Chapter 25: Request and New Challenge
"Hey, what exactly is going on in there?"
"I don't know. That Niizuma-kun seems difficult to deal with."
"If you ask me, the Chief Editor is making too much of a fuss. He's just a manga artist after all."
"But he's the Tezuka Award winner."
Outside, everyone had their ears perked up, listening carefully to the sounds from inside the office.
Niizuma Eiji actually wanted to obtain the right to arbitrarily cancel a manga. This was simply astounding. Such a privilege was like becoming a petty tyrant.
If the Chief Editor agreed, it would mean that Niizuma Eiji would suddenly hold the power of life and death over all JUMP manga artists; even the currently popular Blood Tribe could be directly finished off in one go.
The Chief Editor shouldn't be crazy enough to agree to this, right?
And the moment Niizuma Eiji walked out humming a song, he immediately attracted everyone's attention.
"Oh? Could it be, you are ONE-sensei?"
When Niizuma Eiji walked out of the office, he immediately spotted Naoto sitting on the sofa.
"You are?"
Looking at Niizuma Eiji's unrestrained and peculiar attire, with two quill pens stuck in his back, making him look like a little angel, Naoto felt a strange sense of familiarity.
"My name is Niizuma Eiji, and I am the one who will defeat you and become JUMP's number one manga artist."
In response to Naoto's question, Niizuma Eiji nonchalantly said to Naoto, which immediately made Editor Hattori behind him want to cry.
My lord, can't I just call you my lord? Please, old man, don't cause trouble, okay? You haven't even become a serialized manga artist yet! You're already playing such a big game, and now you want to make an enemy of JUMP's current ace manga artist. Is this really necessary?!
"Defeat me and become JUMP's number one manga artist? Interesting. I accept this challenge, Niizuma Eiji. I have a feeling you should be able to become JUMP's ace manga artist."
Naoto was not angry at Niizuma Eiji's words. He didn't hear any provocative intent in Niizuma Eiji's language.
He probably truly thought that way in his heart.
At the same time, Naoto also remembered who Niizuma Eiji was.
In Bakuman, although Ashirogi Muto were the protagonists, among the manga artists who appeared, they certainly weren't the strongest.
Niizuma Eiji, in the manga, was like a little angel, incredibly powerful.
In the end, he suppressed all other manga artists. Compared to Naoto, this guy was more like a system-enabled manga artist who cheated. With just one work, "Crow," he became invincible, much like the style of the old Death Note, Bleach, and Naruto.
Later, he even reached a point where he was competing against his own manga, which was simply outrageous.
Especially his single-minded, innocent attitude, focused solely on manga, made Naoto feel that given enough time, this guy could at least become a manga master like Toriyama Akira, if not a manga god like Tezuka Osamu.
"Really? ONE-sensei, you're such a good person! I believe we can definitely become great rivals!"
Seeing Naoto's affirmation, Niizuma Eiji also seemed particularly happy and quickly shook hands with Naoto.
"Phew~ That's great."
Seeing that Naoto was not displeased by Niizuma Eiji's words, Editor Hattori finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Naoto was so understanding and magnanimous.
Fearing that this guy would say something outrageous again, Editor Hattori quickly led Niizuma Eiji away.
Under Niizuma's reluctant gaze, Naoto was left with a line of black sweat on his forehead.
"What exactly is this? That person named Niizuma Eiji is too arrogant!"
Akito said, somewhat indignantly. He actually wanted to defeat ONE and become JUMP's number one manga artist; they hadn't even dared to say that!
However, Naoto knew that if he didn't work harder, he might actually be surpassed by that guy Niizuma. That guy was a genuine genius.
After Niizuma Eiji left, Naoto, Saiko, and Akito entered the office together.
The three of them were all eager to know if the Chief Editor had agreed to Niizuma Eiji's request.
However, facing the bewildered gazes from the three, Editor Sasaki merely sighed deeply.
"No way, did you really agree?!"
Seeing the Chief Editor sigh, the three immediately panicked. This was too absurd.
Such a request was simply a joke.
It wasn't about fearing whether the other party would eliminate them; it was more about dissatisfaction with such preferential treatment for the other party.
Admittedly, winning the Tezuka Award was indeed prestigious, but that didn't guarantee success in JUMP.
After all, short manga and long manga were completely different concepts. If the Chief Editor really agreed to such a request, it would undoubtedly cause dissatisfaction among all authors, including the three of them. As the saying goes, one worries not about scarcity but about unfairness. If the other party could make such an unreasonable request, it would inevitably lead many JUMP manga artists to leave.
"Ahem, everyone calm down. Things are not that simple."
Seeing Naoto and the others looking somewhat annoyed, the Assistant Chief Editor quickly explained, "Actually, the Chief Editor can be said to have agreed, and also not agreed, because such a thing has no precedent in JUMP's history. So, based on this, we made an agreement with Niizuma-kun."
"An agreement?"
"Exactly. If Niizuma wants to obtain this power, then he must demonstrate his talent. His manga must become the number one new manga in JUMP."
Hearing the Assistant Editor's words, Naoto began to understand.
Number one new manga? That is to say, if Niizuma Eiji wanted the power to cancel any manga, he had to become the number one manga in the current issue.
But what did this have to do with the three of them? After all, all three of them currently had manga being serialized, so they couldn't be considered newcomers, right?
"Ahem, actually, we invited the three of you mainly to ask you to create a new manga to target Niizuma-kun. As long as Niizuma doesn't get the number one spot, then he must join JUMP and become a manga artist in peace. Currently, only the three of you still meet the newcomer criteria."
"But there are only so many serialization slots in JUMP. If the new manga is only to target Niizuma, that's too much trouble."
Although he understood the editors' approach, Naoto himself was quite reluctant to do such a thing, as it was no small amount of work for a manga artist.
Perhaps only the two hotheads on his side were eager to try.
"Don't worry, if the results are excellent, we have already discussed with the Monthly and JUMP+ people. If the results are good, we can arrange for serialization there, which will also greatly reduce the pressure on you. Of course, you can also choose not to serialize and arrange an ending at any time."
Naoto heard the Chief Editor's words and realized that these two were clearly prepared.
They had already arranged connections with those two sides. It was clear that Niizuma had made this request a long time ago. And it was also clear that these editors had probably even considered the possibility of failure.
"But Chief Editor, what's in it for us? Leaving aside Niizuma's issue, serializing an additional manga is no small pressure for us right now."
Akito and Saiko quickly calmed down after hearing Naoto's words.
Yes, the two of them were only middle school students, and serializing one manga was already exhausting all their energy. Naoto-nii was a high school student, so his academic pressure would probably be even greater.
Serializing an additional manga without any benefits, they felt like they would be at a loss no matter how they thought about it.
"Don't worry, you won't be treated unfairly in this matter."
At this moment, the Chief Editor, who had been silent all along, finally spoke. And when he uttered his next sentence, Naoto and the other two were completely dumbfounded.
"Shueisha has already researched and discussed it. Whoever wins first place in the Newcomer Popularity Ranking next time will gain the power to freely cancel any manga."
Such great courage immediately ignited the fighting spirit of the three.
It seems that no matter what, next time, they would have to have a good fight with this future JUMP mangaka.