Even without the "protagonist" present, the popularity points she could earn were limited—but Hanabi cared less about the points than about how she was shaping her character in the audience's eyes.
And on that front, this wave had been a resounding success.
"All done, my lady."
Hyuga Natsu had finished dressing and styling Hanabi's hair.
Hanabi, catching her completely off guard, threw her arms around her in a hug.
"Thank you so much, Natsu-nee~"
[She hugged her! She hugged her!]
[Tangerine tangerine tangerine~]
[You people are so starved for content—this is clearly a wholesome family moment]
[Hanabi-sama, please hug me too~]
[Hug me~]
[Hanabi-sama, I'm your fan! Please, one hug!]
"Well then, I'm off."
"Yes, do take care."
By the time Hanabi stepped out the front door, her camera card had already been used up, and the feed shifted back over to Naruto.
Unlike Hanabi, who had enjoyed a nice long sleep, Naruto had been up at the crack of dawn—and had apparently spent the next several hours devising what he considered a very strange makeup look. His entire face was painted white, with red markings drawn across it, giving him the air of a kabuki performer.
This part unfolded without any of Hanabi's interference, more or less as it had in the original.
Hanabi watched what amounted to a live-action recreation of Naruto episode two.
After the photoshoot, rather than heading home, she made her way to the training grounds.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu."
The Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu was a forbidden technique, but the basic Shadow Clone Jutsu was well within reach for most ninja—the Hyuga clan certainly had access to it, and could have obtained it with ease even if they hadn't. The jutsu's practical combat value was limited for most ninja, since it split chakra evenly among all copies.
Its real usefulness, Hanabi had decided, was in training ninjutsu and genjutsu. Two clones training at once meant double the speed—and she had bonuses on top of that.
Today, though, she wasn't here to train. She was here to keep watch.
Hanabi swept the surrounding area with her Byakugan. The Third, who could use the Telescope Technique, was still over there, presenting certificates to each student one by one. The space around her was clear.
"Then let's begin the resonance."
"Ancient Mirror Illuminates the Gods!"
In an instant, the space around her fell into an eerie stillness.
Oppressive. Frozen. Everything within that domain felt as though it was about to be encased in ice.
But Hanabi could no longer feel the outside world at all.
Her consciousness had plunged deep into herself.
"Reflect ten thousand rivers—!"
When awareness returned, she found herself standing on what felt like a battlefield. The world around her was soaked in crimson, and monstrous wolves howled and raged at the edges of her vision.
And "she"—this other self—held a longsword, moving through a blood-moon night with reckless, devastating grace. The killing intent radiating from every strike felt vast enough to swallow everything whole.
"So this is Jingliu's memory... I see. This is what resonance means."
She was synchronizing with Jingliu's past—the frenzied gaze from behind that eye-covering black veil.
"I'm sorry, but the role I'm playing in this story isn't that of someone consumed by madness." Even as the unhinged emotions pressed in on her, Hanabi held on, watching Jingliu fight. "Still—your technique is mine now."
Every sword strike was unblockable. Every movement was uncatchable.
Even with murderous intent surging through her, Jingliu's mind remained perfectly, terrifyingly calm.
And that method of maintaining calm—Hanabi studied it, too.
Her mind felt like it was being torn apart by the madness, the pain so acute it made her want to end herself—as if she were being cut a thousand times over. But she held on.
Come on. It's just a thousand cuts.
"Hah... hah..."
She had no idea how much time had passed, but eventually Hanabi surfaced from that strange, frenzied dreamscape.
She had experienced Jingliu's battle in the first person.
Perhaps it was because her compatibility with Jingliu was lower than with Sparkle—during the resonance, the sheer force of that vast, destabilizing spiritual impact had been nearly unbearable.
"Hmm. It's already this late."
The resonance was over. An entire day had passed. The sun was sinking toward the horizon.
The training posts and ground around her were coated in frost.
Hanabi shivered.
During the resonance she had broken into a heavy sweat—and that sweat had since frozen into ice chips pressed against her skin.
She formed a seal. "Fire Style."
Nothing impressive—just a basic nature transformation, enough to warm the surrounding air and melt the ice off her body.
Then she ran a fire jutsu over the affected area to scorch away the evidence.
"Hm?"
At that moment, one of her shadow clones suddenly dispersed, its memories rushing back to her.
The clone had spotted someone approaching and released itself as a warning.
"I see."
Without a word, Hanabi activated a daily camera card.
Episode two of Ninja's Path was a slice-of-life episode, almost entirely Naruto's show. Not that the episode itself was particularly important—but it helped viewers deepen their impression of the characters.
The feed cut back to Hanabi, where she appeared on screen looking thoroughly exhausted, catching her breath.
And then—a figure materialized behind her.
"Good evening, Sasuke-kun."
Hanabi turned, composure restored in an instant, and greeted the boy who had appeared at her back.
Sasuke swept the devastated training ground with a look, then turned his gaze to Hanabi. "You're not actually planning to fight in that once you become a ninja, are you? You'll die."
She was wearing a furisode kimono—perfectly fine for everyday settings, but genuinely liable to cost her in a real fight.
[Is that... the second male lead?]
[Is it really him?!]
[That's tsundere behavior if I've ever seen it]
[I've made up my mind, he's my husband now]
[A confirmed look]
The screen erupted with question marks.
Hanabi, meanwhile, had noticed something: the rate at which popularity points were climbing had matched pace with what she saw when she was with Naruto.
—Could Sasuke's "popularity boost" effect really be on the same level as Naruto's?
"Of course," Hanabi said with a smile. "A girl should always look her best. Besides, I like the feeling of being constrained and bound. When my body is wrapped up tightly, I feel the world more vividly."
[That's a lot to unpack 2333]
[Hanabi-sama, I happen to have a certain film called Flowers and Snakes I'd love to recommend~]
[Is this something I'm actually allowed to be watching?]
[Webnovels nowadays are really something, huh]
"I see—so it's a form of training, then?" Sasuke had not read anything strange into it at all. "But the Hyuga clan must have their own training methods..."
He stopped himself mid-sentence.
"Because of your eyes... I'm sorry."
Beneath the cool exterior and the brooding affect, Sasuke was not without empathy. And as someone who bore a Kekkei Genkai himself, he understood—perhaps better than most—what it might feel like to belong to a clan of doujutsu users and yet be unable to use one.
[You call that training?]
[It's like resistance training, basically]
[Resistance combat? Count me in.]
[The second male lead has a story too]
[Am I really the only one who noticed how wrecked the training ground is? I thought Hanabi specialized in genjutsu—how does genjutsu cause physical damage like that?]
[I looked again—those definitely aren't tabi socks she's wearing. Those are white stockings.]
[This bit isn't going away, is it]
"Shall we go get something to eat, Sasuke-kun?" Hanabi extended the invitation.
"Pass. I'm just switching locations." Sasuke glanced once more at the wreckage behind her. "My training... isn't enough yet."
[She asked Naruto the same thing last episode]
[Rejected again 2333]
[Both the first and second male lead turned her down—so does that mean the two of them...]
[You people are too much. Hanabi was clearly just being polite]
Hanabi tilted her head slightly.
She really hadn't been.
It wasn't just Naruto and Sasuke—Hanabi made a point of cultivating good relationships with everyone around her. That way, whenever she needed to step into a storyline, her presence would never feel out of place.
And being an idol wasn't just about performing for the audience. She needed to be popular in Konoha, too.
A true idol was graceful—and the full package.
Sasuke's footsteps faded as he left. The screen faded to black.
[Blackout!]
[See you all again in seven years]
[That's it? Episode two and it's already filler?]
[Lmao here we go again—one slice-of-life episode and everyone calls it filler]
[Another seven-year wait]
[I'm so restless I could crawl out of my skin...]
The comments drifted away, and Hanabi received another notification from the Stage.
[Episode 2 broadcast complete]
[Calculating episode fee—please wait]