[Woohoo, we're taking off~]
[Never seen such an amazing start!]
Just then, the Danmaku appeared again. This meant that the second episode of Ninja Path had begun.
Then—
Sparkle decisively used a Daily Life Camera Card.
Before Naruto made his appearance, she might as well steal the spotlight first. The second episode was Naruto and Konohamaru's "daily life plot"; rather than appearing midway through, it was better to make an appearance right at the beginning.
Popularity or not didn't matter. She would grab some screen time first.
The scene indeed switched over to Sparkle.
Sparkle did not wear her eye covering while putting on makeup. Her eyes were closed.
The camera seemed remarkably considerate. It did not show her face head-on; every part that might reveal her eyes was cleverly obscured by the shot, sometimes using Natsu Hyuga and sometimes the camera angle itself. At the same time, soothing daily-life background music played.
"Miss Sparkle." Natsu Hyuga was combing Sparkle's hair. She spoke softly, her voice gentle.
[Sparkle!]
[It's Sparkle!]
[Lady Sparkle, I'm your dog!]
[Cameraman, move up a little! You've lost your drumstick!]
[Dock the cameraman's pay!]
[Am I the only one who thinks the short-haired maid beside her is gorgeous too?]
[The maid has Byakugan too!]
[That forum analysis was pretty reliable. Sparkle really is a young lady, and judging from the maid, could this whole family have Byakugan?]
[If Sparkle isn't blind, she should have Byakugan too, right?]
[Someone edited Byakugan onto Sparkle on the forum. Go look.]
[Getting nothing but dirty looks at my father-in-law's house.JPG]
The idiotic netizens were full of joy.
The comments came one after another. Yet what appeared on screen was rather heartwarming.
"After you become a ninja, I won't be able to stay by your side every day. You've chosen a difficult path."
"This was my own decision, Natsu-nee. You know that."
Although she was a Mischief Maker, unlike Sparkle from Star Rail, her "character setting" was not simply about causing mischief.
She wanted the viewers to understand that she was someone with her own mind, and that no one could change a decision she had made.
"Yes, nothing can change a decision made by Lady Sparkle." As Sparkle's maid, Natsu Hyuga naturally knew what Sparkle was usually like.
"You are so elegant in your daily life, yet during training, you are almost cruel to yourself. And the determination you have made is as firm as steel."
Mm-hmm, Natsu-nee, if you can talk, then say more!
Sparkle was very satisfied, because the Danmaku had already begun to surge wildly.
[Miss Sparkle seems like someone with a story.]
[Big families must have had lots happen to them.]
[What kind of cruel are we talking about? How could Sparkle's Genjutsu be cruel?]
[Didn't you see that the training posts outside were all deformed?]
[But Lady Sparkle's hands don't seem to have calluses or anything.]
As they spoke, the camera knowingly cut to the training posts outside—the ones Sparkle had used.
As for calluses, she did not have any. On one hand, she took excellent care of herself. On the other, Sparkle had discovered that she seemed to have a constitution that simply did not develop calluses. Even the soles of her feet had none. While that was good for her appearance, it also meant that the pain Sparkle felt during every training session did not lessen as it did for others.
Therefore, Sparkle suffered more than ordinary people during training. Even so, she had never stopped.
It was not that Sparkle truly did not fear pain.
She had merely discovered that becoming the number one Dimensional Idol in popularity was indeed a dream and goal that suited her very well.
Being an idol wasn't bad at all.
Ninja Path sounds better. You can't just casually name an anime series either—cough, cough. I've adjusted it; from now on, it'll all be called Ninja Path desu.
The original Hanabi Hyuga looked best during Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, I think. Sadly, she was nowhere to be found in the main story. But luckily she was nowhere to be found, otherwise who knew how Ikemoto would have ruined her.
Newbie author asking for recommendations, monthly tickets, and bookmarks~ Meow~
Jingliu, Blade Drawn Without Return
Although the Popularity Points she could gain without the "protagonist" present were limited, Sparkle cared more about the "character development" she showed before the audience than popularity.
Without a doubt, this wave had been a success.
"All done, Miss."
Natsu Hyuga had finished dressing Sparkle up.
Yet Sparkle suddenly threw her arms around her.
"Thank you, Natsu-nee~"
[Girls' love! Girls' love!]
[Oranges, oranges, oranges~]
[I've never seen people this thirsty. This is obviously a family affection scene, okay?]
[Lady Sparkle, please hug me~]
[Please hug me~]
[Lady Sparkle, I'm your fan! Give me a hug!]
"Then I'm off."
"Yes, have a safe trip."
When Sparkle left the house, the Camera Card had also run out, and the scene shifted back to Naruto.
Unlike Sparkle, who had enjoyed a good night's sleep, Naruto had gotten up early and spent several hours creating an incredibly peculiar look for himself.
He painted his entire face white and drew red patterns over it, making himself look like a kabuki performer.
Without Sparkle's involvement, this part was more or less the same as the "original work."
Sparkle got to enjoy a "real-life version" of the second episode of Naruto.
After taking the photos, Sparkle did not return home. Instead, she headed to the training ground.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu was a forbidden technique, but plenty of people actually knew Shadow Clone Jutsu. The Hyuga Clan naturally had it as well. In fact, even if they had not, acquiring a Shadow Clone Jutsu would have been effortless for the Hyuga Clan.
However, because Shadow Clone Jutsu evenly divided one's Chakra, its practical combat value was rather limited for ordinary ninja.
The most convenient use for this technique was actually in training Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. Two clones training meant double the speed, and Sparkle had additional bonuses as well.
But Sparkle was not here to train today. She was here to keep watch over the surroundings.
The Third Hokage, who could use the Telescope Technique, was still handing certificates to the students one by one. Sparkle swept the surrounding area with her Byakugan and found it perfectly safe as well.
"Then, let's begin the resonance."
"Ancient Mirror Reflecting Divinity!"
In an instant, the space around Sparkle fell into an eerie silence.
Oppressive. Freezing. Everything within that domain seemed as though it would be frozen solid.
Yet Sparkle could no longer sense the outside world.
Her consciousness had sunk deep into the depths of her heart.
"Illumine the myriad rivers—!"
After regaining consciousness, Sparkle felt as though she stood upon a battlefield. The world around her was blood-red, while grotesque wolf-like monstrosities howled and roared all around her.
And "she" held a longsword, slaughtering freely beneath the blood moon. That overwhelming killing intent and bloodlust seemed capable of devouring everything.
"These are Jingliu's memories... I see. So this is resonance..."
She was synchronizing with Jingliu's past memories—the crazed gaze Jingliu had hidden behind that Eye-covering Black Veil.
"Sorry, but my role in this show isn't that of a deranged character like you. Still, I'll be taking your skills." Enduring those maddening emotions, Sparkle experienced Jingliu's battles.
Every swing of the sword was impossible to block. Every movement was impossible to stop.
Even as Jingliu's killing intent boiled over, she maintained extreme calm.
Sparkle was learning how to maintain that calm as well.
Her mind felt as though it would be consumed by those frenzied emotions. The agony made her want to kill herself, as though she were being cut apart a thousand times, but Sparkle persevered.
What a joke. It was only being cut apart a thousand times!
"Pant... pant..."
Who knew how much time had passed before Sparkle finally awoke from that bizarre and chaotic scene.
From a "first-person perspective," she had experienced Jingliu's battle.
Perhaps because her compatibility with Jingliu was not as good as Sparkle's, the enormous and crazed mental impact during the resonance had made her suffer terribly.
"Mm, it's already this late."
The resonance had ended, and an entire day had already passed. It was now dusk.
The training posts and ground around her had been covered in a layer of frost.
Sparkle shivered as well.
She had broken out in a cold sweat during the resonance, and all that sweat had now turned into little shards of ice.
Sparkle formed a hand seal. "Fire Release."
It was not some impressive Ninjutsu. She merely used a little Nature Transformation to raise the surrounding temperature and melt and evaporate all the icy fragments on her body.
Finally, she used Fire Release to scorch the entire affected area. That counted as "destroying the evidence."
"Hm?"
At that moment, Sparkle's Shadow Clone Jutsu suddenly dispersed, and the clone's memories returned to her.
Sparkle's clone had discovered someone approaching, so it had used this method to notify the original body.
"I see."
Without another word, Sparkle immediately used a Daily Life Camera Card.
The second episode of Ninja Path was itself a daily-life episode, practically Naruto's solo performance. Although the story itself was not especially important, it would help the audience deepen their impression.
The video camera switched back to Sparkle. On screen, she stood beneath the camera, panting with an exhausted expression.
Then, at that moment, a figure appeared behind Sparkle.
"Good day, Sasuke."
Sparkle turned around, returning to her usual elegance as she greeted Sasuke, who had appeared behind her.
Sasuke swept his eyes across the devastated training ground, then looked at Sparkle. "You aren't planning to fight dressed like that after becoming a ninja, are you? You'll die."
Sparkle wore a furisode kimono. There was nothing wrong with it in daily-life scenes, but it would indeed hold her back in battle.
[Second male lead?]
[He really is the second male lead?]
Before you continue