Kurenai's Resonance

"That guy Asuma... he's getting serious!" Obito stared intently at the short blades in Asuma's hands. He often sparred with Asuma, so he naturally knew what weapons Asuma was holding.

Kurenai also spoke with concern. "He's actually using weapons?"

For students like them, weapons were rarely used in practical sparring. They did not yet have the qualities expected of a ninja and could not control their attacks at will, so they were very likely to get hurt fighting with weapons.

Might Guy, meanwhile, gave a thumbs-up, his teeth flashing brightly. "It's fine! Youth should be accompanied by the uninhibited flow of blood!"

Kurenai's cheek twitched. "Are you sure they won't bleed to death?"

When Feimu saw Asuma take out his weapons, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. "Um... Asuma? Wouldn't it be better not to use something so dangerous?"

Asuma did not even look at him. He merely said impatiently, "Teacher, there's no rule against using weapons in a mock battle!"

"But..."

"If anything happens, teacher, just step in and stop it!"

Stop it, my ass! Feimu could not help cursing inwardly. He was only an ordinary Chunin, and he had been promoted gradually by accumulating missions as a Genin. His skills were below average in Konoha, and after so many years as a teacher, he had not been active for a long time. How could a ninja fight be stopped just because someone said so?

Feimu wanted to say something more to dissuade him, but Asuma was already fired up from the fight. He paid Feimu no mind, focusing his gaze directly on Shunren and snorting coldly. "Hurry up and show me your weapon!"

Shunren watched the Flying Swallow in Asuma's hands, its blades gleaming coldly. He knew they were high-grade Chakra Blades. Even though Asuma had yet to master wind-nature transformation, their hardness and sharpness alone far surpassed those of ordinary ninja tools.

Taking them on head-on with an ordinary Kunai would be courting death. Besides, Asuma's Taijutsu was actually much stronger than his. If Asuma had not underestimated him and let his guard down earlier, Shunren might have been the one sent flying by a kick. Asuma should have known that. As long as he got serious, he could suppress Shunren with Taijutsu alone. He could also use Ninjutsu, so compared with Shunren, a Ninjutsu idiot, Asuma had more than one way to win.

Yet at this very moment, Asuma had brought out his trump-card weapons. His aim was to teach Shunren a proper lesson, crush him with absolute power, and take ruthless revenge for that kick! In the end, it was his twisted pride at work.

Seeing Shunren standing there without reacting, Asuma shouted angrily, "Didn't you hear me?! I told you to take out your weapon!"

Looking at the somewhat hysterical Asuma, Shunren suddenly felt bored. Dealing with a brat was a pain.

Shunren still did not move. He simply watched him in silence, frowning, the annoyance in his eyes undisguised.

But Shunren's attitude only enraged Asuma further. "Fine, fine, fine! You're sure you won't draw a weapon, right? Then don't blame me for not holding back. Take this!"

Furious beyond words, Asuma took a great stride and charged straight at Shunren, opening with a crosswise slash from both hands!

With no weapon in hand that could match them, Shunren decisively chose to retreat and avoid their edge for the moment.

Asuma followed close behind, sweeping his right hand across in a backhand slash. The sharp blade sliced through the collar of Shunren's clothes.

"Ah!" Someone watching could not help crying out at the close call.

Kurenai's eyes widened as well, and she shouted urgently, "That almost cut him! Isn't this going too far?!"

Obito's eyes were also fixed on Asuma's swift movements. Although he had not yet awakened his Sharingan, as a member of the Uchiha Clan, he was born with excellent dynamic vision,

so he soon noticed something. "There isn't a single wasted movement. It's almost as if he knew the path of his opponent's attacks in advance..." Faced with Asuma's relentless assault, fierce as a raging storm, Shunren's expression had not changed from beginning to end. His eyes remained as calm as still water as he watched his opponent.

It was not that he was pretending to be cool and composed. Rather, he had been concentrating intensely the entire time.

Heaven was fair. A Ninjutsu idiot with no talent for Taijutsu, his one strong point was his extraordinary mental strength. On top of that, his long years of studying Yin Release day after day had greatly increased his mental energy.

His powerful mental energy allowed him to maintain a calm, composed heart in the face of any crisis. As the sharp blades came at him, Shunren overcame his fear and carefully observed Asuma's every movement, rapidly calculating his trajectory until he could predict his attacks in advance.

Shunren seemed to be in danger, but he was always able to avoid Asuma's lethal blows at the last moment.

This use of mental energy was somewhat similar to a sensory ability, but it had not yet reached the level of a "technique." It was merely a skill, a piece of experience, that Shunren had figured out on his own while training.

As one advanced and the other retreated, the two fought from the training ground all the way toward the woods, since the mock battle had no defined boundaries. The onlookers followed the fight with their eyes, turning a hundred and twenty degrees from left to right.

"Bang, bang!" Asuma's Flying Swallow chopped through a tree trunk as thick as a thigh.

Shunren leaped, planted his feet on a tree trunk on the other side, and ran straight up it.

The others were merely surprised by this move and did not pay it much attention. But as the saying went, an expert's skill was obvious the moment they made a move. Kurenai stared wide-eyed. "His precise control over Chakra has already surpassed the level of an average Genin!" Concentrating Chakra in the soles of the feet, the hardest part of the body to reach, and maintaining a steady amount there for a long time sounded simple, but actually doing it was impossible without putting in considerable effort!

The Yuhi Clan, to which Kurenai belonged, was also a distinguished clan of Konoha, skilled in the field of Genjutsu. Naturally, her own training focused on Genjutsu as well. The threshold for learning Genjutsu was higher than for either Taijutsu or Ninjutsu, and those without powerful mental energy could not practice it. Refining Chakra was naturally indispensable to strengthening mental energy.

Kurenai herself had only recently completed the basic introductory exercises of Tree Climbing and Water Walking. These two exercises were not to be underestimated: even an ordinary Genin had to put considerable effort into completing this training, to say nothing of students still attending the Ninja Academy.

For the first time, Kurenai truly focused her gaze on Shunren. As if she had found a kindred spirit-after all, Genjutsu-type ninja were a rare breed—she murmured softly, "This guy might be well suited to practicing Genjutsu."