Uchiha Sasuke… Uchiha Satsuki?
No, no, no… calm down. That's impossible, right?
Naruto blinked hard, trying to shake the image of that cold-faced, black-haired boy out of his head. Sasuke was clearly a guy! That revenge-obsessed, lightning-spamming edgelord who said "hmph" every other sentence—how could he possibly turn into this tsundere but ridiculously cute little girl in front of him?
It had to be a coincidence… yeah, definitely a coincidence!
However, when he took a closer look at Satsuki's face, certain angles did feel strangely familiar.
That level of beauty…
Naruto suddenly realized something. In the original story, Sasuke was already at the absolute top tier in terms of looks. If he were turned into a girl…
No, no! What am I even thinking?!
Sasuke turning into a girl? What kind of bizarre Naruto timeline is this? Or is it some butterfly effect caused by my transmigration?
Countless questions exploded in his mind, but Naruto still retained some basic social awareness. There was no way he'd stupidly ask, "Um… are you actually a boy?"
That would be unbelievably rude. If she thought he was some kind of creep, that'd be the end of it.
In the end, all the chaotic thoughts condensed into a dry farewell.
"I see… well, see you next time."
Hearing Naruto promise to come play with her again, a tiny flutter of joy rose in Satsuki's chest. She tried to keep her face straight, but the corners of her mouth still lifted slightly.
"Mm. If no one else is around to train with you…"
She turned around, pretending to sound reluctant. "I guess I'll keep you company."
With that, she walked off toward the Uchiha district without looking back, casually waving a hand as if she didn't care at all. But the moment she turned the corner and was certain Naruto couldn't see her, she covered her mouth, her big eyes curving into crescents.
This was the first time… she'd made a friend outside her clan.
She skipped across the sunlit patches on the stone road, her steps noticeably lighter than usual.
Meanwhile, Naruto, who remained behind, had fallen into unprecedented confusion.
He stared at Satsuki's retreating figure, his brain buzzing as if a thousand shadow clones had all cast the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu at once.
No, no, no. It must be a coincidence!
No matter how hard he tried to reassure himself, those damn "pieces of evidence" kept flashing through his mind. In the original story, Sasuke was often jokingly called the "true heroine" of Naruto.
From their first meeting to their final reconciliation, every line between them sounded suspiciously intimate. Not to mention that accidental yet fated first kiss…
The terrifying power of Konoha friendship.
Just as Naruto's thoughts were spiraling out of control—
[Ding!]
A crisp system notification suddenly rang in his mind.
[Congratulations, Host: You have formed an initial bond with the original character "Uchiha Sasuke."]
[Reward: System officially activated. You have received 500 points!]
"Thud!"
Naruto collapsed face-first onto the ground.
So it really is him… Sasuke… actually turned into a girl?!
———
That's right. Naruto did have a system—and that wasn't particularly surprising. For transmigrators, this kind of thing was practically standard equipment.
The system had existed in his consciousness since infancy. But all these years, the translucent interface had displayed nothing but a single, cold line of text.
[Waiting for the story to begin]
No matter how Naruto tried to communicate with it, test it, or even angrily wave his tiny fists in his crib, the system remained as stubborn and unresponsive as a rock. Eventually, he could only accept his fate and wait for the so-called "story" to start.
I thought I'd have to wait until Mizuki tricked me into stealing the Scroll of Seals…
Little Naruto muttered to himself. According to the original timeline, that was the true starting point of his "story."
But fate, it seemed, loved playing jokes.
Who would've thought that this dormant system, silent for years, would be activated by a gender-swapped version of Sasuke—Uchiha Satsuki?
Naruto's emotions were complicated. He walked mechanically down the street, eyes locked on the system interface that had finally lit up.
[Bond System]
[As long as you build connections with original characters and form different bonds, you will gain system points!]
[The greater your impact on the original story, the more points you will receive~]
[Points can be used for system draws—ninjutsu, senjutsu, dojutsu, kekkei genkai… everything you could want!]
[Please work hard to form bonds!]
Streetlights flickered on one by one. When his eyes landed on the words dojutsu and kekkei genkai, his throat unconsciously tightened.
Simple—but direct.
Three years of curiosity and waiting had finally materialized. There was no complicated system shop, no messy exchange list. The entire interface was clean to the point of simplicity. The only option was a glowing, eye-catching button labeled:
[Ten-Pull]
Or, more accurately…
Isn't this just a gacha system?!
The name [Bond System] practically laid the theme of the Naruto world out in the open. By that logic, even if he simply followed the original plot, he could easily accumulate a huge number of bond points—befriending the Konoha Twelve, forming a master-student relationship with Jiraiya, or even getting entangled with the original villains.
Still, the system had kindly pointed something out:
The deeper the impact on the original story, the more points you'd earn.
That meant he didn't need to waste time trying to please those ignorant villagers, nor force himself to endure their prejudiced stares.
"So it's a bundled deal, huh…"
His finger slid across the draw interface description. The screen was extremely minimal—only a softly glowing [Ten-Pull] button. Each draw cost 1000 points.
"Five hundred points… so I'm already halfway to my first ten-pull."
"Forming an initial bond with the gender-swapped Sasuke is worth five hundred? That's quite a lot."
Once he accepted the setting that "Uchiha Sasuke is a girl," Naruto felt no psychological resistance to using that teasing nickname. After all, Satsuki wasn't about to jump out and zap him with Chidori—probably.
Just as he was about to close the interface, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Wait! If the system activating means forming bonds gives rewards… then shouldn't I already have rewards I can claim right now?!
Naruto's steps abruptly halted.
The next second, he decisively turned around. Instead of heading back to his quiet little apartment, he dashed straight toward Konoha's bustling commercial district.