"Are you all right, Kurenai-senpai?"
Kurenai Yuhi dispelled the illusion and returned to reality.
The tea on the table gave off a soothing fragrance, and Yuhi Shinku was nowhere to be seen.
The cold sweat on Kurenai Yuhi's forehead hadn't dried. Her chest rose and fell, and her feelings were complicated.
She was both shocked by Kazuhiko's skill with illusions and embarrassed that he'd glimpsed the deepest memories in her heart.
Was this really an illusion a Genin could use?
She looked at Kazuhiko, unable to understand how he'd managed all of this.
The essence of genjutsu was Yin Release Chakra.
The caster used chakra to interfere with the target's five senses—sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell—causing them to form false perceptions or lose control of their actions.
Its effects ranged from distorted vision and sensory fatigue to mental imprisonment and severe control.
Genjutsu could be divided into visual, auditory, sensory, and special types.
Kurenai Yuhi was an expert in visual and sensory genjutsu.
She used the eyes and visual signals of light and shadow to cast illusions. With precise chakra control, she deceived the target's five senses, then combined that with her keen perception to achieve stable control through "perception + genjutsu."
Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death was a classic genjutsu.
But the Hypnotic Illusion Kazuhiko had used was completely different.
There was no confusion of the senses, no loss of control over her actions.
Kurenai Yuhi hadn't even felt constrained by the illusion.
If she wanted, she could move freely and use Genjutsu: Release at any time.
Yet this "simple" genjutsu had forced her to use a countermeasure like Genjutsu: True Release.
If the two of them were fighting, and the setting were different, would she even realize it was an illusion?
At the thought, Kurenai Yuhi's pupils contracted.
So this was the Uchiha Clan's profound mastery of genjutsu. Terrifying!
Kazuhiko looked concerned.
"I'm sorry. I didn't expect to see such a precious memory of yours. Kurenai-senpai, you're not saying anything. Are you mad at me?"
As a B-rank genjutsu, the hand seal sequence for Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death was valuable enough to be considered a treasure.
For the Uchiha, who excelled at genjutsu, even without knowing the precise chakra flow or being able to replicate Tree Binding Death, it was still highly instructive.
Keep pretending. Go on.
You got what you wanted, and now you're acting innocent. As if I wanted it!
Kurenai Yuhi seethed inwardly, but quickly composed herself and forced a smile.
"Of course I'm not mad at you, Doctor~"
[ Kurenai Yuhi's favorability toward you decreased ]
"I know you didn't do it on purpose, Doctor..."
She lowered her head, her voice growing gentler, tinged with hurt.
"I only blame myself for being so useless. I still get sad when I see my father, who died in battle."
[ Kurenai Yuhi's favorability toward you decreased ]
As she spoke, Kurenai Yuhi's eyes reddened slightly. She shook her head and forced a smile.
"But it's all right. I'll get my emotions under control. I've always managed on my own, after all, and I've long since gotten used to it."
[ Kurenai Yuhi's favorability toward you decreased ]
Three green-tea lines in a row, each one a killer blow.
Women heard them and fell silent; men heard them and wept.
Looking at the favorability notification, Kazuhiko suddenly discovered another function of [Deep Blue]—
A green-tea translator.
Translated directly, Kurenai Yuhi's words should have been:
It's all your fault, you brat!
You did that on purpose!
You'd better make it up to me right now!
Kazuhiko looked at Kurenai Yuhi, who was "big-hearted and didn't hold grudges," and pretended not to catch her meaning. Instead, he asked:
"Kurenai-senpai, how was my genjutsu? If you think it's good enough, we can start today's genjutsu instruction."
"It was very good. But before we get started, let's talk about the genjutsu you just used."
Kurenai Yuhi still wore a faint, kindly smile.
[ Kurenai Yuhi's favorability toward you decreased to: Neutral (I hate Uchiha guys who are so clueless. They have none of the bearing of a noble clan, and they deserve to be single and unable to find a partner.) ] [ Kurenai Yuhi's independent trait card pool has opened ] [Jonin trait draw chance +1] [Jonin trait draw chances: 10]
Was his first ten-pull for Jonin traits finally coming?
Could he get any luckier?
Kazuhiko ignored Kurenai Yuhi's inner thoughts, feeling delighted.
Since you helped me get that ten-pull, I'll just pretend I didn't hear what you said.
We Uchiha are kindhearted. We don't hold grudges.
As a genjutsu-specialized Special Jōnin, Kurenai Yuhi was an excellent instructor.
And Kazuhiko had studied genjutsu extensively. He could understand anything with just a little explanation.
Once they officially began the lesson, they were both in high spirits.
Kazuhiko asked questions, and Kurenai Yuhi quickly offered approaches to solving them that differed from the Uchiha's.
Kurenai Yuhi shared her practical experience as a caster, and Kazuhiko could draw further conclusions from it.
Before long, he had new ideas about how to refine his "VR Reality Illusion."
Combined with the Sharingan, my Hypnotic Illusion will become a completely unprecedented, brand-new version!
And on top of that, he had a ten-pull for Jonin traits waiting to be drawn.
Thinking of that, Kazuhiko grew even happier. He nearly let out the Uchiha's hearty laugh.
Meanwhile, Kurenai Yuhi was also quite surprised.
When she'd received the job, she'd thought it was a joke.
A shinobi from the Uchiha Clan needed an outsider to teach him genjutsu?
She'd figured this employer was a rich idiot whose real goal was to get into her pants.
But she urgently needed to complete various high-level missions and meet the requirements for promotion to Jonin, so she wasn't going to pass up an easy A-rank mission like this.
Besides, if he let her live in a mansion and study top-tier genjutsu, she'd even be willing to marry into a wealthy family.
Kurenai Yuhi had already decided:
If Kazuhiko was an ordinary Uchiha with no influence or powerful connections, she'd simply give him a nice-guy card and be done with it.
If he turned out to be a creep and kept pestering her, she knew a thing or two about fighting.
She'd seen every kind of lecher over the years!
If he came from a good family and was a decent person...
A friend in every port.
The one thing Kurenai Yuhi hadn't expected was that he really had come to learn genjutsu—and that...
His genjutsu skills were astonishingly good.
At the start of the lesson, she'd indeed been the one teaching and guiding him.
But once the two of them began discussing things in depth, Kurenai Yuhi felt less like she was instructing a Genin and more like she was taking part in a remarkable academic exchange with a genjutsu genius.
"Genjutsu is about making the brain deceive itself."
"People rely on sensors like their eyes and ears to make the cortex produce images and sounds. The brain uses those signals to reconstruct a virtual world."
"The world you see isn't the world itself. It's what you believe to be the 'real world.'"
"What's wrong with a world of illusions? If it's realistic enough, an illusion can become real and give people a genuine experience. That's the kind of genjutsu I want to create."
Kurenai Yuhi was shaken by Kazuhiko's vision.
But could genjutsu really be so real that she could "kill myself"?
She silently put a question mark beside that thought.
This Uchiha is surprisingly imaginative, and he comes from a good family, too...
It'd be even better if he weren't so clueless.
Kurenai Yuhi leaned forward on purpose, resting her chin on one hand. She tilted her head, letting her long hair slip aside and expose her shoulder, then gazed straight at Kazuhiko.
"Doctor Kazuhiko, you're amazing. You have a real talent for genjutsu. If you hadn't become a Medical Ninja, you'd probably be a very impressive genjutsu-type shinobi by now."
[ Kurenai Yuhi's favorability toward you increased ]
Before you continue