"Wh—what is all this?"
Hyuga Hinata was alarmed.
After being pulled into Hanabi's room, Hinata found herself surrounded. Wire spools, bells, and an assortment of ninja tools were scattered across every surface.
But the most striking thing in the room was the bundle of vivid red rope sitting in the center of it all.
"I've been developing a new piece of ninja gear. It's finished, but I can't put it on by myself—so, big sister, would you help me?"
Hanabi said this while walking to the door, closing it, and turning the lock.
"If—if I can help, of course." Hinata quickly said.
"Mm. Then just follow this diagram and help me weave these ropes into something I can wear."
Hanabi produced a scroll.
On it was a detailed binding pattern.
This was what she had derived after taking the comment section's work as a reference and modifying it to fit the structural requirements of the ODM gear. The original comment had covered the torso only; ODM gear needed load-bearing capacity through the limbs as well, and if the limbs were integrated into the framework, they could also contribute force.
"This is... really complicated."
Hinata stared, slightly lost.
The scroll had a finished illustration. And it was, she had to admit, beautiful—like a suit of rope chainmail fitted against a body.
"So it's... worn directly against the skin? Like chainmail?" Hinata asked.
"Mm, that's right." Hanabi had already set her yukata sash to the side.
"But—won't it be uncomfortable?" Hinata worried, thinking of her sister.
"It won't. If anything, through these ropes I can actually extend my senses outward."
That was the other function.
All Hanabi needed to do was drive wire into the ground, a tree, any surface nearby, and she could sense everything connected to it—like a spider in the center of her web. Her perception was already sharp; with this method it climbed another tier.
And the compatibility between metal and chakra was naturally strong. Introduce elemental transformation and the effects could be pushed even further.
"But why does it need to be knotted here—and why here does it—wait. Hanabi?!"
Hinata had just looked up.
The yukata was folded neatly to one side.
"If big sister is going to help, I shouldn't have anything getting in the way~"
Hinata's reaction never got old.
Hanabi had been raising her big sister since they were small. Watching Hinata now—the shyness, the fluster, the longing carefully tucked behind both—Hanabi felt a quiet satisfaction that was entirely its own kind.
"Big sister is too cute. Like a little doll~"
"Mm... wh...?"
The scroll slipped from Hinata's fingers and hit the floor. She was already swaying slightly, looking as though she might dissolve into steam and drift away from the world entirely.
"This isn't a good time to faint, big sister. You wouldn't want me catching a chill, would you?"
Hanabi leaned in while she said it, and breathed softly against Hinata's ear.
"Mmm..."
Hinata jolted as if she'd been defibrillated—and, somehow, came back to herself.
"Ah—right!"
Right. It was cold outside. Hanabi absolutely could not catch a chill.
Hinata picked up the rope with trembling hands.
"Let me see... like this... and then like this..."
Hinata was shy, but her hands weren't. It was her first time, yet it took her barely half an hour to weave the entire pattern onto Hanabi's body.
"Th-that should be right? Is that okay?"
Hinata's soul appeared to be hovering just outside her body.
"Mm. Very good, big sister~"
With the main structure complete, Hanabi added bells at her neck, wrists, waist.
The rope armor was dense and interconnected—a network that held together like a single piece.
But there were deliberate design choices within it.
The leg sections, for instance, could be released independently. This was to allow for the addition of thigh-high stockings without removing the full harness. The finger sections were similarly modular—the fingertip guards could be detached and used to hook a secondary ring of rope stored at the waist.
After all, rope this resilient worn purely as understructure—without pulling any of it out to use as an actual weapon—would be a genuine waste.
Once she was fully dressed, every small movement set her bells swaying. The sound was clear and bright.
"Big sister... oh dear."
Hanabi had been about to ask Hinata to help her back into the kimono.
But Hinata was already on the floor. She had taken on a grayish-white color, and her expression, while perfectly serene, seemed to be quietly communicating: I have lived without regret.
Hanabi tucked her into the bed and pulled the covers over her, then dressed herself.
"Perfect."
From the outside she looked the same as before.
Except—through the neckline, the rope was visible: looped around her throat and descending. A single bell hung there. Otherwise, nothing about her appearance had changed.
The same way Naruto didn't mind becoming a girl—
Hanabi didn't mind giving the audience something to enjoy.
If anything, presenting her best self to the audience was part of what being an idol meant.
Of course, just as Naruto disliked the framing of "a cross-dressing pervert," Hanabi had no interest in revealing anything unflattering.
So—only what was beautiful. She had no reservations about that.
Provided it fit her character.
"Time to test it."
Naruto and Sasuke were still tree-running. They were almost at the crown now.
Hanabi readied the harness. Her hand moved—chakra surged through the wire, and it anchored itself silently against a distant tree.
Two types of attachment. One was mechanical: a hook that physically bit into the surface. The other worked like the tree-climbing exercise Naruto and Sasuke were doing right now—chakra adhesion, pulling her toward the anchor without a sound.
While the two of them were still grinding their way up the bark below, Hanabi had already threaded chakra through the wire to adhere it against the tree, then reeled herself in.
Once it bit, she pulled. The chakra contracted through the wire, drawing it back, with the bells at her wrists acting as conduit.
Hanabi flew out the window.
Wire out. Anchor. Reel in. Repeat. She moved through the air in a continuous arc. Without seeing the wire, someone watching might genuinely think she was flying.
The effect was close to what ODM gear produced.
Without a dedicated power source, she was running it entirely on her own chakra—but even so, moving this way was more efficient than standard ninja footwork. Like the difference between walking and cycling: both human-powered, but not remotely comparable in speed.
She arced through the air until she reached Naruto and Sasuke's training area, landed in the branches above, and settled there.
Below her, the two of them were lying on the ground head to head, heaving for breath.
Smiles on both their faces.
They had made it to the crown.