"Stupid Shinji, dumb Shinji."
As she went through basic physical training at the practice grounds, Shion muttered under her breath.
Shinji paid her no mind and stood to the side, supervising her training.
The Ninja Academy had suddenly introduced a three-person team assessment system, putting the students under twice as much pressure. Nobody wanted to be the one holding their team back, so the pressure was even greater than before.
The most immediate effect was that all the Ninja Academy students had started putting in extra training. Even Shion, whose main job was being a Miko and whose side job was being a ninja, felt a sense of urgency.
As someone born into a prestigious family, Kurama Yakumo was even less willing to have people point fingers and say she was benefiting from Kimimaro's help.
Besides, the Kurama Clan's situation was somewhat unusual.
The Kurama Clan had once been a prominent force in Konoha. In the field of genjutsu, they had been on par with the Uchiha Clan.
But unlike the Uchiha Clan, which produced one talented member after another, the Kurama Clan had rapidly declined after its peak because it lacked new talent.
By the time Kurama Yakumo's father's generation came along, it had become incredibly difficult for the once-famous clan to raise even a single Jonin.
Kurama Yakumo was born against this backdrop, carrying the hopes of every member of the Kurama Clan.
Yet fate played a little joke on her. From birth, she had possessed the Kurama Clan's most prized gift: an incredible talent for genjutsu. She was the clan's greatest genius in decades. At the same time, however, she had been frail and sickly since birth, and her body simply couldn't handle becoming a ninja.
In a way, she was just like Sasuke: both of them