Author: October Fengshen.
This is a burst update announcement plus a call for Monthly Ticket bonus stories. The current plot groundwork is basically complete. In my outline, the three major climaxes each center on one of Ryoma's three identities.
They are the Shadow of Uchiha Clan Night, the Ryoma storyline version of Ryoma, and the final one, Ryoma. From here on, the people who should die will die, and this time the killing truly begins. The three plot lines of Five Kage Summit, the internal conflict of Ryoma Clan, and the Tailed Beasts plan of Akatsuki will converge in Konoha into a major climax.
So at the end of this month or the beginning of next month, I will try a burst of daily ten thousand words while asking for votes. Also, the editor asked whether to release bonus stories at the start of the month. Few Author do that, but everyone has been very supportive, throwing in Monthly Ticket nonstop, so I was selected.
Now I need to gather what bonus stories everyone wants to read. Please brainstorm under option four below, and do not post replies in this paragraph. There is no need to mention Dragon Vein and the plow of Otsutsuki Clan, because those will be written into the main story later and will be a solid highlight, so they cannot be used as bonus stories.
I have thought of three options myself, and if you want one, comment under that option. Option one is Hokage candidate public opinion interviews, You and the Ryoma you know. This will supplement the main text by interviewing, from an interviewer's perspective, how Konoha and the villagers see Ryoma.
Option two is Sixth Hokage and Obito's daily world life. As the title suggests, it writes another possible version of the Shinobi World. That earlier Hokage Obito world may eventually connect back to the main story.
Option three is Fraud Game and Ryoma's last day before crossing over. As the title suggests, it writes the plot before Ryoma crosses over. Seeing the four words Fraud Game, you probably already have a guess.
Option four is other ideas. You can write the bonus story you want to see here, and please do not make it too broad, because the word count cannot be very large. Also, a reminder to try to save one Monthly Ticket for the first of next month.
The bonus stories require a Monthly Ticket to read, and it must be used on the Monthly Ticket bonus chapter. I will explain how at that time. If you do not have Monthly Ticket, that is fine and it will not affect reading the main story.
I am also considering whether to do a Monthly Ticket lottery to give back to everyone with some prizes. For example, monthly cards for Naruto Uzumaki Mobile and Renfa Tie, or Hokage pillows and figure merchandise. If you are interested, you can comment or leave a message, or mention it in the group.
If too few people participate, I will not do it, since it also takes time and effort. That is all for this chapter.
The sky was a sharp blue with no clouds at all, like a huge sapphire holding a cruel sun that baked the endless sea of sand. As far as the eye could see, the air twisted under the heat, and distant dunes wavered as if shaking. There was nothing but dead gold color and rolling heat waves.
At the edge of the desert stood a lonely Sunagakure outpost, like a forgotten fortress planted in the scorching air. The main structure was stacked from stone, with a crude lookout tower built on top. It stood alone, surrounded by heat and silence.
Inside the outpost, in a narrow and stifling rest room, several exhausted Sunagakure slumped in the shadows. They sipped clear water and clung to the thin coolness the shade offered, driven by simple Greed. Sweat soaked through their clothes and dripped from their faces, leaving the air dry and heavy.
"Junji, Kenta, your turn to watch!" a hoarse voice called out with impatience. "Yeah, yeah, we know," Junji replied lazily as he stood up, patting the shoulder of his equally drained partner. "Come on, brother, let's go get roasted up there."
The two joked and shoved each other as they pushed open the door, only to be hit by an even hotter wave of air. Squinting, they climbed the steep stairs leading to the lookout tower. By the time they reached the top, the blinding sunlight made them raise their hands to shield their eyes.
"This damn weather, I'm so sick of it," Kenta complained as he put on his goggles, the lenses quickly fogging over with a pale haze. "Be grateful. It's still better than fighting those lunatics from Land of Amegakure on the battlefield," Junji joked.
He picked up the sun-baked lookout scope and casually scanned the distant desert, where heat waves warped the view like water ripples. Suddenly, his movement froze, and the grin on his face vanished, replaced by alarm. "Hey, Kenta," he said quickly, "look over there. Is that someone? I'm not seeing things, right?"
Kenta paused, then raised the scope and followed the direction Junji pointed toward. On the far horizon, within the violently distorted desert, three figures were walking slowly toward the outpost. They crossed the burning sand as if they felt no heat at all, their black robes standing out sharply in the golden sea.
"Who's that?" Kenta's heart jumped as a chill ran through him, wiping away the heat in an instant. He opened his mouth to shout an alarm.
Before the sound could leave his throat, the figure in the middle raised his hands. A terrifying pull crossed the distance in an instant and locked onto Junji and Kenta on the lookout tower.
They barely had time to cry out before their bodies lifted off the ground, completely out of their control. Like dry grass torn up by a storm, they were dragged at high speed toward the three figures, leaving blurred afterimages in the hot air.
From the wide sleeves of the orange-haired figure, two cold Black Rods extended, gleaming with deadly light. In the next moment, two heavy piercing sounds rang out almost at the same time. The sound was sharp and cruel in the dead silence of the desert.
The bodies of the two Sunagakure slammed straight onto the Black Rods, which pierced through their chests without resistance. Hot blood sprayed out and soaked into the burning sand, hissing as it evaporated and filling the air with a strong metallic smell. Their bodies twitched briefly, fear fading from their eyes as life drained away.
"Tch." Watching the clean kill, Homura Mitokado smiled and said with feeling, "Working with you, boss, really is easy."
Nagato showed no expression and did not even lift his eyelids. He pulled the bloodstained Black Rods from the corpses, which fell heavily onto the sand, their empty eyes reflecting the cruel blue sky above.
"Move," Nagato said flatly. "Capture One-Tail Jinchuriki, then go to Konoha to capture Nine-Tails." As he spoke, he stepped forward without pause, his black boots pressing into blood-soaked sand with a faint pata sound.
"Yeah, yeah, we should hurry," Homura Mitokado replied with a grin. "Otherwise Shennong might really die in Konoha at the hands of those two 'Three Legendary Sannin'."
As his words fell, Homura Mitokado vanished from the spot. Along with him, the Hell Path Nagato disappeared as well, leaving only lightly rising sand behind.