I Stand at the Forefront of Popularity Supremacy

"Mm, decided. This Character Card is more important. Neither [Jingliu] nor [Sparkle] can give me direct combat power—my most important asset is still Popularity."

[Jingliu] provides training intensity, while [Sparkle]'s Genjutsu is far more practical than Naruto's ninjutsu.

Her most important asset was Popularity.

Sparkle directly purchased the third Character Card.

A card materialized in Sparkle's consciousness, depicting a set of red clothing.

[Character Inheritance Card]

[Shiranui-ryu - Mai Shiranui LV1]

[Rarity: Four-Star]

[Talent/Skills: Fire Affinity, Shiranui-ryu Inheritance]

[Bonus: When character role is ninja-related, increase Attention by 5%]

[Token: Shiranui-ryu Ninja Suit]

[Token Function: Slightly boosts Fire Release power when worn; when worn as an undergarment beneath normal clothes, enables instant outfit change]

[Can upgrade level by investing Popularity Points; each level grants a Unique Ability]

[When Character Inheritance reaches LV10, allows entry into a Dimensional World using this character template]

Publicly available intel:

External skills and abilities that don't match the setting must be localized before they can be used properly. Playing Pokémon in Super Robot Wars or cultivating immortality in Cyberpunk—that costs you.

Chapter 4: Add Scenes! Add Scenes Like Crazy!

After obtaining the Character Inheritance, Sparkle immediately felt a series of techniques flooding into her mind.

"I see. Five-star Character Cards grant potential, but four-star purple Character Cards directly bestow techniques and moves."

Compared to [Jingliu] and [Sparkle], [Mai Shiranui]'s Character Card had packaged the entire Shiranui-ryu set and handed it to Sparkle.

Kachōsen, Yume Sakura, Hana no Mai, Ryuenbu, Chō Hissatsu Shinobi Bachi...

One by one, the moves appeared in Sparkle's mind.

Mai Shiranui originated from Fatal Fury and shone brilliantly in The King of Fighters series, but the so-called Shiranui-ryu ninjutsu was somewhat lacking in the world of Naruto—fine in the early stages, but useless later on. Moreover, these techniques required time to practice. Simply put, they were at the level of "theoretically understood."

Beyond that, Mai Shiranui's Character Card also provided some bonuses:

[When character role is ninja-related, increase Attention by 5%]

When wearing this outfit, there was also a Fire Release power boost. Both were usable.

Wasn't she a ninja herself? And this outfit could be worn directly as an "undergarment," making the "Fire Release power" boost essentially a permanent skill.

"Still, these flashy skills aren't half bad."

To a "meta-chaser," Shiranui-ryu ninjutsu might seem mediocre in power, even flashy, but Sparkle had high hopes for them.

What mattered most on the Dimensional Stage?

Popularity!

Flashy skills weren't practical, but they looked good!

Being gaudy wasn't scary—the point was to be gaudy.

Besides, Shiranui-ryu wasn't entirely useless; it was at least a technique capable of competing in the King of Fighters tournament.

And that "One-Button Outfit Change"—that was a genius skill, plain and simple!

As for so-called [Attention], Sparkle had looked into it.

[Attention] wasn't a simple numerical value. On one hand, it was something like an evaluation metric—the higher the Attention, the easier it was to draw in viewers. Similar to a "mock exam reference score."

On the other hand, [Attention] seemed to correlate with the [Popularity Points] earned. For example, with zero Attention, Sparkle might get 100 Popularity Points; with Attention around 65%, she could get 165. If Attention reached 1000%, she could get 1100 Popularity Points.

So the higher the Attention, the better.

Sparkle held onto the remaining Popularity Points for now, not buying a Camera Card. She still had some Camera Cards left, and the story hadn't yet reached a point where she needed to "hijack" a scene.

Silently putting on the Fox Mask, Sparkle considered the situation ahead.

As a "Minor Supporting Role," changing fate wasn't easy. She needed to lay foreshadowing early, like a snake in the grass, to shake "destiny." Sparkle hated following a scripted plot; she loved the unknown stage of fate. But for now, her abilities were limited, so she could only advance step by step.

According to the upcoming "plot," it should be the Graduation Exam, followed by Naruto failing and being tricked into stealing the Sealing Scroll.

For Sparkle, the scroll itself didn't matter. The Sealing Scroll could be ignored, but screentime had to be hijacked!

After practicing the Transformation Jutsu, Iruka stopped teaching, since the Graduation Exam was imminent. That was how exams worked—the period before was always relaxed.

The unluckiest one was Naruto, dragged off by Iruka to clean the Hokage Rock.

"Um, Sparkle, want to walk back together?" Hinata timidly approached her.

"Sure thing, Big Sister~"

The current anime feed was black and white, meaning nothing was airing. Still, this seemed like an opportunity.

Sparkle directly used a Daily Life Camera Card.

Sure enough, the anime episode displayed Sparkle's footage.

But this wasn't a live broadcast—it was a "replay" of the moment Hinata invited her to walk home together.

[Long black hair, another long black hair!]

[Her pupils are white!]

[Don't meddle in 2D affairs.JPG]

[Kyon, tree, subtitles]

[As long as she looks good, she's also a long black hair]

[That "Big Sister" from Sparkle made my bones melt~]

The danmaku scrolled in strings again.

And the scene on screen, after replaying Hinata's invitation, cut to when Sparkle and Hinata left the school.

Sparkle was wearing the stage-produced [Performance Outfit]. This red Furisode Kimono was very beautiful and photogenic, but walking in it was very slow. The tightly bound hem rivaled a hobble skirt, forcing Sparkle's steps to be very small.

At such a slow pace, an ordinary person would probably be dying of impatience, but Hinata walked beside Sparkle with great patience.

If someone in the know had seen this, they might also be surprised, but not because Sparkle walked too slowly—rather, because Sparkle, who had no eyesight, was walking just like a normal person.

--Sparkle truly couldn't see.

Jingliu's black veil eye patch did enhance perception and training speed, but it also blocked her sight.

So in daily life, Sparkle would continuously refine small amounts of Chakra, spreading it like a trickling stream into the surrounding space. Combined with the enhanced perception from the Eye-covering Black Veil, she could sense her surroundings.

This was also part of her training in Chakra control and perception.

Of course, this was only possible with the token from Jingliu. But the others in Konoha didn't find it strange. In their eyes, although Sparkle lacked the Byakugan, her innate talent was still very strong—a successful example of Sparkle's genius persona.

As for Byakugan training, that was happening too. Just then, Sparkle's Shadow Clone was training in the training ground codenamed "Forest of Death."

[They say they're sisters, but it's more like a young lady and her attendant]

[The older sister is pretty too, just dressed a bit plainly]

[Are your standards that high? Me, I'm not picky at all—I want them all!]

The two walked in silence for a while, but the danmaku kept flooding in.

"Um, Sparkle. Do you really want to become a ninja?" Hinata hesitated for a long time before finally gathering the courage to speak.

She had been hesitating all along.

But at this moment, she finally found her courage.

"Of course," Sparkle said.

"But your eyes..." Hinata's voice dropped.

"That doesn't matter. It hasn't affected me anyway. Rather, since I don't have the 'Byakugan,' no one will target me when I'm outside~"

Hinata lowered her head: "It's all because of me..."

[What's going on?]

[Our Sparkle really can't see?]

[Looks like it was caused by an incident?]

[So what if she can't see? 2B's eye patch is a moe point too!]

[By the way, Miss Sparkle has no eyes—can I use...]

[??? When I type a question mark, it means I'm not the weird one—you are!]

[Someone drag this pervert away!]

[Wait, how did it get derailed here? Didn't you read the dialogue? This Byakugan seems to have some special ability.]

[I want Miss Sparkle to use Byakugan on me, hehehehe~]

Silly viewers brought joy, earning Sparkle a few hundred more popularity points.

Sparkle also noticed that the more danmaku and interaction there were, the higher her popularity became.

So Sparkle decided to add some fuel and probe further.

"It's not Big Sister's fault~"

Sparkle grabbed Hinata's hand, interlacing their fingers.

"It's Sparkle who wants to protect Big Sister~"

As she spoke, Sparkle used her other hand to move aside the mask on her face, then reached out to brush through Hinata's long hair.

"The long hair Big Sister kept for me is really beautiful too. Because I said I liked Big Sister with long hair, Big Sister hasn't cut it since that time, right~"

Sparkle caught Hinata's hair tips and touched them to her own cheek.

The scent of shampoo still lingered on them.

"Just as Big Sister would do this much for me, if it's for Big Sister, I can do anything too~"

[Sisters well! Sisters well! Sisters well!] [It's a bowl, not a well] [Yuri fans crashing uninvited!] [Too flirty, Lady Sparkle is supreme!] [I need to see the Hyuga Sisters doujinshi right now!] [I'm done] [Nothing special (pulling up pants)]

Popularity kept climbing, so Sparkle decided to push further.

"Oh my?"

But Hinata couldn't hold on. Her entire face flushed crimson, her whole body transformed into a "Steam Princess," and she fainted.

The Camera Card was used up too, and the screen switched to Naruto cleaning the Hokage Rock, continuing the "Ninja Path."

"Looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow. It was lively, but the Popularity Points given don't seem as high as when I'm with Naruto. Could it be that being with the 'protagonist' makes it easier to earn Popularity Points?"

After one wave, Sparkle had gained nearly two thousand Popularity Points, and she now had 7,000 points left.

"Guess that's it for today. I'll make my appearance when the Forbidden Scroll Incident happens~"