The moment Neji saw the mark on Hanabi's back, he tensed up.
"You're really just going to take this on yourself?!" he said, brow creased.
"Obviously I can't tell anyone else. And our interests don't perfectly align with Konoha's or the Hyuga clan's anyway — do they, Neji-nii-san?"
The mark, of course, did not exist. The concept had been borrowed wholesale from elsewhere.
But the genuine desire to save Hikari — that part was real.
Not even an epic saga could be allowed to end in tragedy like that. She wanted a happy ending. And a joyful reunion, everyone alive and smiling — that too was its own kind of pleasure.
And Ahà-san was Hanabi's most devoted fan. She felt she owed it to him to come through.
The road ahead would be grueling — full of setbacks, pain, and hardship — but that was the point. It was because the path was winding, the thorns thick, and the suffering real, that the ending, when it finally broke through all of it, would feel like something beyond heaven.
"So that's why. I'm not going just for that nameless young lady. I have reasons of my own," Hanabi said. "That's why I'm asking for your help, Neji-nii-san."
"Has the thing not sensed your chakra?" Neji was careful.
"That's how I got marked in the first place. Whatever this is, it's power that belongs to a 'divine being' — not something that responds to chakra," Hanabi said. "But according to the records, once you destroy every last fragment of the god of evil's power, the mark disappears on its own. The shrine has gone silent. The remaining power is waiting there — waiting to claim the Uchiha's strength."
"Are you confident?" Neji pressed.
"Of course."
"What do you need me to do?"
"— Just play along with a little performance~. Don't worry, I'll wrap things up quickly."
The stage had allotted one week of shooting time, but Hanabi had no intention of using all of it.
One week before the Chūnin Exams were set to begin, Gaara and his siblings would arrive in Konoha.
The Chūnin Exams were a major arc — and she was not going to miss the opening. Even if she couldn't steal the spotlight, she at least needed to be there to let Naruto and Sasuke have their moments.
After gaining higher system clearance, Hanabi had also come to understand something: the popularity feedback she gained through changes she influenced — even indirect ones — still registered on her own counter. The correlation was tied to the significance of the character involved. Change a side character's fate, and even if the audience resonated deeply, the points were limited. But change something touching a main character — even a small shift — and as long as it generated audience response, the returns came through.
Still less than solo performance, but the right balance could raise the overall ceiling.
After briefing Neji, Hanabi turned her attention to logistics.
Strictly speaking, OVA length was always at the production team's discretion — but the reward window she'd been given was finite. No room for an epic saga; she'd have to make do with what she had.
"Hikari's script and screentime are the crux."
Uchiha Hikari — Hanabi had decided. She was going to save her.
But Hikari was also a living person, and an "ancient" one at that — someone who had already given up on the ninja world. Getting past the defenses of a Uchiha, even with performance — there was a real chance of being seen through. And how Hikari would react to being rescued was impossible to predict.
The one saving grace was that Hanabi wasn't from the Uchiha clan or the Senju clan. That helped.
"Fortunately," Hanabi thought, "I genuinely like Hikari. So — sincerity for sincerity."
Just become the kind of friend she could open her heart to.
The "setup" was mostly done. Now came the "inciting incident."
That part, at least, was simple. She already knew the location of the seal, so she just needed to post a mission near the area — something low-key. A search mission. Even a D-rank would do…
Then she'd ask Kurenai-sensei from Team 8 to loan her Hinata for a few days.
Simple enough.
Kurenai was not from the Hyuga clan, and couldn't teach Gentle Fist herself. The Chūnin Exams were approaching — all the jōnin were aware of that. Hanabi just had to mention wanting to train with her sister and spend some quality time together, and that would be sufficient reason to head out.
Peace still held across the ninja world at this stage. A D-rank mission inside the country — no issues.
"Wonderful, I've been wanting to go on a mission together with Big Sister for so long~"
"H-Hanabi…"
The three of them had just gathered at the mission assignment desk when Hanabi immediately drifted over to Hinata and pressed herself against her sister's side, expression radiant.
Outwardly Hinata showed nothing — but she was more well-endowed than she looked, and just from the contact, Hanabi could feel the softness of her sister.
[Lewd. So lewd. Utterly lewd.]
"Hanabi — can't you see Hinata's a little flustered?" Neji said flatly, looking pained.
He was the older brother. Watching both his sisters press together in front of the Third Hokage was incredibly awkward.
"Ahem."
Lord Third, mission scroll in hand, cleared his throat.
Only then did Hanabi reluctantly let Hinata go.
Hinata, meanwhile, had fully transcended into steam.
"This mission is D-rank: locate a Blue-Eyes White Dragon figurine lost by a Mr. Seto. It's said to be solid gold but very small, with a disguising treatment on the surface — so it can really only be tracked by the Byakugan."
Mr. Seto had offered C-rank compensation and claimed the family heirloom was worth seventy million ryō — the latter was almost certainly nonsense, but there was probably some genuine value to it.
The timing worked out neatly: the Hyuga siblings had already expressed a wish to train before the Chūnin Exams, and this mission had come in, so today they formally accepted.
Good enough. Consider it a chance for the siblings to bond. Hanabi herself had no Byakugan, but her sensory ability was sharp — at close range, she might even be more precise than the dōjutsu for certain things.
Lord Third added: "This mission should be manageable for the Hyuga clan, but don't go playing around out there. Understood?"
For most people, the title of Hokage carried a certain weight — but in practice, Konoha was still just a village. A single Chaoyang District would swallow it whole. For the average person, the Hokage was more or less just a kindly village elder.
It was only in the era of the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, that the title's gravity began to shift — partly owing to Tsunade's other status, which was a separate matter.
Right now, the Hokage was closer to the headman of a large settlement.
…The thought had somehow summoned Danzō to Hanabi's mind.
Which made the man even more absurd — scheming inside a village this small. The pettiness of it almost made her want to laugh.
"Neji — you're the mission leader this time." Lord Third concluded.
"Understood."
Neji nodded, then looked to the side.
Hanabi had somehow reattached herself to Hinata without anyone noticing.
Hinata was drifting in a waking dream — eyes glazed, expression hovering somewhere between dazed and blissful, like she'd stepped straight into heaven.
In any case, the mission had begun.