[New Fanfic is Up!!]
[Naruto: The Strongest Ninja System]
The gold-crimson storm climbed the heavens. As her will fully broke loose, long-sealed shards of memory surged with it.
Not so long ago.
New Zealand.
A mild, sunlit afternoon.
A cute silver-haired, heterochromic girl lounged on soft grass, a pure, carefree smile on her face.
She lifted a small hand mirror and, showing off to her reflection, chirped, "Yesterday I cut my time again~"
"And then?"
From the mirror, a faint, smiling voice answered.
"At this rate… won't I become as strong as onee-san?"
Brimming with hope for the future, light danced in the girl's eyes.
A tall figure drifted over and cast a gentle shade. A soft voice followed.
"Queen, talking to the mirror again?"
Hearing this, the Commoner Queen bounced up from the grass. When she turned and saw who it was, her eyes lit at once. "Ellerslie-onee-san!"
The visitor was the undisputed legendary runner of New Zealand in that era—Ellerslie.
"You seem in good shape lately."
On the road back, Ellerslie tilted her head and smiled at the younger girl keeping tight to her side.
"Mm! My next planned race is a G2!" The Commoner Queen nodded hard, proud in her tone.
Unlike onee-san—already drowning in G1 trophies and famous the world over—she was just a classic-year newcomer.
"I see."
Ellerslie smiled gently. "Queen, you're already a first-string runner."
Hearing such praise from the person she admired most, the Commoner Queen flushed, scratching her cheek with a sheepish laugh.
"Hehe, I'm nowhere near there yet. I'm still far behind you, onee-san."
Following Ellerslie's back bathed in the setting sun, her heart filled with warmth and peace.
Onee-san was incredible.
Including the high-stakes Atlantic Strongest Horse Girl Decider,
she had already won five G1 crowns—New Zealand's brightest star.
We all admired her. We all set her as our goal and chased her light.
…It should have stayed that way.
Time turned. On the eve of the Japan Cup, the Queen's nightmare came.
"I… lost."
The Commoner Queen looked at the back that hit the wire first—Ellerslie.
Though defeated, her face glowed with a smile from the heart.
It was her first official race standing with onee-san, and she had finished second.
Second only to onee-san!
"Not bad."
Her trainer eyed the board and nodded, satisfied.
Friends from home swarmed over as well, excited congratulations tumbling out: "Commoner Queen, you were amazing! You almost caught Ellerslie!"
"Everyone's saying you're the 'second Ellerslie'!"
Second… Ellerslie?
For some reason, the instant she heard the praise, the girl's pure joy felt doused by a bucket of cold water.
The Commoner Queen—
She held a talent everyone overlooked.
But that talent shone dazzlingly bright.
Barely two months later, in another graded race,
she overtook Ellerslie—and crushed her.
Still in her classic year, in near-overwhelming fashion, she toppled the Atlantic's reigning strongest runner at the peak of her career, winner of five G1s.
The Commoner Queen should have been crowned with glory, should have bathed in cheers and praise.
But… she didn't.
Every gaze still fixed stubbornly on Ellerslie.
Even so, she didn't get discouraged.
Maybe onee-san just wasn't in top shape that day.
Comforting herself like that, her admiration and respect didn't waver in the slightest.
Soon, an upcoming international G1 seized Oceania's attention.
A long-held obsession and vow across generations—the Japan Cup!
Back then, that obsession was something the classic-year Queen couldn't fully understand.
Everyone said this was the year the vow would be fulfilled.
Because the one sailing out… was Ellerslie.
Even the Commoner Queen herself believed it without a doubt.
After all, onee-san was incredible. Even against the whole world, she would win!
But that day was absolute darkness for all New Zealand.
"The race is over! The winner is Obey Your Master from the Eagle Nation! With absolute dominion she captures this year's Japan Cup!"
The voice from the TV was cold, flat.
And New Zealand's hope—their legend—Ellerslie…
A crushing defeat. Eighth place.
Watching with her academy mates, the Commoner Queen's mind went blank. She couldn't believe it.
Around her, the air plunged into an icy hell.
"No way—she didn't even make top five?"
"You're kidding me… eighth?"
Friends and instructors trembled, muttering, unable to accept the brutal reality.
Just then, one teacher glanced at the Queen, still staring dumbly at the screen.
In his eyes, a twisted, feverish flame ignited.
"That's it… that's it! Commoner Queen!"
He whirled, clamping both hands on the silver-haired girl's shoulders, and roared with a contorted face:
"We can only count on you!"
"Commoner Queen, you have to fulfill our vow!"
"You will take Ellerslie's place and avenge us!"
"Fulfill it!!!"
"Fulfill it!!!"
In that moment, in the Queen's sight, these "family" who were always so kind looked strange, terrifying.
The way they looked at her was no longer at the Commoner Queen—but at a substitute named "Ellerslie."
So, the next year, she set course for that far eastern island nation.
"You must win!"
That was the "friends" from the academy, whispering in her ear.
"You must avenge us! You are the second Ellerslie!"
That was the expectation forced on her by "kin" from home.
But the words that truly broke her were her trainer's, cold and merciless, on the eve of departure:
"I don't intend to lose. I'll stake everything. If even she can't do it, then I don't deserve to keep living."
Pressure—
Unmatched pressure—
Like a thick, clinging mire; like a thousand towering mountains grinding into her chest until she couldn't breathe.
If she didn't try, she'd betray everyone's expectations.
If she did try, it was only to prove a false title welded onto her—"Second Ellerslie."
That one-sided, selfish expectation made her sick to her stomach.
The memory ends with a voiceless scream, just as that black starry sky closed from behind:
Stake everything? Whose "everything"? Yours—or mine?!
I…
I am not some "Second Ellerslie"…
I already won…
I should be stronger than anyone…
I…!!!
Boom—!!!
Reality and memory snapped into perfect overlap.
"I am the Commoner Queen—!!!"
Her roar tore from the depths, packed with two years of rage and defiance against the whole world.
The gold-crimson hurricane swelled to its limit.
It was no longer just a storm. It became a flood of will strong enough to rip stars and reverse fate.
"Obey Your Master!!!"
Facing the golden figure about to blow past, the Commoner Queen didn't retreat or try to block.
She chose to meet it head-on—with a resolve to shatter both jade and stone if she must.
(End of Chapter)
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