Could this all have been Aha's scheme?
"You experienced that unending hell, yet you still dared to come here." Jingliu seemed to remember her.
Without waiting for Sparkle to answer, Jingliu continued, "Do you want to learn my swordsmanship?"
"Can I?" Sparkle spoke up.
"My swordsmanship—I teach it to anyone who wishes to learn. But it seems you want more than just my swordsmanship."
"I want the sword. I want the person too." Sparkle raised her head. "I'm going to become a Dimensional Idol, after all."
"What remains here is merely a lingering thought. Since you want it, take it. Then—"
At first, Jingliu had been speaking from across from her.
But then, the voice came from her own mouth.
"Become one."
"—!!!"
It was as though she had awoken from a nightmare.
Sparkle opened her eyes.
Nothing around her had changed. Yet at some point, the summoning scroll had opened. It lay unfurled on the ground, and written upon it was the name of a contractor—"Hanabi Hyuga."
Could she summon Jingliu?
Sparkle put away the scroll and tried forming hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
In an instant, the air turned freezing cold.
Jingliu did not appear. Or rather, behind Sparkle appeared an ice-crafted humanoid resembling Jingliu, holding an ice sword as it stood at her back.
Though it was an icy blue figure, its interior seemed to contain a boiling blood-red glow.
"Jingliu's incarnation? No, it's more like... a puppet?"
The humanoid floating behind her like a stand possessed no will of its own. It was more like some kind of doll.
"A violent power is constantly affecting my body."
Perhaps under the influence of that power, Sparkle's long black hair had turned white as well.
Sparkle removed her eyepatch.
With a wave of her hand, an ice mirror appeared before her. In the mirror, her eyes had turned crimson too.
"What an overbearing power."
This power had directly transformed Sparkle from a black-haired beauty into a white-haired, red-eyed girl.
Only after she dismissed the summoning did Sparkle return to her original appearance.
"In short, turning Jingliu's power into the power of a 'summoning' makes it reasonably 'localized.' I see."
Summoning Jutsu could always call forth all kinds of strange things. If it was Summoning Jutsu, there truly would not be any sense of inconsistency.
"With this Summoned Beast, there shouldn't be any issue even if I use Ice Release."
As long as she said it was the effect of a Summoned Beast, there would be no problem. Explaining a "Summoned Beast" was much easier than explaining Ice Release. Though it could not meet the viewers for now, arranging things later would be much simpler.
When the time came, she could also display the swordsmanship she had learned from Jingliu.
"Mm, I'll call her the 'Snow Maiden.'"
No matter what, she needed to put on another "persona" first.
She would establish a persona first, then make a reversal later.
"The next resonance should let me receive Jingliu's guidance, right?"
Wearing Jingliu's token for seven consecutive days allowed one resonance. The next resonance was still seven days away.
"Next, let's see... the filming of the opening and ending sequences..."
The plot of Episode Five had already concluded, so filming for the opening and ending sequences would need to begin afterward, because Ninja Path would soon change from a Live Broadcast into an Anime Series Version.
"And then there's actor promotion."
There was still plenty of work to do.
Still gathering material. Looking at white stockings and ropes until my eyes are spinning...
Meow~ Please bookmark it~ This newbie is begging for bookmarks, monthly tickets, and recommendations~
New products had appeared—how could she stand still?
She said there were still things to do, but in truth, she was just a little short.
It was not yet time to film the opening and ending sequences. She had to wait for the notice.
As for actor promotion, although she had obtained fifty thousand Popularity Points, even with the points she had saved up, she was still a little short.
"What will the Promotion Test be?"
A mission in this world?
Or would she enter some world under another identity and complete some kind of task?
"Let's check the comments first."
A qualified idol had to see the audience's reactions first.
Part of Naruto's Ninja Academy arc was more or less complete.
Sparkle had not made many "changes" in this arc. To her, that was simply too much of a failure. She definitely did not intend to follow the established course for what came next.
At the very least, Sparkle had never liked this absurd ninja world. Everything here was twisted.
Before preparing the next part of the plot, she needed to see the viewers' feedback.
But the moment she entered, Sparkle saw a popular thread.
[Translator, get in here and take a beating]
Sparkle found it interesting, so she clicked on it.
Only then did Sparkle learn that the production team had already begun releasing character information. It seemed they were preparing for the upcoming Anime Series Version with OPEDs.
And the original poster of this thread had singled out Kakashi Hatake's name for criticism.
They posted Kakashi's promotional image and specifically cropped out his name.
[The translation "Hatake" is actually a mistranslation. The kana corresponds not to Hatake at all, but to "畑," a character read as "field," meaning dry field.]
[And who knows what the heck "Kakashi" is supposed to be. It was actually translated directly. The Japanese corresponding to this name should be Scarecrow. So Kakashi Hatake's name would be more accurately translated as Scarecrow of the Dry Field.]
[2F: If you put it that way, shouldn't Naruto Uzumaki be translated as Naruto Whirling Gate instead? 2333]
[3F: Uchiha is kana too.]
[4F: Fun fact: Hinata in Hinata Hyuga is also kana, so it can be translated as Hyuga too. For example, Hyuga Villa and Hinata Villa in the two translated versions of Love Hina are actually the same place. Yeah, that's right—Hinata Hyuga could actually be translated as Hyuga Hyuga...]
[5F: I'm dying. Then I'm Lisa Lisa.]
[6F: I want to see Hachiya roast this new anime. This ridiculous translation feels like something he could use.]
[7F: The guy above, Hachiya's new anime reviews are mainly about creating buzz. Long-running hot-blooded series like this are hard for him to handle too.]
Sparkle tilted her head.
Kakashi Hatake's surname corresponded to the Japanese word for "dry field," while Kakashi meant scarecrow.
So Kakashi Hatake's full name meant: a scarecrow in a dry field. In Japanese, it implied an indescribable loneliness and pain unknown to others.
In a sense, Kakashi Hatake's very name was a spoiler for Kakashi's story.
There were many similar mistranslations and homophone jokes in Naruto World. Even Naruto's name was a joke, and Obito was another such pun.
Sparkle did not care much about those things. What she cared more about was the viewer base. She wanted to see danmaku in other languages, but it seemed she could not switch to other regions yet.
"Maybe I'll be able to see them after raising my actor level. I wonder whether I can reach that before the Land of Waves arc."
It depended on how the upcoming OP filming went.
Sparkle continued reading.
Another popular thread.
[The bell-grabbing plot is simply a perfect rendition of Two Peaches for Three Warriors]
This original poster did not write much. After posting the title, the replies below began roasting it.
[2F: In Two Peaches for Three Warriors, everyone died. Here, they passed the test successfully. OP, don't force it.]
[OP: It's true that everyone died in Two Peaches for Three Warriors, but you need to understand its context. In the story, Yan Zi used two peaches to make three warriors fight over them in order to split apart the families those three belonged to. But after the three died, their families lost trust in their ruler and instead united. So it was an Open Scheme that seemed successful at the time but actually failed.]
[4F: Kakashi gave them two bells, yet made Team 7 unite and advance together. The effect is the same, except this is a positive application?]
[5F: I get it. Three worker friends turn against each other because there are only two promotion slots. One feels guilty after seeing his brother lose out and resigns. Another thinks he was in the wrong too and resigns. The last one thinks he ruined everything, so he resigns too.]
[6F: Then what allusion is it when Miss Sparkle first makes the two of them suffer a setback, then unites them herself?]
The netizens' conversations were rather interesting.
Sparkle continued reading. Quite a few people were discussing the content that would soon air in the Anime Series Version.
"Hmm, a character introduction thread?"
Though most were posts by netizens, official popular threads were there as well. The earlier Kakashi screenshot had come from here too.
At the very top, naturally, was Naruto Uzumaki's character introduction.
[Naruto Uzumaki. Konoha genin. A boy with the Nine-Tails Demon Fox sealed inside him. The Number One Most Unpredictable Ninja. His goal is to surpass every Hokage.]
[Sasuke Uchiha. Konoha genin. A boy of the Uchiha Clan. The top student in overall grades. Burdened by an unknown darkness.]
And after the two protagonists, the third person was unexpectedly herself.
[Hanabi Hyuga. Konoha genin. The younger sister of the Hyuga Twins. A genius who has "lost" her Byakugan. Known for her proficiency in "Genjutsu."]
Sparkle's image showed her from the first episode, wearing a kimono and holding a red umbrella. However, the kimono she wore had been changed to the later upgraded one bearing Sparkle patterns, rather than the style from the first episode.
"They actually put quotation marks around 'lost'? And the latter half is in quotation marks too? Isn't that a spoiler?"
Sparkle tilted her head.
Fortunately, it was only an introduction. It did not reveal that she was skilled in Fire Release, Ice Release, and swordsmanship.
Sparkle looked through it. Though some commenters below also found it strange, it did not spark any discussion.
"Since they haven't noticed, I'll surprise them later."
After successfully joining Team 7, Sparkle had become one of the "three protagonists," and she had even appeared in the official promotion.
"Still, this official promotion feels like it's vaguely treating me as one of the three protagonists. But my role in the story is clearly supposed to be a Minor Supporting Role, isn't it?"
If someone investigated carefully, they would discover that Sparkle actually had very few scenes.
Most of her screentime came from using Camera Cards herself or forcefully inserting herself into scenes. A small portion seemed to be retained by the Anime Series Version because they were dramatic or standout moments, but overall, there was not much.
Dimensional Popularity Stage was responsible for script filming. When the individual was not a protagonist, promotional activities were outsourced to locals.
After reaching a certain level, Popularity Points could be used to plan promotional strategies, or related rewards could be obtained through draws in the Popularity Points Shop.
Dimensional Popularity Stage thoughtfully provided the answer.
"This is really interesting."
Sparkle pondered.
She was a supporting character, that was true—but the viewers did not know that!
Perhaps she could play something even bigger, such as shaping herself into the true protagonist of the hidden storyline?
"Oh? The Popularity Points Shop can refresh. It's even manual."
The Popularity Points Shop that Sparkle had previously bought out had refreshed.
After Sparkle clicked refresh, three items appeared before her.
Before you continue