Chapter 3: Is this what falling for Someone feels like?

[Ah, why is her face still covered!]

[Behind the umbrella is a mask, and behind the mask is an eyepatch. Family, is this reasonable?]

[Oh no, it’s the feeling of falling in love.]

[Wife, a new generation of Wife has appeared~]

[Wifey, this is my wifey.]

[Long black straight hair! Long black straight hair! Long black straight hair!]

[Three minutes, I want all the information on this woman!]

[Wait a second, those socks just now, they didn’t look like tabi, they were white silk stockings!]

[Give the cameraman a raise.]

[Likers, this brother is really]

[Is the guy above already speaking gibberish?]

[He’s appeared, the dyslexic weirdo!]

[The last girl in a kimono this pretty was Ryougi Shiki.]

Just when everyone thought they would catch a glimpse of her beauty, they never expected that Hanabi’s face would still be covered by an eyepatch.

This bright red outfit combined with the “half-hidden behind a pipa” style of reveal truly whetted the audience’s appetite.

Right before Hanabi’s eyes, her Popularity Points were ushering in a surge.

At first, it was just +1, +1, but as the camera spiraled upward, right until the moment she removed the mask, the popularity began to explode, skyrocketing rapidly. It instantly hit 10,000 points, and the wave didn’t slow down until it reached around 20,000 points.

This Close-up Camera Card was worth every penny!

“What the, it’s Hanabi.”

Naruto was startled when Hanabi called out to him.

However, upon realizing it was Hanabi, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. Their relationship was quite good; Hanabi was one of Naruto’s few friends. Hanabi didn’t care about others’ gazes and often treated Naruto to Ichiraku Ramen, listening to him brag about his pranks. Over time, Naruto grew to like showing off in front of Hanabi more and more.

Just like now, Naruto waved his hand: “Hanabi, Hanabi, I had those guys running around in circles just now! Hahaha~”

It was as if Hanabi had accidentally appeared in the shot, stunned the audience for a moment, and then the camera naturally returned to Naruto. After the camera cut away, Hanabi’s Popularity Points stopped rising; after all, the new series had only been airing for two minutes.

“Wait. Hanabi, isn’t it class time right now? Why are you here?” The scatterbrained Naruto suddenly realized this point.

“That’s right, it is class time, so what are you doing here!”

Another voice appeared, startling Naruto. The speaker was Iruka Umino, whose rage meter was already at MAX.

“I-Iruka-sensei!”

Naruto felt quite helpless being caught by the exasperated Iruka.

“And you too, Hanabi. If something comes up, please just have Hinata tell me in advance, don’t push yourself.” Iruka looked at Hanabi; he was aware of some of Hanabi’s “inconveniences.”

“Yes.” Hanabi followed behind Iruka, and the three of them headed toward the Ninja Academy together.

[Double standards.]

[Don’t misuse words, that’s called contrast.]

[The young lady is called Hanabi? Good name!]

[Lady Hanabi, I am your dog!]

[Sounds like there’s a backstory?]

[Is this the female lead?]

[The first female character introduced is usually the losing heroine. The main heroine always falls from the sky, understood?]

Another string of bullet comments floated by, with many discussing Hanabi’s background.

Unfortunately, the entire broadcast screen went black and paused shortly after.

“Although it’s a livestream, it seems the Dimensional Stage has a way to adjust the flow of time between the two worlds?” Hanabi noticed the key point.

It wasn’t until the three arrived at the classroom and Iruka began scolding Naruto that the screen finally lit up again.

“Listen up, Naruto. You failed the exam last time, and the time before that. This isn’t the time for pranks, you idiot!”

“Hmph~” Naruto turned his head away disdainfully. But this clearly annoyed Iruka.

Iruka turned to face everyone: “Today’s lesson is a review test of the Transformation Jutsu! Those who have already passed, come out and line up too!”

“Eh?!” A wail rose from the class.

Subsequently, the screen went black again. It wasn’t until everyone had lined up and it was Hanabi’s turn that the image lit up once more.

Hanabi was first in the grade, so she was the first to go up.

[It’s Wifey Hanabi!]

[Wifey’s art style is different from everyone else’s!]

[So beautiful!]

Amidst a crowd dressed in casual wear, Hanabi’s red Furisode kimono was indeed unique.

Hanabi’s physique was very petite. The butterfly bow of the obi sash on the back of her kimono was particularly large.

This contrast made her stand out even more.

More importantly, Hanabi’s scenes were all in High-Definition quality!

“Hanabi Hyūga, beginning~” Hanabi did not form hand seals. Instead, she picked up the fox mask from before. As she put the mask on, she spun around, and Hanabi transformed into the appearance of Iruka Umino.

On the small screen, the camera cleverly used lateral movement and cuts to obscure the view, allowing Hanabi to complete the transformation.

“A Transformation Jutsu without hand seals. No matter how many times I see it, it’s stunning, Hanabi.” Iruka nodded. “Very good, next.”

“Yes~”

With another spin, Hanabi removed the mask and returned to her original appearance.

A genius of “Transformation Jutsu” and “Genjutsu”—this was the “character setting” Hanabi had added to herself. This “setting” didn’t necessarily have to be true, but as long as the audience believed it was true, that was enough.

Transformation Jutsu went without saying; it was a signature skill of the Character Inheritance.

And the Genjutsu talent from the “Sparkle” character card was quite absurd. This illusion magic was different from the Naruto world’s; it was more akin to an instinctual talent.

Although it couldn’t be compared to outrageous Genjutsu like Tsukuyomi just yet, it was still stronger than ordinary Genjutsu.

“Sakura Haruno, beginning~” A pink-haired girl entered the frame. This was Sakura Haruno, the “eternal second place” ranked behind Hanabi in written exams.

After forming hand seals, she turned into Iruka’s appearance and successfully passed the test.

Immediately after, Sakura looked toward Sasuke nearby: “Sasuke-kun, did you see that?”

Although invisible in the real world, on the Dimensional Stage screen, Hanabi saw a close-up of Sakura’s inner thoughts.

“It seems this livestream might actually be helpful for combat and intelligence gathering.”

“Next, Sasuke Uchiha.”

The test proceeded one by one. The third person was the Prince of Cool, the designated stress-tester of the Hokage world, Sasuke Uchiha.

After completing the transformation, Sasuke Uchiha put his hands in his pockets and coolly walked to the side.

[This posing, I give it full marks.]

[Looks like the second female lead and the second male lead.]

[Wait a minute, haven’t you guys noticed something strange? Why is everyone forming hand seals, but only Hanabi didn’t?]

[Do you even need to ask? Lady Hanabi is special!]

[Hanabi, that is a woman who could have become a mother to me! So what if she’s a little special?]

[So my wife’s surname is Hyūga.]

[Doesn’t matter what the surname is, later on, she’ll take mine~]

The heat of the topic was quite high.

Hanabi nodded secretly. Stacking 45% Attention wasn’t in vain. Hanabi now understood the use of Attention; it seemed to help attract the audience’s gaze to herself, thereby accelerating the accumulation of popularity.

However, with the entrance of Naruto Uzumaki, the audience’s gaze was drawn back to the protagonist. Especially when Naruto used the Sexy Jutsu, the bullet comments exploded with a bizarre sentiment of “This is the real heroine.”

Hanabi was also seriously considering this issue.

Although she hadn’t started causing trouble yet, Hanabi was thinking: If Naruto really turned into a girl to interact with, wouldn’t that be quite interesting?

Actually, Hanabi remembered that in a certain Naruto movie, there was indeed a permanent Transformation Jutsu—the kind where you couldn’t turn back.

That would certainly be amusing, but the more critical point was how to gain Popularity Points from it. She couldn’t possibly go and snuggle up to a gender-bent Naruto, could she?

No, if the popularity was high enough, it wasn’t impossible…

As the saying goes: I can cease to exist, but I cannot cease to entertain.

“I’ve accumulated quite a bit of popularity now.”

Hanabi opened the panel; her Popularity Points had already reached 30,000.

Thirty thousand points could upgrade a Character Card.

The Jingliu and Sparkle character cards were currently LV1. To upgrade such Gold Cards to LV2 required 5,000 Popularity Points, while LV2 to LV3 required 10,000.

But besides that, Hanabi had another choice.

After Ninja Road began broadcasting, the Dimensional Popularity Stage added a “Popularity Point Shop.”

[Current Items Available for Purchase]

[Resonance Character Card (Purple): A random Character Card of Purple quality. The drawn character is related to the current world’s theme. Obtained randomly when the stage opens. Current World Related Role: Ninja. Purchase Limit: 1/1]

[Price: 25,000 Popularity Points]

[Random Camera Card: Can draw a Camera Card with a random effect. Purchase Limit: 5/5]

[Price: 1,000 Popularity Points]

Should she choose to upgrade the existing character cards or buy a new character card?

Hanabi was deep in thought.

After the new series started, Hanabi had been thinking about her positioning.

In this world, what she needed most was popularity.

Being the protagonist certainly brought popularity, but the ostensible protagonist didn’t necessarily have the highest popularity.

Just like how the most popular character in Bleach wasn’t Ichigo Kurosaki, but Aizen.

Hanabi had considered a similar development.

Think about it: first cultivating a friendship with Naruto, then stabbing him with a sword, leaving behind the line “Admiration is the state furthest from understanding” before leaving dashingly… Wouldn’t that be awesome?

“Achoo—!”

Naruto, who had just been scolded by Iruka, suddenly felt a chill down his spine and couldn’t help but sneeze.

“Idiots can catch colds too?” Shikamaru Nara looked at Naruto.

“I am the man who will become Hokage, how could I catch a cold!” Naruto shouted loudly.

“Naruto!” Iruka’s roar came again, and the classroom fell into chaos once more.

Hanabi’s gaze shifted to the “Male Lead No. 2,” Sasuke Uchiha, nearby.

Think about it: pulling Sasuke up and smilingly saying to him, “Let’s burn Konoha to ash,” seems pretty good too?

Sasuke shuddered. He looked up but ultimately attributed it to the noisy Naruto giving him no peace.

“Idiot.”

Sasuke muttered, then rested his chin on his hands, closed his eyes, and waited for the others to finish their tests.

“Mm, decided. The Character Card is more important. Neither [Jingliu] nor [Sparkle] can give me direct combat power right now; my most important asset is still popularity.”

[Jingliu] provided training intensity, while [Sparkle]’s illusions were much more useful than Naruto-verse Genjutsu.

But for her, the most important thing was popularity.

Hanabi directly purchased the third Character Card.

A card appeared in Hanabi’s consciousness; on this card was a set of red clothing.

[Character Inheritance Card]

[Shiranui Style – Mai Shiranui LV1]

[Rarity: Four Stars]

[Talent/Skills: Fire Attribute Affinity, Shiranui Style Inheritance]

[Bonus: When the character positioning is related to Ninja, Attention +5%]

[Token: Shiranui Style Ninja Outfit]

[Token Function: Slightly increases the power of Fire Style when worn. When worn as undergarments beneath regular clothes, allows for an instant outfit change.]

[Investing Popularity Points can increase the level. Unique abilities will be obtained at certain levels.]

[When the Character Inheritance Level reaches LV10, you may enter a dimensional world using this character template.]

📚 Also on NHV Novels

We Got Married

BLBoys LoveOmegaverse

Read Now →
Not interested