Seeing that Chiya had stopped calling her “Teacher” entirely, the not-so-far-off Kurenai Yuhi felt her eyelid twitch with irritation.
She said impatiently, “Are you done discussing your tactics?
I’m in a hurry.” “Oh, we’re all set,” Chiya replied with a grin.
“Then let’s begin.” Kurenai stood her ground, her aura shifting instantly as she entered combat mode.
The three of them nodded to one another.
Airi Akizuki made the first move, throwing a few shuriken before drawing a kunai.
Kurenai stood perfectly still; she didn’t even bother to draw her own kunai, simply side-stepping the projectiles with ease.
Then, with a Body Flicker, she appeared instantly in front of Airi, disarmed her, and delivered a punch to her abdomen.
Airi gagged, flying backward as she was instantly incapacitated.
Just then, Panci’s fist, enlarged by the Multi-Size Technique, came crashing down.
With a thunderous boom, the ground shook, leaving a shallow crater filled with churning dust.
“Did I get her?” Akimichi Panci retracted his fist, swallowing hard as he stared intently into the smoke.
“Not yet,” Chiya’s voice sounded right beside him, accompanied simultaneously by Kurenai’s voice: “Too naive.” As the words fell, Kurenai’s dainty foot landed on Panci’s neck, sending his massive body flying.
As for the crater, it puffed with a muffled sound—a substitute log appeared out of thin air.
It was clear that Kurenai had utilized the Body Replacement Technique.
“Now, it’s your turn, Chiya.” Having dealt with two of the three, Kurenai finally turned her attention to Fujiwara Chiya, who had been standing still the entire time.
“Sure.
But if I luckily win against you, Teacher Kurenai, you have to promise to date me when I grow up,” Chiya said with a charming smile.
“If you can manage it!” Her competitive spirit ignited, Kurenai lunged forward in a flash.
Although her forte was genjutsu, as a Special Jōnin, her taijutsu was still far superior to that of a fresh academy graduate.
But very quickly, she regretted it.
Facing her relentless taijutsu assault, Chiya was not only effortless in his movements, but his strength was terrifyingly high—not something a child under twelve should possess.
Every time their limbs collided, she felt a stinging pain, as if she were battling a construct of solid steel rather than a person.
Who is this brat?
Did he train in some kind of Iron Fist style like Guy?
Kurenai was secretly shocked.
Airi and Panci, already defeated on the sidelines, gasped in astonishment: “He’s so strong!
He can actually trade blows with Teacher Kurenai!” “Teacher Kurenai, looks like it’s fate that you’ll be my second wife in the future,” Chiya teased.
He hadn’t even used his internal arts yet, relying solely on his robust physique and basic taijutsu.
“Don’t get cocky.” Kurenai hadn’t expected her first mission as a team leader to involve such a difficult student.
If she didn’t teach him a lesson today, how would she lead the team in the future?
She used a Body Flicker to create distance, formed hand seals, and her entire body turned into fluid, vanishing from the spot.
Simultaneously, a sapling erupted beneath Chiya’s feet, instantly transforming into a towering tree that bound his limbs.
Genjutsu: Falling Hell was activated.
“Brat, you’re still too green.” The ground shifted, and Kurenai’s true form slowly emerged.
“Is that so?” Chiya’s voice suddenly whispered right by Kurenai’s ear.
Her pupils dilated instantly; the next moment, she felt a chill on her neck—a kunai was being held against it.
In the distance, Airi and Panci were left completely bewildered, having no idea what had just transpired.
Why had Teacher Kurenai stood there perfectly still, then started talking to herself, only for Chiya to casually walk up behind her and hold a kunai to her throat?
“Panci-kun, do you know what happened?” Airi asked.
Panci’s face was swollen, but he was still struggling to eat his chips.
Gritting his teeth through the pain, he shoved a handful of chips into his mouth and shook his head while chewing.
“No idea.
But it sure looked cool.” “How did you do that?” Kurenai took a deep breath, feeling a wave of disappointment.
Being a Special Jōnin and losing to a fresh academy graduate—what was this?
Chiya sheathed his kunai and pointed at the clone tied to the tree across from her.
“Teacher Kurenai, the academy textbooks mention that genjutsu uses chakra to interfere with an opponent’s five senses and disrupt their chakra flow, trapping them in an illusion.” “Although I don’t know what hand seals you used, since you said your specialty is genjutsu, I began disrupting my own internal chakra flow before the fight even started to render your genjutsu ineffective.
Then, I waited for the gap when you were casting the technique to release a distraction clone.” “Teacher Kurenai, you were careless.” As he spoke, Chiya’s clone and the tree dissipated simultaneously, and the ground slowly returned to its natural state.
“I see.
I really did lose.
To think you beat me using nothing more than the most basic clone technique…
It seems the Third Hokage was right; you truly are a genius.” Kurenai wore a self-deprecating smile.
“You flatter me, Teacher Kurenai.
You were holding back; if this had been a fight to the death, I’d be a corpse by now.” Chiya acted modest once again, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
He knew Hiruzen had sent people to monitor him—how could he, with his heightened senses, not know?
But for the last five or six years, whenever he had the chance, he had habitually released Kyōka Suigetsu.
The “Chiya” that the Third Hokage’s spies were watching was, most of the time, nothing more than an illusion.
Otherwise, how could he have grown so safely?
Now, relying on Kyōka Suigetsu and the sage chakra stored by his Tiangang Art, he had enough power to protect himself.
The glimpse of strength he’d shown in defeating Kurenai was merely to facilitate showing Kyōka Suigetsu to more people in Konoha in the future.
“A loss is a loss, a win is a win; don’t make excuses for me.
However…” Kurenai’s tone shifted, a crafty smile appearing on her face.
“Why did you stop calling me ‘Kurenai’ just now?” “Are you serious?” Chiya was stunned, then gave a playful smile, locking eyes with her.
Kurenai’s own competitive drive ignited.
They stared at each other for a long time, until finally, Kurenai—her face bright red—suffered a crushing defeat.
She scoffed, “Pfft…
a little devil with no manners.
I have no idea what they’re teaching you at school.” “You lot, treat today as classified information; no one is allowed to speak of this.
And be here on time for tomorrow’s meeting, or don’t bother coming.” The latter part was directed at Airi and Panci.
With that, she took one last look at Chiya, flashed away, and vanished, her heart hammering in her chest.
Watching her retreat, Chiya’s smile vanished.
What a predictable little girl…
he muttered to himself.
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