Mischief Maker Hanabi suddenly felt that the relationships here seemed rather complicated.
"Sasuke!" Naruto also widened her eyes and stared at Sasuke.
"Naruto... Tch." Sasuke had been looking at Naruto too, but Naruto was currently transformed. After staring for a while, Sasuke actually felt somewhat dazed and finally turned his head away.
"Hehe~" Naruto looked like a victorious little chick, rather proud of herself.
Perhaps the previous topic and Sasuke's reaction had relaxed Naruto. She asked again, "Hanabi, Hanabi, isn't there some kind of permanent Transformation Jutsu? Keeping this form up all the time is tiring too."
"Because this is part of training. Exercise is painful." Hanabi said.
Naruto still had energy left. It was just that young people always instinctively avoided hardship and slacked off.
Naruto felt a little uncomfortable.
"—Actually, it's not like there isn't one." Hanabi suddenly spoke again.
"What, what?" Naruto's eyes lit up.
"But with that kind of Permanent Transformation Jutsu, once you transform, you can never change back." Hanabi wore a mischievous smile.
"Then forget it." Naruto deflated.
[Hurry up and teach Naruto already!]
[Coach, I want to learn the Permanent Transformation Jutsu!]
[Teach her already! I, Wang Duoyu, will sponsor this round.]
The goofy netizens were having a blast, but the "gender-swapped daily life" ended there.
This was only a daily-life segment for this episode. After the training came the main story, so the internet would not be getting any more fanservice.
Besides, if "Naruko" kept appearing, wouldn't she steal the spotlight from me, Hanabi, the popularity queen?
.
Author's Note:
Some people said yuri. There would indeed be sisterly affection, and other scripts would have affectionate moments too, but the plot came first. It would happen naturally, not just for the sake of selling it.
I repeatedly considered Naruto's personality, as well as the official Naruko series where Naruto went wild.
I felt Naruto only had two orientations: women, and Sasuke.
So Naruto would be more resistant to becoming a feminine boy, but would not be as resistant to a more thorough, complete gender transformation. She was the type who, after suddenly becoming a girl, would try to turn back, but if she could not, would still live boldly and do whatever she wanted.
And besides, even if her gender changed, Naruto's personality and orientation would not.
Big Brother-in-Law! You Are My Dear Big Brother-in-Law!
After dinner, Naruto and Sasuke went to sleep early.
Hanabi, meanwhile, came to the moonlit corridor and used a Daily Life Camera Card.
She still had three Close-up Camera Cards and one Daily Life Camera Card.
Tonight was a waning crescent moon, and the night breeze was cool and tranquil.
Strolling through the courtyard in the middle of the night was also a pleasure.
"Lady Hanabi."
A figure emerged from the darkness.
"Onī-sama." Hanabi smiled and greeted the newcomer.
[Another expert?!]
[Big brother-in-law!]
[Not necessarily. What if he's a cousin?]
[Same clan. Maybe they practice intermarriage within the clan...]
[I was wondering why this wasn't over yet. So the big part was still coming!]
Neji walked over.
"Ahem, please do not address me like that. It has been a long time, Lady Hanabi." Neji approached her. "The information you asked Miss Natsu to have me collect has been gathered during my last mission outside the village."
Hanabi trotted over and took the scroll from Neji's hand.
Neji Hyuga, a member of the Branch Family, was Hanabi and Hinata's older brother.
He should have received the Caged Bird mark on Hanabi and Hinata's birthday, but Hanabi's intervention had changed things somewhat.
"I told you, don't use honorifics. As long as you keep using honorifics, I'll use them too~ Onī-sama~ Onī-sama~" Hanabi smiled.
[Officially jealous.]
[Big brother-in-law, you are my dear big brother-in-law.]
[I've decided. This big brother-in-law is mine.]
[Oh my, hearing my wife call him that makes my bones melt.]
"Hanabi... congratulations on becoming a ninja." Neji gave in first. He handed Hanabi a scroll and a small box, clearly gifts he had brought for her.
"Thanks~ Brother Neji." Once Hanabi finally stopped calling him "Onī-sama," Neji finally breathed a sigh of relief as well.
Hanabi accepted the gift first, then picked up the scroll.
Neji remained silent beside her.
When had his fate changed?
Probably that night.
It had happened when he was still very young. When he was supposed to receive the Caged Bird mark, Hanabi had caused a scene, delaying the matter by one day.
Although Hanabi was the younger sister, her talent surpassed her older sister Hinata's by an unknown number of levels. She had basically been raised as the heir, and her opinions had put the family in a difficult position.
Of course, adults did not necessarily listen to children. So if nothing had changed, Neji Hyuga would likely have received the Caged Bird mark a few days later.
But something happened that very night.
Hanabi was kidnapped by ninja from Kumogakure.
To prevent her Byakugan from being taken, Hanabi stabbed out both of her own eyes.
Afterward, Hyuga Hiashi asked the Elder to postpone the Caged Bird marking.
"Hanabi is a genius of the Hyuga Clan. Although she no longer has her eyes, why can't someone else's... be transplanted into her?"
Hinata Hyuga was worthless. At that time, it was uncertain whether she could even awaken the Byakugan.
—The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan also needed to be awakened. White pupils were merely an outward trait and did not mean someone could truly use the Byakugan's secret techniques.
And it just so happened that the Hyuga Clan's Branch Family had another exceptionally talented member: Neji Hyuga.
"Hinata's aptitude is poor. Her eyes may not be useful. But Neji is quite promising. Let him serve as Hanabi's backup. When the right time comes... perform the transplant."
That was what the Elder had said.
But Neji knew that was not what Hanabi wanted.
Or rather, perhaps it was exactly what Hanabi wanted.
Because that night, when the Caged Bird marking was postponed, Neji had seen the smile on Hanabi's face.
It was as though... all of this had been part of her plan.
"Obviously, Sister's Byakugan is the purest, but those fools actually say her aptitude is poor. Isn't that hilarious?" Hanabi had mocked the old-fashioned Elders before him more than once.
Hanabi Hyuga had looked down on the Hyuga Clan's Main Family and Branch Family system from the very beginning. From the start, she had wanted to destroy it all.
Just as she had deliberately blinded herself to avoid receiving the Caged Bird mark.
And at that moment, Neji resolved to follow Hanabi.
Even if Hanabi truly needed his Byakugan, he could give it to her.
[He has the vibe of a loyal guard dog.]
[Why do I feel like Hanabi has become some mastermind too?]
[Hanabi is the Hyuga Clan's young lady. What's wrong with her having a few subordinates?]
[Hubby, this is my hubby!]
[Neji's pronunciation sounds weird. Could it be another mistranslation?]
The Danmaku was as absurd as ever. But perhaps because someone had caught the outrageous translation last time, people noticed that the pronunciation was off this time too.
And they were right.
Just as Hatake in Kakashi Hatake was a mistranslation, the Neji in Neji Hyuga was not truly "Neji" either. Neji Hyuga's Neji was neji, not neiji, corresponding to a screw. It carried a meaning similar to screws and spirals.
Incidentally, the Boruto in Boruto Uzumaki was actually a tribute to Neji's name, because the word was also a pun based on the English word "bolt"...
The names of the major characters in the original Naruto were almost all wordplay. If you could not see the pun, then it was probably a phonetic translation or mistranslation. That was usually the case.
But compared to the goofy viewers, Hanabi cared more about the information in her hands.
Because she had been busy before, Hanabi had asked Natsu Hyuga to tell Neji to collect information on the Land of Waves for her whenever he left the village on a mission.
The Land of Waves lay east of the Land of Fire, separated by a not overly wide strait.
A man named Gato controlled the Land of Waves' shipping and had nearly taken control of everything in that small country.
Shipping was no small matter.
Whoever controlled shipping controlled the trade route between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water across the sea, bringing in unbelievable revenue.
And the Land of Waves was beside the Land of Fire, practically occupying the position of a bridgehead.
Gato had likely seen that value, which was why he developed the Land of Waves and then took control of the country.
A bridge-building master named Tazuna had contacted the insightful people of the Land of Waves and begun building a bridge between the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire.
"What strategic vision." Hanabi was very surprised.
Once the Land of Waves and the Land of Fire were connected, the influence of the Land of Water and Kirigakure over the Land of Waves would fade away, while the Land of Waves could develop even further.
"But Gato doesn't seem to be a pushover either."
Gato had not simply allowed Tazuna and his group to build the bridge.
He just had not acted immediately.
"Could Gato have some deeper purpose in letting them continue?" Neji asked.
"Of course."
Hanabi noticed that this portion was not shown in the Stage's video. It seemed to have specifically cut out the information related to the Land of Waves.
Hanabi thought that was fine. It would prevent viewers from getting spoiled later.
Spoilers were not okay. No, no~
So Hanabi continued, "Letting the Land of Waves build the bridge is actually meant to drain the last of the people's strength. If he causes trouble when the bridge is nearly complete, all the Land of Waves' efforts will come to nothing. And because their remaining wealth will be gone, the Land of Waves' resistance will also be greatly weakened."
"So that's how it is?" Neji was surprised as well.
"In my view, in a few months at most, those poor bridge workers will find their work starting to be harassed. I think they'll choose to seek help then. Let me think... the Land of Water is too far away, the sea route is too risky, and this bridge leads to the Land of Fire... Hmm, they'll probably come to Konoha to commission us." Hanabi said. "But by then, their money will have been drained dry, and the only thing they can offer will be labor. It won't be easy to hire a team in Konoha to protect the bridge construction. More importantly, after the bridge succeeds—Gato can still send people to destroy it. So how will they protect this bridge?"
"What does this have to do with your plan, Hanabi... I mean, Hanabi?" Neji asked again.
"The Land of Waves is a small, peaceful country, but it has great potential. The person who can be called its ruler is also a short-sighted merchant. Wouldn't a place like that make an excellent base?"
Characters whose fates remain unchanged do not differ much from the original in terms of personality traits, but characters whose fates change will also change in personality, experiences, ideals, and thoughts desu.
I've saved up 20 chapters. I'll unleash a big batch after it goes premium~ I'm looking through Kira's information~ There's too little material, so I can only research it slowly~ .
The Dimensional Popularity Stage is working hard to submit résumés, searching for new job opportunities for Miss Hanabi~
Before you continue