A Clichéd Cheat

Uchiha Sasuke... Uchiha Satsuki?

No, no, no... Calm down. How could that be possible?

Naruto blinked hard, trying to drive the image of that cold-faced, black-haired boy from his mind. Uchiha Sasuke was obviously a boy! How could that edgy chuuni who talked about "revenge" all day and shot lightning at the drop of a hat have become the adorable little girl standing before him, even if she was a tsundere?

It had to be a coincidence... Yes, definitely a coincidence!

Yet when he took a closer look at Satsuki's little face, he realized that, from certain angles, she really did look somewhat familiar.

That face...

Naruto realized something. Sasuke had already been considered one of the most attractive characters in the original story. If he had been gender-swapped into a girl...

No, no! What am I even thinking?!

Uchiha Sasuke turning into a girl? What kind of bizarre Naruto worldline was this? Or was it a butterfly effect caused by his transmigration?

Countless questions exploded in his mind, but Naruto still retained basic social etiquette. Of course, he would not stupidly ask, "Um... you're actually a boy, right?"

If she took such an outrageously rude question as proof that he was a pervert, he would be in real trouble.

In the end, all his tangled thoughts turned into a dry farewell.

"I see... Then, see you another day."

Hearing Naruto promise that he would come play with her again, a faint thrill rose in Satsuki's heart. She tried to keep a straight face, but the corners of her lips still curled upward despite herself.

"Mm, if no one's around to practice with you..."

She turned around as if reluctantly. "I guess I can keep you company."

With that, she headed toward the Uchiha Clan Compound without looking back, casually waving one small hand as though she did not care in the slightest. Yet the moment she turned the street corner and made sure Naruto could no longer see her, Satsuki covered her mouth, her large eyes curving into Crescent Moons.

This was the first time... she had made a friend outside her clan.

She skipped over the patches of sunlight on the stone road, her steps noticeably lighter than usual.

Meanwhile, Naruto, who had remained where he was, fell into unprecedented confusion.

Watching Satsuki's retreating figure, his mind buzzed as if a thousand Shadow Clones had cast the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu at once.

No, no, no. It had to be a coincidence!

No matter how desperately he reassured himself, those damn "proofs" kept flashing through his mind. In the original story, Sasuke had always jokingly been called "the true female lead of Naruto."

From the moment they met until their final reconciliation, every line between them had been absurdly ambiguous—not to mention that accidental yet fated first kiss...

Knocked unconscious by Konoha friendship.

Just as Naruto was unable to sort out his thoughts—

Ding!

A crisp system notification suddenly rang out in his mind.

Congratulations, Host: You have formed an initial bond with original character "Uchiha Sasuke"!

Reward: The system has officially activated. You have received 500 points!

Bang!

Naruto dropped flat onto the ground. It really was him... Sasuke... had really become a girl?!

That was right, Naruto did have a system—though that was nothing unusual. For transmigrators, this kind of thing was practically standard equipment.

This system had existed in his consciousness since infancy. However, all this time, the translucent system interface had displayed only one cold line of text.

Awaiting story activation

No matter how Naruto tried to communicate with it, test it, or even angrily wave his tiny fists in his crib in protest, the system remained as unresponsive as a stubborn rock. As time passed, Naruto could only resign himself to waiting for this so-called "story activation."

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 had been the true beginning of his "story."

Yet fate seemed to enjoy playing jokes.

Who could have imagined that this system, dormant for years, would be unexpectedly activated by the gender-swapped Uchiha Sasuke—Uchiha Satsuki?!

Naruto's feelings were complicated. He moved forward mechanically, his eyes fixed on the system interface that had finally lit up before him.

Bond System

As long as you form connections with original characters and establish different bonds, you will receive system points!

The deeper your impact on the original story, the more points you will receive~

System points can be used for system draws—ninjutsu, Sage Mode, Dojutsu, Kekkei Genkai... everything is available!

Please work hard to forge bonds!

The streetlights along the road lit up one by one. Staring at the words "Dojutsu" and "Kekkei Genkai," Naruto's Adam's apple bobbed unconsciously.

Simple, but direct.

Three years of curiosity and waiting had finally taken tangible form. There was no cumbersome system shop, no complicated exchange list. The entire interface was so clean it was almost plain, with only one eye-catching draw button—or rather...

Wasn't this just a gacha system?!

Bond System—the name practically laid Naruto's central theme bare on the table. By that logic, even if he simply followed the original plot step by step, he could easily earn a huge number of bond points. He could become friends with the Konoha Twelve Ninja, form a master-disciple bond with Jiraiya, or even get entangled with the original story's villains.

Still, the system had thoughtfully pointed out that the deeper his impact on the original story, the more points he would receive.

That meant he did not need to waste time flattering those ignorant villagers, nor did he need to force himself to cater to those prejudice-filled stares.

"Still trying to tie me into spending more..."

His finger brushed over the description on the draw interface. It was simplicity itself—there was only a ten-pull button glimmering faintly, and each pull cost 1,000 points.

"Five hundred points... So I already have half of my first ten-pull."

"Forming an initial bond with gender-swapped Sasuke is actually worth five hundred points? That's quite a lot."

Once he accepted the premise that Uchiha Sasuke was a girl, Naruto had no psychological burden at all about using that teasing nickname. After all, Satsuki was not suddenly going to pop out and hit 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 I can get rewards for forming bonds... doesn't that mean I already have ready-made rewards to collect?!

Naruto came to an abrupt stop.

The next second, he spun around without hesitation. Instead of continuing toward his quiet little apartment, he broke into a run toward Konoha's bustling commercial district.