The young man considered it. "That's... not usually allowed. But, since I have a good impression of you, I'll allow a minor exception." He paused, then added, "You really are clever, knowing to sacrifice one wish to maximize your benefits. Not bad at all."
Touye broke into a sweat. "Oh, it's not like that. I just can't think of anything right now, and I was afraid you wouldn't agree if I asked later... I didn't think that far ahead..."
A deadpan expression crossed the young man's face. "I take back what I said... Well then, you can go now. When you want to make your final request, just call my name in your heart. But I will only appear once. If you call me and don't make a request, your last wish will be forfeit. Remember, my name is Xiyuan!"
With that, he waved his hand. A circular portal appeared behind Touye and instantly swallowed him whole.
The young man watched the portal slowly disappear. "An interesting person," he murmured. "I wonder how far he can go. I'd really like to see... Hehehe..."
***
Four years later, in the Land of Water.
A group of black shadows suddenly appeared on a flat, snowy plain. A closer look revealed them to be Kirigakure ANBU.
The squad leader spoke in a low voice. "Where is she?"
The surroundings were cold and silent. No one spoke. After a moment, a voice cautiously piped up, "W-we can't find her. Maybe... she got away... Ugh!"
The squad leader slapped the ANBU who had spoken, sending him flying. "A bunch of worthless fools," he sneered. "Can't even catch a four-year-old girl! What good are you? Go search again. The last remnant of the Yuki clan must die, especially since she's awakened the Ice Release. Awakening a Kekkai Genkai at four... you should know what that means. So, she must die! Tear this place apart if you have to, but find her. If she escapes, you will all commit seppuku!"
"Sir!" the ANBU chorused. In a blur, all the figures vanished.
***
Ten days later, a mound suddenly bulged on the flat expanse of snow. Then, a small hand shot out from beneath it.
A little girl, who looked to be about three or four years old, climbed out of the snow. She had lustrous black hair and delicate features; even at her young age, it was clear she was a budding beauty.
She lay sprawled on the snow, gasping for air. It took a long while for her to recover enough to sit up. She stared blankly at her own small body.
*I can't believe it. I was really transmigrated... and not only that... I was turned into a girl... and became a girl... I could live with that, since being alive is what matters most. But of all things, I had to become a survivor of the Yuki clan, and I even got discovered... Heavens, do you really want me dead...? Damn it! Damn it all! You bastard!*
The girl was, of course, the transmigrated Touye. Four years had passed in this new world. Before the age of four, she hadn't known she was a survivor of the Yuki clan. She had thought she was born into an ordinary family in the Land of Water. The Yuki clan had already been wiped out, and her parents had never told her, likely hoping she could live a normal life.
But unexpectedly, her parents' identities were discovered by the Kirigakure ANBU. Disaster struck their home, and her parents were killed. In that desperate moment, witnessing the horror of her parents' death, Touye's Ice Release bloodline awakened. While it saved her life at the time, it also drew the attention of the ANBU. After all, someone who awakened Ice Release at the age of four was nothing short of a genius.
The result was that poor Touye was hunted with nowhere to run. In just one month, she had several near-death experiences. Out of options, she chose an extreme method: burying herself alive.
First, she prepared some food, like raw rabbit meat, and buried it. The snow acted as a natural preservative, so she didn't have to worry too much about it spoiling, especially since she had infused it with her own ice-aspected chakra. Then, Touye used her newly awakened Ice Release to sink herself deep into the snow, expending all her chakra to freeze herself solid. All traces of her presence were concealed as she entered a state of suspended animation.
The Kirigakure ANBU had held their meeting right above her head, completely oblivious. They could never have imagined that a four-year-old girl would possess such courage. If her plan had failed, she would have been dead for sure.
Ultimately, after days of fruitless searching, the ANBU had no choice but to return and report their failure.
Touye had finally escaped with her life. Even with an adult soul, her body was still that of a four-year-old with only rudimentary training. She could never have outlasted the ANBU in a prolonged chase. If she had kept running, she would have eventually collapsed from exhaustion and been killed.
Even so, she was at her limit. She had been frozen for ten days with no nourishment. Despite the support of her Yuki bloodline, she was extremely weak.
Slowly, she got to her feet and made her way to where she had hidden the food. With the last of her strength, she dug it out. Lying on the ground, she swallowed the raw meat bit by bit, ice crystals and all. It wasn't that she didn't want cooked meat; on the run, starting a fire was like sending up a flare that screamed, *I'm over here! Come and kill me!*
After swallowing the last piece of meat, she lay motionless on the ground. A while later, feeling a bit of strength return, she pushed herself up and started walking toward the border of the Land of Water. She didn't know if or when another ninja might appear. If one did and decided to finish her off, she'd be in serious trouble. In her current state, she had no strength left to fight back.
She stumbled on in a daze, not knowing how far she'd gone. When she reached a small grove of trees, she could hold on no longer and collapsed at the foot of a large tree.
***
When she awoke again, she found herself in a small wooden hut, lying in a bed with a blanket over her.
*Someone must have saved me. But I need to leave as soon as possible. I can't bring trouble to these kind people...*
With that thought, Touye sat up and discovered her clothes were gone. The wounds she hadn't had time to treat were neatly bandaged. But where were her clothes?
She quickly pulled the blanket back over herself. Even though she used to be a man, her body was now female—well, a little girl's. Still, the thought of another man seeing her body made her skin crawl.
As she was agonizing over whether to call for someone and, if they came, whether she should silence them, she heard a noise nearby. Her body, conditioned by a month of being hunted by ANBU, reacted instinctively. She shot up from the bed.
"Who's there?!" she yelled, already lunging toward the source of the sound. Her left hand flew through several seals while her right hand, mid-swing, condensed an ice dagger.
Then, she heard a childish scream. Touye's heart skipped a beat. She immediately halted her attack, the ice dagger stopping just inches from the neck of the small figure before her. She took a closer look. It was a girl, even smaller than herself, looking at her in terror. In her hands, she held Touye's clothes.
Touye glanced down at herself and saw she was still naked. A blush spread from her cheeks all the way to her neck.
Seeing Touye's embarrassment, the little girl let out a giggle. Mortified, Touye snatched the clothes from her hands and held them in front of her chest. The little girl was no longer scared. She stared at Touye with wide, dark eyes and shouted, "Mama, she's awake! She's awake!"
A gentle woman's voice came from outside the door. "Is she? Let me see..."
The woman entered and froze at the scene before her. A moment later, she understood and quickly said to Touye, "Don't be afraid, we mean no har—!"