Chapter 9: Netizens these days are Something Else.

After the bath, Natsu Hyūga came in, helped Hanabi dry herself, and then changed her into pajamas.

“Phew~”

Before going to sleep, Hanabi insisted on drinking a glass of warm milk and doing twenty minutes of stretching exercises. She would sleep straight until dawn, never leaving fatigue and stress for the next day.

As an idol, image management is very important. Even if she was just an extra or a supporting character now, who said she couldn’t be the protagonist later?

Hanabi was particularly confident in her appearance.

Her looks weren’t exactly identical to the “original” Hanabi Hyūga, but if she opened her eyes and dressed up like the original, she would look pretty close.

However, if Hanabi changed into a short kimono, turned her eyes red, and tied her hair into twin tails, she could also look very similar to the other Sparkle from Star Rail.

And if she dyed her hair white, put on a black blindfold, and held a sword, cosplaying Jingliu wouldn’t be impossible either, though she might lack a bit of the mature aura due to her age.

Hanabi’s appearance combined these advantages.

She could look like whatever she played; for an idol, this was definitely a rare talent.

“Hmm~ Oh my, I gained this much popularity in just one night?”

Waking up the next day, Hanabi discovered her popularity had increased by over a thousand points again.

Even though the episode had already ended.

“That comment section.”

When Hanabi checked the comment section yesterday, there wasn’t much content.

The time between the two sides wasn’t synchronized, and Hanabi wasn’t sure about the situation on the other side. But when she opened the comment section today, she found many discussion threads inside.

Hanabi couldn’t post content herself, but she could see discussions related to Ninja Road.

This comment section seemed to come from the discussion area of the largest video site in that world, where Ninja Road was being broadcast.

Although Ninja Road was currently only available via livestream, the series’ comment section and rating area were already open.

“The popularity is already this high.” After looking around, Hanabi found there was quite a lot of content in the comments. “Oh, is this one about me?”

Hanabi discovered that the number one thread on the trending list was actually about her—[Investigating exactly how rich she is from Lady Hanabi’s shoes].

The title looked quite outrageous. Being such a fun-loving person, Hanabi naturally clicked to appreciate such an amusing post.

[While everyone is still studying Hanabi’s genjutsu, yours truly discovered a hidden attribute of Hanabi, and that is: Rich Girl.]

[Actually, in the Ninja Academy, it’s hard to discern the financial power and family background from other people’s attire. But there is one exception, and that is our Eldest Miss Hanabi.]

[Including Hanabi’s sister Hinata, everyone’s clothes are actually quite uniform, mostly modern casual wear, and the sandals on their feet seem to be the same style of ninja sandals. But our Hanabi stands out for taking the road less traveled. I don’t know if everyone noticed, but among all the ninjas appearing in the first episode, she is the only one wearing geta (wooden clogs); everyone else wears the same style of ninja sandals. And among the students of the Ninja Academy, Hanabi is the only one wearing a kimono.]

“Someone actually noticed?”

Because currently there was only the livestream, which couldn’t be rewatched—if you missed it, you couldn’t catch up—Hanabi thought not many people would notice this detail, and it would only be discovered after the video version went online.

Hanabi’s attire wasn’t just for the Attention bonus from the costume but also to shape a unique image.

“Character setting” is a part of being an idol, and shaping a persona is a feature an idol must savor.

[I won’t talk about the kimono. It’s a Furisode kimono, which is actually very common in a Japanese setting. Let’s try to analyze her family situation from Hanabi’s shoes.]

[I don’t know how many people noticed that Hanabi actually changed her shoes once in the first episode. Unfortunately, I don’t have a premium membership and didn’t take screenshots, so I’m borrowing images from other netizens here. Look here.]

[In the first half, Hanabi wore geta, but after graduation, she switched to zori. Right here.]

[The zori mentioned here aren’t straw sandals, but a type of footwear matching the kimono. Simply put, replace the wood of the geta with leather, and you get zori.]

[Let’s talk about the geta Hanabi wore at the start of the story. This type of geta is called “Komachi.” They are generally worn by unmarried young girls. The front and back of such geta are separated; the front is a slanted triangle, and the back is a semi-circular heel, hence also called “Atomaru” (Round Back).]

[However, this style with a lower front and high heel is somewhat similar to “Ukon,” which is a modern modification of geta. Ukon geta have soles similar to certain high heels. This slightly hybrid style should be an original creation of the anime. These shoes are heavy but have very good durability.]

[I don’t know if everyone noticed, but the Komachi geta Hanabi wears are black, glossy, and very exquisite. This style of shiny black lacquer with red soles is called “Kuro-dai-en” (Black Great Gloss). In the past, it was black lacquer, but now plant-based substitutes are used as paint.]

[Additionally, there are cherry blossoms and other painted patterns on them, which ordinary shoes don’t have. Furthermore, look at the texture of these paintings; this pattern seems to imitate the texture of the wood itself. This texture indicates that the material used is “Masa” wood (straight grain).]

[In Chinese, “Masa” is the same character as “柩” (coffin), but in Japanese, it refers to wood cut towards the core, resulting in a straight grain pattern. Non-straight grain is called “Itame,” and straight grain is called “Masame.”]

[In short, this stuff is quite expensive wood. The Japanese kun’yomi pronunciation for “Masa” is the same as the kanji for “Elegance, Correctness, Wisdom,” etc., indicating uprightness. This is also a hint that the Hyūga clan is a major family.]

[In modern society, this kind of Kuro-dai-en Komachi probably starts at 5,000 yen. If Masame wood is used, the price probably triples. And that’s for modern assembly line products. if it’s a custom model with painting or handmade, the price is even more incredible. In ancient times, the price would be astronomical.]

[And after the graduation exam, did you notice Hanabi changed into another pair of shoes? This is actually quite obvious; the heels are different. This pair is actually zori.]

[This pair of shoes also has black soles and paintings. Based on my experience, these should be “Gobu-Sanmai” (Five-bu Three-layer) zori. That means zori with three layers of leather, each layer being five bu (approx. 1.5cm) thick.]

[As I said just now, “zori” aren’t actually straw sandals; most are made of leather. You can understand it as stacking layers of leather to replace the wood of the geta; that’s zori. As for the price, start by multiplying the price of the Kuro-dai-en Komachi I mentioned above by ten. If genuine leather or more precious materials are used, hundreds of thousands of yen or even more isn’t impossible.]

[Strictly speaking, this pair of zori should be “Painted Gobu-Sanmai Black-Red Genuine Leather Zori,” starting at 100,000 yen.]

[There’s also a significance to changing shoes here. Geta are generally paired with yukata; in the past, they were rarely worn with Furisode kimono. Nowadays, wearing geta with kimono is because modern people aren’t particular about it. If it were formal attire, the Furisode kimono Hanabi wears would be paired with zori.]

[Such formal dressing is usually for graduation ceremonies. Hanabi changing shoes on graduation day actually symbolizes that she is now a ninja.]

[Strictly speaking, one should wear Yabane (arrow feather) zori for graduation, which are zori with arrow-shaped sides, symbolizing “an arrow shot does not return.” They are generally worn for coming of age, graduation, weddings, or symbolizing a new beginning. By the way, this arrow shape is crafted, not painted or dyed, so very few people can make them now; only a few artisans can. Since Ninja Road has a Japanese style, there should be more people who can make them.]

[From the shoes alone, one can tell Hanabi’s background is definitely not ordinary. At the very least, she’s a rich girl.]

[Lastly, many people say Miss Hanabi isn’t wearing tabi (socks), but white silk stockings. I can verify this because the texture is indeed not that of tabi, especially when compared to other characters wearing geta. Note the image from the graduation ceremony here. So, based on my years of history appreciating stockings, these should be white silk stockings. I boldly predict, they are definitely white thigh-high stockings!]

“What a pervert…”

Hanabi was dumbfounded seeing this.

Because when she went out earlier, she had actually thought about wearing a different pair of shoes.

This group of viewers was simply unbelievable.

Hanabi continued scrolling down; behind was a string of replies.

[Let me add something too. When Hanabi took the Scroll of Seals from Naruto, the Third Hokage clearly breathed a sigh of relief. This shows the Third is at ease with Hanabi having the Scroll of Seals, and also indicates her background is trusted enough.]

[High-heeled slippers starting at 5,000, crazy.]

[Three layers of genuine leather, looks expensive at a glance.]

[Three layers (Sanmai)! Forged in Fire is still chasing me! I want to forge a three-layer Damascus Bowie knife!]

[Why clarify 2D matters so clearly? In a TV drama before, the “poor” heroine said she was so poor she couldn’t afford food, yet she still lived in a villa, went to Starbucks, ran around high-end restaurants. Are you kidding me?]

[The one I watched was even more ridiculous. The male and female leads were in an unemployment crisis, yet they moved into a school district house with 12k rent just like that, left whenever they wanted, drove an SUV, had two Fords, and two high school kids.]

[TV dramas shouldn’t try to compare with our 2D, doge.]

[To be fair, if a character wears a gorgeous Furisode kimono and acts like a young miss in every move, unless the director is brain-dead, this is designed in the direction of a rich girl. Saying she’s poor enough to not afford food is impossible!]

[I want to see Hanabi so poor she can’t afford clothes!]

[Disgusting man (Xia-tou), no ambition! I’m different; I want to see a Konoha Village where everyone is so poor they have no clothes.]

[Off-topic, off-topic! Ninja Road is different. Didn’t you see the promotion saying “A Realistic World”?]

[You believe whatever they say? Wasn’t the tragedy of Bounding Heaven enough?]

Ninja Road had only aired one episode, yet it became inexplicably popular.

But after observing for a while longer, Hanabi understood.

It wasn’t an inexplicable popularity. Rather, in that world, there hadn’t been a long-running anime serialization for a long time. Because of the influx of hot money, the entire anime industry had been churning out short, fast-paced Isekai anime, throwing the whole industry into chaos.

Even well-known 2D websites were forced to transform.

And just when “the world had suffered under Qin for a long time” (people were fed up with the status quo), a long-lost classic shonen long-running anime appeared. Even with just the first episode, the audience poured in massive enthusiasm.

“Got it, they held it in for too long.”

Lady Hanabi gave a concise conclusion.

“Then next… Ah, the rewards have finally been calculated.”

The rewards for the first episode of the anime were ready to be claimed.

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