[I missed the first episode earlier. I'm here now.]
[Sparkle, my wife, I'm here~]
[Sparkle's white stockings, so tiny, so fragrant, hehehe.]
[Too bad it's white stockings with geta. No flavor.]
[That's right, that's right. The director doesn't get it. Sparkle should wear white stockings with boots.]
After watching for a while, Sparkle was bombarded by this bunch of "porridge fans."
During the live broadcast, Sparkle had pulled up her skirt, turning her long skirt into a short one. The power of white stocking garters had practically been a nuclear explosion, and now that the anime was airing, these people's stench still hadn't faded.
"I'm a beautiful girl, you know! Even if I wore boots, there wouldn't be any smell, okay?!"
Sparkle simply dragged the progress bar forward.
Following the conventions of this era, the first episode's OP and ED played back-to-back after the main episode ended.
Amid an impassioned rhythm, the scene shifted to a hillside at dawn.
"This looks like the day we first gathered, doesn't it?"
Naruto stood in the middle of the screen, Sparkle on the left, and Sasuke on the right.
It was the scene from before their first mission, when everyone had watched the sunrise together.
It was clearly an ordinary scene, yet the image somehow carried a strange sense of the three of them being bound by fate.
"Huh? Where's Teacher Kakashi, who was reading Icha Icha Paradise beside us?"
Sparkle remembered Teacher Kakashi standing nearby and yawning, but he did not appear on screen. He had been completely edited out.
"Come on!"
After that shout, the Ninja Path logo appeared.
"Like being chased, keep running without stopping."
As the lyrics appeared, the screen suddenly split apart, revealing Naruto and Sasuke being chased by a wild boar.
It matched the lyrics perfectly.
The scene continued. Naruto and Sasuke tried to deal with the boar, only to be tossed aside by it, while Kakashi and Sparkle moved through the forest atop the nearby trees.
Then the scene flashed back to when they had accepted the mission that morning.
Though there was no dialogue, those few brief shots let the audience understand that the protagonists seemed to be carrying out some kind of mission.
The editing was remarkably good. Naruto and Sasuke were clearly being chased the whole way, yet the editing made the entire scene feel blazing hot.
It even synced with the beat.
At times, there were montage flashbacks that seemed intended to flesh out the characters.
"Oh my."
Sparkle was a little surprised by the footage.
Even the scene of her talking with Sasuke at night had been edited in.
In the darkness, Sasuke gazed at Sparkle as she trained at the practice grounds.
There were also shots of Kakashi standing before the Memorial Stone, Naruto staring into the distance in solitude, and more.
At the end of the footage, Naruto shoved the wild boar beneath a waterfall and subdued it, while his own foot was caught by a red rope loop. After he was pulled up, Sasuke extended his hand to Naruto. Naruto froze for a moment, then took Sasuke's hand and was pulled up. The two exchanged smiles, while Sparkle and Kakashi stood behind them.
After the OP ended, the ED began.
Unlike the ensemble opening, the ending mostly focused on Naruto alone. Sparkle's role had not changed much; if there was one change, it was that Sparkle had taken Sakura Haruno's place at the end of the scene.
Sparkle remembered that this was the scene from the second day, after weeding the fields, when Naruto lay on the grass and Sparkle woke him up.
"Editor... give them an extra drumstick. I, Sparkle, declare you the strongest editor."
The OP's story direction was completely different from what Sparkle had imagined, but the perfectly beat-synced visuals and montage flashbacks felt incredibly high-end.
It was not just that, either. Naruto's reckless yet quick-witted, unexpectedly number-one nature, Sasuke's steady movements, Sparkle's own perpetually carefree demeanor, and Kakashi's constant slacking off were all conveyed wonderfully through the footage.
While displaying their personalities, the montage flashbacks also seemed to tell the audience that these characters had unknown stories hidden behind them.
"I wonder who the studio found to edit this."
Sparkle was rather curious about what kind of godly person had created the studio's editing.
"My Popularity Points really have increased a lot."
After watching the songs, Sparkle looked at her Popularity Points. The number kept rising rapidly.
Besides that, the comments and Danmaku now included many more messages from other regions.
[So pretty, wwww]
[Miss Sparkle, please let me be your dog.]
[Who fights in a furisode? But Miss Sparkle is so elegant.]
[I really want to see Miss Sparkle wearing a Taimanin uniform, wwwww.]
The Japanese Danmaku next door barely paid attention to Naruto. Every time Sparkle appeared, the number of comments visibly increased.
There were fewer English Danmaku, but noticeably more comments. Most of them explained the concept of ninja, while some said that the ninja in Ninja Path were different from what they knew.
Because Naruto had arrived twenty years late in this world, people's understanding of "ninja" here still seemed rather primitive.
"Looks like the strategy of expanding the market was correct."
Sparkle had originally possessed only several tens of thousands of Popularity Points, but after this surge, her total directly broke through one hundred thousand. It finally stopped at around one hundred and ten thousand.
The effect was quite good.
"Looks like I can proceed with the etiquette course and the Promotion Test now~"
Naturally, graduating from an extra was the most important thing, but before that, sharpening the blade would not delay chopping wood.
First, she would resonate with Jingliu and learn some swordsmanship, then purchase that Actor Training course.
"Let's resonate first."
Sparkle lay directly on the bed.
This dream-like resonance no longer caused any changes in her surroundings. That was probably another benefit brought by the earlier "localization."
So now, Sparkle could simply "sleep" at home and resonate directly. It was quite convenient.
"You have come."
When Sparkle opened her eyes again, Jingliu stood before her.
"Yes, Master Jingliu." Sparkle bowed to Jingliu.
"No need to be restrained. I said that if you wish to learn my swordsmanship, I will teach it. There is no need for unnecessary words. Begin."
Jingliu tossed a sword to Sparkle. Sparkle said nothing more and immediately followed her.
She treasured this once-every-seven-days training very much.
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Ryougi Shiki's Training Classroom
"That will be all for today."
"Yes."
There was still some time before the resonance ended, but Jingliu had Sparkle stop.
"Your clothing is unsuitable for training, but the boost it gives you compensates for that quite well."
Sparkle's kimono was not suited for training, but the bonuses it provided were simply too good.
In this world, which may or may not have been a Mental Space, this "training buff" still remained effective.
"I have a dedicated Combat Suit," Sparkle said. "It's for training, and it can increase gravity as well."
"Your body differs from ours. Your tolerance is very strong. You can try placing yourself in a more extreme state. Roughly speaking, it should be enough to perform at a level similar to an ordinary woman in daily life," Jingliu instructed.
"Yes, Master." Sparkle nodded.
"Also, you are ambidextrous. My swordsmanship is not entirely suited to you. You may try using dual swords," Jingliu added.
"Dual swords?"
Sparkle had never really considered it.
But perhaps it was not impossible?
"Then the time has come. Let us end here for today..."
Jingliu's figure became increasingly illusory before finally vanishing into the mist.
When Sparkle opened her eyes again, it was already the next morning.
Because they had carried out missions continuously for a week, Kakashi had given Team 7 the day off today.
Sparkle was very busy, so she directly purchased the Actor Training course from the Popularity Store.
Actor Training (Japanese Etiquette): Special, 6 class hours, taught by an experienced Japanese Etiquette instructor. You will temporarily leave this world during class, and time in this world will be paused. You have purchased the class hours. After getting dressed, focus your mind in an unoccupied environment and push open the door.
Sparkle adjusted her clothes and removed her eyepatch. Once she was ready, she went to the front door.
She focused her mind, then pushed open the door.
"Huh?"
After the door opened, what lay outside was not the Hyuga Clan courtyard, but a quiet Japanese mansion.
The mansion was large, but it was probably not from ancient times. There were some electrical appliances here, making it seem more like a modern world.
"Are you Mother's student? You're not much older than me. But your eyes are so special. Mm, they're white, but so beautiful, like pearls." A young voice came from nearby.
A young girl with long black hair, dressed in a black dress, ran toward her. "Hello, I'm Ryougi Mana."
"Hello, I'm Hanabi Hyuga."
"Then I'll call you Sister Sparkle. Come with me. Mother is waiting for you." Ryougi Mana led Sparkle inside. "Mother suddenly said she was going to teach some student, and that she had been paid a huge sum of money. I didn't expect it to be such a pretty big sister."
"Thank you."
Sparkle tilted her head.
Ryougi Mana. She had heard that name before, especially that of the girl's mother. Or rather, anyone familiar with the Type-Moon World basically knew that name—Ryougi Shiki.
The heroine of The Garden of Sinners.
The studio had chosen her as Sparkle's teacher?
Or perhaps it was one of her other personalities, something like Shiki Ryougi?
"Mother, I brought her here."
Ryougi Mana led Sparkle to the front of a Japanese-style room.
She pushed the door open. Inside sat a beautiful woman in a kimono. She was gentle and elegant, her face like a spring breeze, carrying a motherly air.
"Good day. You are Hanabi Hyuga, correct? I am Ryougi Shiki, your etiquette teacher. What beautiful eyes you have." Ryougi Shiki opened her eyes and smiled at Sparkle.
Ryougi Shiki's tone was also gentle as water.
The decisive Ryougi Shiki from Sparkle's memories seemed completely different from the woman before her.
Sparkle did not believe that the heroine of The Garden of Sinners would teach her Japanese Etiquette or anything of the sort. That person would probably raise her hand with a dashing gesture and greet her with a "Yo~," rather than act like this.
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