"Mm, I guess I do feel a little sorry for my dear sister~"
Hanabi watched Hinata's retreating back.
Blind?
Of course not.
But making everyone else think she was "blind" was certainly possible.
It was simple. Thousand Faces of the Fool's transformation ability was stronger than any Transformation Jutsu in the Naruto World. Turning into "Hanabi with her eyes gouged out" was no problem at all.
What was difficult was stealing her sister Hinata's role.
In the original story, Hinata Hyuga had once been kidnapped when she was three years old. But the idiotic Ninja Leader from Kumogakure had barely left the Hyuga Clan mansion before Clan Head Hyuga Hiashi caught him red-handed.
Trying to kidnap someone from the Hyuga Clan, whose members possessed the x-ray vision of the Byakugan, was as ridiculous as putting a blindfold on the Byakugan.
That was why Hanabi had carefully devised a plan to secretly leave the mansion with Hinata, hide her away, and then step forward to be captured herself.
After reincarnating into this world, Hanabi had begun laying the groundwork.
Yet she quickly discovered that altering the so-called "plot" was truly not easy.
But Hanabi refused to admit defeat.
After studying it for a while, Hanabi had grasped the general situation.
The so-called "plot" was more like something called "fate." It was not truly impossible to alter, but it required "causality." Or rather, causes and effects.
For example, if Hanabi directly went looking for White and tried to take this subordinate of Zabuza under her wing, it would not work. She would encounter resistance from fate. After all, no matter how one looked at it, Hanabi Hyuga could not possibly know that White existed.
Put in terms of a math problem, there were no necessary and sufficient conditions, so no conclusion could be drawn.
But if Hanabi wanted to replace Hinata Hyuga and join Team 8, that was possible, because she was a child of the Hyuga Clan and more outstanding than Hinata.
"In other words, no matter what I do, I need a 'reason.'"
She could not do things for no reason.
Theoretically, she could go find White too, as long as she had a "reason" that could be justified.
"In that case, perhaps I can pull it off if I play Honkai: Star Rail's Sparkle."
Sparkle, the character from Honkai: Star Rail who shared her name, was the ultimate Mischief Maker.
And one major trait of a Mischief Maker was that no matter when or where such a character appeared, it was entirely reasonable.
To influence "fate" on a larger scale, she needed to become a more important supporting character, or even the protagonist.
It was just like filming a show.
If a big-name lead actor, a Child of Destiny, wanted to change the script, the director—fate—could only coax him along. But if an extra wanted to alter the script, the director would kick him over and say, "Who do you think you are? Perform if you want, get lost if you don't."
However, Hanabi had also discovered that affecting others might be difficult, but if she wanted to Create Buzz with herself, the restrictions were much looser.
Because that was part of her "character setting."
Since she could not mess with others, she would mess with herself instead.
Besides that, she could take advantage of being young to build some goodwill with Naruto Uzumaki, the Child of Destiny. That was the easiest part. Buy him a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen, and his favorability would rise.
Hanabi trained for a while longer before a Hyuga female ninja wearing a Konoha Headband and a maid outfit approached her.
"Lady Sparkle, it's about time."
This was the maid Natsu Hyuga. After the kidnapping incident at age three, Hyuga Hiashi had assigned Natsu Hyuga to take care of Hanabi.
"Mm, all right."
With Natsu Hyuga's help, Hanabi showered and changed into one of her red furisode kimonos.
Hanabi always dressed extravagantly, like the dazzling fireworks her name evoked. Although such a kimono was unsuitable for exercise, it was common enough in the Hyuga Clan. Hanabi had loved these gorgeous, brilliant outfits since childhood, and everyone around her had grown accustomed to it.
But today's kimono was no ordinary kimono. It was a performance outfit for the Dimensional Stage. Since a good show was about to begin, naturally she had to wear a performance outfit.
"Thank you, Natsu-nee."
"Do you really not need me to take you?" Natsu Hyuga asked worriedly.
"I'm about to become a ninja, Natsu-nee." Hanabi smiled.
The Character Template had given Hanabi not only abilities on paper, but also the character's potential.
Potential was not strength itself, but through Hanabi's daily mad training, that potential had given her considerable combat power.
The ten percent increase in training speed from Jingliu allowed Hanabi to progress one-tenth faster than others. Combined with a Ninjutsu like Shadow Clone Jutsu, the increased efficiency was even more astonishing.
Yet Natsu-nee remained deeply worried. What Hanabi had "lost" was not merely the Byakugan, but all her vision. For the Hyuga Clan, losing both eyes meant having one's combat strength nearly halved. Although Hanabi's grades were excellent, once she truly became a ninja, she would still face greater danger than others.
"But..."
"All right, Natsu-nee. I trained a little too long today, so I'm already late."
Natsu Hyuga had wanted to say something else, but Hanabi had already interrupted her.
After changing into her kimono, Hanabi checked her current attributes.
Name: Hanabi Hyuga Stage Evaluation: Extra Current Anime Role: Minor Supporting Role LV1 Identity: Konoha Village, Ninja Academy Student Special Hyuga Clan: +5% Attention while wearing Japanese-style clothing; +5% Attention while fighting with Gentle Fist; +5% Attention while using the Byakugan Current Popularity: 0 Current Attention: +65% (Eye-covering Black Veil +10%) (Red Japanese-style Outfit +10%) (Supporting Role LV +20%) (Hyuga Clan Japanese-style Clothing +5%) (Minor Supporting Role LV1) Countdown to Opening: 00 hours 20 minutes 50 seconds
—It was about to begin.
At the entrance, Hanabi looked at the shoes set out there. She owned quite a few pairs, mainly geta and zori.
"Let me see. I'll wear this pair today."
Hanabi chose a pair of Black Lacquered Cherry Blossom Geta. Furisode kimonos were generally paired with zori, which could be considered geta with leather soles. However, the Naruto World was not so particular about such things, and mixed styles were common. As long as it looked good, it was fine. The performance outfit came with a pair of zori, but Hanabi planned to change into them after graduation, adding a little "detail" to herself in the anime.
She opened a red umbrella to block the somewhat glaring sunlight, then took out Thousand Faces of the Fool's Fox Mask to cover half her face before leaving the mansion.
She had trained for a little too long today. After bathing and changing clothes, class had actually already begun.
But Hanabi had done it deliberately.
Not only had she done it deliberately, but after leaving the mansion, the way she headed toward the academy under her umbrella looked more like a stroll than hurrying along. She gazed at Hokage Rock in the distance. The ninja faces carved upon it had already been smeared beyond recognition with paint.
"I wonder what exactly will happen once the opening begins."
Hanabi had been waiting for the Dimensional Popularity Stage to open.
As a diligent actor, Hanabi had never wasted even a shred of her "Training Time." Every day, she trained desperately, forgetting food and sleep.
I, Hanabi Hyuga, am a professional and dedicated actor. I am the Rising Star of the Dimensional Stage.
Then, the Panel in her consciousness finally reached its end.
Countdown to Opening... 3... 2... 1... Begin
A small screen appeared within Hanabi's consciousness. It seemed to show a moon, accompanied by the voice of a narrator.
"Long ago, a Demon Fox wreaked havoc."
"The Demon Fox had nine tails. When it swung them, landslides and tsunamis followed."
"The people suffered greatly, and so they gathered ninja..."
"One of them risked his life to seal it away, and the ninja perished as a result."
"The ninja's name was the Fourth Hokage—"
The scenes of memory gradually faded away.
Ninja Path, opening
Current Playback Mode: Livestream
The screen shifted, and Naruto Uzumaki appeared on it, carrying a Paint Bucket.
Naruto had begun.
"Hmm?"
Hanabi discovered that scrolling subtitles had begun appearing on her screen.
[First!]
[Woohoo, a new anime is starting!]
[Where the dream began.]
[Leaving my mark before it blows up, leaving my mark before it blows up!]
[Guys, how long has it been since we last saw a long-running anime? It's already 4202, and we can finally watch a long serial again!]
"There's even Danmaku." Hanabi swept her eyes over the comments with interest.
These people spoke no differently from the netizens of her original world, but they indeed seemed never to have watched Naruto.
Perhaps the ACG Culture in the worlds where these netizens lived differed from her previous life?
"Naruto!"
"Stop right there, Naruto!"
"How could you do something so outrageous?"
"We won't let you off today!"
Hanabi raised her head.
Those were lines from the playback window of the Dimensional Popularity Stage, but Hanabi could hear them in the real world too. In fact, she had already followed the sounds and spotted Naruto being chased.
Naruto landed beside her and pulled up a camouflage cloth to avoid the Chunin.
The same scene appeared in the playback window, though the "camera" angle was somewhat different from her own.
Without another word, Camera Card—Close-Up, activate!
Instant actions severely tested reaction speed, but the facts proved that Hanabi had used her close-up card at exactly the right moment.
As Naruto evaded the Chunin, the image in the playback window began shifting toward her.
The camera moved from bottom to top. First came her bright Komachi High Geta with their glossy black lacquer finish, followed by the feet stepping upon that black lacquer, wrapped in white stockings.
Then the frame continued upward to her vivid red furisode kimono, blooming as brilliantly as fireworks. The camera circled Hanabi, displaying her large Bow Belt as well.
The camera continued upward. Long black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, but the girl's face was concealed by her red oil-paper umbrella. All that could be seen was the string of ornate Cherry Blossom Ornaments hanging from her hair.
"Naruto?"
A pleasant voice came from behind the umbrella.
Yet just when the audience thought they would finally catch a glimpse of her face, they discovered that she was wearing a Fox Mask.
She put away the umbrella and gently removed the mask. At last, her lovely face appeared before the audience.
There will be no conspiracy theories in this related work. It will primarily follow the original setting. Even if there are fan-created elements, they will not violate the original canon, story, background, or plot.
The general hierarchy is: databooks ≥ interviews > manga > anime > Boruto: Naruto Next Generations = official novels ≥ games = anime/official novel original content.
However, some settings will follow whichever version is more reasonable. For example, during the Chunin battle, the ninja who used Darkness Walk was the First Generation in the manga and the Second Generation in the anime. Considering later developments and the character's personality, the Second Generation was more suitable.
Before you continue