Naruto: IY Ch. 36

"What? You want me to go sing at a booth? I'm really busy, okay?"

Since Hanzō was sending people to work, Yoake had to provide positions.

As the one responsible for Yoake's finances, this task naturally fell to Kakuzu. That's also why he could speak so boldly to Yahiko on the phone.

He accomplished two things in a single day.

Yahiko didn't even bother arguing when Kakuzu asked for a raise and bonus.

First, he noticed noble ladies liked to fix their makeup in the restroom while traveling. So, he decisively built a luxurious pay-to-use restroom, 80 ryō for men, 40 for women. It even had attendants who provided such good service that they practically wiped your butt for you.

Hiruko was in agony. He was supposed to be researching about Little Boy in his dream. Instead, he was dragged out by Kakuzu in the middle of the night to invent an automatic sensor flush toilet.

Second, Kakuzu remotely commanded Kantaro's Dad to open Dawn Bookstores in all five great nations. Yahiko's books could only be purchased there.

Dawn Bookstores allowed anyone to freely read inside. Even if the store owner told you to leave, the tone was polite.

Traditional bookstores in the five great nations suffered heavily. But since Yahiko had military backing, no one challenged them.

Although Yoake had only just signed a treaty with Ame, its strength was already ranked among the top in the shinobi world.

What truly crushed the competition was this: if you spent enough, you could enter a raffle. The grand prize? A signed copy of "Young Obito," a work by Pain sold exclusively outside.

Each Dawn Bookstore had only one.

Some tried mimicking Dawn Bookstore's business model and clung to survival. Others gave up and joined.

Today, Kantaro's Dad was inspecting the Dawn Bookstore in Konoha, his face glowing with pride.

Many excited people stood outside the store, feeling around in the prize capsule machine.

Familiar faces were everywhere, Inoichi, Shinku, even Ebisu...

There was also a stern-looking young servant from the Hyūga clan, visibly annoyed.

Ebisu was pitifully picked up and tossed aside by Inoichi.

Then someone arrived, and everyone scattered like birds.

"Hokage-sama?"

"Kakashi, you're here for the bookstore too?"

"Mm."

"What are you buying?"

"Yahiko's Fairy Tale Collection."

"Oh, same here. Asuma loves that stuff. I'm buying it for him."

Outside the Konoha Dawn Bookstore, Hiruzen ran into Kakashi.

First thing upon entering, they both found the book titled Yahiko's Fairy Tale Collection.

They exchanged a smile next to the bookshelf, showing neither was lying.

The next second, they both spotted a book signed by "Pain" as the author.

They'd never seen this cover before, could it be a new release?

Kakashi quickly stood on tiptoe to grab it, but accidentally grabbed the wrinkled hand of Hiruzen, who was faster and got the book first.

Hiruzen looked complicated. He knew exactly what Kakashi was thinking.

"Hokage-sama! I, uh, well... when I'm out on missions, my teammates love reading this stuff. I was just curious... just super curious who Pain is!"

Kakashi's flustered excuse only made things more suspicious. His face turned red, and he rambled more than usual.

"Under sixteen not allowed." Hiruzen pulled the book from his hands. There were still a few copies left, but how could he just watch a rising genius of the village fall like that?

Only after personally seeing Kakashi pay Kantaro's Dad at the counter did Hiruzen leave.

As they stepped outside, they didn't even mention the raffle, only to bump right into Obito.

People with a guilty conscience see dirt in everything.

Seeing his look, both Hiruzen and Kakashi grew suspicious.

"Obito, what brings you to the bookstore?" Hiruzen asked kindly.

"To buy a book." Obito rolled his eyes.

"Which book?" Kakashi followed up.

"Yahiko's Fairy Tale Collection. Yahiko-nii wrote it." Obito replied irritably at first, then proudly.

"You're not allowed in!"

Yep, people with guilty consciences see dirt in everything.

Hiruzen and Kakashi dragged Obito away, refusing to let him enter the bookstore.

Obito looked completely confused as he was dragged off. Kantaro's Dad was furious. Are these guys sick or what?

On the way, Hiruzen curiously flipped through the book, while Kakashi pretended hard not to care.

Obito was still bewildered.

3,200 ryō per copy!! People!!!

First page.

This book was from Kakuzu's autobiography, personally written him.

?

What the hell?!

A pirated book?!

---

"Madara-sama, if you just dial these numbers, you can talk to someone from far away."

Outside the Call Brick Store, Tobi, wearing his mask, stared longingly at the phones inside. He didn't have money.

"Boring."

Hearing Madara's disinterest, he made up his mind: I'll get Lord Madara a phone too! If others had it, Madara must have one too!

First, he went to find Takeshi and the other two kids.

"W-what? You want a Brick? But the principal said us kids can't have phones!"

"Yeah! My dad's friend works at Call Brick Store. You need to register your real name to top up credit."

"Don't look at me. If I steal a phone, my mom will beat my butt."

Watching the three younger boys walk off, Tobi stomped in frustration. These days, even kids talk back!

"You got this, Tobi!" He clenched his fist and hyped himself up.

---

At that moment, he was job-hunting all over Yoake.

"You fool! You scared away all my customers! This is a Candy Store, not a toilet! No poop here!"

Tobi was shoved out by the furious candy store owner.

"Get over here! The customer was just using the toilet, who gave you permission to squat beside him and observe?!"

"Privacy, please!"

It turned out to be one of Kakuzu's newly opened luxury pay-to-use restrooms for rich travelers.

The janitorial supervisor, holding a broom, chased Tobi through the entire street.

Yahiko, who had just been rejected to his face by Kakuzu, suddenly had a massive headache.

As Tobi continued job-hunting across the village, he happened to spot that guy.

Could it be that Madara is broke and sent White Zetsu to look for work?

Perfect.

He ordered a straw hut to be built beside Yoake's office. A sign outside read: "Rounders Audition Set."

Four interviewers were assigned, three of them were Yahiko's own men. They had strict instructions: if any weirdo came in and liked poop, let him pass without fail.

He figured it was time to send Tobi to Jiraiya, let his teacher have the headache instead.

Meanwhile, some villagers who believed in their acting talent, fired up by Yoake's recent fame, volunteered to act as extras.

Tobi had originally gone to a nursing home, hoping to interview for a caregiver job, but apparently, everyone at the home had already gone to audition as extras.

Storming out of the nursing home, he placed a hand over his forehead and looked into the distance.

I'm going to sleep. You go do your thing. Be careful not to expose yourself. Madara's voice echoed in his mind. With that, Madara closed his eyes, drifting into dreams in search of that man.

"Do you need to go poop?" Tobi asked quietly. Seeing that Madara seemed truly asleep, he finally headed off and lined up for the audition.

There were a lot of people, so many, the end of the line wasn't even visible.

"You here for the audition too?"

The man in front of him, noticing Tobi's strange behavior, asked.

"Uh... am I allowed to be?"

The man twitched a little. "It's not that you can't, but at least take off that mask, right?" He pointed helpfully at Tobi's mask.

"No way!"

Obito crossed his arms in an X and firmly refused.

"Whatever you say."

The man ignored him and kept lining up.

Slowly, the line in front of Tobi got shorter.

Time passed. The sun was almost setting by the time it was finally their turn.

At last... it was his moment.

Inside the straw hut, Jiraiya and three other interviewers sat behind a table. They had been interviewing all morning, so busy they hadn't even had water.

Jiraiya had found nearly all the actors he needed, except for the main antagonist.

The other three interviewers were extremely picky.

"Next." Jiraiya called out.

"Greetings, judges. My name is Shin."

It was the man who had been in line ahead of Tobi. He came in with the air of a street punk but was quick-witted and bold when facing the panel, showing zero stage fright.

"This guy's perfect for the antagonist!"

Jiraiya couldn't help but clap enthusiastically.

The other three interviewers coughed. "Let's keep testing him, judging by appearances alone is too superficial."

"Fair enough."

Jiraiya asked Shin to act out a scene from the movie. He even joined in from time to time to assist the performance.

Shin matched every cue perfectly.

"Excellent! It's him. I'm very satisfied with him." Jiraiya gave a big thumbs-up.

All that effort in interviews was finally paying off.

Shin was also excited, feeling a little nervous: I... I might get to act alongside Jiraiya?

Suddenly...

"Is it my turn? Is it my turn?"

"Please take care of me~" came a weird voice from outside the straw hut.

Jiraiya was about to politely decline.

"Let him in."

The three interviewers, remembering Yahiko's instruction, spoke in unison.

"Gotta give young people a chance," one explained to Jiraiya.

"Hmm..."

Jiraiya's attention remained entirely on Shin. He was already wondering how to train this actor to bring out his full brilliance.

"Hello everyone, my name is Tobi."

"Hobbies and interests? Hmm, I like poop."

Jiraiya frowned. What the hell is this?!

"Good!"

To his shock, all three interviewers clapped in unison.

Jiraiya: "???"

These three weren't just anyone, one was the village photographer, one was a script supervisor, and one was an art director.

Could it be... this guy has some kind of inside story I don't know about?

Now curious, Jiraiya looked at Tobi and pointed at his mask.

"Take it off. Let me see your acting skills."

"Jiraiya-sama~ You want to see my face that badly?~"

Tobi twisted his body coquettishly, dragging out the words in a weird tone. Though he wore a mask, everyone could tell he was blushing shyly.

Jiraiya looked like he was about to puke.

Tobi shimmied right up to him, tracing a finger across Jiraiya's muscular chest.

"Tonight, come to my room. I'll let only you, Jiraiya-sama, see... only you," he said it slowly, word by word, full of flirtation.

Before Jiraiya could react, still trapped in a haze of disgust and despair, Tobi suddenly coughed twice, instantly switching to a prim and proper expression, glancing around innocently as he walked off.

"Ughhh—"

"Blughhhh—"

"I'm done. I'm done!"

Once he snapped out of it, Jiraiya was so horrified he wanted to die.

The three interviewers didn't feel much better, they waved their hands to dismiss the audition and signaled the stunned Shin to leave first.