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At Kurenai Yūhi’s home.
A’s face was dead serious.
After enduring what felt like eighty-one consecutive ordeals, he was finally reduced to lifting his heels off the ground and stacking his second toes on top of his big toes just to cram his massive feet into Kurenai Yūhi’s tiny sandals.
Absolutely perfect, except now that the shoes were on, what exactly was he supposed to do about walking?
The moment A tried to take a step, he treated the room to a live demonstration of “left foot steps on right foot, spirals into orbit.” His towering frame lost balance instantly and pitched face-first toward the floor.
“Care~ful~”
Kurenai Yūhi had just hung her keys when the whole room seemed to dim, and A’s voice hit her ears at the same moment.
She turned in confusion, and saw A hurtling toward her, face twisted in pure panic.
THUD
“Ugh!” “Mm—!”
A dull grunt.
A soft sound that trailed off suggestively.
A and Kurenai Yūhi went down together.
The grunt was A’s.
He’d thrown his hands out at the very last second to cushion her.
As for whether his hands hurt?
“Not even a little!”
Kurenai Yūhi ended up pinned underneath, but with A’s palms absorbing the impact against her back, she came away completely unharmed.
Right about now, some reader is probably asking: “Hey author, if it didn’t hurt, then why did she make that sound?”
Heh.
The two of them were close.
Very close.
Close enough that the next move was either a kiss or a fight.
A looked down at the red-eyed beauty beneath him, her expression dazed, and swallowed.
“That’s entirely my fault.
How are you doing, Jōnin Yūhi?
Any injuries?”
Kurenai Yūhi snapped back to reality.
Her face went hot instantly.
She pressed both hands against A’s chest and pushed.
“I-I’m fine, Lord Raikage.
Please get up!”
Seeing her so flustered that her chakra was practically starting to boil, A raised an eyebrow and spoke with apparent difficulty.
“Jōnin Yūhi, I’d love to get up — but my hands got pinned and I’ve temporarily lost all feeling in them…”
A lie.
He just wanted to stay where he was a little longer.
A had a fondness for small deceptions.
Kurenai Yūhi gritted her teeth.
“Then you can’t just keep…
Don’t move — I’ll squeeze out from the side.”
A watched her start wriggling around on her own, his expression unreadable.
After a considerable amount of effort, Kurenai Yūhi finally broke free.
She sat up panting, cheeks flushed, a faint sheen of sweat on her forehead.
What had just happened was…
strange.
Very strange.
She turned and looked at A sprawled on the floor, something complicated crossing her face.
Then she stepped forward and flipped him onto his back.
“Oh~ thank you so much, Jōnin Yūhi.”
“…Don’t mention it.
Your hands still can’t move?”
“Not at all.
Can’t lift a single finger.
Nothing to do but wait for the feeling to come back on its own.” A lay there with his brow furrowed in apparent suffering, his performance completely airtight.
Kurenai Yūhi sighed.
“I had a friend who was a medical ninja.
She taught me some of the basics for a while.
Let me take a look.”
She took hold of A’s left hand, and an emerald glow bloomed slowly from her palm.
[A-rank medical ninjutsu, the Mystical Palm Technique?
Then that friend she mentioned must be Konoha’s she-devil herself, Rin Nohara…] A studied Kurenai Yūhi’s focused expression, thoughts quietly turning.
After working at it for a good while, Kurenai Yūhi found zero reaction in A’s left hand and couldn’t help but look uncertain.
“You…
still haven’t recovered?”
“Nope.
What of it?” A continued lying there with the righteous confidence of a man who had done absolutely nothing wrong.
Kurenai Yūhi tossed his hand aside without expression.
“You think I’m that easy to fool.”
“Ahem.” A jackknifed to his feet in one fluid motion and turned to her with a look of complete sincerity.
“No no no, of course not.
Actually, the feeling just came back this very second, it’s just that Jōnin Yūhi’s hands are so soft, I…
couldn’t quite bring myself to let go…”
“Spare me the performance.” Kurenai Yūhi cut off his excuses and turned toward her room.
She was now thoroughly convinced the fall itself had been deliberate too.
“Sit in the living room for a bit.
I’ll go find some tea.”
“Hahaha, works for me.” A’s gaze followed the line of her slender back for a moment, then drifted to the side table.
Several well-worn genjutsu volumes were laid out on the brown glass surface, covering a wide variety of styles and schools.
“Tsk.
Impressive.”
“It’s nothing special,” Kurenai Yūhi said, appearing at his side suddenly, a quiet thread of pride in her voice.
“Father had rather high standards.
He had me reading all kinds of genjutsu texts from when I was small, hoping I’d eventually surpass him.”
“Well, then he’s already succeeded.” A took the tea from her hand and, right before her disbelieving eyes, tore open the bag and tipped the dry leaves directly into his mouth to chew.
“Mm.
Not bad at all.
Jōnin Yūhi is not only exceptional at genjutsu, apparently her tea selection is top-tier as well.
My admiration.”
“Stop flattering me.
I still have a long way to go.” Kurenai Yūhi pressed her palm to her forehead.
“And why are you dry-chewing tea leaves?
That’s genuinely strange.”
A casually tossed the empty bag into the trash and shot her a grin.
“Seems perfectly normal to me.
I eat oranges with the peel on.”
“Right, right, very impressive.
Now, can you finally tell me what genjutsu problem your subordinate is having?
Which technique?
Which step?”
“Ah, that.” A set down his teacup, completely at ease.
He’d fabricated the whole problem on the walk over anyway.
“When he uses the Mirror Reversal Technique, he can never fully replicate the opponent’s genjutsu.
He’s got the mechanics down, but there’s always something missing, like he’s always just a hair short.”
“The Mirror Reversal Technique…” Kurenai Yūhi frowned slightly and sank into thought.
A moment later, her eyes lit up.
“It looks simple, but the technique actually demands exceptional insight and control.
Try having him shift his focus, instead of copying the hand seals, have him concentrate on tracking the opponent’s chakra flow as it moves.
That might be exactly what he’s missing.”
“I see…” A nodded with the grave solemnity of a man absorbing profound wisdom.
“Jōnin Yūhi truly is a genjutsu prodigy.
Though I have one more question.”
He leaned in close.
Close enough that Kurenai Yūhi could feel the warmth of his breath.
“When you’re up against multiple layered genjutsu at the same time, how does this technique handle that?”
Kurenai Yūhi faltered at the sudden proximity and pulled back slightly, struggling to steady herself.
“That requires even stronger analytical ability from the caster.
You first identify which layer is dominant, then break them down one by one…”
➤ Next: Token, Anko on the Run
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