Guidance!

After six days of grueling travel, Ming Jing and the others finally reached the outskirts of the Royal Capital. Their convoy had arrived three days earlier; there was a reason they had traveled separately...

Yakumo sat atop a jujube-red pony, humming an unknown tune. The little girl was naturally thrilled to be traveling far from home for the first time. Whenever she saw something new, she wanted to stop and examine it. Unfortunately, she had a brother obsessed with his little sister, so a journey that should have taken three days had been dragged out to six...

That was why they had split off from the convoy. After all, the convoy carried supplies bound for the disaster zone and could not be delayed. It was better to have the brothers Zuo and You lead the convoy ahead with Hizashi Hyuga. Hizashi Hyuga had commanded troops before, so managing a convoy was not much of a problem for him.

After Ming Jing delivered Yakumo to Koji Kurama, he would meet the daimyo, hand over his duties, and then head for the disaster zone.

"Brother, why can't I go with you to the Land of Rain border? I've never even left the country!" Yakumo tilted her head and asked Ming Jing.

"You're still too young. Once you're a little older, you can go." Ming Jing smiled. The Naruto World was not that large; leaving the country was not difficult. Just look at Naruto—he had casually gone abroad and become a hero.

"Oh, oh, oh! Brother, do you think Dad will be happy to see me?" Yakumo's thoughts instantly jumped from traveling abroad to her father. Only Ming Jing could keep up with that kind of leap in thought.

"Of course he will. Um... the Clan Head couldn't wait any longer and came out personally to meet us!" As he spoke, Ming Jing pointed ahead. Yakumo turned and saw three figures approaching from afar. One of them was her father—Koji Kurama.

"Dad!" Yakumo excitedly kicked her pony, sending it running toward Koji Kurama.

"Oh, my little darling, slow down, slow down!" Koji Kurama quickly soothed the pony, then lifted Yakumo down from its back.

"Dad, are you happy to see me?" Yakumo looked at Koji Kurama and asked with a grin.

"Of course I am! Yesterday, Dad was even complaining that time was moving too slowly because I couldn't see Yakumo sooner!" Koji Kurama said with a smile.

"Uncle—Clan Head." Ming Jing, Yuexi, Qing Yan, Mirai, and the other two stepped forward to greet him with a salute, while Asuma merely nodded slightly to Koji Kurama.

"Mm, you've all had a hard journey. I've prepared some wine in the Royal Capital. Come with me and get some rest first!" Koji Kurama nodded to Asuma before speaking to Ming Jing and the others.

"Thank you, Uncle—Clan Head!" the six said in unison.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Kurama," Asuma added politely.

"Hahaha, no need to stand on ceremony, Asuma." Koji Kurama laughed heartily, then carried Yakumo and walked at the very front. With his current standing, he had been polite enough to Asuma and had no intention of letting him take the lead. Asuma did not mind either, following behind in a relaxed manner.

After arriving at the Royal Capital and arranging for the others to rest, Koji Kurama sought out Ming Jing alone and asked with a mixture of amusement and helplessness, "Ming Jing, I know about your situation. Can you tell me what you're thinking? I need to know your true thoughts."

Ming Jing sighed inwardly. The people closest to you really were the hardest to fool.

He took a letter from his robes and handed it to Koji Kurama. "This is my plan. Burn it after reading it." He had specifically taken time during the journey to write this, and it had been written solely for Koji Kurama.

Koji Kurama gave Ming Jing a speechless look, accepted the letter, and carefully read it. After the time it took to burn an incense stick, he crumpled the letter into a ball, used Chakra to slice it into strips, and only then tossed it into the fire to burn.

After a period of silence, Koji Kurama finally asked, "How certain are you?"

"Fifty-fifty. I have to try." Ming Jing smiled.

"Sigh... You really dare to think big!" Koji Kurama sighed helplessly.

"Even if it fails, there won't be any loss. It would be like having no worries holding us back. Why not try?" Ming Jing asked in return.

Koji Kurama thought for a moment, then smiled. "You have a point. Then let's give it a try!"

"Thank you for understanding, Uncle." Ming Jing clasped his hands in salute.

"We're family. There's no need for this." Koji Kurama waved his hand. Then he carefully studied Ming Jing and asked with a frown, "Ming Jing, have you run into some kind of problem?"

"Hm?" Ming Jing froze and looked up at Koji Kurama. "Why do you ask that, Uncle?"

"Then you have run into a problem." Only after confirming it with a nod did Koji Kurama continue. "Perhaps I'm not as strong as you, but when it comes to experience with genjutsu, I still understand more than you do. When I saw you today, I instinctively felt resistant. Do you know why?"

With Koji Kurama putting it that way, Ming Jing realized that he seemed to have encountered a problem in his recent studies of The Goose Illusionary Book. He simply had not noticed it before. Ming Jing sat upright, looked at Koji Kurama, shook his head, and said solemnly, "Please enlighten me, Uncle!"

"Ming Jing, have you ever observed how a tiger that has just reached adulthood hunts its prey?" Koji Kurama asked in return.

"I haven't." Ming Jing shook his head again.

"The first few times, the tiger fails to catch any prey. It only succeeds after starving itself half to death. Do you know why?" Koji Kurama continued.

"I don't." Ming Jing had actually wanted to ask, That's really a thing? But seeing that Koji Kurama was sincerely teaching him, he did not fool around.

"Because a tiger that has just reached adulthood does not yet know how to conceal its aura. You're the same right now. I could sense from far away that you intended to deceive me." Koji Kurama smiled.

"Huh? Uncle, you're not joking, are you?" Ming Jing was embarrassed. He had not intended to deceive Koji Kurama at all!

"What do you think?" Koji Kurama glared at Ming Jing before continuing. "The essence of genjutsu is deception, and the prerequisite for deception is trust. If people become wary of you from far away, how can you deceive them? What you need to do now is put aside genjutsu. When you can forget genjutsu, you will have succeeded!"

Ming Jing nodded thoughtfully. He felt as though he had found a thread to follow. He had not expected Koji Kurama's research into genjutsu to be so profound, and he could not help asking curiously, "Uncle, have you put it aside?"

"No. I've already become accustomed to it; I simply can't let it go. But you're different, Ming Jing. I only reached your current level at twenty-five. Unfortunately, by then I had already taken shape. Even if I knew how to walk the road ahead, it would be useless." Koji Kurama sighed helplessly. This was one of the great regrets of his life.

"Then how did you know you had to let it go?" Ming Jing continued asking.

Koji Kurama smiled. "No matter what, my Kurama Clan is the clan most skilled in genjutsu. Even if our ancestors left behind few notes, there were still some."

So that was it. Ming Jing had thought Koji Kurama had figured it out on his own! At the same time, he sighed. He finally understood why he had been so jumpy lately. It seemed he had unconsciously put too much pressure on himself.

But then again, what exactly did it mean to forget genjutsu?

Ming Jing thought of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber. There was a scene in Jin Yong's novel where Zhang Sanfeng, after teaching Zhang Wuji the Tai Chi Sword, asked him how much he remembered. Each time Zhang Sanfeng asked, Zhang Wuji remembered less, until he eventually forgot everything. Yet Zhang Sanfeng said that Zhang Wuji had already mastered the Tai Chi Sword.

That was the benefit of having a Grandmaster at your side! A few casual words of instruction worked better than Ming Jing sitting in meditation for days.

Should he seek advice from a genjutsu Grandmaster in the Naruto World?

Ming Jing quickly threw that thought out of his mind. Did the Naruto World really have any genjutsu Grandmasters?

The Second Hokage, Senju Hiden, had developed the Night Walking Technique, but he was already dead. Besides, his achievements in genjutsu were not particularly high; he had not reached the level of a Grandmaster.

Uchiha Shisui—Kotoamatsukami was indeed extremely powerful, but Shisui's Sharingan had probably only reached Three Tomoe by now, right?

Uchiha Itachi... his current genjutsu level was still inferior to Ming Jing's!

Right, there were also the two Toad Sages. Together, they should be about enough.

In other words, he would have to set aside some time to search for Jiraiya...?