Chapter 11: Jingliu — A Blade that never Returns.

Although the “Protagonist” wasn’t present, limiting the amount of Popularity Points she could gain, Hanabi cared more about her “character development” in front of the audience than just the points themselves.

Undoubtedly, this wave was very successful.

“Alright, Miss.”

Natsu Hyūga had finished grooming and dressing Hanabi.

But Hanabi caught her off guard and hugged her directly.

“Thank you~ Sister Natsu~”

[There’s yuri! There’s yuri!]

[Citrus, Citrus, Citrus~]

[Never seen people as thirsty as you guys, this is obviously a familial affection scene, okay?]

[I want a hug from Lady Hanabi too~]

[Asking for a hug~]

[Lady Hanabi, I’m your fan, give me a hug too!]

“Well then, I’m off.”

“Yes, please take care.”

When Hanabi left the house, the Camera Card had run out, and the scene shifted back to Naruto.

Unlike Hanabi, who had slept soundly, Naruto got up early and spent several hours coming up with a very strange makeup look for himself.

He painted his whole face white and drew red patterns on it, looking like a Kabuki actor.

This part, without Hanabi’s intervention, was pretty much the same as the “original work.”

Hanabi essentially enjoyed a “reality version” of Naruto Episode 2.

After taking the photo, Hanabi didn’t go home but went to the training ground instead.

“Shadow Clone Jutsu.”

The Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu is a forbidden technique, but many people actually know the regular Shadow Clone Jutsu. The Hyūga family naturally has it too; in fact, even if they didn’t, it would be a breeze for the Hyūga family to acquire a Shadow Clone Jutsu.

However, because the Shadow Clone Jutsu splits chakra evenly, its practical combat value is relatively limited for ordinary ninjas.

The most convenient aspect of this jutsu is actually for training ninjutsu and genjutsu; two clones training means double the speed, and Hanabi also has a bonus.

But today, Hanabi wasn’t training; she was keeping watch over the surroundings.

The Third Hokage, who could use the Telescope Technique, was still handing out certificates to students one by one. Hanabi scanned the surrounding space with her Byakugan (via released chakra/perception) and confirmed it was quite safe.

“Then, let’s begin the resonance.”

“Ancient Mirror Reflecting the Spirit!”

In an instant, the space around Hanabi fell into an eerie silence.

Oppressive, cold—everything within that domain seemed as if it would be frozen.

However, Hanabi could no longer feel the outside world.

Her consciousness had sunk deep into her inner self.

“Moonlight shining upon ten thousand rivers—!”

When her consciousness cleared, Hanabi felt as if she were on a battlefield. It was a blood-colored world, where ferocious, giant starving wolves roared and howled around her.

And “she” held a long sword, slaughtering wantonly in this blood-moon night. That majestic killing intent and aura of blood seemed capable of swallowing everything.

“This is Jingliu’s memory… I see, so this is resonance…”

She was synchronizing with Jingliu’s past memories, witnessing the insane gaze of Jingliu after she was sealed behind that black blindfold.

“Sorry, but my role in this show isn’t such a crazed character. However, I’ll take your skills.” Enduring the maddening emotions, Hanabi felt Jingliu’s combat.

Every swing of the sword was unstoppable; every movement was unblockable.

While her killing intent boiled over, Jingliu maintained extreme calmness.

And Hanabi was learning this method of maintaining calm.

Her head felt like it was being dominated by those insane emotions, so uncomfortable that she wanted to commit suicide, as if she were being sliced by a thousand cuts, but Hanabi persisted.

Are you kidding? It’s just a thousand cuts!

“Haa… haa…”

After an unknown amount of time, Hanabi finally woke up from that eerie and chaotic scene.

She had experienced Jingliu’s combat from a “first-person” perspective.

Perhaps because her compatibility with [Jingliu] wasn’t as good as with [Sparkle], the massive and crazy mental impact during resonance made her extremely uncomfortable.

“Mm, it’s already this time.”

The resonance ended; a whole day had passed, and it was now dusk.

In the space around her, the wooden stakes and the ground were covered in a layer of frost.

Hanabi shivered.

She had sweated profusely during the resonance, and that cold sweat had now turned into ice shards.

Hanabi formed a seal: “Fire Style.”

It wasn’t any impressive ninjutsu, just a slight change in nature to raise the surrounding temperature, melting and evaporating all the ice shards on her body.

Finally, she used Fire Style to scorch the affected area completely, effectively “destroying the evidence.”

“Hmm?”

Just then, Hanabi’s Shadow Clone suddenly dispelled, and the clone’s memories were transmitted back.

Hanabi’s Shadow Clone had discovered someone approaching, so it notified the main body in this way.

“I see.”

Without a second word, Hanabi immediately used a Daily Camera Card.

The story of Ninja Road Episode 2 was a slice-of-life episode itself, almost exclusively Naruto’s show. Although the story itself wasn’t very important, it helped deepen the audience’s impression.

The video feed cut to Hanabi again. In the frame, she was panting with a look of exhaustion on her face.

And right at this moment, a figure appeared behind Hanabi.

“Good evening, Sasuke-kun.”

Hanabi turned her head, resuming her usual elegance, and greeted Sasuke who had appeared behind her.

Sasuke scanned the messy training ground around them, then looked at Hanabi again: “You don’t plan to fight dressed like that after becoming a ninja, do you? You’ll die.”

Hanabi was wearing a Furisode kimono, which was fine in daily scenes, but would indeed be a hindrance in combat.

[Male Lead No. 2?]

[Is it really Male Lead No. 2?]

[Is this a tsundere?]

[One look is enough to tell, this is my husband.]

[Confirmed by the look in his eyes.]

A bunch of question marks appeared on the screen.

However, Hanabi discovered that the speed of Popularity Points growth actually caught up to when she was with Naruto.

– Could it be that Sasuke and Naruto have the same “popularity amplification” effect?

“Of course, girls have to be pretty~” Hanabi smiled. “Besides, I also like the feeling of being restrained and bound. When my body is tightly wrapped, I can feel the reality of the world’s existence more clearly.”

[What kind of wild words are these lol.]

[Miss Hanabi, I have a great Flower and Snake movie I’d like to study with you~]

[Is this something I’m allowed to watch?]

[Are the plots of long-running anime this wild nowadays?]

“I see, is this also part of the training?” Sasuke didn’t think of anything weird. “But the Hyūga family should have their own training methods…”

Speaking of this, Sasuke stopped himself.

“Because of your eyes… Sorry.”

Although he appeared somewhat cold and tried to act deep, Sasuke wasn’t a cold-blooded person. In fact, as someone possessing the Sharingan, he could better empathize with the sense of loss of being from a dōjutsu clan yet unable to use dōjutsu.

[This counts as training too?]

[Feels like using weights, I guess.]

[Restraint combat? I can do that!]

[Male Lead No. 2 is also a person with a story.]

[Am I the only one who thinks the destruction around is suspicious? Isn’t Hanabi good at genjutsu? Can genjutsu cause such great physical damage?]

[I observed again, Hanabi really shouldn’t be wearing tabi, it’s white silk stockings.]

[Are you guys never done with this meme?]

“It seems Sasuke-kun just came back from training too. Would you like to grab a casual meal together?” Hanabi invited Sasuke.

“No, I’m just changing locations. My training—” Sasuke glanced at the messy scene behind her again, “is not enough.”

[She said the same thing to Naruto in the last episode.]

[Rejected again lol.]

[Male Lead 1 and Male Lead 2 both rejected the heroine. So, between Male Lead 1 and Male Lead 2…]

[You guys are ridiculous, Hanabi was obviously just being polite.]

Hanabi tilted her head.

She really wasn’t just being polite.

Not only Naruto and Sasuke, but Hanabi also strove to maintain good relationships with everyone in her daily life.

This way, whenever she intervened in any plot later, it wouldn’t feel out of place.

Moreover, to be an idol isn’t just about being one in front of the audience; she had to be popular in Konoha too!

A true idol is elegant and all-encompassing!

Accompanying Sasuke’s departing footsteps, the screen went black again.

[Gaia!]

[See you all in seven years.]

[That’s it? Starting to fill time in Episode 2 already?]

[LMAO, here we go again, calling it filler as soon as it’s a slice-of-life episode.]

[Waiting another seven years.]

[Feels like ants crawling all over my body…]

The bullet comments gradually disappeared, and Hanabi received a message from the Stage again.

[Episode 2 Broadcast End]

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