I Stand at the Forefront of Popularity Supremacy

[Can we have the camera do a close-up on you?]

"Pretty practical."

Even though it was just blue skies and white clouds, the Newcomer Gift Pack from this Dimensional Popularity Stage was completely different from the ten-pulls of those unscrupulous gacha games—generous to the core, every single item useful.

[Gift Pack rewards have been stored in space. About to enter the Dimensional World.]

The cards all vanished into thin air, but Su Qi could feel that these things were still within his consciousness.

Then, another piece of information appeared in his mind.

[Dropping Actor Resume]

[Acquiring Artist Announcement]

[Conducting Salary Negotiation]

[Drafting Performance Contract]

[Anime Series has been greenlit]

[Anime Series Title: Ninja Path]

[Opening Time: When the Child of Destiny, Naruto Uzumaki, is 12 years old]

"Mm? Naruto Uzumaki?" Su Qi's eyes lit up.

What Ninja Path was this? This was the world of Naruto?

This I know well!

[Please select entry mode]

[1, Outsider (no physical form, unavailable)]

[2, Local (free for newcomers)]

The "Outsider" option was grayed out. The only one available was "Local."

Su Qi naturally chose Local. A new option appeared.

[Please select a Reincarnation Role]

A long list appeared before Su Qi's eyes. But when he saw the names on it, his vision went dark.

—Not a single one he recognized.

[Name: A Xia]

[Identity: Extra. A civilian girl of Konoha.]

The profile picture was a very unremarkable woman.

[Name: Ami]

[Identity: Extra. A civilian girl of Konoha.]

"...What the hell?!"

Not only had he never seen them before, but the profile pictures were also ugly as sin.

After looking through them all, Su Qi found that the best role was Ayame, the daughter of the ramen shop owner in Naruto.

Although many people joked that the owner of Ichiraku Ramen, Teuchi, was the hidden final boss "Otsutsuki Ikkaku," in reality, he was just a passerby. Take it seriously, and you lose.

"Why are they all girls, and every single one of them hideously ugly?"

—Was this the fate of an extra?

You couldn't even use a role like this to Create Buzz; you'd just end up as a clown.

A pretty girl creating a stir was called being quirky and cute. Using a role like this to Create Buzz was called an ugly person making a fool of themselves.

"I can accept a small role. I can accept being reincarnated as a girl. But I cannot accept being ugly..."

Looks were always the top priority. If given a choice between a pretty girl and an ugly guy to reincarnate into, Su Qi would unhesitatingly choose the pretty girl.

Judgment follows the face. If you're pretty, the audience will line up to defend you.

You could be a girl. You could be a villain. But you absolutely could not be a clown. And besides, according to the stage, the "hardware" of his reincarnated body was very important. How could he be so careless about it?

"If there's really no choice, then I'll have to pick Ayame." But Ayame had one problem. The other girls were all Naruto's age, making it easy to steal screen time. But Ayame was older than Naruto, and an ordinary person at that. That made it very hard to steal the spotlight.

If I can't steal scenes, I'll be miserable!

"Mm?"

But just then, Su Qi noticed that a special option was lit up below.

[Special Selectable Role]

[Name: Hanabi Hyuga (Same Name Benefit, unlocked based on Character Template with the same name)]

[Identity: Minor Supporting Role. Daughter of the Hyuga Clan of Konoha.]

[Minor Supporting Role LV1: Attention +20%]

"Based on the same name? So the gold card had this use?"

So I've gone from a background character straight to a supporting role! And I even got a 20% boost!

To think, Jingliu's card only gave a 20% boost when conditions were met. This supporting role identity just handed over 20% outright, and at LV1 no less. Plus, Hanabi Hyuga's looks were top-tier.

"Not bad, but way too late!"

As good as this role was, unfortunately Hanabi Hyuga was only seven when the story began, five years younger than the protagonist Naruto. And her prime appearance-wise came in the sequel Boruto: Naruto Next Generations—by then, the cabbage would be cold.

"Wait, I still have this."

The item [Hourglass] surfaced in Su Qi's mind.

"How do I use this?" Su Qi asked the stage.

[After selecting the character, check the item, then slide the time bar.]

Su Qi gave it a try. He selected the character [Hanabi Hyuga] and slid the time bar. Sure enough, it worked.

But he noticed that when he slid the character bar, the character's portrait had turned into a question mark.

"Where's the portrait?"

[Entering a time shift will trigger the Chaos Effect. The greater the difference in entry conditions, the larger the deviation from the original character.]

"Got it."

Su Qi kept sliding the time bar forward, but when he stretched it past four years, the bar suddenly jumped to five years earlier and then wouldn't budge, stopping at December 27, five years before the original Hanabi Hyuga's birth.

"This is as far as it goes?"

[Hanabi Hyuga is Hinata Hyuga's younger sister. Her birthday cannot be earlier than Hinata Hyuga's.]

"Fair enough."

Su Qi understood.

December 27 was exactly Hinata Hyuga's birthday. Sliding the bar here probably meant turning this younger sister into a twin. The reason it jumped a year was that if the Hyuga Clan wanted a second daughter, they'd need to conceive again after Hinata's birth, carrying for ten months. So unless he and Hinata shared the same birthday, it had to be at least a year later.

"Twins it is, then."

With the character selected, everything was set.

Then, the "universe bubbles" before Su Qi's eyes all vanished, leaving only a void.

[Stage cleared.]

[Actor, please prepare for the performance.]

[Reincarnation ready.]

[Pre-show training about to begin.]

A white light appeared before Su Qi, gradually enveloping him, swallowing his consciousness.

New book, new story. Welcome, everyone, and thanks for the support—meow~ .

Please throw in recommendations, monthly tickets, collections, subscriptions~

~o( =∩ω∩= )m

Chapter 2: New Anime, Start!

Before dawn broke, Hinata Hyuga woke up.

She tidied her long hair. Because her sister Hanabi had once said she liked her long hair, Hinata had never cut it since she was little.

"Hanabi, training again?"

In the courtyard of the Hyuga Mansion, her twin sister was practicing against a wooden post.

She wore simple training clothes, her long hair tied into a ponytail.

Though her eyes were covered by a black veil, her vision seemed completely unrestricted.

But no matter how fluid Hanabi's movements were, Hinata knew this cruel truth: her sister couldn't see anything.

"If not for her blindness, Lady Sparkle would probably be the heir..."

"Yeah, I heard it was too hard to transplant when she was young. Neji didn't get the Caged Bird seal because it was meant for transplant after adulthood. But Lady Sparkle said she didn't want to take away someone else's light. Such a good child, so talented, yet..."

Voices came from around them. The black veil fluttering before Hanabi's eyes made Hinata's heart tremble.

It was all her fault.

"Hanabi..."

It went back to their third birthday.

At the time, Konoha was negotiating with envoys from Kumogakure. Most of the village's important figures were in that meeting, except the Hyuga Clan.

Because the Hyuga Clan was celebrating the third birthday of the Main Family's twins.

And it was during that day's practice spar that a Branch Family member showed killing intent toward her and Hanabi, prompting the Caged Bird seal to be activated as punishment.

Hinata was terrified back then. Seeing her like that, Hanabi quietly snuck her older sister out of the Hyuga Mansion. Since peace talks were underway, Konoha was bustling.

—And then, that happened.

The Kumogakure Ninja Leader had long since set his sights on the Main Family's heir for the sake of the Byakugan. Noticing that Sparkle had been targeted, she had herself taken as a hostage to protect herself.

To prevent the Byakugan from falling into outside hands, Sparkle gouged out her own eyes.

Later, word had it that Father personally rescued Sparkle, and the Ninja Leader who abducted her was even captured alive.

From Konoha's perspective, this was even a good thing, as it gave them significant leverage in negotiations with Kumogakure.

But for Hinata, it was not so. Though a gag order had been placed on her by her father and the elders, Hinata still heard that the Kumogakure Ninja Leader's original target had been herself...

"Big Sister, good morning." Sparkle seemed to sense Hinata nearby. Though she couldn't see, it was as if she had eyes in the back of her head.

"G-good morning, Sparkle." Hinata's voice was timid.

"Did someone upset Big Sister?" Sparkle smiled.

"No. Well... the Graduation Exam is coming up." Hinata hesitated.

Both sisters attended the Ninja Academy in Konoha.

Though blind, Sparkle had not given up on becoming a ninja. In fact, her performance was outstanding, and her written exam scores were the best in the entire school.

That was also the reason the Hyuga clan members had said "what a pity" during their discussions.

"Mhm, no problem." Sparkle smiled. Her smile was radiant, but the more Hinata saw her sister's bright smile, the more her heart felt like something was squeezing it.

"Um... want to go to school together?" Hinata asked.

"No, I'll practice a bit more. There aren't many classes before the exam anyway, so I might as well keep training on my own."

"Mhm... okay. See you at school, then."

"Mhm. See you at school, Big Sister~"

Hinata fled.