A Remarkable Woman - Uchiha Shuri

Konohagakure's training grounds.

This place, destroyed a year ago by Diejian and Shuri, had been completely repaired and showed no signs of damage.

In a corner of these training grounds, two women stood.

Diejian quietly approached them.

One was Uchiha Shuri, her glossy black hair tied high in the back for ease of movement.

The other was Yamanaka Ina, her gentle blonde hair in the sunlight coiled into a bun at the back, with a fringe left down on one side.

The two wore similar outfits, vests covering their chests and hot pants for ease of movement.

Their long legs, extending from the hot pants, outlined beautiful lines, and their exposed arms were perfectly toned.

Their exposed navels revealed taut muscles beneath fair skin, with abs subtly visible and beautiful.

While maintaining their feminine curves, both had honed physiques befitting ninjas.

The only difference between them, it seemed, was the degree of their chest's prominence.

Diejian stopped a short distance away, frowning in confusion.

What are they doing...?

This was a training ground where young ninjas honed their strength.

Hearing that Ina and Shuri were here, Diejian had assumed they were sparring friendly.

There was nothing strange about that.

If needed, he had intended to be their practice opponent.

Naturally, Diejian assumed Shuri and Ina were sparring.

Therefore, the current situation of Ina and Shuri, a short distance from Diejian, was completely unexpected—

"Ah, ahhh!!"

"Hang in there! Just a little more!"

Shuri, drenched in sweat, let out a pained roar.

Ina, her fair skin illuminated by the light, encouraged her with a trembling voice.

It was a beautiful scene at first glance, but Diejian couldn't comprehend it.

"So, so amazing, those two older sisters are playing horsey..."

Unfortunately, it seemed young ninja hopefuls—children who looked like boys and girls—were staring intently at Ina and Shuri.

Diejian glanced at the two acquaintances and decided to pretend not to know them.

Because Shuri was crawling on all fours on the ground, with Ina riding on her back.

Shuri, with her body low, supported herself nimbly with the tips of her limbs—her fists and toes—and crawled around the training ground.

Diejian didn't know if that scene could be described as "walking."

But in any case, Shuri was moving like a horse, carrying Ina on her back.

What on earth was going on with those two?

Diejian couldn't help but press his eye corners, which didn't hurt, wondering if he had unknowingly fallen under a genjutsu.

"Don't look, it's dangerous!"

"Ah, but, Mom and Dad seemed to have done something similar before?"

"My Mom and Dad did too."

"Is it a wrestling game?"

"But it's between girls."

"Is there such a world?"

"Jiraiya-senpai said that girls have many secrets."

"Really? Let's ask Jiraiya-senpai when he gets back."

"Will they spank you or something?"

"Eh, why?"

"Spanking?"

"Girls are amazing!"

"Then, will Tsunade-neechan, whom Jiraiya-senpai mentioned, also spank people?"

"Tsunade-neechan is so cute!"

"Tsunade-neechan is beautiful."

"Will Tsunade-neechan also do that kind of thing?"

"Should I ask Mom..."

Like a dam bursting, the children's intense meeting by the well.

The surrounding whispers and clamor overlapped, reaching Diejian's ears.

(Jiraiya... what on earth did that guy teach the kids?)

Diejian suppressed his headache from Jiraiya spreading unnecessary knowledge and prayed in his heart for the future peace of the boy who spoke last.

However, since Tsunade's name was mentioned, he couldn't pretend to be a bystander any longer as an older brother.

Diejian strode towards the gathered boys, exuding intimidating chakra, and smiled down at them as if looking down from above.

"Tsunade wouldn't do such a thing. Understand?"

"Na..."

"Na?"

One of the boys let out a stiff sound.

Diejian savored the word that slipped out of the boy's mouth and tilted his head.

Then, the next second—

"It's, it's the Slug Prince—!!"

"Run—!!"

"We're gonna die!!"

"We're gonna be eaten!"

"Will we be stuck to Prison Gate?"

"Please spare me from One Thousand Years of Death."

"Idiot, run!"

"Uwa—!"

"So scary—"

"I, I'm gonna pee..."

"Being this scared, I'll get hurt too..."

The moment the children recognized Diejian, they turned pale like startled spiders and ran away.

Diejian was crushed by his own overly harsh evaluation and reached out to the empty air as if trying to grab the sky.

"Oh my, isn't that Diejian? Hello~?"

"To be disliked by children, it seems your bad personality is written all over your face."

Ina's drawn-out voice, noticing Diejian due to the commotion, and Juri's unintentionally teasing remark gave Diejian an indescribable sense of exhaustion.

He could no longer pretend to be a bystander.

Diejian resignedly ruffled his neatly trimmed short hair.

The two remained in their horse-and-rider positions.

Juri, who approached, was indeed on all fours, while Ina sat steadily and casually.

"Juri, Ina... um, the weather is nice, isn't it."

"Hah? What are you pretending to be now?"

"Yes, the weather is indeed nice."

Ina tilted her head in confusion at Diejian's stiff greeting.

Beneath her, her tied-up black hair swayed, and Juri casually chimed in.

"Sorry to disturb you."

"It's not a disturbance. Right, Juri?"

"Mm. Rather, it would be great if Diejian could help."

"Ehh—!?"

"Am I going to be dragged into this too?" A drop of sweat slid down Diejian's cheek.

"By the way, what are you two doing?"

"We're helping Juri train... can't you tell? Come on, Juri, just a little more, continue."

"Mm, yes."

Diejian had intended to simply confirm what they were doing, but Ina replied indifferently, as if saying, "Don't ask the obvious."

He asked this question precisely because he couldn't understand even after looking, and it seemed like something completely different, but Ina didn't seem to notice.

Following Ina's words, Juri began to perform arm flexion and extension exercises—push-ups.

So that's it, Ina is using him as a weight, Diejian understood.

But as an act performed by two women with most of their skin exposed, it was quite an eyesore.

It had already exerted a negative influence on the young boys and girls, so it was probably better to let them understand the situation themselves.

However, most of the boys' delusions were likely the fault of that lecherous Monkey who kept instilling such strange knowledge in them—

"Ah... Ina, if I were to wear clothes like that and ride on Shuri's back, what would you think...?"

"Ha, hah? What are you suddenly saying? That kind of... that kind of... ah!"

Coming from Diejian, who almost never made sexual remarks, these words brought a rare sense of fluster to Ina, who was over twenty but still pure of heart.

Wearing something light and skimpy while riding on Shuri's back—was he using Shuri's name to incite jealousy, or was he finally going to fulfill the promise made a year ago? But in a place like this, right in front of Shuri, Ina's cheeks flushed red, and she was shaken.

But Ina was a clever woman.

She immediately compared her current situation to how she and Shuri must look objectively, and thus understood what Diejian was trying to say.

The result—

"No!! That's not it!!! Listen to me, it's not! It's not like that at all!"

"Oh, oh."

Ina, still riding on Shuri's back, shouted with astonishing intensity.

While Diejian felt intimidated by Ina's ghostly expression, he also felt a sense of surrealism as Ina's face bobbed up and down in rhythm with Shuri's movements.

"It's not—! Help, save me, Diejian. Ina suddenly pushed me down and made me act like a mare..."

"Shuri—shut up! You were the one who suggested it in the first place!!"

"--Eek!"

Perhaps finding Ina's panic amusing, Shuri had suddenly interjected.

She likely hadn't realized that this would only tighten the noose around her own neck.

According to Shuri's version of events, she was being forced to act as a horse against her will, being bossed around by Ina—that was the story.

Diejian wasn't the type to be fooled by such a claim, but for Ina, this was unbearable.

She might be seen by her childhood friend as a sadomasochistic lesbian.

Ina's eyes narrowed, and she swung her hand back, delivering a forceful slap to Shuri's backside.

With a crisp, explosive sound, Shuri let out a shriek like a cat that had just had its tail stepped on.

"So that's what those brats were talking about earlier... and the kid from the Akimichi Clan was there too... what am I supposed to do now, honestly."

As for Ina, her anger seemed to have dissipated after landing that solid blow on Shuri's shapely, soft rear.

"Spare me—" She lowered her head with a look that suggested she was about to cry, letting out a weary sigh.

"Come on, Shuri, just a little more. Keep it up."

"Mm, I'll do my best."

However, the moment she lifted her head—Ina's expression shifted to one of gentleness.

The voice she used to speak to Shuri remained soft as well.

Ina patted Shuri's backside a few more times as she spoke, but the movements were as tender as a mother encouraging her child.

Shuri nodded clumsily and silently resumed her push-ups.

(I still can't figure out the distance between these two...)

Watching their interaction, Diejian scratched the back of his head, feeling somewhat at a loss.

"Is this... some kind of training?"

"Let's just call it training."

"You seem very invested in your training, Shuri. Are you planning to participate in this year's Chunin Selection Exam?"

"Of course. I've been preparing for a long time."

Shuri grinned, refocusing her attention on her push-ups.

It had been about four years since the first Chunin Selection Exam.

All of Diejian's peers had been promoted to Chunin, and a few were even starting to appear as Jonin.

Sadly, it went without saying that the "one exception" was Uchiha Shuri herself.

It was only natural that Shuri would be this desperate.

"--Nine hundred ninety-one, nine hundred ninety-two..."

"Well, that's how it is. She says she feels like she can become a Chunin now, and she's full of motivation. It seems she's already finished the registration, so you should cheer her on too, Diejian."

"Oh, you've already registered, then."

Diejian's eyes sparkled.

Shuri was undoubtedly counting the number of push-ups she had completed.

One could sense the joy mixed into her labored breathing.

Of course, it wasn't because her arms were feeling pleasant from the numbness of overexertion.

Perhaps it was because they were nearing the thousandth repetition, which was considered the goal.

Diejian had intended to tell them something, but he clamped his mouth shut.

He felt it would be too cruel to Juri, who was on the verge of reaching her thousandth rep.

"--Nine hundred ninety-nine! One thousand...! I did it--!!"

"Juri, I've been appointed as an examiner for this upcoming Chunin Exam."

"...Eh?"

"Uwa..."

And so, Diejian decided to reveal this fact just as she reached her thousandth rep.

Sure enough, Juri's movements came to an abrupt halt, and the cheeks that had been relaxed from a sense of accomplishment tightened.

The color drained from her sweat-dampened, flushed skin, and her arms, pushed beyond their limits, began to tremble.

Ina felt Juri's trembling through their pressed-together thighs and let out a sigh tinged with pity.

Plop—as Ina stood up, Juri's body went limp and collapsed.

"Juri, you failed the last one, so you have to redo all one thousand."

"Wait, that wasn't my fault, was it?!"

At Ina's heartless declaration, the fallen Juri hurriedly propped herself up.

But her protest went unheeded.

As if crushed by the cruel reality, Juri plopped onto the ground and let out a sorrowful groan.

"Goodness, I'm just kidding, Juri."

"Really!?"

"Yeah, congratulations on reaching..."

Juri, who had been brushing the sand off her body and clothes, lunged for the helping hand Ina extended, her expression brightening.

But Ina looked away with an indifferent air and turned toward Diejian.

"So, Diejian. Was what you said earlier true?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure which round it is, but it seems I've been put in charge of an exam."

"Hey, that's a pretty important task, isn't it? Does that mean you got a promotion?"

"Well, I suppose so..."

"You're going to be an examiner!? Then what about me!? Are you trying to kill me!?"

Sitting on the ground, Juri's face changed drastically.

It seemed she had finally realized her own predicament.

Ina covered her ears to block out Juri's shrill voice and frowned unpleasantly.

"Hey, Juri, you're too loud."

"Uweeeeh..."

Perhaps due to the sadness of being heartlessly rebuked by Ina, Juri let out a pathetic crying sound.

Unable to watch Juri's overly pitiful state any longer, Diejian offered a bitter smile and reached out his hand.

"Come on, let's get you standing up first, Juri."

"Die, Diejian..."

Juri, who had been dragging her feet, looked as if she had found a savior; her expression softened, her cheeks flushed slightly, and she grasped his hand.

She kept holding it.

Even after standing up with Diejian's help, Juri did not let go of his hand.

Not only that, she covered Diejian's hand with both of hers, as if enveloping it.

"Oh..."

Diejian, wrapped in the soft touch of Juri's hands—so different from his own rough ones—savored the sensation.

This warmth, which he wanted to feel forever, brought a sense of peace to Diejian's heart.

Whether this feeling reached Juri or not, the strength with which she gripped Diejian's hand tightened.

Harder, and harder still—

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

Immediately after, Diejian let out a scream and pulled his hand away as if trying to escape from Juri.

"Ah, no, I didn't mean anything by it. It's just... I thought if you couldn't form hand seals, you wouldn't be able to be an examiner or anything. Sorry."

Juri, whose hand had been shaken off by Diejian, looked a bit lonely, but she offered an apology without a hint of remorse on her face.

Diejian shook his hand violently to dispel the pain, squinting his eyes in speechlessness.

"Is it really necessary to go that far? I wouldn't think so."

"This is a matter of life and death. I was fighting for my life, too."

"You really have no ambition, do you? Instead of trying to eliminate me, why not just win your Chunin promotion through sheer skill?"

"Oh, please... If you knew what 'you' were like lately, even I would do the same thing."

"I sympathize with Juri this time," Ina said, her tone implying as much. She cast a look of pity toward Juri and a look of speechlessness toward Diejian, then shrugged.

"Why...?"

"See? Even Ina says so."

Juri was delighted by the unexpected covering fire, while Diejian froze.

Seizing the opportunity, Juri closed in on Diejian and let out a voice of condemnation.

"When it comes down to it, Diejian—!! Aren't you the root of all this evil!!"

"The root of all evil? That's a pretty harsh way to put it..."

"You betrayed me in the final exam, even though we fought together to pass the second stage!"

"No, betrayal... it's no use complaining to me about that..."

Juri emphasized the "me," one hand spread wide and the other pressed against her chest, her movements like those of a stage actor.

But her earnest plea didn't reach Diejian at all.

"The teams for the second exam were apparently set up to be rivals beforehand. If you have any complaints, go tell Uncle Tobirama."

"That hateful Second Hokage—! Even in death, you still get in my way!"

"Well, Uncle getting in your way happened before he died."

Diejian said, speechless, while Juri roared at the heavens.

Watching Juri stomp her feet, one would never guess she was the woman rumored to possess the Ice Beauty.

—It is said that the path Juri walks is lined with pillars of men left dazed, confused, and standing frozen in their tracks.

See her in the morning and want to talk, and before you know it, it's already night.

Brush shoulders while passing by, and you wake up in the hospital.

Whisper that she's cute from afar, and you end up kissing a telephone pole.

The common thread in all these testimonies is that they all made eye contact with those beautiful, crimson eyes that even felt cold to the touch.

Yes.

Nine times out of ten, the men who showed interest in Juri were controlled by the genjutsu of the Sharingan.

Diejian concluded that this was correct.

Because she was a woman with a bit of a persecution complex, she likely misinterpreted compliments like "pretty," "cute," or "I want to be stepped on" as people talking behind her back, and silenced them accordingly.

Or perhaps it was just her way of hiding her shyness—

(What a clumsy girl.)

Watching Juri like this, Diejian's gaze was incredibly gentle.

"Ha... at the end of the day, all the results I worked so hard to show during the final exam were ruined... I'm devastated."

Juri, seemingly having regained her composure, muttered as if she were sulking.

But what exactly were these "results" she wanted to show? Diejian pondered.

(I remember back then, Juri was studying under Kagami-sensei... Could it be that she—)

Now, years later, the shocking truth was revealed.

Diejian blinked repeatedly, at a loss for words.

But he remembered; looking back now, there were indeed signs.

Perhaps Juri had wanted to show off the fruits of the training she received from her brother, Kagami.

Maybe she wanted to be praised, or perhaps she wanted to be acknowledged.

By whom, she wouldn't say.

But one of the reasons Juri was so unusually depressed when Diejian and the others were promoted to Chunin was that regretful feeling of being unable to show those results to that "someone"...

(Good grief... what an untruthful "little sister" she is.)

A wry smile appeared on Diejian's face.

But he understood that feeling.

Regarding his late mentor, Diejian was surely doing the exact same thing.

"Speaking of showing results, I was forcibly disqualified for a foul back then, too. It's not much different, is it?"

"Diejian, that's a completely different matter. I didn't break any rules."

"You..."

Diejian tried his best to smooth things over for Juri, but was ruthlessly shut down by Juri herself. What nerve.

Diejian shrugged tiredly, his gaze shifting from gentle to narrowed eyes, speechless.

"Besides, it wasn't me who took you down, it was Ina—"

"Diejian, don't you understand a girl's feelings?! Everyone in our year has become a Chunin, and some have even become Jonin... Of course, it's tough!"

Diejian had intended to redirect Juri's attack towards Ina, but Ina, who had been observing the situation, instantly saw through his strategy and began to dismantle it.

After speaking words of sympathy for Juri, Ina sadly lowered her eyelids.

Diejian's mouth fell open in surprise as he realized his childhood friend had betrayed him.

"No, Ina... that 'few who became Jonin' includes you..."

"A-And besides!! Sakumo from our class is already called White Fang. As for you, this past year you not only became Hiruzen-sama's close aide... what was it called, a carp streamer? That's what they called you."

"No, it's Rising Dragon. What the heck is a carp streamer."

"What does it matter. What's so great about Rising Dragon."

As Diejian corrected his own nickname, Ina rebuked him with an unusually cold voice.

"This isn't the usual Ina," Diejian flinched.

At this moment, Juri interjected.

"That's right..." Juri whispered as if she had received a revelation, her lips trembling slightly.

Diejian sighed inwardly, feeling that trouble was brewing again, and lazily scratched his head.

"Only I'm still a Genin...! Damn it! Damn it--!! How could you possibly understand this feeling, Diejian!"

"I certainly don't understand."

Shouting, Juri grabbed Diejian's collar.

Her movements were so fast that even Diejian's eyes couldn't catch them, and he could only let her shake him.

Perhaps angered by Diejian's indifferent response, Juri frowned unhappily.

"Listen, Juri."

Diejian grabbed Juri's wrist, stopping her rough handling.

Then, with a hint of coldness in his gaze, he looked down at Juri.

The sharp gaze honed over the past year, combined with the lingering old knife scars on his cheek, added to his intimidating presence.

"What's with that look..."

Juri met his sharp gaze head-on.

Her will, refusing to yield to the man before her, manifested as a sharp gaze—but as her eyes shifted slightly downward, her slender waist had already completely shrunk back.

(Honestly... this stubbornness hasn't changed one bit.)

After all, Diejian, and Sakumo who wasn't here, had tried every possible method to help Juri become a Chunin.

The one who scorned all of it was Juri herself.

In Diejian's eyes, there was no reason for Juri to blame him.

That being said, Diejian's true feelings were that he didn't not understand what she was trying to say, nor could he not empathize with her feelings.

In the past few years, Juri hadn't failed every Chunin exam.

But as the Chunin exams approached again, it was natural for her to become anxious due to nervousness.

Why couldn't she just say her worries, but instead stubbornly insisted on being this way? Was it a habit ingrained from her upbringing that she hadn't changed?

The resistance of exposing her vulnerable self seemed to be deeply rooted in Juri's heart.

Therefore, as a friend, Diejian decided to convey his unvarnished, true feelings to Juri.

Diejian grinned and raised his clenched fist.

Was it fear of Diejian's strange expression and actions not matching, or simply fear of being hit? Juri flinched and closed her eyes suddenly.

-- Thump, Juri's forehead was lightly tapped.

Juri opened her eyes and saw a smile.

Diejian released Juri's hand and, like knocking on a door, gently tapped Juri's fair forehead with the back of his fist.

Juri's eyes turned "red" and white.

Her forehead turned slightly red, and then her entire face gradually flushed.

Stunned, with her mouth hanging open, Juri looked like a goldfish waiting to be fed.

"It's okay. You can overcome any exam right now. I promise."

"Mm... Thank you."

Juri, who had stopped moving, covered her tapped forehead with both hands and nodded.

Diejian moved slightly away from Juri, as if letting out a hum, and a smile appeared on his face.

"But your examiner is precisely this wicked fellow."

However, Ina saw through Diejian's clever change of subject.

Met with a cold gaze, Diejian secretly broke out in a cold sweat.

"But, what is this? This cute creature."

Was it surprised by how much Zhu Li, curled up in a ball, differed from her usual self? Ina pinched the cheeks of the bowed-head Zhu Li from both sides.

"Stop it!"

After being pinched for a while, Zhu Li regained her usual reaction.

But her cheeks were still flushed, unable to hide the slight smile on her lips.

"But, are you really okay? It's a promotion, after all, but having you consider 'the exam'... I can hardly imagine it?"

After a while, Ina, having finished their playful banter, spoke with concern.

In fact, Diejian's grades during the training facility era were not good at all.

Therefore, even if Diejian shamelessly asserted, "I'm bad at academics," Ina would only nod and say, "That's right."

"So, it's probably a practical exam, but the content..."

"There, referring to past exams, you can just think as you go, can't you?"

"That's true. Super Ninja Kemari, depending on the situation, 'might be' okay...?"

"No, let's just forget about that."

Diejian murmured, recalling his first Chunin Selection Exam, and Ina, also recalling that time, wore a wry smile.

She told Diejian that it was like a one-time joke, and repeating it would likely not have a good reception.

"Right, I have a great idea!"

"Oh, what is it?"

"..."

Ina tilted her head at Zhu Li's statement, as if she had thought of a clever plan.

Since Zhu Li was going to take the exam as a Genin, all her suggestions would inevitably be rejected, but this was where a bit of personal connection was needed.

A gentle smile appeared on Ina's face.

On the other hand, Diejian, vaguely sensing what Zhu Li was about to say, narrowed his eyes in distaste.

"Diejian, tell me the exam content—"

"Give up. I have no intention of telling the exam content to a Genin."

As if to cut off Zhu Li's words, Diejian immediately said.

Zhu Li, ruthlessly rejected by Diejian, widened her eyes in astonishment, her half-open lips trembling.

"You said you'd cheer me on!"

"That's a completely different matter."

To Zhu Li, who was tearfully clinging to him, Diejian stated the reality with no hint of pity.

"Mmmph... Diejian, our destinies are indeed to fight..."

"Please stop. Are you planning to drag me into this this time, instead of Sakumo?"

"Ina, stop. I didn't mean that... Ow—!"

To pull back Zhu Li, who was approaching Diejian with her Sharingan activated, Ina grabbed Zhu Li by the hair.

Zhu Li let out a scream, unable to bear the pain as if her scalp were about to be torn off.

"Diejian, I understand what you want to say. After I'm done teaching this idiot a lesson, I'll come to your place, and we can discuss the exam there."

While pulling Zhu Li along, Ina looked back at Diejian.

"Ah, Ina, you're so sly! Ah, it hurts!"

"You've been a great help. I'll be waiting."

Having successfully arranged to borrow Ina's wisdom and achieved his goal, Diejian had no reason to linger.

Watching Zhu Li being dragged away, Diejian turned and left crisply.