Hanabi actually wanted to offload the price onto someone else, but Zhuixia didn't seem to have that function.
However, thanks to the Husheng ability, Zhuixia could split off two sub-bodies and coil them around another person.
Since no one else had ever been able to wear Zhuixia before, Hanabi had never actually investigated what it felt like on someone else.
"I haven't looked into this either," Hanabi said. "Hikari, could you help me test it?"
"Yes!" Hikari nodded immediately, as if terrified Hanabi might change her mind.
"Alright then—don't resist."
Hanabi split off a portion of Zhuixia and began coiling it around Hikari, bit by bit.
"This is... Hanabi's... warmth..."
Hikari was murmuring something strange.
By the end, the entire Zhuixia sub-body had settled into place on her.
"Now check if there are any issues with your movement," Hanabi said.
"Mm... there aren't. It's actually quite comfortable."
Hikari had initially assumed Hanabi's earlier claims were just an excuse.
How could anyone feel comfortable being weighed down by restraints?
But after experiencing it firsthand, Hikari found that she really could feel that peculiar, full-body sense of comfort.
"Hikari, can you control these bindings?" Hanabi asked.
"Mm... no, I can't. But I can feel that they're very comfortable!"
Because Zhuixia repaired the body, it could keep Hikari in peak condition at all times.
Under those circumstances, a person would naturally feel pleasant and at ease.
"So it seems Zhuixia's inherent abilities can't be wielded by others. Only the Resuscitation function works."
"This thing is sturdier than chainmail—it'd work fine as close-fitting armor. The only issue is the gaps are too wide, so piercing weapons like kunai can't be blocked." Hikari, the pure-hearted good kid, earnestly analyzed Zhuixia's combat potential.
"That's not bad at all."
Sometimes armor itself could become a weapon, so Zhuixia still had its uses.
"I'm sorry. I don't think I was much help." Hikari looked a bit crestfallen.
If she could bear the price in Hanabi's place, she'd have been more than willing. But right now, she just couldn't.
"No—you've already helped me a great deal. Oh, that's right—if you don't mind, you could just keep wearing it all the time."
After treating the audience, having Hikari be a treat for her own eyes didn't seem so bad either.
Hinata in fishnets, Hikari in ropes...
Two kinds of fanservice, two flavors of enjoyment—simply perfect!
"Stage, by the way—is there any way to upgrade equipment or anything like that?"
[Items, skills, and character cards can all be enhanced with upgrade items. Other methods require higher clearance—insufficient permissions]
The Stage apparently had plenty of other options, but Hanabi was only a Level 1 supporting character.
To advance to Level 2, she'd need her fan count to reach 100,000. New permissions might unlock then.
"This Zhuixia will keep repairing my body. But that means you'll be paying the price the entire time, Hanabi!"
"That's fine by me. I think you need it more than I do. Honestly—don't you like it, Hikari?"
Hanabi wasn't purely in it for the eye candy.
The main reason was that this world genuinely had unhinged people in it.
Danzō would absolutely get demolished by Hikari in a straight fight, but the man had Reverse Four Symbols Sealing up his sleeve and a talent for underhanded schemes. A pure-hearted girl like Hikari could hardly emerge unscathed from that kind of operator's machinations.
On another front, there was that other lunatic—Itachi Uchiha. The man had slaughtered the entire Uchiha clan, even hunting down the scattered bloodline remnants in the Land of Lightning. If he spotted another Uchiha, who knew if he'd just go for it.
And then there was yet another unhinged individual—Obito might share Itachi's line of thinking. Either one of them alone would be manageable, but the two of them teaming up? That was a different conversation entirely.
If Zhuixia could protect Hikari—even if it meant Hanabi would be permanently "overdue" and unable to take it off—she was willing.
Hikari waged an internal battle with herself. In the end, her face turned bright red.
"I... I'm willing." Her head dipped even lower. "It feels nice. I like it. Because it feels like... I'm being held by Hanabi."
In Hikari's eyes, Zhuixia was an extension of Hanabi's body—even a part of her.
Having Zhuixia coiled around her felt as if every inch of her was being shielded by Hanabi.
That warmth made her feel incomparably happy.
"That's wonderful~"
Hanabi smiled.
"Phew..."
Hikari let out a sigh of relief.
She looked exactly like someone who'd just endured an exam, finally checked the results, and discovered she'd passed.
After that relieved exhale, Hikari turned her gaze back to Hanabi.
Hanabi was kneeling on the tatami in seiza, her eyes covered by the blindfold, hands resting in front of her.
As Hikari recalled, Hanabi rarely walked. When traveling, she used Zhuixia to move.
She hadn't noticed before, but thinking about it now—if Hanabi's usual strength was only at an ordinary person's level, she'd naturally tire out easily.
"Are the clothes heavy?" Hikari asked.
"Yep, just like iron armor. Great for protection, but wearing it too long gets exhausting," Hanabi said.
"Wow, you really are just like those princesses," Hikari remarked. "Back in our era, the women of daimyō households would dress the girls in those layered, heavy jūnihitoe to flaunt their wealth. The girls would be so weighed down they could only sit all day, crawling on their knees across the tatami to get around, and they had to travel by palanquin whenever they went out."
A palanquin—the Japanese kind, quite small, carried by two people.
"Even now, some smaller nations still follow those customs. But they're practically unheard of in the Land of Fire."
What Hikari described wasn't too far off from real-world history.
Centuries ago, the shinobi world corresponded to something like the Warring States period.
But in this "modern" era, plenty of smaller nations hadn't quite modernized, still preserving those old-fashioned customs.
There was no shortage of little princesses living in their tenshu keeps.
Even a clan like the Hyūga maintained a distinctly traditional Japanese aesthetic.
"If Hanabi really were a princess..."
The thought struck Hikari suddenly.
If Hanabi were a princess, then couldn't she become the warrior who protected that princess?
"Let's get a good night's rest tonight," Hanabi said. "We head back tomorrow."
Nobody knew Hikari's face, and with Hanabi—a Hyūga—vouching for her, returning to Konoha wouldn't be an issue.
With Hikari's situation settled, the next thing on the agenda was the Chūnin Exams...