Unlike the previous rewards, this one seemed geared more toward enhancing Hanabi's value as a performer in her own right.
"Japanese etiquette and bearing? I'd say my manners are already quite good. But there's always room to learn. And from the description—does the training actually take place somewhere outside this world?"
Hanabi had always considered her day-to-day presentation perfectly adequate. But if the acting workshop was being held in another world entirely, that was interesting.
"Still, if I buy these rewards now, the 'supporting role' promotion test will have to wait."
She was currently ranked as 'extra.' Advancing to supporting character would unlock new performer resources on the Dimensional Popularity Stage as well.
"The shop doesn't auto-refresh—it's manual. So as long as I keep this screen open, the listings will stay."
No need to rush, then.
What mattered most to her right now was the popularity points themselves.
"So then…"
[Local Market Expansion Strategy — Purchased]
[Contacting the production team]
[Business negotiations underway]
[Soliciting promotional funding]
[A certain Mr. Atha, who prefers to remain anonymous, has secured exclusive sponsorship rights]
[Funding drive completed ahead of schedule. Promotional impact: exceptional]
[Viewer danmaku expanded. Comment section expanded]
Something extraordinary had slipped past in that string of notifications.
"And it's already done?"
Hanabi tilted her head.
Apparently there was no way to observe the effects just yet.
"For now—let me get some practice in with the Summoning Jutsu."
The story of Naruto was the classic shōnen hero's journey. But in the world beyond the screen, it had arrived over twenty years late.
A hot-blooded adventure manga that should have set the trends of its era now felt a little dated.
Going strictly by the original plot and formula wouldn't do her popularity numbers any favors.
[OPED filming plan — initiating]
[OP1/ED1 shooting schedule confirmed]
[Singer recruitment underway]
[Promo-stunt planning in progress]
[OP — ROCKS. ED — Wind. Songs added to library]
[Filming begins within the next week]
"Already started, huh."
Hanabi pulled up the Dimensional Popularity Stage interface. Sure enough, the opening and ending themes were already listed.
The songs themselves hadn't changed.
The filmed content, however, would almost certainly look very different.
Unless the Stage invented a story wholesale, the events depicted in the original Naruto OP had simply never happened in this world.
In the original OP, the Seventh Squad's story involves subjugating bandits—Sakura has long hair, placing the scene before the Chūnin Exams, yet bandit suppression is a C-rank mission requiring combat. The only C-rank the Seventh Squad ever actually took was the Land of Waves mission.
In other words, the OP was always an original, self-contained story—or perhaps the mission had been quietly reclassified as D-rank.
Now that they were "filming" in the real world, Hanabi had no particular interest in recreating those events.
The original OP had always been its own little filler arc anyway. She'd keep that in mind—animated filler was a reference, nothing more. Trust it too much and you'd lose.
The original ED, meanwhile, was Naruto's showcase. Sasuke and Sakura only appeared right at the end. That famous butterfly ED.
Since the songs hadn't been swapped out, the ED should be similar—Naruto's solitary scenes were easy to edit. Even as things stood, Hanabi could probably pull together an ED by shooting a bit of footage now.
"If only I could be the director. I'd stir up some real fun."
Hanabi was a little dissatisfied.
She was still an extra, but the creative freedom available to her was simply too limited.
Otherwise, she'd slap a prosthetic arm on Sasuke—give him an Uchiha Silverhand setup—and burn Konoha to the ground.
Now that would be an OP worth watching.
"Stage, is there any way for me to work as a director?"
[Currently unavailable]
"Oh~"
Currently unavailable—which meant: perhaps there was a chance yet.
"Hmm. Wait. Director, director, director…"
She might not be able to direct on the Stage, but she could direct in Konoha.
The theme songs were already decided, which meant the visual tone was set. If she ever got to choose freely, Hanabi would happily have picked Aoi Tori.
"Come to think of it, they have films in this world too. Might be useful down the line."
Directing and starring in her own production didn't require the Stage—the Naruto world itself was a perfectly good set. OP bait-and-switches: the idea had a certain appeal. It'll come in handy next time.
It was the following morning—the first official day of the Seventh Squad as newly minted ninja.
When Hanabi woke up, a camera icon had appeared in the Stage's notifications: OP footage recording was now in progress.
"Good morning, dear Sister~"
She'd barely stepped out when she spotted Hinata sorting through her ninja gear. Hanabi swooped in from behind.
"Wh—? Hanabi, let go of me…"
Hinata flushed crimson, her words stumbling over each other.
"Is Sister heading out on a mission?" Hanabi asked.
"Mm. Kurenai-sensei has drawn up a training schedule and some assignments… something like that." Hinata's voice trailed off to almost nothing.
"Then I should get ready too."
The Seventh Squad wasn't strong enough yet. Right now, coordinating effectively with Naruto and Sasuke required almost pure performance on Hanabi's part—and Kakashi wasn't exactly reliable either, which meant she'd have to depend on herself.
"Neji-nii-san stopped by earlier," Hinata added. "But when he heard you were still resting, he left. Um… don't push yourself too hard, Hanabi."
"I'm perfectly fine. If anything, I'm more worried about you, Sister~" Hanabi pressed her cheek right up against Hinata's.
"Ugh…!" Hinata's Byakugan promptly went into spiral mode, and she floated away.
"That's all for now—see you later, Sister~"
Hanabi gave a little wave and released the nearly-fainting Hinata.
"Lady Hanabi, everything is prepared." The moment Hinata left, Hyuga Natsu appeared, lugging an enormous ninja supply scroll. "Do we really need this many ninja tools?"
"Mm. My two teammates have quite a bit of training ahead of them."
The immediate priority was raising Naruto's and Sasuke's strength. Otherwise, coordinating in the field would be a nightmare.
"Hey, hey—why are we going to the forest? Shouldn't we be picking up a mission?"
"I already picked one up," Hanabi said. "Our mission today is to fill in for a forest warden who's thrown out his back—patrol for fire hazards and check for any signs of wildlife damage."
Mission assignment was normally Kakashi's job, but Hanabi had briefed him in advance.
"But—but isn't there something way more awesome?!" Naruto was still reluctant. "Kakashi-sensei, don't you have anything to say about this?!"
"Well… just do what Hanabi says."
Kakashi was holding a copy of Icha Icha, looking thoroughly dead inside.
He'd tried to push back. Every time he'd been about to say something, he'd looked over to find Hanabi had somehow transformed into Rin without him noticing.
Infuriating. And utterly impossible to fight.
So Kakashi had decided to check out entirely.
"Right, and there's this."
Hanabi handed Naruto and Sasuke each a wrapped package.
"Heavy!" The bundles weren't large, but they were dense.
"What's this?"
Sasuke opened his and found it full of training weights stamped with the characters for "grit."
"D-rank and C-rank dominate a genin's mission load—not only because of skill level, but because those D-rank missions leave us more time for training and self-improvement. So you'll both be wearing weights during missions." Hanabi explained. "Our goal today is to do a full inspection sweep of the forest surrounding Konoha."
Konoha's barrier handled intruders well enough. But wildfire prevention and wildlife monitoring still needed people on the ground.
Sasuke glanced at Hanabi. "Do you wear weights yourself?"
Kakashi spoke up from the side: "Sasuke. Look at what Hanabi's wearing."
Sasuke looked.
Hanabi's outfit was a furisode kimono—an elaborate garment that was thoroughly impractical for combat, let alone extended fieldwork.
And yet she wore it every single day. For a ninja, her everyday movements were unhurried, almost leisurely.
Now that he thought about it—was the weight in the clothes?
"That kimono is a weight too?" Sasuke's curiosity stirred.
He found himself wondering: had Hanabi always been like this?
Hanabi had indeed worn resistance training gear before. But after her performance costume had been upgraded, its training modifiers were simply better, and she'd never bothered with separate weights since.
"I see." Sasuke strapped on his weights.
Seeing Sasuke equip his, Naruto followed suit.
"Alright, Seventh Squad—mission start."
Seeing everyone ready, Kakashi clapped his hands once. "Sasuke, Naruto—your route is this one. Hanabi and I will take this side."
Kakashi indicated the paths.
"Yosh!" Naruto was already charging off.
"Idiot, you're already sprinting with those weights—you'll burn out in no time!" Sasuke hurried after him.
The two of them, weighted down and pushing through dense forest—this was not going to be a light task.
"Yosh." Watching them go, Hanabi gave a small nod.
"Dear, dear." Kakashi scratched the back of his head.
Those two were brimming with confidence now. Wait until they got deeper into the forest—they'd find out soon enough what surprises were waiting for them.