A gripping silence descended between the two of them, filled only by the sound of Shion's heavy panting and the rustle of the night wind blowing through the leaves. Hizashi's sharp and analytical Byakugan eyes pierced through the remaining dust of the battle, staring straight at Shion.
Ice-cold sweat trickled down Shion's back. His brain spun in a panic, trying to find an excuse. Should he feign amnesia? Fake his death right now by biting his tongue?
At this critical moment where his life and (more importantly) his pride hung in the balance, that all-too-familiar and annoying mechanical voice echoed in his head once more.
[Ding! Host is facing a critical identity crisis! Multiple Choice Mission Triggered!]
A blue holographic screen visible only to Shion suddenly appeared right in front of Hizashi's face.
[Choice A: Honesty is the key to inner peace!
Admit your true identity as a man and tell Hizashi that cross-dressing is your most passionate secret hobby.
Reward: Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai (Macabre Bone Pulse/Bone Manipulation)!]
[Choice B: Lie for safety!
Claim to be a descendant of the Hyuga clan born and raised outside Konoha village, exactly as the village elders guessed.
Reward: Three Standard Explosive Tags.]
[Choice C: Rewrite your destiny!
Confess that you are actually a WOMAN from birth! The reason you disguised yourself as a boy all this time is because you refused to be caged within the clan, refused to be used as a political tool, and wanted to serve on the battlefield as an honorable ninja!
Reward: Ability to create 'Black Receivers' (Chakra Transmitters).]
Shion: "..."
A vein throbbed violently on Shion's temple. If he wasn't currently facing the head of the branch clan, he would have screamed hysterically and destroyed the tree next to him.
'Damn System! What kind of choices are these?!' he roared inwardly.
Choice A? Absolutely rejected out of hand!
Even though the reward was incredibly tempting (the Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai) the price was too high.
If he admitted to Hizashi, a rigid man who held honor above all else, that he liked wearing white mini skirts and stockings as a 'hobby,' Hizashi would probably kill him on the spot just to cleanse the clan's good name! His pride as a man would be pulverized down to a molecular level. Never!
'Even if you gave me the Rinnegan, I would never stoop my pride that low!'
Then there was Choice B. This was the most logical and safe option. But... the reward?! Three explosive tags?!
'What the hell is up with that beggar's reward?!' Shion cursed. On the battlefield, three explosive tags weren't even enough to start a decent campfire! The System was clearly discriminating against the normal choice.
Shion's gaze shifted to Choice C with mixed feelings. The backstory was incredibly dramatic, heroic, and... tragic. The reward was 'Black Receivers'...
With a bleeding heart, sobbing bitterly over his slowly vanishing manhood, Shion swallowed hard. He had no other choice.
Shion lowered his head, letting his long bangs cover his eyes, creating a dramatic shadow that hid his true expression. He clenched his fists over his mini skirt until his knuckles turned white, pretending to tremble (though he was actually trembling from suppressing extreme embarrassment).
"Hizashi-sama..." Shion's voice came out in a soft whisper, slightly hoarse from holding back the emotional turmoil in his chest (or rather, holding back tears for his pride).
Hizashi fell silent, listening intently. "Who are you really, child? Why are you out here alone dressed like that?"
Shion took a deep breath. Let the show begin.
"I... my name is Shion, Hizashi-sama. I am a member of the branch clan under your leadership." Shion slowly lifted his face, letting his clear, beautiful Byakugan eyes (courtesy of the System's makeup) meet Hizashi's gaze. "And... I... I am actually a woman."
Hizashi's eyes widened slightly. "A woman? But in the clan records, Shion is..."
"It was all fake," Shion cut in quickly, injecting a tone of profound bitterness into his voice. "Since childhood, I have hidden my identity. Disguising myself as a boy... binding my chest, lowering my voice. Why? Because I knew the fate of a woman in the branch family."
Shion took a step forward, his voice trembling with determination (fueled by absolute desperation). "I didn't want to spend the rest of my life locked behind the high walls of the Hyuga estate. I didn't want to just be a servant brewing tea for the main family, or worse, forced into marriage just to strengthen the bloodline and birth children whose foreheads would be sealed!"
The night wind blew once more, fluttering his sailor skirt, adding a dramatic flair to the tragic yet brave figure of the girl standing before Hizashi.
"I wanted to be free, Hizashi-sama! I wanted to prove that the branch family can also fight, can bleed, and can bring honor to the village on the battlefield! That is why... I hid my true gender, so that I would be sent to the front lines to fight for the Clan and the Village!"
Silence.
Hizashi froze. This 'girl's' words... crashed directly into the deepest depths of his heart. The hatred toward fate, the rejection of the Caged Bird Seal, the yearning for true freedom... wasn't that exactly what Hizashi had always felt in silence?
Hizashi's heart was suddenly filled with an overwhelmingly strong sense of emotion and empathy. Beneath this strange and controversial outfit (which Hizashi assumed was the girl's psychological rebellion against the clan's norms) stood a young kunoichi with a will of fire as hard as steel.
However, as a veteran ninja and the head of the branch clan, Hizashi couldn't just swallow an emotional story raw without proof. Reflexively, and most importantly, purely out of professional shinobi instinct, Hizashi focused the flow of chakra into his eyes.
'Forgive me, Shion. But I must verify the truth of this from your biological structure,' Hizashi thought seriously, directing his Byakugan's X-ray vision toward Shion's body for medical confirmation.
As Hizashi's vision pierced through the layers of Shion's clothing... something strange happened.
In the area that should have been irrefutable proof of a person's gender, Hizashi's Byakugan vision suddenly became blurry. It was as if static interference was blocking his sight. The chakra pathways in Shion's body looked normal, yet they mysteriously obscured the crucial anatomical details.
[System Function Active: Gender cannot be detected by Dojutsu.]
Hizashi blinked, startled. He tried to focus his vision again, harder this time, staring intently at Shion's groin and chest. Still blurry. Completely impenetrable.
Suddenly, Hizashi realized what he was doing. He, an honorable clan head, a grown man, was glaring at the sensitive areas of a young girl from his own clan with X-ray vision.
Hizashi's face instantly flushed crimson. Heat spread from his neck all the way to his ears. He immediately canceled the chakra flow to his eyes and coughed loudly while covering his mouth with a fist, trying to hide his embarrassment.
"Ahem! Cough, cough!"
'Good heavens... what did I just do?!' Hizashi's mind screamed in panic, cold sweat beginning to form on his forehead. 'Of course I couldn't see it clearly! This must be because my subconscious rejected it! Yes, that's right! I am an honorable man! I respect the resolve and privacy of this brave kunoichi so much that my body automatically averted my gaze to prevent me from acting like a pervert!'
Hizashi successfully deceived himself with that incredibly high moral justification. He stood tall, trying to restore his slightly fractured authority and charisma.
"S-Shion..." Hizashi said, his voice a bit softer but still tinged with awkwardness. He didn't dare look directly below Shion's neck again. "I... I understand your feelings. Your suffering... the injustice you feel. I, as the Head of the Branch Family, truly understand the weight of that burden."
Shion, seeing Hizashi's strange reaction and red face, could only stare blankly. 'Did... did the system's buff work? Thank goodness...'
Hizashi patted Shion's shoulder gently, giving a fatherly, understanding look. "Your sacrifices were not in vain. But, starting today, you no longer need to hide. Hokage-sama and Hiashi-sama have heard of the 'Fairy's' exploits on the front lines. They are very impressed. You have been officially summoned back to the village."
Shion's heart skipped a beat. "R-return to the village?"
"That's right," Hizashi nodded, smiling proudly. "As your true self. As a strong woman of the Hyuga clan. I myself will guarantee your safety from the intervention of the Clan Elders. Return with me, Shion."
On the outside, Shion nodded obediently with teary eyes (which Hizashi took as tears of joy for finally being acknowledged).
But inside his head, a storm of despair was raging.
With this declaration, everything was final. It was over. Finished. His identity as a man had died and been buried deep within this border forest.
If he returned to the village and it was ever discovered that he was actually a full-blooded male, he wouldn't just be seen as a fraud who played the Hokage and the Clan Head for fools, but he would also be branded as a sexually deviant lunatic!
His steps felt as heavy as lead as he followed Hizashi through the night forest toward Konoha.
[Ding! Mission Accomplished! Reward distributed: 'Black Receivers' have been integrated into Host's ability list!]
Shion immediately felt that he could now create 'Black Receivers.' However, that new power could not comfort Shion's shattered heart in the slightest.
Clutching the hem of his white mini skirt in frustration, Shion looked up at the full moon in the sky, screaming the most vile curses from the bottom of his soul.
'Sage of Six Paths... or whatever omnipotent bastard runs this world and created this damn system... I CURSE YOU ALL TO THE DEEPEST PITS OF HELL!!'
The journey back to Konoha village felt like a march to the execution block for Shion. Every step he took behind Hizashi felt as heavy as carrying a mountain.
As soon as they arrived, Shion was taken straight to the Hokage's Office. There, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Hiashi Hyuga were already waiting.
When Shion stepped inside, silence blanketed the room. Hiashi's sharp gaze immediately scanned his figure from head to toe. Behind the Clan Head's rigid face, Hiashi's mind was actually calculating rapidly.
'Very beautiful, perfect posture, and her Byakugan possesses extraordinary purity,' Hiashi evaluated internally. 'Considering she is from the branch family, this is a golden opportunity. There are several talented young men in the main clan who will soon come of age. If I marry her to one of them, this pure blood will remain in the main clan and strengthen our bloodline.'
Shion, who could feel Hiashi's matchmaker-esque 'evaluating' gaze, shuddered violently. Cold sweat the size of corn kernels rolled down his back. 'I'm dead... This man is definitely planning something horrifying for me!'
However, before Hiashi had the chance to voice his plans, Hizashi stepped forward and knelt, with Shion hurriedly kneeling beside him in a forced, graceful posture.
With a tone heavy with emotion, Hizashi began recounting the 'truth' he had just heard in the forest. He told the tale of a little girl who rejected her fate as a caged bird.
Of a Kunoichi who cast aside her feminine identity, disguised herself as a rough boy, and swallowed all the suffering and discrimination, just so she could stand on the front lines to protect the village and prove that the branch family—especially a woman—also possessed an unshakable fighting spirit.
The Hokage's office was dead silent. The only sound was the crackle of the wooden cigar clamped between Hiruzen's teeth.
Hiashi's eyes, which had initially been full of political calculations, slowly widened.
His sharp gaze softened, replaced by profound shock and admiration. The political marriage plan he had just formulated in his head shattered into a million pieces. Forcing a Kunoichi with a will of steel like this to become a housewife and a clan reproductive tool would be a massive insult to her ninja spirit.
"Shion..." Hiashi's voice sounded slightly hoarse as he called out. "I... as the Head of the Hyuga Clan, apologize that this clan provided an environment that forced you to take such a bitter path. Your courage in defying fate has truly opened my eyes. I will respect your choices. The Main Clan will not bind you with marriage or domestic duties. Continue to spread your wings on the battlefield."
Shion bowed his head deeply, pretending to be moved.
'Thank goodness! I survived the threat of being married off to a man!' he screamed internally.
Behind his large desk, Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled cigar smoke with an incredibly warm, fatherly smile. His eyes were glassy.
"Incredible..." the Third Hokage murmured. "Silent sacrifice, selfless dedication, and the resolve to protect the village from the shadows... This is the pure essence of the 'Will of Fire'! Konoha is very fortunate to have you, Hyuga Shion."
Shion: "..."
The next day, Shion's life truly transformed into a new kind of hell.
His story was not kept secret. On the contrary, Hiruzen, the master politician who always knew how to ignite his troops' morale during wartime, secretly leaked Shion's 'tragic and heroic' tale to the public as Will of Fire propaganda material.
In less than twenty-four hours, the story of the "beautiful Kunoichi who disguised herself as a man to protect the village" spread like a plague.
When Shion was finally allowed to return home to the Hyuga Clan compound after being at the border for so long, he was greeted with a sight that made his scalp go numb.
Along the way, every clan member, whether from the main or branch family, stopped their activities. They stared at Shion (who was, of course, forced by the System to keep wearing women's clothing) with incredibly intense gazes.
There were no more looks of disdain. There were only teary eyes, full of sympathy, respect, and blind adoration.
"Look... it's Lady Shion," whispered a mother from the branch family, wiping away her tears. "How she must have suffered all this time, hiding her beauty behind a filthy male combat uniform..."
"Such a strong girl. She is our hero," chimed in a main clan man in a reverent tone.
Even the young Hyuga men who used to mock him for being from the branch family now stared at him with flushed faces and worshipping gazes.
Every time Shion returned their looks, they would nod sympathetically as if to say: We understand your pain. You don't have to pretend to be strong anymore.
"ARGHHH!"
As soon as he reached his modest home, Shion slammed the door, locked it tight, and locked himself in his room. He pulled a thick blanket over his head and screamed at the top of his lungs.
The disgust and shame he felt had surpassed the bounds of normal human sanity. He couldn't stand those sympathetic looks anymore. He felt like a circus animal put on an emotional display for the entire village!
And just like that, Konoha's New Hero locked himself in his house for a full week.
Exactly seven days after his return, Shion finally decided to surrender to his cabin fever. He couldn't keep locking himself away until he grew mold. His muscles were stiff, and his body was itching to train to get used to his new powers.
However, training at the clan dojo was obviously out of the question. He was too embarrassed to be a free spectacle for his sudden worshippers.
Therefore, in the late afternoon, Shion sneaked out and went to Village Training Ground Number 7, which was quite isolated near the edge of the forest.
The atmosphere there was dead quiet. Shion stretched his body. The afternoon breeze blew his long brown hair and made his sailor mini skirt flutter softly. He took a deep breath, preparing to begin his training.
Suddenly, that cursed mechanical voice chimed.
[Ding! Emergency Daily Mission Triggered!]
[Mission: A Tempting 'Accident'!]
[Description: Expose your panties as if by accident to the approaching target: Minato Namikaze!]
[Note: The 'Absolute Territory' feature can be temporarily deactivated by the Host for 3 seconds to complete this mission.]
[Reward: Permanent increase of Chakra reserves to Elite Jonin Level!]
Shion's footsteps halted mid-air. His beautiful, calm face instantly turned deathly pale.
"..."
Shion read the screen over and over again, ensuring he hadn't gone blind.
'First question...' Shion looked around the empty training ground in a panic. 'WHEN DID MINATO NAMIKAZE GET HERE?! And the second question... WHAT THE HELL IS THIS TRASH MISSION?!!!'
Showing his underwear?! To a man?! To the future Fourth Hokage?! Shion felt the thread of his sanity snap.
'NO! I DON'T WANT TO! HOW COULD I DO SOMETHING SO DISGUSTING?!' he roared in his mind.
However... his eyes flicked back to the last line. [Reward: Permanent increase of Chakra reserves to Elite Jonin Level!]
In the shinobi world, having Elite Jonin-level chakra reserves at his young age meant he could cast high-level jutsu without fear of dying from exhaustion, and he could fight for days. It was the absolute key to surviving the rest of this Third World War.
Shion bit his lower lip until it nearly bled. His eyes welled up with tears of humiliation.
'Forgive me, my pride... Forgive me, my manhood... I need that chakra...' he cried out internally in agony.
Meanwhile, behind the trees at the edge of the field.
Minato Namikaze, Konoha's Yellow Flash, had just returned from the front lines. He was utterly exhausted and just wanted to relax for a moment at his favorite, usually deserted training ground before reporting to the Hokage.
However, when he arrived, he saw someone training. Minato hid behind a tree, not wanting to intrude. His clear blue eyes widened slightly as he recognized the figure.
Long hair, a bizarrely pristine sailor uniform, and black stockings. It was the 'White Skirt Fairy' whose rumors were currently shaking the entire village and the battlefield.
'Ah, so she is the Hyuga Shion everyone is talking about,' Minato thought with a friendly smile. 'Her movements are incredibly beautiful and efficient. Like a deadly dance. I think I'll observe her a little longer before stepping out to say hello.'
In the middle of the field, Shion took a deep breath. 'Now or never!'
Through the System interface, Shion pressed the button: [Deactivate Absolute Territory (3 Seconds)].
He leaped into the air, executing a fake spinning kick maneuver for the Hakke Kuusho.
Right at the peak of his jump, Shion pretended to lose focus on his chakra footing.
"Ah!" Shion let out a small yelp (which sounded incredibly cute and fabricated), then let his body slip backward as he landed.
Because the magical physics protection feature of his skirt was off, the normal laws of gravity took over. As Shion fell flat on his back with his legs slightly raised, a strong afternoon gust blew through.
The sailor mini skirt folded and flew upwards perfectly.
From behind the trees, Minato's eyes—which happened to be intently focused on Shion's footwork—widened to their absolute maximum.
A pristine white cotton fabric lined with lace, perfectly wrapping the stocking-clad lower curves, was exposed without any obstruction whatsoever beneath the afternoon sun.
The Yellow Flash's genius brain short-circuited for a full second.
His perpetually calm face was instantly invaded by a ridiculously hot, crimson blush. A visual 'blessing' that he had absolutely never anticipated ruthlessly assaulted his retinas.
'W-what did I just see?!' Minato panicked internally. As a healthy young man (and not yet married to Kushina at this time), his blood rushed wildly.
However, Minato's chivalrous instincts immediately kicked those wild thoughts out of his head. He hurriedly looked away, feeling incredibly guilty for having peeked at a girl who was just training.
Seeing the 'girl' fall, Minato immediately used the Shunshin no Jutsu. In the blink of an eye, a yellow flash appeared beside Shion.
"A-are you okay?" Minato asked quickly, extending a hand to help Shion up. His eyes purposely stared straight up at the sky, desperately avoiding looking down.
Shion sat on the ground, smoothing down his skirt with lightning speed (the Absolute Territory feature had reactivated). His face, beneath his flawless makeup, was completely beet red. Not because he was blushing like a girl who had been caught, but out of shame, anger, and the sheer humiliation of being a man who had just intentionally flashed his underwear at another man for a System mission!
Shion gently slapped Minato's hand away. He glared at the face of the village hero, who was currently acting all awkward.
"You..." Shion's voice trembled violently. "You saw it, didn't you?"
Minato froze in place. His outstretched hand went stiff in the air.
"..."
Cold sweat drenched Minato's forehead. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Seeing Minato's silent reaction, Shion's embarrassment and emotions exploded. He pointed a trembling index finger at the Yellow Flash's face, his eyes welling with tears of pure humiliation.
"You Pervert! Peeping Tom!" Shion screamed, his face as red as a ripe tomato.
Hearing the accusation, the memory of that white laced cotton silhouette flashed through Minato's head again without permission. Minato's face, which had been red, now turned deathly pale, then flushed crimson red again in rapid succession.
"N-no! I-it's not like that!" Minato waved both his hands frantically, his cool posture shattering instantly. "I swear I didn't mean to peek! I just happened to be passing by and intended to say hello, and then the wind... I mean, you slipped, and my eyes accidentally... Ah, no! I didn't see anything! Really!"
Seeing the fastest shinobi in the world stuttering like a teenage boy caught stealing an adult magazine, Shion could only cover his face with both hands, weeping over his pride, which had now been reduced to ashes in the eyes of one of Konoha's legends.
[Ding! Mission Accomplished! Reward: Elite Jonin Chakra Reserves have been integrated!]
Amidst the soul-burning embarrassment, Shion cursed the System for the thousandth time.