Chapter 5: When it comes to Mind Games, I’m Expert.

The next day.

“Alright, let’s begin the graduation exam. When your name is called, proceed to the classroom next door. The subject this time is the Clone Jutsu.”

On the day of the exam, after Iruka-sensei announced the topic, Naruto revealed a devastated expression.

“Why is it so unlucky? It just had to be the ninjutsu I’m worst at!”

Although the Naruto in reality said nothing, in the video on the Dimensional Popularity Stage, Hanabi could appreciate his devastated expression.

It was quite amusing.

The order of the exam was the same as the previous tests; Hanabi was first.

With two Daily Camera Cards remaining, Hanabi used one directly.

One minute of plot in the first episode was more important than ten minutes of plot in the 500th episode.

So Hanabi wasn’t stingy and used a Camera Card right away.

This scene also seemed to be judged as “daily life,” so after Naruto’s wailing ended, the screen cut directly to Hanabi.

“Excuse me. Examinee number one, Hanabi Hyūga.”

The examination venue was a cleared-out classroom with only a podium where Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei were sitting. Several rows of forehead protectors were placed in front of Iruka-sensei.

“Let’s begin.” Iruka nodded to Hanabi. Although he knew she had no vision, he still respected his student greatly.

“I’ve already begun.”

Another “Hanabi” walked out from behind her.

“No hand seals? Hand seal-less ninjutsu?!” Mizuki wasn’t familiar with Hanabi, and her jutsu surprised him somewhat.

[Speaking of which, everyone else seems to need hand seals for ninjutsu. Only our Lady Hanabi hasn’t used them?]

[Is it special effects again?]

[Hanabi: Special effects, I added special effects.]

“It’s just a sleight of hand, Mizuki-sensei. Hanabi, hurry up and show your true skills. One clone isn’t enough to pass.”

Iruka was used to it; probing into others’ jutsu was impolite. Whether it was true hand seal-less ninjutsu, magic tricks, or genjutsu concealment, those were her own techniques.

In the ninja world, intelligence was extremely important, so Iruka directly steered the topic away for his student.

More than that, he was worried his student would fail because she was messing around during the exam.

Iruka had seen Hanabi’s Clone Jutsu, but this time he felt that what Hanabi used wasn’t the Clone Jutsu.

Using genjutsu to fake a Clone Jutsu to fool the examiners during the graduation exam?

She wouldn’t go that far… right?

“Of course, there’s more than one.”

Two more “Hanabis” walked out from behind.

Two became four, four became eight, eight became sixteen; just like bacterial division, more and more Hanabis filled the entire classroom.

A crowd of Hanabis stood smiling opposite Mizuki. Although Hanabi herself was a beautiful girl, having such a crowd of beautiful girls smiling in unison looked somewhat eerie.

“Hmm…” Mizuki flipped through Hanabi’s file. “Student Hanabi is first in written exams and is also very skilled in genjutsu. Despite being from the Hyūga family, I didn’t expect her specialty to be this.”

“Perhaps I used genjutsu to hide the process of forming hand seals~ By the way, maybe this itself is a genjutsu~”

Hanabi’s voice suddenly came from beside Mizuki. She even blew a breath of air.

Mizuki: “—!!!”

He turned his head and saw a phantom gradually disappearing. Realizing something was wrong, Mizuki immediately retracted the killing intent in his eyes.

Unlike other people’s clones that turned into a puff of smoke, Hanabi’s “phantom” dissipated directly like mist.

[The teacher got a scare.]

[Look at those fierce eyes, this white-haired guy is suspicious.]

[Specializes in genjutsu? Could it be that the previous transformation and the clones here are all faked with genjutsu?]

[Actually, that’s really possible.]

[This Clone Jutsu is the same style as Kurumi’s.]

[Did Hanabi’s movements just now look a bit like a cheeky brat (mesugaki)?]

[Cheeky brat Hanabi? I’m satisfied~]

“Don’t pull these flashy tricks next time, Hanabi. This is an exam.” Iruka sighed. “Well, you pass anyway. 64 clones; usually examinees pass with three to five… Wait, Hanabi, you were using the Clone Jutsu just now, right?”

Iruka hadn’t thought about it before.

But Hanabi’s earlier actions confused Iruka.

– Could she have really used genjutsu on the teachers and not used clones at all?

“Well, was I~”

Hanabi didn’t answer.

[Iruka: I’m confused.]

[So did Hanabi use the Clone Jutsu or genjutsu?]

[I can’t tell, I can’t tell!]

[Damn, there are fraudster trolls here too!]

[Any experts to analyze this?]

[Does this even need asking? It’s definitely genjutsu. Didn’t Iruka say normal people make three to five at most? This many must be fake.]

[Hanabi: Genjutsu, I added genjutsu!]

Although they couldn’t figure it out, Iruka and Mizuki… really couldn’t tell the difference.

Hanabi had the genjutsu bonus provided by the Character Card, so confusing ordinary Chunin was no problem.

After the exam ended, the Third Hokage and the parents also arrived at the school.

“Father.” Hinata and Hanabi’s father, Hiashi Hyūga, had also arrived at the scene.

“Mm. You two did very well.” Hiashi Hyūga nodded. He looked at Hanabi, then looked away.

After Hanabi was kidnapped, it was Hiashi Hyūga who rescued her.

At that time, the Cloud Village Head Ninja realized Hanabi had destroyed her own eyes, which threw him into disarray, preventing his escape from Konoha and giving Hiashi Hyūga an opening.

Upon discovering his daughter had destroyed her own eyes to protect the Hyūga clan’s Byakugan, Hiashi, in his rage, was about to kill the Cloud Village Head Ninja with a single palm strike.

It was Hanabi who spoke up in time to stop him, sparing the man’s life.

However, Hanabi had something to say about that: Are you kidding? That guy is super fragile; he was killed in one move in the original work. Now, with Hiashi’s hate-filled strike, he was guaranteed to die.

In the databooks, this Head Ninja was obstinate and fierce-looking, but in reality, his attitude was basically “if you dare hit me, I’ll dare die to show you.”

After that, Konoha gained a superior position in negotiations with the Cloud Village, and the Hyūga clan received compensation from the Hokage, but Hiashi always felt he had failed his daughter.

So when interacting with Hanabi, Hiashi Hyūga always couldn’t bear to look directly at her, feeling somewhat guilty.

“What is it, Hanabi?” Hiashi noticed Hanabi’s attention didn’t seem to be here.

“It seems my friend didn’t pass the exam. I’m going to comfort him.”

This was a good chance to leech screen time.

“That is…”

Hiashi Hyūga saw at a glance that the person sitting there was Naruto Uzumaki. Adults didn’t want their children contacting him, but Hanabi didn’t care, and Hiashi didn’t interfere, only protecting her from the side. Even regarding Neji’s matter, when Hanabi argued with the family, Hiashi stood by his daughter’s side.

A classic case of a daughter-con.

The Clone Jutsu is a very simple technique; almost everyone passed the exam.

But this didn’t mean true graduation in the meaningful sense; passing the Jonin leader’s test after team assignments was the real graduation.

As of now, the only one who hadn’t passed was Naruto Uzumaki. At this moment, he was sitting alone on a swing under a tree.

“Hey, that kid.”

“It’s that kid.”

“Seems he’s the only one who failed.”

“He deserves it.”

“It would be terrible if someone like that became a ninja.”

“After all, that kid is…”

Two middle-aged women were gossiping and scorning him from a distance.

[Looking at the opening, you know the protagonist definitely has a different identity.]

[Here it comes, here it comes, the classic Japanese trope!]

[Based on my experience watching Japanese anime, Naruto is probably the Nine-Tails from the opening, or the human vessel sealing the Nine-Tails.]

[What human vessel, this isn’t Ultraman lol.]

[Maybe the protagonist’s cheat is transforming into Ultraman for three minutes.]

[I think it’s actually the old grandpa genre.]

“Excuse me.” A voice interrupted their conversation, also ending this overly “cliché” plot.

“Ah, it’s Miss Hanabi of the Hyūga family.”

The two immediately changed their expressions.

“Hags, could you move aside? I’m going to see my friend.”

The two froze awkwardly.

“Um, what did you say…”

“I said, hags, get lost, don’t block the way.”

[Simple trash talk, extreme enjoyment lol.]

[Holy crap, Lady Hanabi is so direct.]

[For gossiping women, you should be direct. Not slapping them twice is already letting them off easy.]

[I thought Lady Hanabi would be a bit more subtle, didn’t expect her to be so straightforward.]

[66666 (Awesome)]

After being scolded, the two froze awkwardly and moved aside with stiff, mechanical steps.

Hanabi Hyūga wasn’t the heir to the Hyūga family; the heir was her elder sister, Hinata Hyūga. But everyone knew Hanabi had outstanding aptitude and was favored by the family head, Hiashi Hyūga. The only reason she wasn’t the heir was her blindness.

“Naruto.”

Hanabi walked to Naruto’s side.

“It’s Hanabi.”

Naruto smiled, but it was clearly forced.

Nearby, Mizuki, who was about to approach, frowned. He had been beaten to the punch.

“It’s okay, there’s always next time. This time it was the Clone Jutsu, maybe the next exam will be the Transformation Jutsu you’re good at,” Hanabi said.

“Ah, thanks.” Naruto seemed to feel a bit better.

“Are you free tonight? I’ll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen.” Hanabi smiled.

Naruto hadn’t said anything yet, but Mizuki was gnashing his teeth. He wanted to take advantage of Naruto’s low spirits to trick him into causing trouble. With Hanabi here, how could he proceed?

That’s right, Hanabi was messing with Mizuki’s head.

Messing with a troublemaker was only natural justice; it was too delightful.

“Ichiraku Ramen!” At the mention of Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto’s mood improved significantly.

However, at this moment, Naruto saw Hiashi Hyūga and Hinata talking on the other side.

Hanabi knew this too.

– Because the video was showing exactly this scene.

Although Hanabi couldn’t see, she had a happy family with a sister and father, forming a stark contrast to the lonely Naruto.

“N-No.” Naruto retreated. “Another day, haha. It’s always you treating me, Hanabi. By the way, next time I’ll treat you.”

“Why say that? Aren’t we friends?” Hanabi took off her fox mask.

“Yeah, so… I will graduate. Wait for me to catch up.” Naruto clenched his fist.

“Then I’ll be waiting.” Hanabi turned her head and put the mask back on.

“But… I want to graduate now too, I want to be with everyone…” After Hanabi left, Naruto lowered his head again.

He had forced himself to cheer up just so his friend wouldn’t worry.

“Naruto.” And at this moment, Mizuki, who had been frustrated earlier, finally breathed a sigh of relief and found his chance to enter the stage. “You… want to graduate, right?”

Kurumi (Kurumi Tokisaki): A major character from the anime/light novel series Date A Live. She is known for her ability to create clones of herself using shadows and time manipulation. 

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