Meanwhile, Mizuki, who had been about to come over and strike up a conversation, frowned. Someone had beaten him to it.
"It's okay, there'll be another chance. This time it was the Clone Technique. Maybe the next exam will be the Transformation Jutsu, which you're good at," Sparkle said.
"Ah, thanks." Naruto seemed to feel a little better.
"Are you free tonight? I'll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen." Sparkle smiled.
Naruto had yet to say anything, but Mizuki was already grinding his teeth. He had wanted to take advantage of Naruto's low spirits to trick him into causing trouble. With Sparkle stepping in, how was he supposed to pull that off?
That was right, Sparkle was deliberately messing with Mizuki's head.
Someone who caused trouble getting messed with in return was only natural, wasn't it? It felt so good.
"Ichiraku Ramen!" Naruto's mood visibly improved at the mention of Ichiraku Ramen.
However, at that moment, Naruto spotted Hyuga Hiashi and Hinata talking off to the side.
Sparkle knew that too.
—Because that was exactly the scene being shown in the video.
Though Sparkle could not see, Naruto's loneliness stood in stark contrast to her happy family, with both an older sister and a father.
"No, it's fine." Naruto backed away. "Some other day, haha. You're always the one treating me, Sparkle. Right, next time I'll treat you instead."
"Why say that? Aren't we friends?" Sparkle removed her fox mask.
"Yeah, so... I'll graduate. Just wait until I catch up." Naruto clenched his fist.
"Then I'll be waiting." Sparkle turned and put her mask back on.
"But... I want to graduate now too. I want to be with everyone..." After Sparkle left, Naruto lowered his head again.
He had forced himself to cheer up only so his friend would not worry about him.
"Naruto." At that moment, Mizuki, whose mindset had been thoroughly messed with, finally let out a breath and found his chance to enter. "You... want to graduate, right?"
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What Happened to the Promised Conspiracy Theory?
After Sparkle left, Mizuki immediately went looking for Naruto.
The danmaku below also flooded the screen.
Earlier, while Sparkle and Naruto had been talking, the camera had shown Mizuki making several expressions like he had eaten shit.
[Mizuki: So anxious!] [I'll bet two coins this guy wants to cause trouble!] [Did Lady Sparkle notice this guy?] [Based on my many years of anime-watching experience, this guy is definitely a villain.]
"Sparkle, aren't you going home?"
After saying goodbye to Naruto, Hyuga Hiashi and Hinata were preparing to leave, but Sparkle did not want to go back.
"Mm, I graduated today, so I'm planning to walk around Konoha for a bit."
As Sparkle spoke, she lightly swung her ankle.
She was not wearing geta today, but a matching pair of black-lacquered zori with painted designs, red ropes, and red soles. Since it was graduation day, zori were more formal than geta and better suited to the occasion. She had originally wanted to change into another pair of Yaya Zori more fitting for a graduation ceremony, but they did not match her outfit, so Sparkle had gone with these matching black-and-red zori instead.
"Should I have Natsu accompany you?" Hiashi asked.
"No, it's just... this is the only way I can remember Konoha."
Sparkle smiled.
Hiashi and Hinata both fell silent.
Sparkle could not see and had no way to use the Byakugan to scan her surroundings, so she could only measure all of Konoha this way.
However, that was merely a "reason."
In truth, Sparkle had long since examined every corner of Konoha's layout.
But without a "reason," it would be difficult to step into hardship and change fate.
This was also a conclusion Sparkle had reached over the years.
With a "reason," changing fate was far easier than forcing it down head-on.
Sometimes, a "reason" was like a lever, able to shift ten parts of fate with one part of strength.
Simply put, she needed to "guide things according to the situation."
And now, with the reason of "wanting to remember Konoha," it became much easier for her to appear in the scene.
Otherwise, suddenly appearing before Naruto would only make things inconvenient.
Wanting to change the script however she pleased was a privilege reserved for protagonists. She was merely a supporting character.
The rest went without saying.
Mizuki tricked Naruto into stealing the Scroll of Sealing.
And Naruto foolishly believed it really was a "make-up exam," so he went.
At the Third Hokage's home, Naruto was discovered by the Third Hokage. But afterward, Naruto took him down with a Sexy Jutsu.
"This was from the manga."
In the manga, the Third Hokage discovered Naruto while he was stealing the scroll. In the anime, that scene had been moved to later.
"Great, so it isn't entirely the anime version of Naruto."
Sparkle had previously noticed many clues in this world connected to the anime version of Naruto. She had originally thought most of this world would "recreate" the anime version. Seeing this "manga setting" now left her somewhat moved.
At the very least, when it came to the final boss, Kaguya Otsutsuki, Sparkle thought the anime version's setting was unbelievably lame.
It was not that Sparkle disliked the differences between the anime and manga versions. It was just that being that lame would drag down her own style too!
Sparkle wanted something interesting. An unknown Stage of Destiny was the most interesting thing of all.
For example, Uchiha Hikari, who appeared in the Naruto games, was also a classic character. If this place had the Naruto game settings too, that would be quite interesting.
"Next, I just need to find Naruto."
Finding Naruto was fairly easy. As the "protagonist" of this story, Naruto was right there in the video.
Naruto was most likely around the forest. That place had been told to him by Mizuki, so it had a certain degree of concealment. But since Iruka could find it, it was not some completely uninhabited area.
After narrowing down several targets and comparing the houses and terrain in the video's background, finding the location was easy.
—It sounded complicated, but this sort of intelligence analysis was a ninja's basic skill.
When Sparkle found Naruto, he was clutching the scroll and panting heavily.
The video had previously shown Naruto complaining after seeing the first "Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu" that clones were the ninjutsu he was worst at, so he was probably practicing that technique now. However, judging from how he was resting here, he had likely already mastered it.
"Oh my, what a coincidence, Naruto."
Sparkle's voice suddenly came from behind Naruto.
"Whoa, it's Sparkle! You scared me!"
Naruto jumped at the sound.
"What are you doing here?" Sparkle asked despite knowing perfectly well.
Naruto looked left and right, then gave a mysterious grin. "You'll find out tomorrow. Right now, it's the time for Naruto Uzumaki's secret mission."
Naruto had believed Mizuki's words and thought this really was a secret "make-up exam."
"More importantly, what are you doing here, Sparkle?" Naruto asked again.
"Mm, because I'm about to become a ninja, I wanted to commemorate it by walking all through Konoha and remembering this place properly," Sparkle said.
"I'm telling you, Sparkle, dressed like that, you won't finish walking around even by tomorrow," Naruto teased.
"Actually, I walk pretty fast—" Sparkle's voice suddenly came from beside his ear.
Naruto looked again, only to find that Sparkle was no longer standing in front of him. She was right beside him!
"Whoa!!" Naruto was startled, falling onto the ground with a thud as he cried out, "Don't tease me like that every time!"
This was not the first time.
"I see. The Scroll of Sealing." Sparkle tilted her head. "Naruto, what exactly are you doing?"
Of course Sparkle knew it was the Scroll of Sealing.
But to sense the outside world, she released Chakra around her body and felt everything nearby. So if she wanted to know the Scroll of Sealing's contents, she could not be too far away.
"Huh? When did that happen?!"
Naruto looked utterly bewildered. The Scroll of Sealing in his hands had somehow ended up in Sparkle's hands.
Sparkle was somewhat interested in the Scroll of Sealing, but only somewhat.
In the original work, the only ninjutsu definitively confirmed to be in the Scroll of Sealing was the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Incidentally, many people believed the Space-Time Ninjutsu Flying Thunder God was also in the Scroll of Sealing, but it actually was not. That technique was neither forbidden nor harmful to its user. It simply had no successor.
Simply put, no one could learn it.
It was like the Landau pole. Even a Nobel Prize winner would have a hard time understanding that "tutorial."
The Impure World Reincarnation was probably in there, but it did not suit Sparkle's self-image, so she had no interest.
Her character settings could not go OOC. She was not some necromancer.
At that moment, the Dimensional Popularity Stage changed once again. The image shifted to the Third Hokage, who was holding a crystal ball and using the Telescope Technique to observe Naruto and Sparkle from afar.
"As expected of the Hyuga Clan's genius. Her vigilance is truly remarkable."
Seeing Sparkle put away the Scroll of Sealing, the Third Hokage also let out a sigh of relief.
Being taken down by Naruto had been purely an accident. He had been worried Naruto might see the Scroll of Sealing's contents and learn something that could undo the Nine-Tails Demon Fox's seal.
As for the Scroll of Sealing being in Sparkle's hands, the Third Hokage was not worried. Her eyes had been lost because of Konoha, after all. In a sense, Sparkle could even be called impeccably loyal.
Sparkle herself, however, found it rather boring.
—What was this? What happened to the plot where the Scroll of Sealing was the Third Hokage's "test" for Naruto?
Why was there no conspiracy theory at all?
Had he really just been careless?
Without a conspiracy theory, how was she supposed to add more scenes?
Since there was no conspiracy theory, she would add one herself.
In any case, she should first copy down a few ninjutsu from the Scroll of Sealing.
That was right, Flying Thunder God was not a forbidden technique, while the Summoning Jutsu was. Some people said Flying Thunder God was reverse summoning, but there was no solid proof. At most, their principles were similar.
The Eight Inner Gates Formation was not a forbidden technique either. And since the Scroll of Sealing had been sealed by the First Generation, any techniques developed after his death would not be recorded in it.
Lastly, the Scroll of Sealing only appeared once in the manga. In the anime, it was mentioned again during the later Mizuki storyline. But the only ninjutsu definitively confirmed to be recorded in it was the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. So based on the Third Hokage's lines and reasonable inference from the original work, I'll put some plausible techniques in it. Well, the Scroll of Sealing was not important to Sparkle anyway.
Sparkle: Delight
"Give it back to me!"
With a turn, Sparkle dodged Naruto's pounce. At the same time, she tied a Red Rope around the Scroll of Sealing, reinforcing its seal a second time. In truth, though, Sparkle's Chakra had already seeped inside.
To cultivate faster, Sparkle had always worn Jingliu's black gauze blindfold. To sense the outside world, she basically relied on constantly releasing tiny amounts of Chakra. This had given her masterful Chakra control. Copying a few ninjutsu from the scroll was child's play.
"Give it back!" Naruto was getting anxious. He rushed over, only for Sparkle to give him a light tug and send him stumbling to the other side.
"Naruto, you're an idiot, but I don't think you'd do something like steal the Scroll of Sealing."