[Negotiations with the production team complete]
[Please select one of the following as your episode fee:]
[1. Custom performance outfit — receive one three-star performance outfit tailored to this series' theme]
[2. Performance outfit upgrade — upgrade one existing three-star performance outfit to a four-star custom version tailored to this series' theme (cannot be applied to Keepsake items)]
The reward for episode one had been substantial. Episode two's, by comparison, was modest—but then, she hadn't appeared much in this episode, even by her own count. She had essentially forced herself into a few extra scenes.
"Still, the rewards themselves seem tied to my appearance today." Hanabi considered this. She and Sasuke had talked about clothing, and here she was being offered outfit-related options.
Too little data. Only episode two. She'd queried the Stage and received no reply.
"I don't need another performance outfit right now."
What she needed was attention. Popularity points. That was the priority.
Upgrading her existing [Furisode Kimono Set] to four-star and improving its potential made more sense.
Hanabi selected option two, choosing the outfit she was already wearing.
[Please describe your requirements]
"Primarily for training, with some daily-life and combat use—but most importantly, it should look beautiful, with as little visual incongruity as possible."
[Requirements list sent to contractor]
[Please wait]
"Please wait" was generous. The response came nearly instantly.
Hanabi felt her kimono become extraordinarily light.
Traditional kimono were heavy and cumbersome by design. But now she felt almost nothing—a whisper of fabric against her skin, and it barely affected her combat ability.
[Performance Outfit — Hanabi Kimono]
[Rarity: Four-Star]
[A furisode kimono custom-crafted for Hyuga Hanabi. Increases attention gain by 10% while worn.]
[Training Mode: A mode that enhances conditioning through bodily restraint and restriction. Activating it places the body in a continuous training state. Injecting chakra adjusts restriction intensity and accelerates training speed.]
"It really is more beautiful now."
At a glance, the kimono hadn't changed dramatically—still predominantly red, still a furisode cut. But looking closer, the silhouette had shifted subtly; the cherry blossom pattern had been replaced with something resembling fireworks; the obi bow at her back had grown larger and more vivid, more eye-catching. And threaded through it all: red cord ornaments, small bells, hairpins that gleamed with more intricacy than before.
The changes weren't only external.
"My, my. Truly bespoke."
The original outfit had included tabi socks inside. Hanabi had never liked traditional tabi, so she'd always worn white silk underneath instead—and had been quietly planning a scene where she'd "accidentally" reveal her choice to the audience.
Now that the outfit had been custom-made, the interior had apparently adapted to her taste on its own: the tabi were gone, replaced with white garter-top stockings.
"The shoes are different, too."
The zori sandals she'd had before were close to platform mules in design—essentially unwearable for anything resembling a chase. But when she tried them now, they felt perfectly fitted to her feet. She could run, jump, move freely. They might as well have been athletic shoes.
"And then there's Training Mode..."
She activated it—and immediately felt a tremendous pressure settle over her entire body. What had been a loosely draped garment cinched itself in an instant, binding her movements.
"Oh my. I can't even take a proper step."
Her legs felt as though they'd been wound with rope, knotted fast. Not just difficult to walk—moving at all was a struggle. Her arms were the same, wrapped in invisible, heavy shackles, and could only hang clasped together in front of her, raising or separating them a genuine effort. When she tried to bring her hands behind her back, the force shifted—tugging from behind—and the moment she relaxed, her arms folded back into a posture like a praying figure, hands pressed behind her.
"As though invisible forces are wound all around my body."
The kimono itself still looked fitted from the outside; no one watching would have seen anything amiss. Hanabi tested a step, pushing against the resistance—and managed half a step forward.
"The shoes are heavier, too. I see—it's like weighted resistance training."
The outfit had become a restraint device. To move, she had to push against the garment itself. That was the training.
"What happens if I inject chakra?"
She fed a small amount of chakra into the outfit.
Even that tiny amount was enough—the pressure multiplied immediately. This time she felt not just bound but buried, as though her entire body had been wrapped and pressed into the earth. And simultaneously, her muscles, her organs—everything felt heavy. Impossibly heavy.
She couldn't move. Not at all.
"Oh. There's gravity involved, too."
With chakra injected, the outfit added gravitational force on top of its own weight. Just a trickle of chakra and the effective gravity had already doubled.
"The base setting is enough for now."
She was twelve. The base setting was more than sufficient. Forcing a heavier load would only tear muscle; doubled gravity wasn't kind to the organs, either. Until she'd finished growing, slow and steady was the smarter approach.
"Hmm. Wait."
Something felt off.
Even when she stopped moving, something continued to shift—some slow process taking place within her body. Her enhanced sensitivity had picked it up.
"I thought it was just weighted resistance," she murmured. "But it's closer to a passive training aid."
After further examination, she understood.
Simply wearing the outfit caused gradual improvement on its own. Once she began actively training, the effect accelerated—and the training bonus from Jingliu's blindfold Keepsake stacked on top of that.
The baseline improvement rate matched her usual training. With chakra injected, it moved faster. In other words, as long as she wore this outfit 24 hours a day, she was effectively training 24 hours a day.
At her current level, genjutsu alone put her around Chūnin. Add Byakugan or Fire Style and she could reach Special Jōnin. With everything available to her, she could hold her own against a standard Jōnin.
With this training speed, her growth would outpace even her most optimistic projections.
"Well then—next up, the team placement ceremony."
October 15th.
That was the date as established in the original TV anime—not late March, as many assumed. And in this world, the timeline of Naruto's graduation aligned with the animated series.
Japanese schools typically held graduation in late March, but the Naruto world operated differently—graduations happened multiple times a year. Still, the events in the Land of Waves clearly took place in late spring, when the snow hares had already finished molting. Which meant there was nearly half a year of "blank time" between graduation and that arc.
Not unreasonable, really.
Since arriving in this world, Hanabi had found that her memories of the source material hadn't faded—they'd actually become clearer, more organized.
According to the Setting Bible, the Third Hokage was sixty-eight years old, sixty-nine at the time of his death. His birthday was in February; he died during the Chūnin Exams in August. Naruto's birthday was October 10th, and he was twelve afterward. So the graduation window for the Konoha Rookie Nine was somewhere between October 10th and February.
—Of course, the simplest explanation was that Kishimoto hadn't thought that hard about it.
Mangaka drew manga. Real-world calendars were someone else's problem.
If she counted the anime filler arcs, this window had also been filled with flashback-padding content in the original—recovering the stolen golden statue of a daimyō's younger sister, tracking down a lost ostrich, all those flashback-heavy filler episodes. Whether this actual world would generate equivalent "storylines" was anyone's guess.
From everything Hanabi had investigated, the highest-confidence source remained the manga and anime mainline—these matched what she knew most closely. Anime-original episodes and light novel or game content were lower-confidence: useful for reference, but not fully trustworthy.
Filler specifically had significant credibility issues. In anime episode 399, Kakashi was supposedly peeping from behind a banner in the classroom—but she had already checked with her Byakugan. That entire wall was solid. There was no hidden space.
And from the Stage's own feed, Kakashi and the other Jōnin should have been sitting around the Third's crystal ball, watching the classroom that way.
But then again—the Land of Demons and Hōzuki Castle from the films did exist in this world. Yukie Fujikaze—Koyuki Kazahana—was a famous actress here. Even the Sealing History of the Warring States Period was apparently a real thing.
"Given that it's October 15th in this timeline, there's actually quite a bit of room before the 'plot' has to move," Hanabi mused.
If she received an OVA filming slot as a reward someday, this stretch might be the right place to use it. Though opening the story too early felt premature.
Her instinct was that an OVA would land best around the Chūnin Exams—before, during, or just after.
"Naruto, get out of the way!"
"Hah?! Why should I move for you?!"
Because she had to prepare the camera first, by the time Hanabi arrived at the classroom, most of the class had already filed in. She walked in to find Naruto and Sakura in the middle of an argument.
In the original, Naruto had accidentally sat next to Sasuke and been promptly launched across the room by Sakura, setting off a scramble among the girls for the seat. But in this world, Naruto had no particular romantic feelings toward Sakura. So when Sakura demanded his seat, the two of them simply... argued.
"That seat is mine!"
Oh—it wasn't just those two. Ino was also in the mix.
"No, it's mine!"
"Mine!"
Ah. All the girls, actually.
"Uwah!"
In the ensuing chaos, Naruto—the only boy—was the first casualty, sent flying sideways by someone and landing in a heap.
Hanabi walked over and poked his cheek with a small twig.
"Ah—Hanabi!"
Naruto had been lying there like a puddle of defeated confusion, but the moment he saw her, his eyes went clear and he straightened up immediately.
"Good morning, Naruto. Are you all right?"
"I—I'm totally fine!" Naruto adjusted his forehead protector. "Damn it, this is all Sasuke's fault!"
"It's not really Sasuke-kun's fault, is it."
"What?! You too, Hanabi?!"
Naruto shot a glare at Sasuke across the room, absolutely unable to look at him without irritation. In a display of something like defiance, he climbed up onto the desk and crouched directly in front of the other boy's face.
The moment the two made eye contact, the girls erupted. Sakura stepped forward: "Naruto, stop bothering Sasuke!"
"Seriously!" Others chimed in.
"Hanabi, do something about Naruto!" Someone pulled Hanabi into it.
"Oh my," Hanabi said mildly, occupied with adjusting her camera. "It seems things have gotten a little out of hand."
"Wait, seriously?"
And then—the student in the row ahead leaned back in their seat.
The entire room went silent.
The motion had been enough. Naruto and Sasuke's lips made contact.
The scene was so unexpected that even the girls who had been arguing fell completely mute.
"Oh—" Hanabi, who had been fiddling with her camera, appeared to have bumped something.
Click.
A flash.