Yūhi Kurenai's Request

Time passed in the blink of an eye, and a week went by.

That morning, at Konoha Hospital, Uchiha Shūichi held a bouquet of carnations in his hand, knocked, and entered the ward.

In the room filled with the scent of disinfectant, Yūhi Kurenai was half-reclining on her hospital bed. Hearing the door open, she turned her head to look at the visitor.

"Captain Shūichi! What brings you here?"

"I'm just a temporary captain. The team's already disbanded, so just call me by my name."

Uchiha Shūichi placed the carnations in a vase and said with a smile:

"Hōmon was discharged a couple of days ago. How's your recovery coming along?"

"It's going well. I'll be discharged in another two days, and there are no lingering effects—thanks to you, Shūichi-kun, for saving my life."

Yūhi Kurenai said with some cheerfulness. The injuries she'd sustained were quite severe; she'd practically had one foot on the edge of death.

However, the Ninja World's medical standards far surpassed those of modern society, especially in healing injuries. Medical ninjutsu offered unimaginable convenience.

With injuries like hers in the modern world, a week wouldn't even be enough to get out of the intensive care unit, and even if cured, there would be many aftereffects. But in Konoha Village, not only were there no aftereffects, she was almost ready to be discharged.

"It seems your injuries are healing quickly. That puts my mind at ease."

Uchiha Shūichi nodded. His visit to see Yūhi Kurenai today was a spur-of-the-moment decision, and it also helped maintain his persona.

Last night, he'd used the Blazing Kirin Sword's power for another mental tempering. After waking up, to relieve his Negative Emotion, he came to check on his temporary subordinate.

After chatting with Yūhi Kurenai for a bit, Uchiha Shūichi prepared to leave. Just then, she hesitated and spoke:

"Jonin Shūichi, I've heard that the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan requires a powerful emotional shock to awaken..."

Uchiha Shūichi's expression shifted slightly, and he nodded:

"That's right, it's true... The Uchiha Clan's Sharingan is closely tied to Yin Release, and Yin Release power itself corresponds to a person's spirit."

"When an ordinary person is shocked, their mental fluctuations also boost their Yin Release power. But without the Sharingan, this boost is only temporary. For the Uchiha Clan, the Sharingan can awaken when Yin Release conditions are met."

Yūhi Kurenai nodded. Now that she'd spoken, she didn't hesitate:

"Then does the Uchiha Clan have a method to treat the mental instability caused by excessive Yin Release power?"

Excessive Yin Release power leading to mental instability? The Uchiha Clan certainly had that problem, but a treatment method...

If there really was a cure, the Uchiha Clan wouldn't have produced so many lunatics! Every Mangekyo user was more unhinged than the last, and while Three Tomoe users were a bit better—their thought processes at least somewhat normal—they still had plenty of psychological issues, big and small.

But Uchiha Shūichi actually did have a treatment method—wasn't the Ice Heart Art just that? It couldn't cure Mangekyo-level crazies, but it could greatly alleviate their condition. After practicing the Ice Heart Art, Three Tomoe users would basically have a mental state no different from normal people.

However, a secret art like the Ice Heart Art wasn't something Uchiha Shūichi would casually teach others. This cultivation method, which could fundamentally enhance Mental Power, could easily create a powerful secret technique clan in the Ninja World.

Seeing the troubled expression on Uchiha Shūichi's face, Yūhi Kurenai's heart skipped a beat. The Uchiha Clan really did have such a secret technique?

"Kurenai, why are you asking about this?"

Meeting Uchiha Shūichi's puzzled gaze, Yūhi Kurenai took a deep breath and replied:

"I... I have a student. She's a member of the Kurama Clan, named Kurama Yakumo."

"She awakened the Kurama Clan's Kekkei Genkai, Five Senses Control, but Yakumo is too young. Her condition is very similar to the Uchiha's—her mind is unstable, and her immense Mental Power is suppressing her body, making it nearly impossible for her to train physically."

Kurama Yakumo? Uchiha Shūichi's mind turned, and he recalled this terrifyingly talented little girl.

The Kurama Clan was once a Kekkei Genkai family that could rival the Uchiha Clan in genjutsu. Unfortunately, while their bloodline power was formidable, awakening it was extremely difficult—even harder than the Uchiha's Sharingan awakening.

Coupled with the Kurama Clan's dwindling numbers and naturally frail constitutions, they gradually withdrew from the ninja profession after Konoha Village was founded. Now, there were almost no Kurama Clan ninjas left in the village.

Perhaps it was a case of extremes meeting—just as the Kurama Clan was on the verge of extinction, Kurama Yakumo emerged as an anomaly. Not only did she awaken the clan's Kekkei Genkai at a young age, but her Mental Power was strong enough to spawn Yin Release creatures.

The Kurama Clan's Kekkei Genkai originally manipulated the five senses and could directly harm ninjas through that manipulation.

But in Kurama Yakumo's hands, she could even turn illusion into reality, making the false real, and destroy inanimate objects with genjutsu!

These two concepts were completely different. Harming a ninja through five-sense manipulation essentially tricked the brain into deceiving the body. But directly destroying objects with genjutsu meant the illusion had transcended the boundary of the unreal and begun to manifest as reality.

One could say that with such terrifying genjutsu alone, it was no less than Uchiha Shisui's Kotoamatsukami, representing a pinnacle of genjutsu in a different direction.

If Kurama Yakumo hadn't been held back by her frail body—if she could have trained even a little, reaching a chunin-level physique—she would undoubtedly have become a Kage-level ninja!

Unfortunately, in the original story, Kurama Yakumo didn't even have the physical fitness of an ordinary person, let alone a chunin's. No matter how powerful her genjutsu, she couldn't be considered a qualified ninja.

As mentioned earlier, taijutsu might seem basic, but precisely because it was foundational, it was absolutely indispensable.

In the ninja world, there were experts who couldn't use genjutsu and strong ones who couldn't use ninjutsu, but there were absolutely no strong fighters who couldn't use taijutsu.

Even ninjas like Nagato Uzumaki and Sasori of the Red Sands, whose bodies didn't permit it, compensated with other means and still trained in taijutsu combat techniques.