Full-time comic artist

He prefers Naruto to One Piece because he was exposed to it at a very young age.

I really enjoyed the storyline of the first boss, the story of Zabuza and Haku.

Unexpectedly, this author's comic is now in my hands.

Chapter 99 I'm even more awesome than Akira Toriyama

"This is actually Masashi Kishimoto's first work." Hibiki Higashino was very surprised.

But then I thought, since it's serialized in Jump, I'm bound to encounter these people eventually. Later on, there might be other legendary figures like Tite Kubo, Takeshi Konomi, Kentaro Yabuki, and so on—it's not a big deal.

Higashino Hibiki calmed down.

He got absorbed in the comic book.

After a long pause, he shook his head.

Like Oda, Kishimoto's early works, even for geniuses like them, were not particularly impressive.

The story, the artwork, and the pacing are all so-so. What's commendable is the lighting and perspective.

This is precisely Oda's worst part.

Kishimoto majored in fine arts, so that's perfectly normal; a professional is a professional after all.

The story is simple: the female lead is kidnapped by bad guys, and the male lead uses his strength to defeat them.

The art style looks somewhat dark, no wonder Higashino Hibiki only felt it was familiar, but couldn't remember whose work it was for a long time.

"Of all the manga, this one is pretty good," Hibiki Higashino said.

The tallest among the short.

Sasaki glanced at it and nodded. "I've read this one too. The author's drawing skills are quite outstanding among newcomers, without any obvious disadvantages."

"Then let's choose him first."

When Oda saw the name on the cover, his eyes widened. It turned out to be a work by one of his fellow enthusiasts.

Not only was it shortlisted for the Manga Award, but it actually won an award!

"Perhaps he will be my formidable rival in the future," he thought.

Oda's eyes were gleaming with anticipation; he wanted to take a look.

Hibiki Higashino noticed this immediately, "Go draw manga, what are you standing here for?"

They were very authoritative and drove him away.

"Yes, Akino-sensei." Oda left with regret.

After that, Hibiki Higashino looked at other works. Not finding any familiar names, he selected a few works that stood out.

They evaluated them one by one.

First and foremost is Masashi Kishimoto's "Robot".

Sasaki handed him the evaluation form.

Since this is an evaluation of a newcomer, we can't be too harsh.

In several very ordinary aspects, Hibiki Higashino received 3 stars.

In terms of artwork, considering the good technique, I gave it four stars.

It looks average, but compared to most other works that only get 2 stars, it's already given a lot of credit.

As for the evaluation, Higashino Hibiki wrote it on the kraft paper cover of the work.

"It looks like a work painted for oneself; one should consider things more from the reader's perspective."

The visuals are somewhat dark; please get used to Jump's style.

His drawing skills still need more practice.

There were no positive reviews, only suggestions.

Having finished writing reviews of the other works, Higashino Hibiki breathed a sigh of relief.

It took more than an hour; this job is no easy task.

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Toriakino."

Sasaki looked it over once and then packed it up.

"We were originally supposed to have Hirohiko Araki as a judge, but he recommended you to us."

Finally, he said.

……

Two weeks have passed since the professional Go exam.

In the six matches, Xiaochun lost two and won four.

As expected, those who make it into professional competitions are all quite skilled.

Xiaochun was extremely nervous. If he lost five more matches, he would be eliminated and wouldn't be able to compete anymore.

There are a total of 24 matches in this professional exam, and Xiaochun is in big danger.

The teacher maintaining order glanced at Xiaochun and knew he basically had no chance.

Based on his experience, in more than twenty games, the three people who could become professional chess players could only lose a maximum of four games.

There's no way he can lose only two of the remaining eighteen games.

Over the years, he has seen many chess players who were disappointed, even desperate, crying and lamenting.

But I still feel sad for them.

Xiaochun sat down in the opponent's seat, glanced at the person opposite him, and immediately looked timid and his face fell.

The boy with the bright smile was Odagiri, who had defeated him twice in the preliminaries.

"Hello, Uncle Xiaochun."

"Hello."

He lost this game again, and lost even faster than before.

Before, they felt they could win if they tried harder, but this time they were desperate and couldn't see any chance of winning at all. The gap between the two sides was widening.

"I lost," Xiaochun said dejectedly.

……

Masashi Kishimoto, a student in the Department of Fine Arts at Kyushu Sangyo University, had just returned to his dormitory when he heard the dormitory manager say something to him.

"I have received your letter."

Kishimoto was eagerly awaiting news about something, so much so that he couldn't sleep at night.

Upon hearing those words, my heart pounded, and I felt as if the whole world was shaking.

He took the letter and looked at the sender; it was indeed Shueisha.

He carefully packed up the thick stack of letters and returned to his single dormitory room.

"Winner of the Shueisha HOP STEP Grand Prize!" Upon seeing these words, he excitedly read them aloud and happily jumped around in the room, which was about 5 tsubo (approximately 3.3 square meters).

"So, I guess this counts as my debut as a comic artist!"

He really wanted to strike while the iron was hot and quickly create another work.

When he was a child, he watched the Dragon Ball anime and naturally fell in love with Akira Toriyama.

Because of Akira Toriyama, he also read works such as "Fist of the North Star" and "Kinnikuman", and became immersed in the world of Jump manga.

He then wanted to become a cartoonist.

He started drawing comics in high school, but his younger brother criticized him harshly. His college classmates also said that his comics were created for himself, so they were very boring and terrible.

Because his university classmates were particularly fond of "Hikaru no Go," he studied it with them for a while.

I want to learn Akino Mirai's narrative techniques.

I then submitted the article.

Unexpectedly, good news arrived!

Akira Toriyama failed his first submission to the Grand Prize back then. I'm even better than Akira Toriyama!

He became uncontrollably excited.

Until I saw the evaluations from each of the judges.

"The story is mediocre, and the main character has very little presence."

"The art style is too dark."

"There is still a lot of room for improvement in my painting skills."

"I can learn more from Hiroaki Samura's techniques."

The reviews were all very mediocre, instantly cooling his enthusiasm.

"I'm still not good enough."

Even among authors who have won the Tezuka Award, the highest honor for new manga artists, few have the ability to serialize their works in a short period of time.

The only person Kishimoto could think of was Tori Akino Mirai.

I am far inferior to the other person.

He thought, "It should at least reach the level of what the other party just started serializing."

"I must keep trying!" Kishimoto encouraged himself.

He carefully kept the envelope and began to work hard for his future.

……

Hibiki Higashino absolutely hates the weather in June!

After shedding the filter of "The Garden of Words," he begins to face a series of troubles.