Transform, Hurry Up and Transform!

The top-ranked video was from an uploader called Molotov.

Sparkle had seen plenty of people mocking this uploader in both the danmaku and comment sections before. This person seemed to have a poor reputation on the site, with most people criticizing them. But bad publicity was still publicity—after enough people cursed them out, they ended up trending.

This guide to the new anime season was actually pretty decent. Before watching the video, Sparkle scrolled down to check the discussion section and found that there were no haters, either.

[This program is brought to you by everyone's Attention and triple-quality likes.]

[It's the start of another new anime season. I'm sure all the animation-related discussion groups are already buzzing.]

[Just look at what everyone is talking about, and you'll know which new anime is the seasonal king.]

Onscreen, a figure swiped across their phone, only for the screen to be filled with some kind of chibi dragon. The danmaku was flooded with "The Tang is finished" and "Milk Dragon."

After the buzz-creating bit ended, the uploader began their critique.

[As everyone knows, after Bouncing Heaven bombed spectacularly, the industry entered a new era—an era of collapsed animation, wooden voice acting, and godawful direction.]

[With original works constantly flopping, and Jump's pillar series One Piece coming to an end, the entire industry has fallen into a deathly silent age over the past two years.]

[A devil, a light-novel-adaptation devil, is haunting the 2D scene.]

[Broken logic, broken animation, broken voice acting—just a few years ago, production teams would've had to come out and apologize for this, you know?]

After a string of complaints, this Molotov uploader finally opened fire on the new anime.

The two works singled out were called Minority Deficiency and Brother, Not Brother. One had logic and direction so broken they were beyond saving, while the other was an absolute production disaster with elementary-school-level key animation.

"One Piece has already ended in this world. Could the industry really have declined this much just because there's one less Naruto?"

After the uploader finished criticizing the new anime, the danmaku suddenly increased.

Comments like "The real show" and "Successful jump" filled the screen.

[This year, in an industry that's already rotten to the core, another long-running anime has actually appeared. As everyone knows, what kind of damn thing was the last long-running anime that claimed it would make a thousand episodes?]

[At least bad anime is bad in an interesting way—you can mock it. But these long-running shows are just bland, static-frame slop from beginning to end. Watching this stuff is a waste of life.]

[So when people first told me to watch the Live Broadcast, I refused. A name as plain as Ninja Path was nowhere near enough in a world where titles just keep getting longer.]

[Later, my friend sent me another post condemning the translation group's issues. I looked into it too, and all I could think at the time was, what kind of idiot came up with this terrible translated title?]

[But then I thought about it. Everyone's been numb for years already. Since when did translation problems become something worth complaining about?]

[These days, people's standards for translations are simple. As long as they don't translate Starlight Burst as Watermelon Circuit Breaker or The Elder Scrolls as Old Man Scrolling Bar, people are already thanking the heavens. Something like translating Li Xiaolang as Wang Xiaoming—does that even count as a problem?]

[When viewers start paying attention to a new anime's translation, I know that it must have already exceeded ordinary expectations.]

[That was when I became interested in Ninja Path.]

[As everyone knows, long-running hot-blooded anime has been absent for a long time. Long-running original hot-blooded anime is even rarer.]

[This new anime's Live Broadcast format is also unique. It airs live first, then releases a video version afterward.]

[The Live Broadcast version can't be recorded, but according to my friend Hachiya, the shots during the live airing are actually different from the anime uploaded to the site. The video version has improved shots and BGM variations.]

[Good wine doesn't fear age. What ages is the vintage.]

[Although I missed the Live Broadcast, the Anime Series Version officially began airing a month later.]

[The first episode of Ninja Path gave me a huge surprise. There's only one word for it: solid.]

[How long has it been since everyone saw a new anime with no animation collapse from start to finish?]

[Although there weren't any action scenes in the first episode itself, the ending OP was packed with dynamic action. The long shot of the character being chased by a wild boar pushed the visuals to the limit.]

[The most entertaining part was the plot. The first five episodes of Ninja Path felt like they were full of boomerangs. The moment a character says something, it comes back to hit them ten minutes later.]

[Mizuki in the first episode was like that, and Teacher Kakashi, who appeared later as the team leader, was the same.]

As those words were spoken, the danmaku filled with comments saying, "He's going to throw up."

This was what Kakashi said to the three of them before the test. Yet after the test, the one who wanted to throw up became Kakashi himself.

[Even I was like that. At first I said I wouldn't watch it, but then I ended up loving it.]

[The clown was me all along.]

[With the industry looking so doomed these days, the appearance of such a rock-solid new anime has truly made me look forward to the future.]

[Never have I seen such a marvelous beginning.]

[Drink while there's wine today. We'll talk about tomorrow's garbage tomorrow.]

[In a few days, I'll make a separate video introducing Ninja Path, this new work. I'm giving it a 9.9 rating—it can't go any lower.]

Author's Note:

This character was a composite inspired by several real-world uploaders. There couldn't be too much anime-critique content, so I blended them together.

I tried using the previous chapter's Honkai: Star Rail Sparkle as the cover. Let's see if it passes.

Give Me a Transformation, Hurry Up and Transform!

This uploader's evaluation was quite high.

However, the danmaku below was filled with wails, begging the uploader not to jinx it.

"Stage, can this kind of video help me gain Popularity Points?" Sparkle asked.

New anime videos can temporarily increase viewers' Attention toward characters and new anime, indirectly affecting Popularity Points.

Got it. It was like KOL traffic acquisition and buying exposure. Except everyone here was voluntary word-of-mouth promotion.

"Although I can't see their exact preferences, I can at least tell that they seem to be in a slump for animation over there."

Sparkle continued watching. There were quite a few new anime recommendation guides, and most of them expressed anticipation for Ninja Path.

However, while browsing the comments, Sparkle also noticed several highly upvoted opinions.

[Reforging the soul of hot-blooded anime is exciting, but I still hope there'll be something different.]

[Paying tribute to the old formula is enough. The growth path of a young boy always follows that same formula—I want to see something new.]

[How about a girl's path to growth? (laugh)]

[If Ninja Path's protagonist had been Naruko from the start, wouldn't it have been more interesting?]

[A female lead and the second male lead? Isn't that the usual female-audience formula?]

[Didn't you say you wanted something new? Or Naruko and Sparkle could get close too.]

[Actually, I'd rather see Sparkle get close with her older sister, Hinata.]

[Sparkle dresses way too conservatively. I think the Combat Suit from the ninja against demons next door would work.]

[The ninja against demons is also a ninja, so there's nothing wrong with that, hahaha.]

"The atmosphere is different too."

The internet environment in Audience World was both similar to and different from the one in Sparkle's previous life.

And when it came to the concept of "ninja," it seemed that the more famous one was some kind of ninja against demons that good children were not supposed to watch.

"Oh?"

At that moment, Sparkle suddenly noticed that the Live Broadcast feed had lit up again, and it had switched to someone else.

"You've already started teaching those two how to climb trees?"

Kakashi Hatake's voice came through.

"Good day, Teacher Kakashi."

Sparkle greeted Kakashi Hatake.

Sparkle was not surprised by Kakashi Hatake's arrival, because the footage had given Kakashi several shots just moments ago.

Onscreen, Kakashi had spoken with the Third Hokage about Naruto and Sasuke, after which Kakashi decided to come check on his students.

The cheating effect of this anime's Live Broadcast was even better than the Byakugan.

"Because Teacher Kakashi has to think about the path of life every day, I had no choice but to do it," Sparkle replied.

"Cough, cough." Kakashi awkwardly looked away. "Well, your instruction is suitable. These two really do need this kind of basic training. But having Naruto climb trees after transforming... isn't that a little..."

"I think it's very suitable. Naruto has a lot of Chakra. I think he could even use Shadow Clone Jutsu to practice." Sparkle herself often trained with Shadow Clone Jutsu active. "It's just that Naruto isn't proficient in using Shadow Clone Jutsu yet. If he overuses it now, the fatigue could easily overwhelm him. So I plan to tell him after some time."

"What about you?" Kakashi lowered his head and looked at Sparkle's hands.

Sparkle was kneeling on a picnic blanket, seemingly sitting still in meditation. However, Kakashi noticed that her physical energy was being consumed rapidly. The clothes she wore seemed to have become some kind of training tool.

Moreover, Sparkle's hands had remained spread before her. Kakashi could sense waves of Chakra sweeping through them.

"Ah, you mean this?"

A sphere of Chakra began to appear in Sparkle's palm.

"—?!" Kakashi was nearly dumbfounded when he saw it. "Rasengan?"

"Teacher Kakashi is the Fourth Hokage's student, and the Fourth Hokage's self-created hand-signless ninjutsu, the Rasengan, is extremely powerful," Sparkle said. "While teaching Naruto, I got inspired on a whim and wanted to give it a try. It seems to be going fairly well."

That was a lie.

As one of the ninjutsu most thoroughly shown throughout Naruto, Sparkle had actually mastered the Rasengan long ago.

"You tried to recreate the Rasengan yourself?" Kakashi could no longer stay calm.

She had accomplished something like that just because she felt inspired on a whim?

This genius was far too ridiculous.

"Not entirely. The Rasengan has no attribute. I'm trying to incorporate the Nature Transformation of Fire Release into it. That would be more interesting."

A plain Rasengan was nothing much. If she could not learn it even with step-by-step instruction, then she might as well quit being a ninja.

But a Rasengan infused with Nature Transformation could only be developed through her own exploration.

Besides that, Sparkle was also trying to incorporate the power of planetary rotation into it, creating a Rasengan Uzuhiko. Unfortunately, that thing from Boruto: Naruto Next Generations was too mystical, and Sparkle had no clue where to begin.

Kakashi fell silent.

If someone else had said that, Kakashi would have thought they were boasting. But if Sparkle said it, then it was hard to tell.

"In any case, we still have a mission tomorrow. Don't overexert yourself."

With his thoughts in disarray, Kakashi could only leave behind those words.

He still seemed conflicted.

[On. A. Whim.]

[Why is Kakashi acting so strange?]

[There's something going on! There has to be something going on!]

[We still don't know exactly how many techniques Miss Hanabi Hyuga knows.]

[That technique seems to be the Fourth Hokage's technique. It looks pretty complicated, and then Sparkle says it was 'on a whim.' Is this the ease of a genius?]

[Why are you all going off topic? Shouldn't the key point here be that Kakashi Hatake is the Fourth Hokage's student?!]

The netizens discussed and analyzed things noisily, while the anime's mid-episode break also ended.

"Puff... puff, puff puff..." It was not until evening, when both Naruto and Sasuke were already panting heavily, that today's training finally came to an end.

"Naruto, you changed back again."

Sparkle noticed that Naruto had released his transformation.

"But, but, I'm already out of strength!" Naruto cried weakly. "Keeping the transformation going for so long is really hard!"

"True, in work that requires long-term infiltration, disguises are more practical. But Naruto, you aren't infiltrating anywhere. You're training, understand?"

"Uh..."

Naruto scratched his head, then transformed once more into the blonde twin-tailed appearance of "Naruko."

[Universal acclaim.]

[Transform for me.]

[As expected of my wife. Full marks from me.]

[Come to think of it, Lady Sparkle's attitude toward Naruto really is a little different. But it also feels like she's keeping him at arm's length. Could Lady Sparkle's preference...]