand these things; they only know that the plot they really like has been influenced by Orochimaru, so they dislike this character.

"It's truly amazing," Higashino Hibiki remarked, adding that readers' thoughts are impossible to grasp.

“Teacher, you must feel the same way now,” Yoshida sighed. “Teacher, you and Kishimoto are truly in the same boat.”

Hibiki Higashino: "..."

……

"Teacher, Teacher Tori Akino, oh."

Masashi Kishimoto got drunk in a bar.

Hibiki Higashino had just discussed Kishimoto with Yoshida this morning, and Yoshida made sarcastic remarks about him.

At 6 p.m., Kishimoto called Higashino to invite him for drinks and a heart-to-heart talk.

Akemi Akimiya, heavily pregnant, had her brows furrowed.

However, upon hearing that Kishimoto was having a bad day, she ultimately decided to let Hibiki Higashino go to the appointment.

"A cup of oolong tea," Higashino Hibiki said to the bartender after arriving at the bar.

Higashino took small sips of the oolong tea the bartender offered, observing Kishimoto's flushed face.

"Hiccup, teacher is really... going to a bar for drinks..." Kishimoto hiccuped, squinted at Higashino Hibiki and shook his head with a sigh, "Higashino's wife is too strict. Teacher's manga died, and she won't even let you drink to vent."

The failure of "Naruto" was a huge blow to him, and he is now extremely depressed.

Not many are like this: what one considers a stroke of genius, but which readers discard like trash, create a stark contrast that can easily affect a creator's confidence.

"I'm not upset, and I don't need to vent." Higashino Hibiki touched the condensation on his glass. "But Kishimoto-kun, are you drunk?"

Before Hibiki Higashino arrived at the bar, Kishimoto was already drinking. No one knew how much he had drunk.

"Teacher, don't be stubborn, hehe." Kishimoto chuckled foolishly, "Xiaozheng from 'Paprika' is ranked 13th, how... how could he not feel bad?"

Paprika flopped, damaging Higashino Hibiki's reputation.

Now they are being ridiculed one after another.

“I’m furious,” Higashino gritted his teeth. “Who told me to sign with Jump? I can’t serialize on other platforms at all.”

Jump-contracted comic artists are not allowed to create works on other platforms while their works are being serialized.

Firstly, it's to prevent well-known cartoonists from absconding, and secondly, it's to ensure that cartoonists can fully dedicate themselves to their work and not let other things affect the quality of their comics.

Shueisha pays Hibiki Higashino a contract fee of 100 million yen every year, so the cost of breaching the contract is too high.

Hibiki Higashino also didn't want to cause friction with Jump, with whom he had a pleasant working relationship, over trivial matters.

"Tch, I don't believe it." Kishimoto picked up his glass and downed half of it in one gulp. "I don't understand the teacher's mindset, but I'm definitely very annoyed!"

"I want to surpass Oda, I want to draw the number one manga in Jump, I want to become the number one person in the new century. But... but... hiccup."

"Things were going so well, everyone loved the Chunin Exams, the manga sales were gradually increasing, and Xiaozheng's ranking was also rising... How did this happen so suddenly!"

He shouted, and the others looked over in surprise. Higashino Hibiki quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry, he's been having some trouble with his career lately."

The others frowned and shook their heads. "Who isn't like that?"

They vented for a couple of minutes before turning away.

The average sales of each volume of "Naruto" is around 80 copies, which is less than the more than 200 million copies of "Death Note", but it is still among the top-selling manga serialized in Jump.

Moreover, sales are constantly increasing, and it may not be long before they break the 100 million mark.

But now, all the good developments have been abruptly cut short.

It's normal for Masashi Kishimoto to be unwilling to accept this.

This is the first setback he has suffered since he officially began serializing the story.

“I understand how you feel, but you have to cheer up…” Hibiki Higashino patted Kishimoto on the shoulder, trying to comfort him.

Kishimoto interrupted him, "Ah, teacher, you're finally telling the truth. You're feeling bad too, aren't you? Don't pretend, haha."

He pointed at Higashino Hibiki and burst into laughter.

"Do you really want someone to empathize with you?" Higashino Hibiki retorted coldly. "Or do you want me to be as sad as you are?"

Kishimoto was stunned.

He hesitated for a moment, then patted his cheeks. "Sorry, Mr. Toriakino, I'm drunk. I'll go wash my face and sober up."