Homura found it a little hard to believe what he had just heard.
For a moment, he wondered whether he was hallucinating.
How could this be possible?
That was a story based on his true experiences!
Real! Legendary!
Things ordinary ninja and civilians could never come into contact with. Why would they not be interested?
Impossible.
It made no sense.
Homura Mitokado stared at that ninja with an unfriendly expression. He wondered if this ninja was deliberately deceiving him, if perhaps he had been sent by Danzo just to disgust him.
Homura himself had read that story.
There was absolutely no problem with it.
It was extremely attractive.
Anyone who casually read a few lines would surely have their attention seized.
Homura pointed at another ninja.
"What about your side? How was the situation?"
That ninja replied, "Reporting to Homura-sama, the feedback on my side was not very good either. They felt this story could not compare to Kōga Ninja Scrolls."
Blue veins bulged on Homura's forehead.
His heart filled with fury.
How could it not compare?
This old man's story cannot compare to that fabricated story?
They are all spouting nonsense.
Homura pointed at a third person.
"Reporting to Homura-sama, they said this could not even be considered a story at all. It has no appeal whatsoever."
"It's like listening to someone muttering to himself after getting drunk."
Another ninja spoke.
"Homura-sama, the people on my side said that the protagonist of this story must be very confident, but also not very capable."
"They said he belongs to the type who has no self-awareness at all."
Homura felt as though his lungs were about to explode from anger.
"Get out!"
"All of you, get out!"
Homura roared.
The ninja hurriedly retreated.
"What happened to Homura-sama?"
"Is it because the first issue of the newspaper failed?"
"But there's no need to be this angry, is there?"
"After all, it's the first time. There's no experience yet. It can still be changed."
"…"
A figure walked over.
"How is the newspaper doing? What is everyone's feedback on that story? It's a legendary story based on Homura-sama himself. There should be many people interested, right?"
Everyone looked at one another, their faces changing drastically.
Only now did they finally understand why Homura Mitokado had been so furious.
If this story was based on Homura Mitokado, then the words they had just repeated had offended him thoroughly.
Would they face Homura's retaliation?
They could not withstand the revenge of a Konoha elder.
But they also felt very wronged.
"We didn't know."
"We thought it was a fabricated story. After all, the name was completely different, and the experiences didn't seem that similar either. How could we have known it was based on Homura-sama?"
"No one told us."
"If we had known earlier, we would have picked nicer things to say."
No one in the entire newspaper office dared discuss it further.
Only after a long while did Homura Mitokado calm his emotions.
He went downstairs and looked around.
Not a single person dared meet Homura's gaze. They all lowered their heads.
No one wanted to touch Homura's sore spot at a time like this. Homura might very well vent most of his anger on that unlucky person.
Homura gave a cold snort and walked out of the newspaper office.
But the people in the newspaper office no longer commenting did not mean others had stopped.
Konoha was very large.
There were many villagers in Konoha.
Since the newspaper had not directly stated that the character was modeled after Homura Mitokado, very few people could see the relationship between the story's protagonist and Homura.
After all, even many people in the newspaper office had failed to see it.
Therefore, when they commented, they simply spoke the truth.
"This protagonist is too useless."
"He has no ability, he's cowardly, and he isn't smart."
"Choosing him as the protagonist is worse than choosing a dog. I would rather read a story with a dog as the main character."
"That's right. If it were based on a ninken, I'd actually look forward to it."
Homura Mitokado's expression darkened terribly.
He wanted to rush over and curse those people.
Comparing him to a ninken?
How was he cowardly?
What had he done poorly?
Then someone else said, "It's boring to the extreme. The standard of our Konoha Weekly is far too poor. I am indeed a Konoha person, but to be honest, I really don't like reading Konoha Weekly."
"I'd rather read Sunagakure's Shinobi World Major Events Weekly."
"That Kagetsu may be from Sunagakure, but he really is impressive."
"Art should not be tied to politics. Good is good."
"I heard Konoha Weekly is managed by Elder Homura Mitokado. I don't know who tricked him, but I hope they're punished severely."
"Forget it. Let's play a round of Ninja Kill."
"Sure."
Seeing these people rather play Ninja Kill than read Konoha Weekly, Homura's expression became even uglier.
"Is this old man's story really that much of a failure?"
But now, Homura had confirmed it.
It was not that those few ninja had deliberately disgusted him.
His story truly had not been recognized.
"Impossible. When I read it myself, I clearly thought it was very good."
"It was clearly a very interesting story."
"What is so good about Kōga Ninja Scrolls?"
"Or is it that these people's aesthetic sense is lacking? They cannot understand it?"
A guess surfaced in Homura's heart, and his expression improved slightly.
"That's right. That is very possible."
"It is not that my story is poor. They simply do not know how to appreciate it."
"Perhaps only many years later will they be able to understand."
"Hiruzen should have also received the news by now. I need to explain it to him."
Homura headed toward the Hokage Building.
At this moment, just as Homura had expected, Hiruzen Sarutobi had also received the feedback on Konoha Weekly. At the same time, a copy of Konoha Weekly lay in front of him.
"This…"
Hiruzen's brows furrowed tightly.
"How could this newspaper be run like this?"
"The news section is still acceptable."
"The Shinobi World War has only just ended. There is plenty of material."
"The problem is this story. It's far too terrible."
"But for some reason, it does give off a strange sense of familiarity. How odd."
Homura Mitokado pushed the door open and walked in.
Hiruzen had just been about to speak when Homura spoke first.
"Hiruzen, I was wrong."
Hiruzen's expression eased slightly.
It had not been done well, but at least he could admit his mistake.
"This story based on me is too far ahead of its time for current readers. I failed to realize they would be unable to appreciate it, which caused this issue of the weekly paper to fail."
"For the next issue, I will use a comparatively simple story, one they can understand with their level of aesthetic appreciation."
Hiruzen: "???"
Hiruzen suspected he had heard wrong.
He had clearly heard every word.
But once those words formed sentences, why did he suddenly feel like he could not understand them?
Hiruzen began to suspect that Homura had been stimulated too badly.
"Homura… are you alright?"