[Foreign Market expansion complete]
[Agreement signed with the Client]
[Sending the actor's résumé]
[Road to Ninja first-cour anime submitted for Client review]
[Currently negotiating with the Client]
[Preparing to duel]
[Currently piloting a Gundam]
[Currently being shot down by the Client]
[Initiating second round of negotiations]
["Please, I'm begging you, let me in—I'll do anything!"]
[Mr. Aha is mediating]
[The Client is preparing a business offer]
[Your new assignment will be issued once the Client's preparations are complete]
How is this Mr. Aha more reliable than the Stage itself?
"So does that mean Road to Ninja can be distributed in the foreign market now?"
[The Client will evaluate based on the new series' performance]
"Ara, ara~ Looks like this Client isn't so easy to sweet-talk, hm~"
The Stage did not respond.
Not that Hanabi minded.
As an idol, she was always prepared for any occasion—anytime, anywhere.
"Can I at least do some on-site market research over there?" Hanabi asked.
[Enthusiastic fan Aha has provided intelligence on the foreign market]
A system display appeared before her.
At first, Hanabi had assumed the other side would be something like the world of Honkai: Star Rail, but it wasn't.
The world on the other side was a peaceful, modern one.
Except there were quite a lot of mechs.
"Wait—are those Gundams?"
Not just generic robots. Most of them appeared to be Gundams.
That world was a modern society, but it seemed to have a unique kind of competition.
"Gunpla Battle Nexus Online… GBN?"
Hanabi noticed the Japanese text appearing on-screen.
The intel from this enthusiastic viewer was scattered, but there were some fascinating tidbits.
"Is this a Gundam cockpit? No—a model-kit cockpit."
Interesting.
Hanabi had already figured it out.
This foreign market was quite familiar to her.
Most likely, it was the world of Gundam Build Divers.
If it was something like the Gunpla Battle World Championship, then it might be Gundam Build Fighters instead.
In this world, the Gundam franchise had taken the world by storm. People built plastic models—Gunpla—based on Gundam designs, piloted them inside simulator cockpits, and entered competitions.
The series had stumbled a bit partway through, but later entries had delivered some excellent story arcs.
The franchise was colloquially known as "Gunpla-dam."
You could call it paradise for Gunpla hobbyists.
And among its entries, one series in particular had earned such a reputation for its "real robot" tone that fans dubbed it with the main-series title: "Mobile Suit Gundam—Build Divers Re:RISE."
Hanabi had a rough picture of what was going on over there.
The Naruto franchise probably wouldn't rake in a ton of popularity in that market—those people were all mecha fanatics, Gundam devotees through and through.
Oh, wait—Naruto had Gundam too?
Never mind then.
"Stage, is my next assignment going to be something from the mecha genre?"
[New series creation is tied to market conditions. The Stage produces whatever the market demands—except when the Client has specific requirements]
So in all likelihood, it was going to be "mecha."
How convenient.
Hanabi actually had been studying in a Gundam-verse world, albeit in a biology course.
She also had a mecha piloting course she could still use.
And as an actress, her personal perk allowed her one designated training session.
"Since the Client's still drafting the requirements, let's leave it at that for now."
The assignment would have to wait for the Client's response.
An idol never feared any challenge.
"All right, time to get things in order and prepare for the Chūnin Exams."
The third round of the exam was finally starting tomorrow.
But before that, Hanabi had one more person to see.
"Yo."
Jiraiya, bags packed and ready to leave, happened to run into Hanabi on his way out.
Over the past few days, Jiraiya had taught Hanabi a handful of techniques as well.
After learning that Hanabi used externally projected Chakra to sense her surroundings, Jiraiya had passed on his barrier technique, Barrier: Canopy Method Formation.
It was a sensing technique—of limited use to a Byakugan user—but since Hanabi couldn't see, it served as a useful supplement for her.
Beyond that, Jiraiya had also taught her hair-based ninjutsu: Needle Jizo, Wild Lion's Mane Technique, and Hair Needle Senbon, among others.
"You're leaving?" Hanabi asked.
"Yeah, my research trip's over. I need to head somewhere else," Jiraiya said.
"I think you should wait a bit, Jiraiya-sensei," Hanabi said suddenly.
"Wait? Why?" Jiraiya looked puzzled.
"Because Orochimaru is in Konoha."
Jiraiya: ???
Damn it!
Why didn't you say so sooner?!
The way his eyes went wide said it all.
"If you're here, there might be a different outcome."
Hanabi was ready to orchestrate.
And this time, the situation was a bit special.
Naruto's side had previously clashed with Orochimaru.
The Spirit Descent Technique actually incorporated some elements of Edo Tensei. If Orochimaru had analyzed the Spirit Descent Technique and reverse-engineered an improved Edo Tensei from it, the Third Hokage might truly be in danger this time.
The situation with Hidden Sand was unusual, and it was hard to say exactly what would happen—but a combat asset like Jiraiya was something Hanabi had no intention of letting go.
"How do you know about this?" Jiraiya asked.
"I had a friendly little chat with Orochimaru-sama, of course."
—And got killed several times in the process, by the way.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru hadn't developed the kind of psychological trauma that Kakashi and Kabuto had, so Hanabi hadn't been able to put on a show in front of him at the time.
Otherwise, that would have been a perfect chance to steal the scene.
"You little brat—you've got such a pretty face, but your personality's rotten to the core. I bet Orochimaru was absolutely livid dealing with you, huh?"
Jiraiya had been thoroughly outmaneuvered by her.
So he figured Orochimaru couldn't have fared any better.
"Well, I suppose I'll stick around and see how far you kids get in the Chūnin Exams."
Jiraiya let out a sigh.
He absolutely refused to admit it was because he cared about Orochimaru.
"So do you know what Orochimaru's after?" Jiraiya pressed.
"The power of the Uchiha clan," Hanabi said. "He wanted to brand Sasuke with a Cursed Seal, but I intercepted him. I've had people guarding Sasuke for the entire month, so it's not a problem."
"The Uchiha Sharingan, huh… What is that guy even thinking…" Jiraiya sighed, though he also breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
At least Orochimaru hadn't come for Naruto.
If he'd been after the Nine-Tails, that would have been a far bigger problem.
"Who knows~" Hanabi tilted her head. "You really aren't going to pay Sandaime-sama a visit?"
"Nah. I'll just be somewhere outside the venue when the time comes."
Jiraiya waved a hand and turned to leave in a different direction.
"Get some rest tonight."
"Hai, Jiraiya-sensei."
Good—Jiraiya's end was settled too.
Director Hanabi gave a small nod.
The cast was in position. The preconditions were all in place.
Now it was time for the curtain to rise and the story to reach its turning point.