[Shrimping people and stabbing their hearts—shrimping them and still stabbing their hearts? Huh, I feel like I just said something similar. 2333]
[Sparkle: Fun.]
[Damn, turns out my wife is a Mischief Maker.]
[I'm dying, we analyzed so much before, but she was just messing with people.]
[As long as she doesn't die from it, she'll keep pushing it to the brink of death.]
[Sparkle is getting more and more like a bratty little girl this time.]
After a round of chaos, Kakashi finally turned serious.
"Alright, the review and jokes end here." Kakashi looked at Naruto. "So, Naruto, who are you planning to give the bells to? Only two people can graduate."
"I—" Naruto was suddenly at a loss for words.
He desperately wanted to graduate.
But Sparkle had done most of the work, and even Sasuke had played a crucial role. He was more like someone picking the peaches after the fact.
He wanted to graduate, but... was this really okay?
Naruto looked at Sparkle, who merely smiled.
Naruto looked at Sasuke again. He could see Sasuke's desire to become a true ninja, yet Sasuke also said nothing and simply looked at him.
The choice was in his hands.
"I..."
"Let me say this first, Naruto. We're a team." Just as Naruto was about to speak, Sparkle interrupted him.
—A team?
Yeah, a team!
"Don't think about sacrificing yourself, idiot." Sasuke had also seen through Naruto's thoughts.
Sacrificing himself so the other two could graduate.
Yet he had been seen through.
"Ah—I get it." Naruto flashed a dashing smile and raised his head to look at Teacher Kakashi. "What do you mean, one person or two people? We'll advance and retreat together!"
The three of them stood together.
"So this is your decision? If you intend to advance and retreat together, then in the worst-case scenario, all three of you will be expelled." Kakashi's voice was cold.
"We're a team! I refuse to abandon someone! I won't give up on any of us! The three of us are one!" Naruto clenched the bells tightly.
"If that's the case, then I can only announce that you..."
Kakashi sighed, his voice low.
But then he suddenly raised his head, a smile appearing on his face. "Congratulations. You—you all passed."
It's Author-chan's birthday today. Can I ask for some bookmarks, monthly tickets, and recommendations? Mwah~
Wrangling with the client
"A ninja must be able to see through schemes within schemes."
"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum."
"But those who do not cherish their companions are the worst scum of all."
After saying that, Kakashi looked at Sparkle. "Preliminary investigation and intelligence gathering are indeed compulsory subjects for a ninja, but my information isn't something you can obtain so casually. I won't pursue it this time, but you'd better not do this sort of thing in the village. It can be dangerous."
Although Kakashi had had a trauma response, Sparkle's ability to pull this off was still a testament to her skills. But gathering intelligence could sometimes be dangerous. As for the source of that danger—Danzo, Danzo, and Danzo... things like that.
Sparkle stuck out her tongue. "Ehehe~"
Kakashi gave a thumbs-up. "The exercise is over. Team 7 will begin taking missions tomorrow."
"Yeah! This feels... so cool!"
It was finally over. Naruto alone became the hype man, livening up the entire scene.
"Grrr..." Naruto's stomach suddenly growled while he was jumping around. "Hehe... now that I've relaxed, I suddenly feel hungry."
"There are only two boxed lunches here." Sparkle said, "How about I treat you—"
"No." Kakashi hurriedly refused. "Right now, I feel a little nauseous."
[The boomerang. 2333]
[He really is going to throw up, I'm dead.]
[Failed to treat someone +1]
[If I were Kakashi, I wouldn't just want to throw up right now. I'd also want to chop this bratty little girl in half.]
[Either way, he definitely has emotional trauma now. 2333]
Because Kakashi had previously said that he would throw up, only for him to be the one feeling nauseous now, the boomerang drew a wave of comments from the audience.
"Then at least let's take a picture. We didn't manage it last time." Sparkle took out the camera again.
"Alright, pictures!" Naruto was the most enthusiastic.
Sparkle created a Shadow Clone Jutsu to operate the camera, then the three of them stood before the lens and took a photo.
With a click, Episode Five finally came to an end amid the cheerful atmosphere.
Amid a flood of Danmaku from Gaia, Tiga, and others saying they did not want it to end, Sparkle also checked her Popularity Points.
This round had been quite stunning. Sparkle had directly earned fifty thousand Popularity Points.
Episode Five Broadcast Complete Actor's Salary Settlement in progress. Please wait. Negotiations with the production team complete. Please choose one item below as your filming fee. 1. Independent promotional poster and merchandise production. 2. Independent OVA Filming Opportunity. 3. External investment introduction. External investment introduction: Allows external assistance to be locally adapted, or new content to be added. (Unavailable to supporting characters.) (Unavailable for this script.) Dimensional Popularity Stage Notice: You have already gained extraordinary popularity. It is time to rise from an extra to a Minor Supporting Role. Spend 100,000 Popularity Points to participate in the Promotion Test for Minor Supporting Roles. After becoming a Minor Supporting Role, you may choose quarterly salary settlements, and the accumulated rewards will be even more generous.
The reward this time was even more generous than the one from Episode One.
This time, there was not only the Filming Fee Reward from the anime's broadcast, but also a Promotion Test from the Dimensional Popularity Stage.
Although Sparkle was considered a "Minor Supporting Role" in this world, that was because her Character Card had a "same-name character" tag that allowed her to choose Hanabi Hyuga.
If she changed worlds, she would become an extra again.
And with this reward, Sparkle could escape this awkward situation even in other worlds.
Although the story of Naruto was very long, if one insisted on calculating the timeline, there were really only a few years in this world. Sparkle had lived happily here, but unless she was going to appear in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, her role here was basically over.
Sparkle felt that Boruto: Naruto Next Generations probably did not exist in this world.
"External investment introduction..."
Sparkle found this rather interesting. However, since she was not the protagonist, some of its functions were unavailable to her.
"What does local adaptation mean?" Sparkle asked.
You may select an external item and provide it with an origin, allowing it to appear in the script without any sense of incongruity.
"I see."
As a supporting character, she could not simply pull out strange things without warning.
For example, Sparkle had obtained things like EX Caliburn and Enuma Elish, but they did not match this anime's theme at all. Forcing them into use would not help her accumulate popularity, and it could easily cause OOC issues.
OOC meant deductions, you know!
Yes, literal deductions. Crossovers and OOC behavior would both result in deductions from her filming fee.
"I've decided. This one."
After confirming her reward, Sparkle received another prompt.
Please select an item or prop for local adaptation.
"Hmm, in that case... ah."
Sparkle had originally wanted to locally adapt the Character Card for Thousand Faces of the Trickster—Sparkle, but she discovered that this card was already "local."
"So that means cards selected through 'fate' are automatically locally adapted? Or is it because I've already integrated it into this world without any incongruity?"
In any case, Sparkle's Character Card would not work.
But Jingliu's Character Card could.
Request submitted. Negotiating with the production team. Wrangling with the client. Treating the boss to drinks. Successfully got the boss drunk.
Dimensional Popularity Stage, what exactly were you doing?!
For a moment, Sparkle could not tell whether it was creating buzz or if this was real.
But soon, Sparkle received a reply.
Drafting proposal. Pressuring Party B. Local adaptation successful. Please resonate with Jingliu while carrying a blank summoning scroll.
"Resonate?"
Sparkle had resonated with Jingliu once before and had gained quite a bit of experience from it. That brutal battlefield and the feeling of Demonic Possession wrapping around her body had been nothing short of a nightmare.
"Let's give it a try."
It was still noon, and missions would not begin until tomorrow, so there was still enough time.
As for a blank summoning scroll, Sparkle had already prepared one—or rather, she had prepared it back when she acquired the Scroll of Sealing.
Thus, Sparkle entered resonance once more.
"Hmm...?"
However, unlike last time, Sparkle did not share Jingliu's perspective.
This time, she saw a red-eyed woman with blue-and-white hair teaching a young man how to practice swordsmanship.
Unlike the direct insight from last time, what Sparkle saw this time was purely theoretical technique.
The stance for holding a sword, the method of gripping it, footwork, posture...
The young man learned earnestly, and Jingliu taught carefully. Even Sparkle could not help becoming immersed in it.
But at that moment, Jingliu turned her head. "After watching for so long, do you want to learn too?"
"...Me?"
Sparkle was somewhat surprised.
She had originally thought this was merely a memory, but she had not expected Jingliu to be able to speak with her.
Was this reality or an illusion?
Before you continue