Hanyu Bai later learned that the reason Kurenai Yuhi sought out Asuma Sarutobi wasn’t to celebrate Asuma’s return to the village, but for the Jonin exam.
Kurenai Yuhi, Anko Mitarashi, and Hayate Gekko formed a team to take the Jonin exam—although it was impossible for Anko Mitarashi to actually become a Jonin, that didn’t stop her from taking the exam.
The Jonin exam was completely different from the Chunin exams; compared to the Jonin exam, the Chunin exams were like playing house!
Every ninja qualified to take the Jonin exam was the backbone of the village, and even Konoha couldn’t afford to use them as cannon fodder.
Therefore, every squad taking the Jonin exam had to recruit a veteran Jonin to escort and protect them, ensuring the exam’s prestige while preventing over-attrition of the village’s core strength.
Kurenai and her team only knew a handful of veteran Jonin.
Kakashi was still lost at the crossroads of life, visiting the Konoha Cemetery every few days; Guy had been promoted to Jonin, but no matter how you looked at him, Guy seemed completely unreliable…
Back in the day, Guy even wanted to join the Anbu, leaving the Third Hokage utterly speechless.
Besides, Guy had only recently been promoted to Jonin, so he couldn’t quite be considered a veteran yet.
If Shinku Yuhi were still alive, Kurenai naturally wouldn’t need to look elsewhere, but who could help the fact that Konoha was currently at its weakest period?
After exhausting all options, Kurenai had no choice but to turn to Asuma Sarutobi.
The reason Kurenai wanted to pass the Jonin exam was actually because of Hanyu Bai.
Upon successfully promoting to Jonin, the village would grant an A-rank scroll as a reward.
Originally, Kurenai didn’t need it, as the Genjutsu inheritance left by Shinku Yuhi was enough for her to study for a lifetime.
But Bai was different.
Bai’s Genjutsu and ninjutsu heritages were great, capped by A-rank scrolls, but his kenjutsu lacked one.
Bai was unwilling to take Hayate Gekko as his master, and Hayate didn’t want to teach everything either, so Kurenai could only figure out a way to get an A-rank kenjutsu scroll herself.
Learning the truth, Bai felt both touched and helpless.
In truth, he wasn’t lacking A-rank kenjutsu—he had already copied Hayate’s Dance of the Crescent Moon and Hazy Moon Dance using his Sharingan.
But he couldn’t say that out loud.
At the same time, Bai realized that he seemed to have genuinely fallen in love with Kurenai.
However, after that day, Kurenai and Anko began preparing for the Jonin exam, and even Bai couldn’t see them.
The one with the greatest resentment was Anko Mitarashi.
Going from frugal to luxurious was easy, but going from luxurious to frugal was hard!
Ever since Bai stamped a kiss on her lips that day, Anko felt like if she didn’t get a kiss every day, she couldn’t sleep peacefully at night!
“Anko, why do I feel like you’ve been weird lately?” Kurenai scrutinized Anko, asking hesitantly.
“Have I?” Hearing this, Anko’s eyes drifted nervously as she cleared her throat.
“Must be your imagination.
Haven’t I always been like this?”
Kurenai glanced at the untouched dessert in front of Anko, practically writing the words “Who are you kidding?” across her face.
Not only that, Kurenai noticed that Anko often spaced out recently, bursting into silly, unprovoked grins, with seductive blushes occasionally flushing her cheeks.
Unfortunately, Kurenai was also a leftover female ninja who had never tasted the sweetness of love, completely unaware of what Anko’s reactions implied.
After a long moment, Kurenai sighed, dropping the matter and instructing solemnly, “Anko, you know why I’m taking this Jonin exam.
I want to give Shiro-chan a surprise!”
“Got it!” Anko replied, casting an envious glance at Kurenai as she muttered under her breath, “I want to surprise him way more than you do!”
“Huh?” Kurenai blinked blankly.
“When did you two get so close?”
“Hehehe, we’ve always had a great relationship!” Anko said.
Kurenai rolled her eyes in annoyance, snapping perfunctorily, “It better be!”
Meanwhile, the central figure of Kurenai and Anko’s conversation currently appeared inside a quiet, secluded estate on the mountain behind Konoha Village.
This estate belonged to the Kurama clan.
Speaking of the Kurama clan, it was once one of Konoha’s top families, possessing a Kekkei Genkai that controlled the five senses, making them the true number one Genjutsu clan.
At their peak, they were inferior only to the Senju and Uchiha clans, standing on equal footing with the Hyuga clan.
However, fewer and fewer ninja inherited the Kekkei Genkai over time, and the clan gradually fell into decline.
Today, all that remained of the Kurama clan was this small estate.
Sitting on a swing in front of Hanyu Bai was a young girl with delicate features, slender shoulders, a narrow waist, and lightly furrowed eyebrows, radiating an indefinable melancholy.
Her skin was brilliantly pale, adding a fragile sweetness that made anyone want to protect her.
The girl was Yakumo Kurama, the only daughter of the Kurama clan head.
She not only inherited the clan’s Kekkei Genkai, but was also a once-in-a-century Genjutsu prodigy of the Kurama clan!
Regrettably, Heaven had not granted Yakumo Kurama a physical body that matched her Genjutsu talent.
Yakumo had been frail since childhood, growing exhausted after just a short spell of training.
Pitying her, her parents refrained from sending her to the Academy, instead hiring Kurenai Yuhi as her private tutor.
Sometimes Kurenai brought Bai along, allowing Bai and Yakumo to learn Genjutsu together, which was how Bai met Yakumo.
Seeing Hanyu Bai, delight blossomed across Yakumo’s melancholic face.
Bai smiled gently, stepping behind Yakumo and pushing the swing for her.
“Little Junior Brother, do you not have class at the Academy today?
How do you have time to visit me?” Yakumo sat quietly on the swing, the corners of her lips curling up slightly.
“I began learning under her before you did, so you should call me Senior Brother!” Bai rolled his eyes, then added, “Nothing much going on at school today, so I came to visit you.”
“My head feels a bit dizzy, stop pushing.” Yakumo nodded, letting out a self-deprecating chuckle.
Bai obliged.
Yakumo rested her head quietly against Bai, slowly closing her eyes: “Tell me about what happens at the Academy, I want to hear…”
“Mhm…” A flicker of hesitation flashed in Bai’s eyes, but he began relating his recent experiences at the Academy nonetheless.
Bai understood Yakumo’s situation clearly.
Her parents and Kurenai worried about her health and didn’t want her to become a ninja, but this planted resentment inside Yakumo’s heart.
Combined with her extraordinary talent in Genjutsu and Yin Release, this resentment gave birth to a monster of desire and vengeance within her mind.
The more Bai described his Academy experiences to Yakumo, the faster that monster inside her would take shape.
Yet Bai told her anyway.
Severe illness required strong medicine.
The sooner Idou manifested, the sooner Bai could destroy it.
Besides, Idou and Yakumo were the most crucial link in Bai’s plan to win over Kurenai!
With Bai’s current strength, he was completely confident in subduing the monster in Yakumo’s heart.
After a long while, as Bai’s voice slowly trailed off, Yakumo remained eyes closed, suddenly giggling and teasingly asking, “Little Junior Brother is so amazing, there must be lots of girls at the Academy who like you, right?”
“I told you, you should call me Senior Brother!” Bai corrected her.