It was still dark when Hyuga Hinata woke up.
She tidied her long hair because her younger sister Hanabi once said she liked her long hair, so Hinata had never cut her hair since she was little.
"Hanabi, are you practicing again?"
In the Hyuga mansion's courtyard, her twin sister was practicing against a wooden dummy.
She wore simple training clothes, her long hair tied into a ponytail.
Even though her eyes were covered by a black veil, her vision seemed unrestricted.
But no matter how fluid Hanabi's movements were, Hinata knew a cruel truth: her sister couldn't see anything.
"If she couldn't see, Hanabi-sama would be even more likely to be the heir, wouldn't she…?"
"Yes, I heard it was too difficult to transplant when she was too young, and Neji didn't get the Caged Bird seal because it was for adult transplantation. But Hanabi-sama said she didn't want to deprive others of their sight. What a good child, so excellent, yet…"
The surrounding voices drifted in, and the black veil fluttering before Hanabi's eyes made Hinata's heart tremble slightly.
It was all her fault.
"Hanabi…"
That was when they were three years old, on their birthday.
At that time, Konoha Village was negotiating with envoys from Hidden Cloud Village, and most of Konoha Village's important figures participated in the meeting, except for the Hyuga Clan.
Because the Hyuga Clan was celebrating the third birthday of the Main Family's twins.
And it was during the practice spar that day that a member of the Branch Family showed killing intent towards herself and Hanabi, and thus was punished by the activated Caged Bird seal.
Hinata was terrified at the time. And Hanabi, seeing her like that, quietly took her sister and ran out of the Hyuga Clan. Because negotiations were ongoing, Konoha Village was very lively then.
—And then, that incident happened.
The Kumogakure Ninja Head, for the Byakugan, had actually already targeted the Main Family's heir. Noticing Hanabi being targeted, and to protect herself, she was abducted and taken hostage.
To prevent the Byakugan from leaking out, Hanabi poked out her own eyes.
Later, she heard that Father-sama personally rescued Hanabi, and the Ninja Head who abducted Hanabi was even captured alive.
From Konoha Village's perspective, this was even a good thing, as it meant they gained a lot of advantages in their negotiations with Hidden Cloud Village.
But for Hinata, it wasn't so. Although her father and the elders had put a gag order on her, Hinata still heard that the Kumogakure Ninja Head's original target was actually herself…
"Onee-sama, good morning." Hanabi seemed to sense Hinata's presence. Even without seeing, it was as if she had eyes behind her.
"G-good morning, Hanabi." Hinata's voice was timid.
"Did someone upset Onee-sama?" Hanabi smiled.
"No. Well, the graduation exam is coming soon." Hinata was a bit conflicted.
Both sisters attended the Ninja Academy in Konoha Village.
Even though she couldn't see, Hanabi had not given up on becoming a Ninja. In fact, her performance was excellent, and her written exam score was even the highest in the entire school.
This was why the Hyuga Clan members had discussed it earlier and said "what a pity."
"Hmm, no problem." Hanabi smiled, her smile very bright, but the more Hinata saw her sister's brilliant smile, the more her heart felt as if it were gripped by something.
"Um, do you want to go to school together?" Hinata asked.
"No, I'll practice a bit more. There aren't many classes before the exam anyway, so I might as well continue self-practice."
"Hmm… okay. See you at school then."
"Hmm. Onee-sama, see you at school~"
Hinata fled.
"Hmm, I feel a little bad for Onee-sama~" Hanabi looked at Hinata's retreating back.
Blind?
Of course, that's impossible.
However, making others think she was "blind" was certainly possible.
This was simple, because the Transformation Technique of [Fool's Myriad Faces] was more powerful than any Transformation Technique in the Naruto World; transforming into "Hanabi with poked-out eyes" was no problem.
It was actually more difficult to steal the spotlight from her older sister, Hinata.
In the original work, Hyuga Hinata was abducted when she was three years old, but the idiotic Ninja leader from Hidden Cloud Village was caught red-handed by the Clan Head, Hyuga Hiashi, as soon as he left the Hyuga Clan compound.
Trying to abduct someone from the Hyuga Clan, who possessed the Byakugan, was as ridiculous as putting a blindfold on the Byakugan itself.
Therefore, Hanabi meticulously planned for herself to secretly leave the compound with Hinata, then hide Hinata and appear to be captured herself.
After transmigrating to this world, Hanabi began to lay out her plans.
But she immediately discovered that changing the so-called "plot" was truly not easy.
However, Hanabi refused to give up.
After some research, Hanabi understood the general situation.
The so-called "plot" was more like "fate" or something similar. This thing wasn't truly unchangeable; it required "causality" or, in other words, cause and effect.
For example, if Hanabi were to directly seek out Haku to bring Zabuza's subordinate into her fold, it wouldn't work, as she would encounter resistance from fate. This was because Hyuga Hanabi, from any angle, could not possibly know of Haku's existence.
In mathematical terms, there were no necessary and sufficient conditions to reach that conclusion.
But if Hanabi wanted to replace Hyuga Hinata in the Eighth Squad, that was possible, because she was a child of the Hyuga Clan and more talented than Hinata.
"So, whatever I do, I need a 'reason'."
She couldn't do things without cause.
Theoretically, she could also seek out Haku, as long as there was a plausible "reason."
"In that case, if I can portray myself as the 'Hanabi' from Honkai: Star Rail, perhaps it might work."
The character Hanabi, with the same name from Honkai: Star Rail, is the ultimate prankster.
And a major characteristic of a prankster is that it is completely reasonable for this character to appear at any time and in any place.
To influence "fate" on a larger scale, she needed to become a more important supporting character, or even the protagonist.
This was like filming a play.
If a big-shot lead (Child of the Plane) wants to change the script, the director (Fate) can only coax them. But if a bit-part actor wants to change the script, the director kicks them out, saying, "Little punk, act if you want, otherwise get lost."
However, Hanabi also discovered that while influencing others might be difficult, if it was about self-sabotage, it was much more lenient.
Because this was part of her "character setting."
Since she couldn't mess with others, she might as well mess with herself.
Besides that, while she was young, she could try to build up some affinity with the Child of the Plane, Uzumaki Naruto. This was the simplest; treating him to a bowl of Ichiraku Ramen would be enough to increase his affinity.
Hanabi trained for a while longer, then a Hyuga Ninja wearing a Konoha forehead protector and a maid outfit walked over:
"Hanabi-sama, it's almost time."
This was the maid, Hyuga Natsu. After the three-year-old abduction incident, Hyuga Hiashi assigned Hyuga Natsu as a maid to look after Hanabi.
"Yes, alright."
With the help of the maid, Hyuga Natsu, Hanabi showered and changed into her own red furisode kimono.
Hanabi always dressed very elaborately, just like her name, like a dazzling fireworks display. Although such kimonos were not suitable for movement, they were common in the Hyuga Clan, and Hanabi had loved such elaborate and splendid attire since childhood, so everyone around her was used to it.
However, today's outfit was not an ordinary kimono, but a [Performance Costume] for the Dimensional Stage. The show was about to begin, so she naturally had to wear a performance costume.
"Thank you, Natsumi-nee."
"Do you really not need me to escort you?" Hyuga Natsu asked, a little worried.
"I'm going to be a Ninja soon, Natsumi-nee," Hanabi said with a smile.
The [Character Template] brought Hanabi not only theoretical abilities but also the character's potential.
Potential was not strength itself, but with Hanabi's insane daily training, this potential also gave her considerable combat power.
The 10% increase in training speed from Mirror Flow allowed Hanabi to be one-tenth faster than others, and when combined with Ninjutsu like Shadow Clone, the efficiency increase was astonishing.
But Natsumi-nee was still very worried, because Hanabi had "lost" not only her Byakugan but all of her sight. For the Hyuga Clan, losing both eyes meant their combat power was almost halved. Although Hanabi's grades were excellent, once she truly became a Ninja, she would still be in more danger than others.
"But…"
"Alright, Natsumi-nee, I trained a little too long today, I'm already late."
Hyuga Natsu was about to say something else, but Hanabi had already interrupted her.
After changing into her kimono, Hanabi checked her current attributes.
[Name: Hyuga Hanabi]
[Stage Rating: Bit-Part Actor]
[Current Series Role: Minor Supporting Character LV1]
[Identity: Konoha Ninja Village, Ninja Academy Student]
[Special]
[Hyuga Clan: +5% Attention when wearing Konoha-style clothing, +5% Attention when fighting with Gentle Fist, +5% Attention when using Byakugan]
[Current Popularity: 0]
[Current Attention: +65% (Eye-covering black veil +10%)]
(Red Hefeng attire +10%)
(Supporting Character LV+20%)
(Hyuga Clan Hefeng attire +5%)
(Minor Supporting Character LV1)]
[Curtain Call Countdown: 00 Hours 20 Minutes 50 Seconds]
—It's about to begin.
Arriving at the entrance, Hanabi glanced at the shoes placed there; she had quite a few, mainly wooden clogs and straw sandals.
"Let me think, I'll wear this pair today."
Hanabi chose a pair of black lacquered Sakura-painted Aikomachi geta. Furisode kimonos are usually paired with straw sandals, which can be seen as wooden clogs with leather soles. However, in the Naruto World, there aren't so many strict rules; mixing and matching is common, as long as it looks good. The [Performance Attire] came with a pair of straw sandals, which Hanabi planned to change after graduation, to add a bit of "detail" to her show.
Opening a red umbrella to shield herself from the somewhat dazzling sunlight, and then taking out a Fool's Facade fox mask to cover half her face, Hanabi left the mansion.
Her training today had been a bit long; after bathing and changing, school had actually already started.
But Hanabi did it on purpose.
Not only was she deliberate, but after leaving the mansion, the way she walked to school with an umbrella was more like a leisurely stroll than rushing. She gazed at the Hokage Rock in the distance; the Ninja on the Hokage Rock had already been painted beyond recognition.
"I wonder what will happen after the curtain rises."
Hanabi had been waiting for the Stage to open.
As a dedicated and responsible actor, Hanabi had never wasted even a tiny bit of her "training time"; she practiced diligently every day, forgetting to eat and sleep.
I, Hyuga Hanabi, am a professional and dedicated actor. I am the rising star of the dimensional Stage.
Then, the panel in her consciousness finally reached its end.
[Curtain Call Countdown... 3... 2... 1... Start]
A small screen appeared in Hanabi's consciousness. It seemed to be a moon, and there was also a narrator's voice.
"Once upon a time, there was a demon fox causing havoc."
"The demon fox had Nine-Tailed; when its tail moved, mountains crumbled and tsunamis raged."
"The people suffered greatly, so Ninja gathered..."
"One of them, at the cost of his life, sealed it, and the Ninja also perished."
"The name of this Ninja, the Fourth Hokage—"
The flashback faded away.
[ninja road, Curtain Call]
[Current Playback Mode: Live Stream]
The screen shifted, and then, Uzumaki Naruto, carrying a paint bucket, appeared on the screen.
Naruto, the curtain had risen.
"Hmm?"
Hanabi noticed that scrolling subtitles had started to appear on her screen.
[First!]
[Woohoo, new anime starts!]
[Where the dream begins.]
[Fire tongs Liu Ming, fire tongs Liu Ming!]
[Folks, how long has it been since we've seen a long-running anime? It's already 4202, and we can finally watch a long-running series again!]
"There are even bullet comments." Hanabi scanned these bullet comments with interest.
The tone of these people was no different from the netizens in her original world, but they seemed to have indeed not seen Naruto.
Perhaps the ACG culture in the netizens' world was different from her previous life?
"Naruto!"
"Stop, Naruto!"
"How could you do such a heinous thing!"
"I will not let you off today!"
Hanabi looked up.
These were lines from the playback window of the Dimensional Popular Stage, but Hanabi also heard them in the real world. In fact, Hanabi had already followed the sound and saw Naruto being chased.
Naruto landed beside her, pulling up a camouflage cloth to avoid the Chunin.
And the same scene also appeared in the playback window, except the "camera" angle was slightly different from hers.
Without another word, [Camera Card - Close-up], activate!
Instant actions greatly tested one's hand speed, but facts proved that Hanabi's close-up card was used just right.
As Naruto avoided the Chunin, the scene in the playback window also began to move to her.
The camera moved from bottom to top, first the bright black lacquered Aikomachi high-heeled geta, then the feet, wrapped in white silk, stepping on the black lacquer.
Then, the picture continued upwards, showing the vibrant red Furisode kimono, blooming like Hanabi herself. The camera circled Hanabi, and the large butterfly knot obi was also displayed.
The camera continued upwards; a cascade of black long hair fell down, but the girl's face was covered by a red oil-paper umbrella, revealing only the gorgeous cherry blossom ornament dangling from her hair.
"Naruto?"
A pleasant voice came from behind the umbrella.
However, just when the audience thought they would finally catch a glimpse of her beautiful face, they found that she was wearing a fox mask on her face.
She closed the umbrella and gently took off the mask, and her pretty face finally appeared before the audience.
...