I'll Teach You Genjutsu

Kurenai watched Shunren leave, hesitating for a moment before gritting her teeth and hurrying after him!

Everyone was surprised. At school, Kurenai was rather aloof and had always kept her distance from others.

But no one noticed Asuma staring fixedly at Kurenai's retreating figure, his face twitching as his hand involuntarily clenched into a fist. "Shunren!!" he said through gritted teeth.

"Phew..." After leaving school, Shunren wandered aimlessly down the street.

Needing to rest because he had exhausted his Chakra was, of course, a lie. Shunren simply didn't want everyone gawking at him.

Shunren felt no pride or complacency over "drawing" with Asuma in the mock battle. There was no point competing with a brat, and besides, the school's so-called genius, Asuma Sarutobi, was only that good. Compared with the great figures of the Shinobi World in later years, he fell far, far short.

Even if Shunren had defeated Asuma, it would have been nothing to be proud of. What was more, judging by their apparent abilities, Asuma was clearly superior to him in both Taijutsu and Ninjutsu. A large part of the reason Shunren had won was that Asuma had underestimated him. He was a young, hot-blooded brat with some ability, so it was only natural for him to be arrogant. Shunren's advantage lay in his calm, adult mindset: he remained patient and composed, seized an opening at the crucial moment, and subdued his opponent in a single strike!

Of course, Shunren had also managed to use Yin Release at the critical moment and successfully projected Kanshou, cutting down Asuma's Flying Swallow with its overwhelmingly sharp edge.

But given his current control over Yin Release, he could only maintain it for three seconds at most. He probably still had a long road ahead before it became a real fighting force.

Using Yin Release's power to create form from "nothing" and project weapons from other two-dimensional worlds was something only Shunren, as a transmigrator, could do.

That counted as a special ability unique to him.

This level of power was nothing to grow proud or complacent about, but Shunren wouldn't belittle himself either. He only needed to judge his abilities rationally: fight if he could win, and flee if he couldn't. As long as he kept that ordinary mindset, Shunren would soon be able to protect himself, even in this ninja world where human lives were cheap.

"Did you need something from me?" Thanks to the keen senses he had gained from years of training his spiritual energy, Shunren had noticed Kurenai quietly following him.

Kurenai was startled at being discovered. She stammered, unsure what to say for a moment.

Kurenai was a girl with delicate features, and despite her aloof nature, she was quite popular at school, especially at the Ninja Academy, where the ratio of boys to girls was extremely uneven. Boys often approached her, Asuma among them. Yet Kurenai had never taken the initiative to speak to a boy.

"Uh... well, actually, I..." Even after catching up to him, Kurenai didn't know what to say.

Shunren glanced at her and thought for a moment. With an adult's emotional intelligence, he could naturally guess what the little girl was thinking.

"Are you interested in me?"

"What...?!" Kurenai's eyes widened, and she immediately said in annoyance, "What are you talking about? How shameless!"

"No, you misunderstood me. Hmm, let me put it another way..." One of life's ten great illusions was thinking that a girl might be interested in you. How could Shunren think that way? Unremarkable as he was, he couldn't imagine there was anything about him for a girl to admire. That left only one possibility.

Kurenai mistakenly thought he had misunderstood her and hurried to explain, "I only came over to ask you a question..."

"Unfortunately, I don't know any Genjutsu at all," Shunren answered her straightforwardly.

Kurenai Yuhi was a ninja from a family specializing in Genjutsu. In the future, she would become one of Konoha's very few elite Jonin.

Kurenai, whom he had never met before, had suddenly come looking for him. The reason was actually simple: compared with Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, far fewer ninja trained in Genjutsu. Kurenai could hardly find a friend at school who shared her field and had something in common to talk about. She was a child, after all, and felt lonely. So when she suddenly discovered one day that someone near her might be the same kind of person, she couldn't help getting excited.

Kurenai froze at his words. Shunren's brief sentence had surprised her twice over: first, he knew exactly why she had come to him; second, he actually didn't know Genjutsu.

"N-no way! I saw it with my own eyes. You used Yin Release just now, didn't you?" Kurenai was disappointed by Shunren's straightforward answer, but she still refused to give up and pressed him.

The principles of Genjutsu were inseparable from the framework of Yin Release, and Kurenai, who came from a Genjutsu family, had naturally studied the basic theory of Yin Release. Creating a physical weapon in an instant with Yin Release required considerable spiritual energy. Reasoning backward, mastering control over spiritual energy meant one had crossed the threshold into training in Genjutsu.

"Hmph! Are you looking down on me? How could someone from the Uchiha Clan not know Genjutsu?" Kurenai said indignantly. But as soon as the words left her mouth, the clever girl seemed to realize something, and her eyes widened.

"That's right, just as you think." Shunren waved a hand helplessly. "I've never had the chance to learn anything about Genjutsu."

The Uchiha did indeed possess extensive Genjutsu resources, but how could Shunren, who had never been regarded as a member of the clan, have had a chance to access them?

Kurenai gritted her teeth, feeling very upset.

"Hehe..." Shunren found her amusing. Kurenai now looked like a child who thought she had found a playmate, only to come closer and discover the other person wasn't someone she could connect with at all.

"I'm really sorry. You should go find someone else."

But just as Shunren was about to turn and leave, Kurenai called out, "Wait!"

Smack. She grabbed him.

Kurenai didn't just call out. She couldn't help running up to him and reaching out to grab his wrist.

"Hm?" Shunren looked at her questioningly.

Her big, ruby eyes stared fixedly at him. She pursed her lips, then said in a low voice, "You, come with me."

"What is it?" Shunren was utterly puzzled. He couldn't quite understand how things had developed this way.

"�" Kurenai turned as she spoke, her fair fingers gripping his wrist tightly as she led him in a certain direction.

"Come on, come home with me!"

"Huh?" Shunren looked completely bewildered.

"I'm going to teach you Genjutsu."