Of course, balancing and strengthening Naruto's screen time didn't mean "nerfing" Sasuke.
The Stage hadn't flagged Sasuke as a Child of Destiny or Fate's chosen or anything of the sort, but through Sasuke, Hanabi could gain nearly the same level of popularity points.
Riding Sasuke's coattails and riding Naruto's coattails were equally effective.
Naruto and Sasuke's training ran deep into the night, until both of them collapsed.
Their actual physical states had been fine, but neither of them had anticipated just how brutal the "clone fatigue feeds back to the original" description truly was.
So the moment they released their clones, both of them dropped flat on the ground.
Hanabi was the one who ended up carrying them home afterward.
She couldn't be bothered to go far, so she checked into an inn near the training grounds, tossed both of them inside, and left.
But Hanabi didn't head home herself.
She still had five remaining sessions of her Japanese etiquette course—sessions she'd been skipping entirely.
Because by the end of the very first lesson, she'd already "mastered the material."
"Ah, it's Hanabi-nee~"
When Hanabi left the set and arrived once more at Shiki Ryougi's residence, she found Mana Ryougi, who was carrying a small school backpack and appeared to have just come home from school.
"Long time no see, Mana-chan." Hanabi greeted her in return.
"Oh, you're here." When Hanabi stepped inside, she spotted Shiki Ryougi.
Beside Shiki, however, sat another woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties.
The woman was holding a prosthetic limb in her hands—that was Shiki's hand.
Shiki Ryougi only had one real hand. The other was a prosthesis, and this near-flawless replica had been crafted by none other than the woman before her.
Touko Aozaki.
Hanabi had never expected to run into her here.
—Come to think of it, Hanabi had originally planned to ask Shiki for help locating Touko this very visit.
Because Touko Aozaki had once been Shiki Ryougi's "boss."
"Hello, Sensei." Hanabi addressed Touko.
Touko studied Hanabi with interest.
Touko Aozaki was a figure of considerable renown across the entire Type-Moon universe.
She didn't appear in many works, but from Kara no Kyoukai to Fate/Grand Order, her presence was felt everywhere.
She was the Grand Puppeteer—in simple terms, someone extraordinarily skilled at crafting dolls.
"As I thought, something's strange about you... but I can't put my finger on what." Touko fixed her gaze on Hanabi. "Are those... Mystic Eyes? No, that's not it either... Seems like I shouldn't think too hard about this."
The two of them appeared to have been discussing something.
"Excuse me?"
What was going on here?
"Mm. Let me explain," Shiki said. "Actually, your tutoring assignment wasn't originally meant for me. I just happened to see it 'in passing' and, well, I sort of took it. I suppose whoever was responsible saw I had the right qualifications, so they asked if I'd be willing to give it a try."
Huh?
So her very first training session had been intercepted?
The Stage seemed rather casual about it—it had noticed Shiki Ryougi could serve as a tutor and just sent her an invitation on the spot.
The whole setup had a distinctly ragtag feel to it.
"I hadn't noticed at the time, but my prosthetic has been developing some issues," Shiki said.
"The changes are truly fascinating. This doesn't feel like the power of a parallel world—it's more like something from entirely outside the dimensional framework. The physical laws, the ether composition—everything is completely different..." Touko mused as she handed Shiki a replacement arm.
"Mm, this one works fine."
With the new arm fitted, Shiki's hand regained its full range of motion.
"As for the etiquette lessons, you don't really have anything left to learn. Did you come today to study something new? Or just to visit?" Shiki asked.
"Funny thing, actually. I came here planning to ask Sensei if she could help me get in touch with Touko-san."
—If she dropped a "Disgraced Scarlet" reference right now, it would definitely be hilarious.
But that would guarantee she'd never achieve her actual objective.
"Oh my, what a coincidence," Touko said. "Though you're an 'outsider,' right? Everyday life is one thing, but if you're looking for knowledge on the magical arts... well, on your side it's probably something else entirely. Point is, the 'knowledge' we have here probably wouldn't be useful to you?"
"I wouldn't be so sure," Hanabi said with a smile. "Besides, an outsider can always relocate to the neighborhood—it's just a matter of whether you'd recognize them when the time comes~"
"Hmm, now I'm a bit intrigued. Ah, but wait—even 'locally,' we have quite a few different 'districts,' so whether I could even meet the other me—well. Interesting."
Touko shifted her posture. "Fine. What do you need?"
"I've been curious about puppet technology. It might not be directly applicable, but it could serve as reference material."
Outside techniques generally needed to be "localized" before they were usable.
Without localization, the skill itself wouldn't perform well—and even if it worked, there'd be deductions.
But if it was just for reference, that was fine.
Just like how Naruto couldn't directly copy Hunter × Hunter's framework, but borrowing elements of its setting and narrative structure was perfectly acceptable... well, purely as an example. Not a statement of fact.
"I'll go find Mana, then."
Shiki excused herself, leaving the two of them alone.
Hanabi gave a concise overview of chakra and the Puppet Technique.
"The underlying principles are completely different," Touko observed, thinking it over.
The puppet technology of the Naruto world was, relative to the Type-Moon world, somewhat crude—or at least crude relative to Touko herself.
The dolls Touko crafted could perfectly replicate the human body. In the Naruto world, that level of prosthetic technology wouldn't exist for several more years—and even then, it would require an absurd catalyst like Hashirama's Cells as a medium.
"What do you want this for? I need to know the application—are you adding an arm to yourself? Building a puppet? Or is this for someone else?" Touko asked.
"I have an ability called 'Curse Bind.' It lets me pay a cost in one area to strengthen another. If I restrain my limbs, then when I release them, those limbs gain even greater strength."
"I see. A self-imposed restriction in exchange for greater power?"
In the Type-Moon world, this concept was readily understandable.
A vow of silence was a similar mechanism.
And in the Holy Grail War, the Berserker class traded sanity for higher stats—so Mad Enhancement was almost always a net buff. ...Well, a certain Uncle B notwithstanding.
"Hm?" Just then, Touko—acting as an impromptu tutor—felt a sudden intuition. "How curious. It's as if the thought just appeared in my mind... Well, it seems our session is about wrapping up."
She stood. "Here's what I can offer: I can't help you with much, but if it doesn't involve the fundamental source of power—if it's just some kind of craft or something similar—I can try to work something out. After all, getting to learn about 'outside' knowledge is decent payment in itself."
"Yes, Sensei." Hanabi rose to her feet.
This session was more or less concluded.
Things had gone rather smoothly.
But Hanabi still had one lingering question.
—Who had the Stage originally intended to send that tutoring invitation to?