“Use it on me.” Kazama’s hands blurred as he quickly formed the seals for Genjutsu: Bewildering Heart.
Even without activating the Sharingan, Kurenai’s hand-seal speed was slow enough that Kazama only needed to watch once to memorize the entire sequence.
“Wow… So fast!” Kurenai stared at Kazama in surprise.
His hand-seal speed was already faster than that of an ordinary chūnin.
Thanks to his absolute control over his body, his one-handed seals were even faster.
From Kurenai’s perspective, Kazama seemed almost as fast as her father—his fingers simply flashed through the seals in an instant.
Of course, Kazama was probably still some distance behind Shinku Yūhi.
But once Kazama passed through these crucial years of rapid physical growth and the bones and joints in his hands fully developed, his hand-seal speed would increase dramatically.
Surpassing Shinku Yūhi would be entirely possible.
Perhaps he could even eventually reach the level of Itachi Uchiha.
“But… do you really want me to use the genjutsu on you?” Kurenai looked worried.
She still hadn’t fully mastered Genjutsu: Bewildering Heart.
If she cast it on Kazama, she wouldn’t be able to control the effect properly.
What if she accidentally hurt him?
“Don’t worry about it.” Kazama waved casually.
Then he leaned closer and lowered his voice, almost bringing his face right up to hers.
“I’ll tell you a secret.” “My spiritual strength has been unusually powerful since birth.” “If I read a book, see something happen, or watch someone perform a movement once, I can remember it perfectly.” “So you don’t need to worry about a simple genjutsu trapping me.” Kurenai’s face immediately turned red when Kazama came so close.
She instinctively leaned back slightly.
But her attention was quickly captured by what he had said.
“Well?” Kazama smiled.
“You’ve never actually used a genjutsu on another person before, right?” “Try it on me.” “I’ll be fine.” He even patted his chest confidently, looking every bit like a volunteer test subject.
“Really?” Kurenai leaned forward slightly, clearly tempted despite her hesitation.
Kazama was right.
Ever since her father had taught her Bewildering Heart, she had never actually tried it on another person.
Now that Kazama was volunteering, she couldn’t help wanting to see whether it worked.
“It’s fine.
Go ahead.” Kazama sounded completely confident.
“All right…” Kurenai looked at him one more time.
“I’m really going to use it!” When Kazama didn’t object, she finally began forming hand seals.
Compared with Kazama, her movements were considerably slower.
“Genjutsu: Bewildering Heart!” A moment later, Kurenai completed the seals.
Kazama immediately sensed a strand of chakra trying to interfere with his spiritual energy.
He deliberately chose not to resist.
He wanted to experience the genjutsu properly and understand its effect.
Very quickly, an image formed before him.
It reflected exactly what had been occupying his thoughts— Kurenai standing before him with her eyes gently closed.
Kazama immediately understood.
So that’s how this genjutsu works.
It really did draw upon thoughts buried in the target’s mind and transform them into an illusion.
And that also demonstrated something else.
Kurenai’s spiritual strength was already well beyond that of ordinary children her age.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to perform genjutsu successfully at all.
Then Kazama suddenly had another thought.
Wait… isn’t this the perfect opportunity to finish the task?
He really was under Kurenai’s genjutsu.
That part wasn’t fake.
Which meant that afterward, he would at least have an explanation for what happened.
Kazama leaned forward.
Kurenai was watching him nervously, worried that something might have gone wrong.
Before she could react, Kazama gave her a quick kiss.
Kurenai froze.
Her face instantly turned bright red.
Her eyes widened in complete shock, and within moments, a faint mist began gathering in them.
“Hey—wait!
I didn’t mean to make you cry!” Seeing that she was on the verge of tears, Kazama hurriedly tried to calm her.
“I really was caught in your genjutsu.” “And your genjutsu really is impressive!” He quickly changed the subject.
“Your father must have told you before that your spiritual strength is much stronger than normal, right?” “R-Really?” It took Kazama quite a bit of effort before Kurenai finally stopped looking as though she might burst into tears.
“Of course.” Kazama nodded seriously.
“Your spiritual strength is very powerful.” “Even I was trapped by your genjutsu for a while.” “If you used it on an ordinary person, they might remain trapped for much longer.” “So in the future, don’t casually use genjutsu on other people.” “Only use it against enemies.” Kurenai listened carefully.
She had already stopped thinking about the awkward moment from earlier.
Instead, she suddenly remembered something her father, Shinku Yūhi, had told her before.
Your spiritual strength is very strong.
As expected of my daughter.
Remember, don’t casually use genjutsu on other people.
You could hurt them.
Only now did Kurenai remember that her father had already warned her.
She had simply forgotten because Kazama had encouraged her to try it.
“I’m sorry…” Kurenai looked apologetically at him.
For the first time, Kazama felt a genuine stab of guilt.
Kurenai was still such a kind and innocent little girl.
Hadn’t scheming around a child like this been a little too shameless?
I only did it because of the task.
This is all the System’s fault.
What kind of ridiculous task was that supposed to be?
It made me upset an innocent little girl.
I’ll treat Kurenai properly in the future.
His thoughts immediately wandered.
She’s so cute… Maybe I should just marry her when we’re older.
One moment, Kazama was reflecting on whether his behavior had been inappropriate.
The next, he had already dumped all responsibility onto the System and started imagining the distant future.
Ironically, he kept thinking of Kurenai as a “little sister,” even though she was actually a year older than him.
Kazama had been born in Year 34 of Konoha.
Kurenai had been born in Year 33.
“It’s okay.” Kazama smiled awkwardly.
“I did something wrong too.” “I’m sorry.” He apologized sincerely.
After all, if Kurenai went home and told Shinku Yūhi exactly what had happened today— Kazama suspected his peaceful days might come to a very abrupt end.