Yun Xi's Regret

Early morning, at Yun Xi's home.

After casually tidying up the various ninja tools Tenten had left scattered around the house, Yun Xi found a spot to sit down. Gazing at the dazzling sunlight before him, a lazy expression surfaced on his face.

Ever since Yun Xi had finished experimenting with the various flame powers within his body three nights ago, he had remained at home to cultivate.

Uchiha Itachi had apparently been busy with missions over the past few days and hadn't come to look for him.

Only now had Yun Xi paused his cultivation to enjoy a brief moment of slacking off.

Under normal circumstances, with the Uchiha clan's annihilation only a few days away, Yun Xi should have been seizing every spare moment to make himself stronger.

Instead of being in this "salty fish" mode, lying here like a corpse...

But Yun Xi didn't want this either!!!

"If I had known, I wouldn't have chosen that option!"

A look of distress appeared on the face of the fish-like Yun Xi. In truth, the culprit behind all of this was the system!

The night before last, Yun Xi had returned home intending to rest, planning to find Uchiha Itachi the next day to learn more advanced Fire Style ninjutsu.

But unexpectedly.

After the night passed, Yun Xi went to the Uchiha clan to find Uchiha Itachi, only to learn that he had already left the village on a mission.

This completely disrupted Yun Xi's plans...

Helpless, Yun Xi could only cultivate at home by himself.

On one hand, he trained his basic taijutsu; on the other, he worked on increasing his chakra reserves.

Although it wasn't the most perfect training plan, Yun Xi had still gained quite a bit over these three days.

But all of that changed with the appearance of that girl, Tenten...

"Ding, congratulations to the host for activating the Choice System: Tenten's Good Big Brother/Bad Big Brother..."

{Option One: Refuse Tenten's request to play. Reward: Tenten's favorability -99, gain Tenten's resentment, taijutsu training speed +1%, ninjutsu training speed -100%...}

{Option Two: Take Tenten on a spring outing. Reward: Primary Ninja Tool Mastery...}

Faced with such extreme options, Yun Xi didn't even think twice before choosing the second one.

But it was only after he made his choice that he discovered Tenten wanted to go out and play for three days!

Upon learning this, Yun Xi felt terrible.

Three days!

To accompany Tenten on a spring outing!

And the reward he received was something as useless as Primary Ninja Tool Mastery...

Yun Xi felt like he had suffered a massive loss!

In the original Hokage timeline, the Uchiha clan's annihilation was set for these very days.

Although the timeline might have been pushed back a few days due to his warnings, he now had to spend three whole days accompanying Tenten...

After thinking it over carefully.

Yun Xi still felt it was a loss...

And a massive one at that.

"No, I have to find an excuse to make Tenten cancel the spring outing!"

Upon learning that the system's choices could not be modified once decided, and that forcibly changing them or failing to complete them would result in the random loss of one ability.

Yun Xi had no choice but to think of another way...

Which led to the scene today...

At this moment, Yun Xi was simply waiting for Tenten to get ready so he could take her on that spring outing...

"Damn it!"

Even now, Yun Xi still felt a bit cheated whenever he thought about it.

Although his repeated attempts at persuasion (deception) hadn't changed Tenten's desire to go on the outing, his efforts had yielded some results.

He had managed to change the location of the spring outing to the small courtyard of his own home.

This way, Yun Xi could still squeeze in some time for cultivation.

He had called it:

"My little courtyard is much more fun!"

"Sigh, if I had known, I wouldn't have been so greedy for small gains..."

After casually tucking a Kunai into his ninja tool pouch, Yun Xi did a kip-up, standing straight up to begin preparing food for the two of them for the day.

After all, the blame didn't lie with Tenten, but with the system.

Faced with such a cute little Tenten, Yun Xi still couldn't bring himself to let her eat instant noodles every day...

"Brother Yun Xi, I'm here!"

Just then, Tenten's excited voice drifted over from a distance. Hearing her, Yun Xi opened the door and said with a smile, "Come on in."

"Okay!"

Clearly, Tenten had prepared for the spring outing today. She wore a pure white Chinese-style qipao and carried a bulging little backpack on her back. Yun Xi glanced at it casually and discovered it was filled with pre-made rice balls and food.

Well, it looks like I don't need to prepare any food.

Yun Xi thought to himself after seeing this.

He then found a small stool and gestured for Tenten to sit. As he used a handkerchief to wipe the fine beads of sweat from her forehead, he asked, "Why did you come so early today?"

"Mhm, I was just so happy today! Honestly, I didn't expect Brother Yun Xi to actually agree to my request for a spring outing, so I brought the food my mom prepared and came to find you first thing in the morning."

I regret it...

Hearing this, a faint sense of regret instantly welled up in Yun Xi's heart. He thought that if he had just refused, none of this would be happening...

But since things had already reached this point, Yun Xi stopped dwelling on it. After settling Tenten in, he led her to the backyard and was just about to speak...

However, at that moment, a strange expression flashed across little Tenten's face, and she said to Yun Xi in a surprised tone, "Oh no, I forgot something!"

"What is it?" Seeing Tenten's startled reaction, Yun Xi asked hurriedly.

"I brought a little friend along too!"

With that, little Tenten ran off helplessly. A few minutes later, she returned to Yun Xi's side with a young boy about the same age as Sasuke.

He wore a white training outfit, and his youthful face displayed a coldness that seemed out of place for his age.

Of course, that wasn't the main point.

What surprised Yun Xi the most were the boy's eyes...

Blank, white pupils.

And the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead!

Why is it him?

Upon confirming that the boy before him was Hyuga Neji, Yun Xi was shocked.

According to the timeline of the original story, as a peerless genius of the Hyuga Clan, he spent most of his time training to protect the head family's young lady, Hyuga Hinata, after being branded with the Caged Bird Seal.

There was absolutely no way he would waste time going on a spring outing with Tenten!

"Brother Yun Xi?"

Seeing the expression on Yun Xi's face, Tenten stretched out her little head and tentatively called his name.

"Hmm..."

Surprise was surprise, but Yun Xi didn't show any hostility. After observing Hyuga Neji for a moment, he instead felt that this was an opportunity to make contact with the Hyuga Clan...

One had to know that the Hyuga Clan, much like the Uchiha Clan, was one of the most powerful family forces in Konoha.

Furthermore, they possessed a unique bloodline limit—the Byakugan.

The only difference from the Uchiha Clan, however, was...