Hyuga Yukina VS Kurenai Yuhi

"I'm going." Seeing that her opponent had already entered the arena, Yukina shifted her feet and prepared to head down the stairs. Murmurs had already begun outside the ring.

"Kurenai Yuhi? She's so cute!"

"Yeah, she's gorgeous!"

"She's such a little girl, only nine, right? And she already qualified for the Chunin Exams. Amazing."

Chiba glanced at the ninja beside him who had said that and thought, Are you praising yourself? You're only eleven or twelve at most... You're not much older than her.

In the instant Chiba glanced over, Yukina had already taken several steps. He hurriedly called out, "Yukina, watch out for genjutsu!"

Yukina froze, looked at Chiba with slight confusion, then nodded.

Was this Kurenai Yuhi a Genjutsu-type Ninja? How did Chiba know? Carrying that question in her heart, Yukina descended the stairs.

At once, the entire venue erupted in commotion.

"So cute! Who is she?"

"You don't even know her? That's Hyuga Yukina."

"Of course I know she's Hyuga Yukina. It says so on the screen. I wasn't asking her name."

"She's the Young Miss of the Hyuga Main Family, Lord Shinsuke's biological daughter. She's a renowned genius—she graduated from the Ninja Academy at seven and took the Chunin Exams that same year. She's hailed as 'the Hyuga Clan's once-in-a-decade genius,' the person most likely to awaken the Heavenly Eye."

"The Heavenly Eye? What's that?"

"No idea..."

"You don't know? Then why bring it up?"

"Forget her strength, this girl is really adorable!"

The discussions outside the arena continued. Regardless of gender, nearly every ninja participating in the Chunin Exams had their eyes fixed on Yukina's breathtakingly beautiful face.

"Yukyō, I heard your Lady Yukina is a once-in-a-decade genius. Between you two, who's stronger?" Kiko, one of Hyuga Yukyō's teammates and a plain-looking female ninja, asked him.

"Yeah, yeah!" Nozawa Sota also looked at Hyuga Yukyō and nodded repeatedly.

"Of course Lady Yukina is," Hyuga Yukyō said without hesitation.

"Here we go again... Yukyō, honestly..." Kiko shook her head with a shrug. In her heart, Hyuga Yukyō was the strongest among the Genin. No—even among Chunin, there were very few who could defeat him. His only possible match was probably that legendary super-genius, Hatake Kakashi.

Seriously, did this Yukyō like Hyuga Yukina that much?

To be honest, Kiko felt a little sour about it.

By then, Yukina had already reached Kurenai Yuhi. Although all eyes in the venue were on her, she remained expressionless, her pretty face frosty as she looked at Kurenai Yuhi before her.

Kurenai Yuhi, meanwhile, looked left and right, visibly nervous. Under the gaze of so many people, she clearly felt somewhat at a loss.

Red eyes... What unusual eyes. Could she be using an ocular technique to cast genjutsu? With that thought, Yukina lowered her gaze slightly, avoiding direct eye contact with Kurenai. At that moment, the examiner announced, "Begin!"

Kurenai Yuhi, who had been looking around, jerked her shoulders as if startled by the shout. Then she suddenly came to her senses, focused her eyes on Yukina, and rapidly leaped backward.

She's from the Hyuga Clan. They excel at taijutsu—create distance!

That was the only thought that flashed through Kurenai Yuhi's mind.

But how could Yukina let her widen the gap? The moment Kurenai Yuhi retreated, Yukina had already closed in and struck with her palm.

Slap!

Kurenai Yuhi raised a hand to block, and immediately felt a surge of Chakra penetrate her body. Her hand went numb at once.

So this is the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist?

As she considered this, Yukina's next palm had already slipped around her raised arm and struck toward her abdomen.

So fast!

A hint of panic rose in Kurenai Yuhi's heart.

Yukina had not even activated her Byakugan, but she had already made up her mind. This Kurenai Yuhi should be a Genjutsu-type Ninja. Her taijutsu isn't strong. I'll suppress her directly and leave her no chance to cast genjutsu!

Slap!

As that thought passed through her mind, Yukina's palm landed solidly on Kurenai Yuhi's abdomen. Yet Yukina frowned.

There was no sensation of impact?

A clone? Poof!

The Kurenai Yuhi she had struck suddenly burst apart, turning into scattered green leaves. They swirled around Yukina in a vortex of leaves, enveloping her until her entire field of vision was filled with fluttering green.

Is this... genjutsu?

Yukina's heart skipped a beat.

When did she form the hand seals?

Then her brows furrowed slightly. There was no doubt—the swirling leaves were an illusion. She had fallen under genjutsu.

Chiba watched Yukina freeze in the middle of her palm strike. Kurenai Yuhi barely managed to break free, leaping back and breathing heavily.

She's under genjutsu!

As expected of Kurenai. Her talent for genjutsu is incredible. And ninja who specialize in genjutsu are extremely rare. Aside from clans with genjutsu-related Kekkei Genkai or Secret Techniques, the chances of an ordinary ninja becoming a genjutsu user were pitifully low.

There were even fewer who truly stood out. Without a doubt, Kurenai Yuhi was one of those lofty blossoms—her genjutsu talent looked down upon the other ninja. Unfortunately, she had once encountered the pinnacle of genjutsu: Itachi's genjutsu. She had been defeated miserably.

Although Chiba had reminded Yukina to be careful of genjutsu, he had not expected Kurenai's genjutsu to be this formidable. At such a young age, she could actually use genjutsu without forming hand seals. He had been misled by the monstrous standard that was Itachi.

From Kurenai as she was now, it was clear that although her genjutsu had lost to Itachi's, she was undoubtedly one of Konoha's foremost genjutsu masters. At only nine years old, she could cast the Hell Viewing Technique without hand seals. There was probably not a single genjutsu ninja in Konoha capable of that.

When she fought Itachi, she had clearly formed hand seals before using genjutsu... That was it! The genjutsu Kurenai was using now could be cast without hand seals. Or rather, she no longer needed hand seals to use this particular genjutsu. And considering her amount of Chakra...

A C-rank genjutsu, the Hell Viewing Technique? During this time, aside from receiving Kushina's instruction and training in Water Release and Earth Release, Chiba had also been making time to visit the Library and expand his ninjutsu knowledge. Although there were not many ninjutsu to learn from the Library, and those available were quite common, it contained plenty of records on other ninjutsu. Even if Chiba could not learn them, he could still make rough guesses about how they were used based on the books' descriptions.

This was also extremely useful in battle. The broadest classification of ninjutsu was the various Releases, and the Releases countered one another. If he could identify what Release his opponent was using early on, then play to his own strengths while avoiding weaknesses, he could save a great deal of Chakra in battle and gain the initiative to some extent.

That small degree of initiative could be crucial in deciding victory or defeat.

Chiba watched the motionless Yukina, then looked at Kurenai Yuhi, who had taken out a kunai from her Ninja Tool Pouch and was walking toward Yukina. His brow furrowed.

This was bad!

"Yukina, this is bad," Hirohiko said from beside him.

"Mm." Chiba nodded with a grim expression.

However, he was not thinking about whether Yukina would win or lose, but about another matter.

Genjutsu was another important component of a ninja's power. This kind of technique, which used spiritual energy as its means of attack, could sometimes catch people completely off guard. Just looking at Yukina in the arena made that clear. Yukina was far stronger than Kurenai—there was no doubt about that. Though he did not possess the Sharingan or Byakugan, he could still clearly tell that Kurenai's Chakra reserves and taijutsu were both far inferior to Yukina's. Yet with only a C-rank genjutsu, she had restrained Yukina and plunged her into an irreparable crisis.

The power of genjutsu was plain to see.

But right now, he had no way at all to deal with genjutsu. If he encountered a genjutsu ninja and fell under their technique, he would be at their mercy!

That was not absolute, but it applied in the vast majority of cases!

After today's Chunin Exams ended... no! As long as he had the time, he needed to ask Kushina about genjutsu!

Chiba quietly made his plans, while worry appeared on his face.

Yukina... don't lose!

The thought surfaced uncontrollably.