Crossedge
patreon
Drawn to Power: Chapter 8: Daily Life of a Secret Mangaka
🕑 Added 2024-11-13 00:48:32 +0000 UTCDrawn to Power
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Chapter 8: Daily Life of a Secret Mangaka
___________________________________________________________________
- Tatsuya -
I returned to the hotel I was staying at late in the morning. My Shadow Clone was still there, keeping a guard.
I dispelled it when I entered the room and laid on the bed.
The result of the fight was as I had expected after all, I wasn’t expecting to defeat the Lord of the youkai with just a year or two of training. It was the process which surprised me.
He won with an illusion magic… no, yojutsu.
The man had explained the difference between the different types of powers used by the Youkai. Nurarihyon’s illusion was his personal, unique fear or the yojutsu which runs in his bloodline.
So many different styles of magic and each having their own advantages and weaknesses. It just goes to show how vast this world truly is.
Inside the house, I entered the Training Dimension.
I was not in the mood to summon Shanks. That guy would keep on teasing me the entire time. Same for Tobirama, who would keep on scolding me.
Itachi might not look like it but he was pretty savage in his comments too.
Hmm, Hashirama it is.
I summoned him and told him about the training and spar with Nurarihyon. Even the things he told me about the Senjutsu of this world.
“Oh, is there such a thing? I didn’t know that was possible. Manipulating Nature’s Energy directly to do things sounds fantastic. I can think of several things which would give it an advantage over our Senjutsu style. At the same time, there are things our Senjutsu style can have an advantage in.”
“Like?”
“Hmm, since you directly manipulate Nature's Energy, you don’t have to go through the complex process of taking in Nature's Energy, mixing it in equal proportion of Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy to make Senjutsu Chakra, thus eliminating the dangers associated with it. Even the time needed will be reduced depending on your mastery of the skill. Finally, you won’t be limited to ten minutes of Sage Mode since it wouldn’t just end with you using up all of your Senjuutsu Chakra.” He said after some thought. “This way, you can use the power for as long as you are not down.”
And the disadvantages?
“Let’s see. I would have to see it in use to know exactly but I would say, you would need a strong body and affinity with Nature’s Energy to manipulate Nature’s Energy to that extent. Second, it could be weaker at initial stages compared to Sage Mode since you get added Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy on top of the Nature’s Energy. But as you master the ability more, you can manipulate more Nature’s Energy, making up for the Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy. You couldn’t boost your jutsu with this variant of Nature’s Energy as you would need it to be assimilated with your chakra.” He added after thinking a bit more.
I looked at the man in amazement. He derived all that from the basic information I had told him.
The title God of Ninja wasn’t all due to the Asura’s Chakra maybe? The man was incredibly talented on his own.
Apparently he took my silence as a sign of me being depressed and quickly started reassuring me. “But all these are just my guesses. I don’t know much about the Senjutsu of that world so I can’t say much with certainty. You should take up that person’s offer and have him teach you the Senjutsu of your world. Learning new things is always fun.”
I nodded. “Actually, do you think I am ready to learn Senjutsu? You know the type you use?”
I still hadn’t reached the point where I could learn it from the Toad Sages and the Snake Sages weren’t even shown in the Shippuden Manga so I couldn’t summon them either. That only left Jiraiya, someone who didn’t even know how to use Senjutsu perfectly himself and… Hashirama.
Obviously, there were the Toad Sage and Hagoromo himself towards the end but that’s a long time. Actually, there was also Katsuyu but I didn’t know if she knew Sage Mode.
“Oh, you want to learn Senjutsu? Hmm, why not. Although my own version of Sage Mode doesn’t have any special techniques compared to the Sage Modes of the other two Sage Lands that said, it has the most amount of raw power. It’s just that… to learn my version of Sage Mode, you need to learn Wood Style first.”
“Wood Style?”
“Hmm. Learning Wood Style would allow you to understand Nature more, understand how the energy flows in nature. You will then need to guide the energy into your body.”
“I see. I thought your Sage Mode probably came from the Land of Slugs.”
“The Land of Slugs? No, not really. Why would you think so?” He asked, confused.
“Umm, because Tsunade uses the Slug Summoning Contract and they are known as one of the three Holy Sage Lands.”
“Oh, Tsuna got a summoning contract from the Slugs? They are good summoning beasts but no, the Senju Clan didn’t have that contract. I guess she must have found it herself. Good for her.”
“I see.”
That cleared up the confusion I had for a long time… and also made me realise just how much of a monster Hashirama Senju was all over again.
With that, I started working on Wood Style. As Hashirama said, it helped me sense Nature’s Energy, something which would help me learn both world’s versions of Senjustu easily.
_______________________________x___________________________________
I stepped down from the bus and looked at the group gathered in front of me.
Everyone from my friends group had come… even Yura was here.
I waved at them but suddenly froze at the sight of another face among the members… What the hell is she doing here?
The mermaid I had saved back them… was she someone related to Rikuo?
Were mermaids even Youkai?
Dammit, that would mess so many things up.
Please, don’t recognise me. Please don’t recognise me. Please don’t recognise me.
My hopes were however crushed when she turned back and looked at me and her face lit up in what seemed to be realisation.
“Tatsuya! You are here.” Jiro came forward and greeted me. The rest followed.
Even the girl followed slowly, accompanied by Tsurara.
Did she tell them about me?
I didn’t use any supernatural powers back then.
What should I do?
- Sun Seto -
She watched nervously from beside Tsurara as Tatsuya-san was greeted by his friends. It was indeed him.
The one who had saved her back then.
Last night she had told Rikuo-sama and the rest about the incident and they had told her about Tatsuya-san as well as the rest of their friends and told her to be careful around them so that she didn’t accidentally reveal her identity to them… especially to Yura-san, who was an onmyoji from the Keikain Clan.
She had been scared stiff when she found out about her but had someone gathered her courage to meet Tatsuya-san.
Today, she was going to find an opportunity to talk to him and explain everything to him.
“How are you feeling now? How is Tobi-kun?” Rikuo-sama asked.
“Ah… yes, I am better now. Tobi is doing well too. Sae and Gin are accompanying him right now.”
“I heard you went on a trip to the Seto Inland Seas. How was it? I have heard it’s a very beautiful place.” Jiro asked.
“Well…” Tatsuya-san scratched his chin, looking hesitant.
“Beautiful and filled with youkai too.” The one called Kiyotsugu spoke up. “I have heard that the Seto Inland Seas are home to Mermaids. Many people claim to have seen them.”
Sun stiffened at the comment but it wasn’t the end.
“Hmm, it’s true. Mermaids live in those parts of the sea. They are mostly harmless, even saving people who are drowning sometimes but there can be dangerous ones among them too. They are managed under the leadership of the Mermaid Yakuza.” The Keikain girl said. As expected, she knew.
“Mermaids have yakuza?” Tatsuya-san asked.
“What kind of people are they?” Jiro-san asked, interested.
“Mostly harmless to humans. They act like normal people and it’s very hard to tell them apart from each other unless their tail is visible.”
“Seriously, I wonder how they look. Mermaids must be very beautiful, right?” Jiro-san said. “I wonder if I can see one if I go to the Seto Inland Seas.”
“You don’t want to do that. Mermaids are very particular about hiding their identity. They have a rule that if you see a mermaid’s tail… they will kill you.”
“What?!”
Sun froze at the comment and looked at Tatsuya-san to see what he was thinking. She needed to clear the misunderstanding lest he became afraid of her.
Tatsuya-san looked stunned too as everyone talked among themselves.
“By the way, how was your trip there?”
He scratched his cheeks looking awkwardly. “I… don’t remember.”
“Eh?”
“Well you see, something happened on my last day of the trip.”
“What happened?”
“Well, it was raining heavily and I was out to explore the island and while returning…”
Sun was shocked. Was he going to say that?
“I slipped and fell down, hitting my head on a rock.”
“Huh?”
“Are you alright?”
“Did you get hurt badly?”
“Well, I was found by Shuri-san and she took me home. As for being hurt, I was.”
“Was it bad?” Rikuo-sama asked, worried.
“Well… it wasn’t bad… it’s just that…” He hesitated.
“Did something happen, Tatsuya?”
“It’s just that… I can’t remember anything about the trip.”
“Eh… Ehhhhhhhh!”
Suddenly, Sun was frozen in shock for a completely different reason…
He then proceeded to move his hair and show them the scar on his head.
“Man… why didn’t you tell us?”
“Ah… it wasn’t anything serious and I didn’t want to bother anyone. I didn’t even tell Tobi. He was already down due to Grandma’s passing away and I didn’t want her to worry even more. Only Shuri-san knew about this and now you all.”
“You really had an adventure like that. Who knows, maybe it could be the work of some youkai?”
“Not everything is the work of youkai, Kiyotsugu. Tatsuya-kun, are you sure it’s nothing serious?” One of the girls asked, worriedly.
“Yes. Even the cut wasn’t deep and even the wound wasn’t bleeding by the time I got home. I haven’t had any problems since then so I am pretty sure it’s not a problem.”
Over the next few minutes with each other before Tsurara introduced her to them.
“She is Sun Seto. She is a friend. I hope you guys don’t mind if she joins us.”
“No no. It’s fine. Miss Sun can always join us.”
“So where are you from, Miss Sun?” Jiro asked.
“I… I am from the Seto Inland Sea.”
“Ohh! Can you tell us about that place?” They questioned her on the way to the trip and she answered.
Even Tatsuya-sama was talking to her normally… did he really forget everything?
By the end of the day, she couldn’t bring herself to tell him anything…
- Rikuo -
“Sigh… and that’s the story. Tatsuya has lost his memories of the trip. He didn’t even recognise Miss Sun.” He told his grandfather who burst out in laughter.
“Grandpa! This is not a time to laugh.”
“Ahahahaha, it’s… it’s just that I have never heard of a more ridiculous situation.”
“I know right… and yet, he had an injury on his head too. He was acting completely normally with Miss Sun too. Tatsuya always avoids anything related to youkai or the supernatural mostly because he thinks it can be dangerous. It’s not like he hates them… It’s…”
“Maybe he’s just scared.” Tsurara added.
“Sigh… or knowing him, he just finds these things too troublesome.” He did have a penchant to avoid any trouble in general.
They had encountered many incidents with the Youkai and yet Tatsuya had avoided them all, either through directly passing up Kiyotsugu’s offer or due to some work.
“What are we going to do now, Grandpa?”
“Eh… nothing there we can do.” Grandpa replied with a wide smile, rubbing his hand. “It’s not like the lost memories don’t come back. It doesn’t change anything.”
Rikuo looked worried at his hand. “Is your hand still hurt?”
“Ahahahaha, no not really. It was just itching a bit. Don’t worry. Anyways, everything just depends on Sun-chan. She can still get together with him.” He shrugged.
“Eh… that works?”
“I don’t see why not. Sun-chan is a very pretty girl and Tatsuya is a teenage boy after all. I don’t see why they can’t get together.”
“Eh…”
“I will do it.” Sun said, suddenly clenching her fists.
“What!”
“I will not let him die. He even got injured after saving me and lost his memories. If he had gone home directly, then maybe he wouldn’t have gotten hurt. I cannot leave him on his own… because… that would shame all Seto Mermaids!”
“Well said, girl. Go on. Make him remember everything.”
“Yes. Thank you, Nurari-sama.”
“No worries. It’s always fun to see children grow up.”
- Tatsuya -
It’s been a week since that dangerous encounter. Dammit, how could I get caught in such a mess?
She didn’t seem like a cruel girl and Rikuo was also there… and I saved her life too… could she really come here to attack me?
“Aghhh!” I ruffled my hair in confusion.
“What happened, Nii-san?” Tobi asked, getting up from his push ups.
“Nothing. I was… thinking about the future plot of my manga. You carry on. How many push-ups have you done?”
“Two hundred. What now?”
“Good. Two hundred sit-ups next. Then two hundred crunches. Go on, I want it done in the next hour.”
“Ehh! That much. I don’t think I can do that. Isn’t that like too much?”
“If you have the energy to talk then you have the energy to do the sets. We haven’t even tried using weights yet and you are already faltering.”
“But… do we even need this much training to learn kendo?”
“Well obviously, you need the strength and stamina to learn kendo. Physical conditioning is the first step in any sport… well except E-Sports… but you understand what I mean. Go on, I will make something to eat after that. I need to go out for some work later.”
“Ah… okay.”
I looked at Tobio who was doing twice the Saitama workout in just two weeks of training. His body had gotten used to it. The Uzumaki Bloodline was working wonders and I had added the Monkey D. Family’s bloodline on that too. He will keep on growing at a rapid pace and I need to find a way to train him accordingly.
I had already taught him the basic stances of Hinokami Kagura so maybe I could teach him the entire style. It forces the body to perform beyond its normal limits. It will help him grow.
Another thing I had recently discovered was an item in the System Shop.
Sea King Meat from the One Piece world.
It increases the strength of the body passively and fulfils the demand of energy for the intensive training.
Since then, I have started to use that for our food regularly. The meat was relatively cheap and I was getting more points nowadays with Naruto becoming more popular.
This is only going to increase even more when the anime for Demon Slayer comes out. But till then I had another place to visit.
After eating breakfast, I left home to visit a place I had been meaning to visit for a while.
The Monthly Comic Earth Star.
I called the number on the card which the assistant Editor-in-chief had given me.
The call was answered.
“Hello, am I speaking to Akii Tori-san?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“My name is Tatsuya Ikuse. We met in the Manga Store a week ago. I wanted to submit my manga and was wondering if we could meet.”
“Oh. Yes, you are the white haired body who wanted to submit a shojo manga, right? You can come to the Monthly Comic Earth Star office anytime before 5 pm.”
“Alright. I will be there in an hour.” The place wasn’t that far and I could get there easily within an hour.
Sure enough, as decided I was outside the building where the Publishing House had its office.
It was a relatively new company and thus was renting out a place.
Outside the building, Akii-san was standing. She showed me the way to their office. I observed the place. It was nothing compared to the Shueisha office obviously. There were only five people inside.
“Have you brought any manuscripts with yourself?” She asked as she took a seat in front of me.
“Ah yes.” I brought out the manuscript I had made for Kaichou wa Maid-sama and gave it to her.
She took some time to read it and finally kept it aside.
“This is good. But how long did it take you to make?”
“This? It’s fifty pages, so two weeks. I can make around twenty five pages a week. If you are worried about my speed, don’t be. I have over a dozen chapters planned and ready.” I brought out one volume which I had prepared and showed it to her.
She quickly took it and read it carefully.
“This is… it’s almost ready to be published.”
“Hmm.”
“And you want to publish this in our magazine?”
“Yes. It’s a monthly comic and even if I get busy with my studies, I would have enough time to draw. It works perfectly with my current schedule. I just have a few requests.” I said after some hesitation.
“Do tell.”
“I wish to publish these under a pen name.” I started and made some requests like her calling me before coming to my place so that our schedules don’t collide with Koji-san or Shueisha’s schedule. That would probably be annoying. There were a few other things too.
“I see. Very well. We can make a contract when you want and publish the pilot chapter for next month’s edition.”
“That would be great. Thank you. I will talk to my guardian and have the contract prepared.” I agreed.
We talked about the details about the contract. The pay was obviously lower than Shueisha, much lower but it was also a new publishing house. It was already a lot that they were paying me this much even from their negligible income.
She then went on to introduce me to the rest of the members of the team.
Hana Sasayama, the girl who had asked me to buy the comic before reading… or well, begged me to, was the Editor-in-Chief of the company.
She was… well, enthusiastic to say the least.
Next were Tsumugi Hararaki and Ringo Nishijima, both of whom were editors. The former was… a glutton. Ringo-san was however more mature and knew her work.
I was however unbothered with them. I didn’t need an editor.
After leaving the place, I called Shuri-san and told her about the contract. She was the one who had helped me make a deal with Shueisha and after grandma, she was my guardian.
She obviously agreed to visit me and help me make a contract.
________________________________x__________________________________]
“Do we really have to run every day to school, Nii-san? Don’t we train enough already?” Tobi asked as we entered the school.
“Well, Sae-chan is not with us today. I don’t see a reason we shouldn’t use this opportunity to train.”
“But still…”
“Alright, no whining or I will increase your training again.”
That shut him up quickly.
Although he was complaining about this, there was not a drop of sweat on his forehead due to the run.
The more I pushed Tobi, the more I realised how ridiculous the growth of these bloodlines was at an earlier stage.
I hadn’t realised this earlier because I was already at a decent level when I used those bloodlines. Their effects were even more evident when the user was weaker.
At this rate, Tobi would be an E Rank in just a year or so.
“Okay Nii-san. I will go and join the club. Are you sure you don’t want to join us though? Coach was asking me who trained me and I told them it was you. He wanted you to join the club too.”
“I am not really interested. I won’t get time for it either.”
“Alright. I will tell him.”
I separated from him and walked back to my classroom.
The new session of middle school had started. I was finally a senior this year.
How quickly the time flies.
I had arrived quite early so I sat down in my usual place, the classic protagonist seat, the second last row near the window.
It had a nice view of the town.
One by one the rest of the students came in. Some of them greeted me.
I was at the top of the year so making friends was not hard. It’s just that I couldn’t connect that well with everyone as I had done with Rikuo and the others. Maybe because I had spent all my free time training or working and didn’t spend any time with them.
Back in Ukiyo-e town, Kiyotsugu and Jiro dragged me around even when I didn’t want to until they somehow managed to make me a part of the group.
Finally, our homeroom teacher entered.
“Today we have a new transfer student with us. Come in and introduce yourself.” She looked towards the door and ordered.
I looked up boredly but all of that boredom flew out of the window as soon as I saw the face of the person.
“Good morning everyone. My name is Sun Seto. I am new to this town. Please take care of me.” She introduced herself and gave an elegant bow as the rest of the class, especially the boys started making noise.
“Seto-san, you can take one of the empty seats.” The teacher pointed towards the class and Sun looked around before finding me. A smile came to her face.
“Can I sit there? I know Tatsuya-san.” She requested.
Suddenly, the stares of all the students of the class went in my direction.
What kind of romcom situation is this?
No no. This is not a romcom.
She is probably here to kill me.
This is a horror genre.
“Oh, you know Ikuse-kun. Very good. You can sit with him.” The teacher also permitted her and she walked to me with a smile on her face and took a seat near me and happily greeted me.
I did my best to ignore the looks of the class and nodded at her.
Wait… could it be that she has come here to check on me, to verify whether or not I have forgotten about that day?
I mean… she didn’t try to kill me yet… if that’s the case… I will never let her find out the truth.
The girl sat beside me and gave me a smile and I returned her smile politely.
Yes… I will definitely not let her find anything.
________________________________x__________________________________
I made the last hand seal and held it as a wooded dragon emerged from the ground and raced towards Hashirama. He dodged towards the side and the wooden dragon changed directions, making him stop and punch the head of the dragon off… only for the dragon to regrow its head and follow him back.
He too made a hand seal, with one hand and another wooden dragon rose from the ground faced mine. Both ending up in mutual destruction.
“Good job. That’s it.” He said. “You are learning. Training with Clones is really great. I wonder why I didn’t think of this before?”
I sat down on the ground and took some breaths.
“Probably because you didn’t need it.” I replied.
As I started learning Wood Style, one of the first techniques I learned was the Wood Clone Technique.
These clones were amazing. They had some advantages over Shadow Clones too. Like, they didn’t get dispelled in one attack and could easily take some hits. Second would be that it could communicate with the original from a distance, making them give me information in real time.
There were however disadvantages too.
First was that I need to concentrate on them to make them perform to their full potential. If I was preoccupied, their performance fell. This is also why they couldn’t be used for training to the extent Shadow Clones could be.
Shadow Clones didn’t need this concentration and directly fed me the knowledge and experience of the activities. It was hard on the mind for sure, but the experience was detailed unlike the selective things which Wood Clone could send.
If one had to compare, Wood Clones would be like dividing the mind into several parts to do some work while Shadow Clones were like injections of information.
I personally preferred using Wood Clones to draw manga, something which increased my efficiency even more. Shadow Clone was used more for repetitive training like jutsu training, elemental chakra training, etc.
“You just need to keep practising at the same rate. The Sharingan only helps so much. You need to master the jutsu to be able to use them with lesser hand seals so don’t go on copying every jutsu you see. In fact, Madara, the best Sharingan user I know of, barely used his Sharingan to copy other jutsu. It has many flaws after all.”
I nodded. He had explained this before too.
The Sharingan has many restrictions which were not explained in the manga. We only knew that it couldn’t copy Kekkei Genkai jutsu, Shape Transformation techniques like Rasengan which required more practice but there were other restrictions too.
For example, the Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu. It needed forty four hand seals. The Sahringan could copy it, sure… but the more someone has mastered a jutsu, the fewer hand seals they need to use it. Tobirama could do that with a single hand seal.
This… was not something the Sharingan could copy.
If the user tried it, not only would it fail, it also had a chance of injuring the user.
Sometimes I think that the reason Tobirama masters all his jutsu is not to have an advantage in battle but to counter Uchiha alone…
Every jutsu he uses, he does it in one or two hand seals… he absolutely hated it if I used the Sharingan against him.
Hashirama on the other hand was far more chill. He actually asked me to observe the jutsu with the Sharingan so that I could know what was actually happening. Then he drilled me to master it. The guy was actually happier to see both the powers used so well conjugation.
This way was faster too.
Four months had passed since I sparred with Nurarihyon. In these four months, my life had settled down once more between training and drawing manga.
As expected, Shanks had laughed and teased me for a whole month after I had told him about the fight. He had then proceeded to beat me up, continuing the high intensity training from before. His goal was to hone my haki to the highest point before I ate any Devil Fruits.
At this point, all we did was fight till death… my death that is.
The results were… terrifying.
My Stats didn’t lie.
Name: Tatsuya Ikuse
System Rank: C
Body: (C-8)
Mind: (D-51)
Spirit: (D-99)
Magic: (E-25)
Points: 32,112,028
Manga: Kaichou wa Maid-sama, One Piece, Naruto
Features Unlocked: Training Room, Mentor System
Inventory: Nichirin Blade x 1, Gacha Tickets x 2
Shop
My body had broken through to the C Rank. The first stat to get to that Rank. My Spirit was close behind due to being pressured by the Conqueror’s Haki regularly.
That said, after getting to the C Rank, things have started progressing slowly.
It took me one month to get the eight points in Body and each point was taking more and more time.
According to Shanks however, this rate was quite good already. His reason was that my body was still growing and there was a limit to how fast it could grow. I should give it some time and instead focus more on techniques in the meantime.
That’s why I was focusing on my Swordsmanship, Ninjutsu and Senjutsu.
Several things happened in these months.
First, Shuri-san came over and helped me make a contract with Monthly Comic Earth Star for publishing Kaichou wa Maid-sama there.
Thus the Monthly Comic Earth Star had a new manga among its ranks. Kaichou wa Maid-sama by Umetarou Nozaki.
Three chapters were out too and it was well received. My manga had become the best among the ones published in the magazine… which was not that hard to be honest. Still, it meant that the manga was selling more copies now. The income of points was low from it but it was better than nothing.
I also got to know the people of the publishing house better. They were new… really new. In fact, the Editor-in-Chief, Hana-san started this work just because she was very fond of manga. She is lazy and quite unprofessional and yet always gets the work done.
I have seen her go beyond herself to help out other mangaka to publish the stories in time.
The Assistant Editor-in-Chief, Akii Tori was the one who actually managed the work. She was a childhood friend of Hana-san who was dragged into the company by her. She was extremely professional and worked the hardest.
Overall, the people at the new Publishing House were quite friendly.
Second thing was Tobi’s training. I had started drilling him with physical exercise. He was growing like no other.
At this rate, after a few years, I could rest assured about his progress.
Third were my visits to the Ukiyo-e town. As Nurarihyon had promised, I visited Ukiyo-e town every week to learn about Senjutsu from Nurarihyon.
It was a hard skill to learn. Maybe it was my Senjutsu and Uzumaki bloodline or perhaps it was Hashirama’s words about Wood Style which helped me sense Nature’s Energy faster than usual.
I was nowhere near a master of the skill but I understood how to get started. Senjutsu was a dangerous skill in this world too.
Apparently, this world’s energy had the malice of the world. During Senjutsu use, we have to open our mind, body and spirit to connect to the world’s energy which also leads us to bear the mental strain of fighting against the malice of the world. That’s why to become a master of Senjutsu, one has to master their mind first.
If they can do this however, then overtime, their minds become stronger. This is why Sages like Sun Wukong have achieved Buddhahood, by achieving enlightenment.
According to Nurarihyon, the pinnacle of Senjutsu was not becoming a Sage.
Anyone who had mastered Senjutsu could be called a Sage. The true pinnacle of Senjutsu was Buddhahood… no, it would be more appropriate to say that Senjutsu was one of the paths to Buddhahood, a point where the mind and spirit of a person ascends to become something greater. It was, however, easier said than done.
Obviously, as old and experienced as he was, Nurarihyon said that not even he himself was close to being a sage.
Anyways, I had no need to think about those things right now.
Just mastering basic Senjutsu would give me some ability to hide myself. All I needed to do right now was concentrate on that.
Senjutsu was an urgent need for me.
For the last four months, Sun Seto has been in my school, sitting beside me.
Her behaviour was impeccable and she had become a star of the Music Club due to her amazing voice. I guess the stories of mermaids having a good voice is true after all. This coupled with her already pretty face made her incredibly popular in the school, especially among other boys.
This was however a tiring thing for me. I never thought that the common anime troupe about a female transfer student would be happening to me.
Sun was especially nice to me, always being helpful, even cooking bento for me sometimes. These actions however meant the boys of the class gave me a stink eye whenever it happened.
Little did they know what exactly was going on here.
I had to summon Tsunade and learn how to assess poison in food and how to detoxify myself of poison in case I got poisoned sometimes. Only after that did I start accepting her bento without fear… not that there was anything odd with the bento… ever. Still, the fear was there.
After four months, I was starting to get confused. What exactly did she want here?
Was she really just keeping an eye on me?
Because four months was a lot of time to find a way to kill me.
And instead of doing anything even remotely suspicious, she always behaved nicely to me. She was very nice to Tobi too and Sae basically idolised her.
Hell, Gin thought she was good too.
Was I just being paranoid?
Did she come here just to study and learn about humans?
If so then why did she not go to Rikuo’s school?
She would have been much safer there, with other Youkai, in Nurarihyon’s territory.
Instead, she was here.
There was no way it wasn’t related to me.
At the end of it all, there wasn’t anything I could do about the situation so I let it be.
I left the Training Room and got ready for the day. Today Koji-san was going to come with some news.
In the past four months, I have been using Wood Clones to make Manga. Due to this I was almost done with Kaichou wa Maid-sama. Only the last chapter was left today and I intended to finish it by the end of today.
I was hoping to free the slot and get a new manga, something which can help me increase my magic stat. That’s one stat which has been largely ignored.
While I practised Buddhist Magic whenever I had time, the rate of increase wasn’t that high.
I finished the last chapter by afternoon.
“Tobi, help me check a chapter.” I called Tobi to read the last chapter of Kaichi wa Maid-sama to finish the quest.
“Oh, Nii-san, did you complete the chapter?” He asked, coming in.
“Yes. The last chapter is done. Give it a read and tell me if anything is wrong.”
“Alright.”
He took the copy and finished reading and I got a notification.
Two Gacha Tickets were received and one slot was freed.
“It’s great, Nii-san. I didn’t think I would like a shoujo manga one day.”
“Manga is manga. What’s wrong with Shoujo Manga?” I replied.
“Well… my classmates say that it’s girly…” He answered embarrassedly.
“Don’t listen to them. They’re idiots.”
As we were talking, the doorbell rang.
I checked and it was Akii-san.
“Welcome. Are you here for the new chapter?”
“Yes. Is it done?”
“Hmm. Please have a seat. I will get the manuscript.”
She took a seat while I got the manuscript. In the meantime, Tobi got her some tea.
“This is good. We can directly print it as always. Sigh… you really make our work too easy, Tatsuya-kun. Sometimes I feel we are not working hard enough.”
“You all have a lot on your plate as it is. Just take a break once in a while. How have the sales been going though?”
“It’s nice overall. Your manga along with Shinobu-sensei’s manga are carrying the Magazine right now. We need more good manga, at least two more of them to establish a solid foothold.”
Her words gave me an idea.
“Actually…”
“Hmm?”
“Well, if you don’t mind, I have an idea.”
She nodded.
“You see, I just completed Maid-sama today. A total of eighty three chapters and one extra.” I said and saw her look at me dumbfoundedly. “I was wondering if I can submit another manga to the Magazine?”
“Another one? Are you sure you can do that?”
“Well… I have some free time so I don’t see why not. I will need some time.”
“Obviously, take as much time as you need. I will have to inspect your work first though.” She said, clearly happy. “Just understand that I will have to put it on hold if your health or the quality of the manga falls.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. I won’t let any such thing happen.”
“Okay then. I will check the new manuscript when it’s done.”
“Do you have any requirements for what kind of manga you want?” I asked.
“Hmm, right now we are mainly dealing with Shoujo Manga to appease a certain demographic. One more of those could be good. It would help us make a foothold in this genre. We can expand later.”
“Alright. I will give you a new manuscript in a week.”
A Shoujo Manga… I had one in mind.
Kimi ni Todoke, something I had already rolled would be perfect for this.
It’s one of the best stories out there, having sold millions of copies in my previous life for a very good reason.
“Good.”
She talked to me for a while and left with the manuscript while I went back to my room.
I needed to use the gacha.
Hope I get something good this time.
I spun the wheel and one of the tickets disappeared from my hand.
The wheel stopped at… Beelzebub.
That action comedy manga?
I think it had magic too but I don’t remember everything about it. I might check it later on. Let’s see the last roll.
The wheel rolled again, slowing down and stopping at… Inuyasha.
Fuck Yeah!!!
This is what I was talking about.
I had realised something very important in the past few years.
The stronger the people, the more points I get.
Even the people in the Supernatural World read manga. But my manga was not targeting them before. Demon Slayer manga was not that famous in the Supernatural World while Naruto was. This was because the Supernatural world was more interested in things they could associate with.
I wanted to make something centred around the Supernatural world to attract readers from that part.
Inuyasha was perfect for it.
I could actually have Rikuo promote it and gain readers among youkai at least.
Even the powers in the world were nice and while a lot of them required and were youkai based powers, I knew things I could use too.
Kikyo was very good at purification and healing. She also used Spiritual Powers so maybe she could help me train in that art.
There was also the Shikon Jewel and the swords but I didn’t know if I could use those without youkai powers.
Demon Slayer has been for almost three years already. It will be over in one more year and I would get a chance to introduce one more manga. In that time, I can complete Kimi ni Todoke and even start Inuyasha.
It will be a proper long running shounen series. Now I just need to find a place to publish One Piece.
_________________________________x_________________________________
I started working on Kimi ni Todoke the very next day.
“Ikuse-senpai.” My concentration was broken by the voice of Midori Hayakawa, the vice president of the Arts Club of our school.
“Yes?”
“Umm, we have a meeting for the Arts Club.” She said, hesitating slightly.
Ah yeah…
Midori-chan was the Vice President but I… was the President of the Arts Club. These kinds of things were my responsibility.
Why did I take this position again?
Well, I was in my senior year and the rest voted me into the position.
“Okay, let’s go.” I gave her a smile and the girl cheered up instantly.
“Yes. Today we need to discuss what we are going to do for this year’s School Festival. Everyone is very excited.”
And they were indeed very excited. The entire club was abuzz with discussions.
“Taicho!” One of the guys noticed me and stood up. The rest followed.
I had a pretty great reputation in the club. This was due to many reasons.
First was me being at the top of my year. It made many of them look up to me with admiration. Second was due to Tobi, the current ace of the Kendo Club, who had somehow let it out that I was the one who taught him swordsmanship.
Since then, not only the students of the Kendo Club but also the Club Advisor had approached me several times to invite me into the club. They even had arguments with the Arts Club members who thought they were trying to poach their members.
The matter had only calmed down when I publicly denied their invitation and stated that I wanted to become a mangaka.
Last reason was… Sun Seto.
“Is everyone here?”
“Yes, Taicho.”
“Good. Then let’s start the discussions. The school festival is at the end of this month and we need to make a show from the Arts Club. Does anyone have any ideas?”
And the discussions began.
“We can do a puppet show.”
“Eh, who knows how to do that?
“How about we make an arts exhibition?”
“Ughh, we do that every year. Can’t we do something new on top of that?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know? The Games Club did a Maid Cafe last year and it was very popular.”
“Ehh… no way. I can’t wear something like that. That’s so embarrassing.”
“Ano… how about we…”
“What is it, Midori-chan?”
“Umm… why don’t we do cosplay?”
“Hah? Cosplay?”
“Yes yes. We can totally cosplay anime characters. Many of us want to become artists or mangaka in the future. We can try to make our passions known to others and even promote manga among the students. We can do a presentation on manga as well as how the manga industry is not just some comics for kids but a large and expanding business avenue worth billions of yen.”
The room quieted down.
Manga and manga readers were looked down upon in this day and age. I knew that it would change a lot in the next decade or two but right now, these people face teasing and ridicule from others when they tell their dreams to others.
Perhaps the only reason no one told me anything was that I always aced in my studies. That said, even then, the Principal of the school had once asked me if I really wanted to be a mangaka.
“That’s… do you think it will work?” Someone asked, breaking the silence.
“Who knows… but does that mean we shouldn’t try? It’s not as if we have anything to lose. If we are going to be called otakus and ridiculed either way, then we might as well try.”
Midori-chan was usually so shy but she was extremely passionate about manga.
“Right! What do we have to fear? We can totally pull this off.” I too gave them a few words of encouragement.
This topic… it was close to my heart too.
Everyone looked at me. “Really Taicho?”
“Yeah. Go on, Midori-chan, tell us more about your plan.”
“Yes, Taicho. We can make the presentation from a technical point of view by introducing different types of manga and how manga are made, how much work is put into making even one volume of any manga. We can even make some decorations about different famous mangaka and their achievements. Don’t let anyone look down on how competitive this field is.”
“Hmm, that’s a great idea.”
“Right? Then we can explain about other fields which are related to manga like Anime, Light Novels and games, all of which come together to create a mega giant of an industry which has many opportunities for all. In fact, it would have been even better if we could invite someone from the Manga industry as a guest to explain about the subject. But in case we can't, we can do something related to our favourite manga.” She continued.
She had thought a lot about this.
“What kind of thing?” One of the members asked.
“Well… we can make artwork related to our favourite manga. In fact, I have heard from Tobio Ikuse-kun that it was Taicho who taught him the dance he did last year. He could totally pull a Tanjiro from Demon Slayer…”
“Oi, what the hell is that about me dancing?” I interrupted her in the middle.
This girl was really cutting close to home.
But the fire had already been set.
The entire club exploded.
“Really? That was you?”
“Yeah! That was actually awesome. And now that I think of it, it did kinda look like the Hinokami Kagura.”
“Right! Ikuse-senpai could totally do it better.”
“And we could also collaborate with the Music Club for this performance.”
“I am not dancing. No way.” I waved the topic off.
“But senpai!”
“Taicho, didn’t you say you wanted to be a mangaka? We are promoting manga this time. We can make our entire theme related to Manga. The art can be manga related, the dresses, even the performance can be manga related.”
“All just to make me dance? Are you crazy?”
“It’s for manga, Taicho. We are going to show all those people that Manga is art.”
“Yeah, we will prove that we are not useless otaku.”
Holy crap, just where is the conversation going?
“Taicho!”
“Please Taicho!”
_________________________________x_________________________________
“And just like that, I was surrounded by the entire Arts Club and forced into the whole thing.” I sighed.
“I think you should do it, Nii-san. Remember that you were the one who told me that I can join the dance club too. Why can’t you do the same?” Tobi said, suddenly bringing out something from the past.
“Yes yes. I think Tatsuya-san would look good too.” Sae-chan said. “Don’t you think so, Sun-senpai?”
“Eh… ah, yes.” The girl nodded.
She had started walking home with us since the start of the school year. Her reason was that she didn’t know other people… and it was a decent reason.
Sae-chan and Tobi being the helpful kind they were, welcomed her gladly.
I didn’t have any excuse to deny either. There was no reason I could leave her alone with Sae and Tobi.
“Hmm. Grandma also said that it was a very pretty dance. Please do it, Nii-san. I did it before too.”
“Aghh… alright alright. It’s not like I can back out now. Everyone has already started working on the art already.”
“I can prepare the costume for the dance if you want.” Sae-chan offered.
“No it’s fine, Sae-chan. I have a spare piece. I’ll use that.” The cost of the costume in the System was cheap. “Also, I will be using Yoriichi’s costume instead of Tanjiro’s.”
A good thing that I would be getting a mask to perform.
- Koji Yoshida -
“Really! But wasn’t it going to take six more months?” He asked.
“They have some new kind of technology which they used for this. The project will be ready to air in a month and a half. They have requested us to check it out and see if we want to make any changes since they have extra time on hand. The owner of the company has actually asked for a meeting with you and Kishibe-sensei.”
“A meeting?”
“Hmm. I think they might be trying to get him to serialise Naruto in their studio too. That series is picking up readers everywhere. I suggest that you talk to the owner first and then bring them to visit him. I have already mentioned that he wants to keep his identity a secret. They agreed to it.”
“Yes, Chief. I will get it done.”
“Good. By the way, how many chapters are left for Kimetsu no Yaiba?”
“Around fifty more.”
“Hmm… a year more then? Alright.”
They talked about a few more details and Koji left the office.
It was big news. Tatsuya would be happy.
_________________________________x__________________________________________________________________x_________________________________
Support Me on: https://www.patreon.com/crossedge
https://subscribestar.adult/crossedge
Join me on my Discord server https://discord.gg/RNNZyyert4
Beta Reader: @LuluViBritania (FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord)
Author’s Note:
I am back with another chapter of ‘Drawn to Power’.
Tatsuya is stuck in an amusing situation right now and Nurarihyon is having fun.
He has started publishing another of his manga under another pen name.
As said earlier, I am going to focus a bit on the manga part and the slice of life aspect of things for a chapter or two.
Then we go to the fighting part of the plot.
Enjoy the new chapter.
Good Day, Peace Out.
Comments
KickAsterisk
Just read all of this on Questionable Questing. Wonderful Story, and I love the pacing and the characters.
gabrielius biteika
Will this book be updated?
Momo-cchi
Am I the only that's wondering why he ain't just hypnotise these muggles to get them to publish more of his works instead of him doing all this unnecessary shit?
Pure Dingo
Great chapter, I like how the story is shaping up and the interaction with everyone.
Leisercom
He has access to the stuff of chapters that have been seen by at least one person (not including himself). That is why he is always asking for Tobio to check his new chapters.
Argos Yesu
Finally someone who got Wood Clones right. Others treat all clones except the original clone jutsu as just extensions of Shadow Clone with all elemental clones popping and giving memories back. Which is bull. And they even treat Wood Clones as just like Shadow Clones. Do people just not fact check anymore? If elemental clones were just like shadow clone then the other jinchuuriki would have followed Naruto’s method and also spammed clones but nop.
MerlinO
Gracias por el capítulo
Aaron Hardin
His access is based on what he has written, not what has been published, while his grade is based on sales.
Zax
I'm guessing the one who wants to meet for the funding on the anime are the Gremory
DJOK DJOK
Thanks for the chapter love the story and can’t wait till the next one
crashdash
Good chapter though I could've sworn One Piece had already been published. I mean isn't only possible for him to acces items, powers, etc. If he published chapters they were shown in?
That Warden
Honestly at this point I don't care wich of your stories you update cause every chapter is a good read :)
Miguel Sevilla
Honestamente creo que Tatsuya esta siendo idiota, puedo pasar por alto que no entiende su propia fuerza ya que el viejo lo engaño bien allí, pero que no se de cuenta de la fuerza de otros ya es una tontería, debería ser obvio que Sun no puede hacerle daño ni aunque lo intentará todo su clan juntos, solo sería una masacre unilateral de peces. Tratar de cubrir sus huellas con sus amigos sería una excusa si no tuviera la opción de preguntarle al viejo con el que entrena Senjutsu a menudo, pudo preguntar en cualquier momento ya que era obvio que las sirenas tenían relación con los Youkais incluso si el anciano quisiera tomarle el pelo no se arriesgaría a hacer una broma sobre algo que podría arrojarles un monstruo cercano al nivel ultimate a un clan de sirenas amistoso, será interesante ver que obtiene de Inuyasha y Beelzebub, este último en particular podría ser muy útil ya que tiene varias similitudes con el mundo DXD. Y la espada de Sesshomaru podría ser una de los más increíbles artefactos en cualquier mundo, parece que podrá publicar otro manga cuando se gradué, por lo que hay opciones interesante allí, quizás incluso le permitan publicar otros más luego de dejar la escuela. Hasta la próxima
Aeden Emrys
Thanks for the new chapter! Its been a while since this story was updated and I am very happy to see a new chapter of this great story! Its both funny and irritating how our MC got around the situation with Sun - for the moment! - but at least grandpa Nurarihyon is having fun! But I am really looking forward to our MC finding out about the marriage part! I can't wait to be reading the next chapter and I'm looking forward to reading much more of this great story!
Alu
Thanks for the new Chapter! Now I actually have a reason to cross out Inuyasha in my anime to watch list.
Hiram
Have you thought about Old School "Hayate the Combat Butler" I know a few maids/Ojousamas who would totally love that.
Orchamus
Be hilarious if there are expies from Inuyasha present in the world.
Ancalagon
Hope he gets a good inuyasha sword
Ferocious_Beast
Sun Wukong reading Inuyasha: This feels nostalgic. "Inuyasha, Sit!" *thud* Sun Wukong: Ahh, makes sense now.
Lictor Magnus
Thanks for the chapter. I need to go back and reread some of the earlier chapters. I’ve forgotten about almost all the classmates and art club people 😅
owlknight
Awesome to see an update for this one after so many months and to be a banger as well makes it doubly worth it. It is always hard to say which are the best but i have to admit Farmer , Mangaka, and Deal with the Devil always light up my day just a little more when I see their update. here's hoping we can see a Deal chapter since it's been six months with a big cliffhanger with the Heaven war.
Holosagewolf
Its been a while since this got an update i nearly forgot the plot
Son-Of-Scorn
Finally!!! Love this story, so so glad to see an update for it, still not fond of how many identites he's making but eh it is what it is, can't wait to see the reactions to his dance, gonna be great I'm sure, what's next ok the update schedule? I know it's on the discord but I can never make heads nor tails out of it 😅
