Joining Kurenai's Team

Kimura Takuya was woken up.

It wasn't the injured kunoichi who woke him. They'd seen him resting and hadn't wanted to disturb him.

The head nurse had woken him.

"What? I've been assigned to Senior Kurenai Yuhi's team?"

Still a little dazed from just waking up, Kimura Takuya took the assignment order Kurenai handed him.

He read it carefully for a long while before finally coming to his senses.

So it really was true. He shouldn't have saved her. The moment he saved someone, the Third Hokage, that peeping Tom, found out.

Actually, Kimura Takuya knew that anything that happened at Konoha Hospital would certainly be reported to the Hokage by the Anbu.

But what could he do?

He couldn't just leave someone to die, could he?

He wasn't the sort of saint who ran around saving everyone.

There were so many people in the world; he could never save them all. But when he met someone worth saving, he still couldn't help stepping in.

That was just the kind of person he was.

His plan to lie low at the hospital had gone up in smoke.

Well, so be it. Having a team leader wasn't bad, especially when she was Konoha's strongest genjutsu user, Kurenai Yuhi.

Though later in the Hokage story, the profession of genjutsu user was practically written out.

And Kurenai Yuhi, who was supposedly the strongest genjutsu user, got crushed by Uchiha Itachi's Sharingan, all to boost Itachi's legendary status.

But genjutsu's potential was actually limitless. And no, I'm not talking about Infinite Tsukuyomi.

I mean Yakumo Kurama.

Kimura Takuya finally remembered who the little girl behind Kurenai was.

The princess of the Kurama Clan's Main Family, Yakumo Kurama.

She was hailed as the hope of the Kurama Clan's revival.

She possessed the strongest genjutsu Kekkei Genkai—the Illusion Reality Style.

Just as the name suggested, it was a Kekkei Genkai that could turn illusions into reality.

The Kurama Clan and the Yuhi Clan were both Konoha clans of genjutsu users, and both possessed Kekkei Genkai.

The only difference was that the Kurama Clan's Kekkei Genkai was highly unstable. Only a few people awakened it over the course of several generations.

But once someone did awaken it, they were practically invincible.

The Kurama Clan had once been a clan that could rival the Uchiha.

But the clan had fallen into decline over the past few generations, to the point that they couldn't even produce a Chunin.

There was only one reason: the Kurama Clan's Kekkei Genkai was so difficult to awaken that no one had managed it for generations.

And not only had no one awakened their Kekkei Genkai, but many suffered from Kekkei Genkai Disease.

The symptoms were milder in those who hadn't awakened it, but the disease had still left the clan unable to produce even a Chunin.

That was why the clan had declined. And Yakumo Kurama, standing before him, was one of the clan's Kekkei Genkai users.

The genuine hope of the entire clan.

But had that incident happened yet?

"Are you all right?"

A concerned voice rang out, clear and bright.

It pulled Kimura Takuya's thoughts back to the present.

He shook his head and patted his cheeks with both hands.

"Sorry. I was on night duty yesterday and got a little sleepy."

"You have to work even when you're sick?"

"Uh, no, no, I'm not sick. I was just catching a nap here."

Kimura Takuya swung his legs off the hospital bed to show that he wasn't a patient and had only borrowed the place to catch up on some sleep. Then he turned toward Kurenai Yuhi.

"I've received Lord Hokage's order. So, Teacher Kurenai, starting today, I'll be under your command. I look forward to working with you!"

After saying that, Kimura Takuya bowed to Kurenai Yuhi.

He was a little stiff. Even after all these years, he still wasn't fond of this sort of bowing-and-scraping.

"Haha, you don't have to be so formal. I'm not some rigid old teacher. I'll be counting on you for plenty of things, Tuoye. This is your teammate, Yakumo Kurama."

Kurenai covered her mouth with a light laugh and introduced Yakumo Kurama, who stood beside her.

"Hello, I'm Kimura Takuya. I specialize in Medical Ninjutsu, and I'm probably a little good at Taijutsu, too."

"Y-hello, I'm Yakumo Kurama. I'm good at... I think I'm good at genjutsu."

The young man and girl looked at each other and burst into laughter. Seeing how well they got along, Kurenai Yuhi relaxed.

But in truth, Kimura Takuya was thinking about something else.

She could laugh so happily. That meant the incident probably hadn't happened yet.

In the original story, Yakumo Kurama awakened her Kekkei Genkai, and the Kurama Clan placed all their hopes in her. But the young Yakumo couldn't bear the pressure.

Deep in her subconscious, a monstrous personality emerged, one that wanted to destroy everything.

Because of her ability to turn illusions into reality, that personality became a real monster.

Its name was Ido.

It was incredibly powerful—so powerful that even the Hokage would have been afraid of it.

But in the end, Yakumo killed it herself with a single poke of a spoon, proving that she was the strongest one of all.

Before that, though, the monster had cost her her parents.

Kekkei Genkai Disease had left her physically frail, so she couldn't become a ninja.

Yakumo Kurama, burdened with her clan's hopes, couldn't accept that outcome. The monster went out of control and killed her parents.

Afterward, she completely forgot what had happened. Then she overheard the Third Hokage and Kurenai secretly discussing how to eliminate her—or seal her away if they couldn't.

She thought the Third Hokage and Kurenai had conspired to kill her parents and were now going to kill her, too.

In reality, they'd only wanted to eliminate the monster inside her.

Anyway, because of that incident, she drew a lightning bolt that nearly blew up the Hokage Building.

Her power was seriously overpowered.

Uchiha Sasuke's S-rank Lightning Release Ninjutsu, Kirin, required the right weather, terrain, and a whole lot of preparation. And even then, he had to spend ages showing off before he could bring it down.

But this girl could unleash lightning of equal power just by drawing a picture and adding a lightning bolt.

It was so easy and effortless that it cost her little more than drawing a picture.

Can you imagine how ridiculous that was?

It was so ridiculous that ridiculousness itself would open the door for it!

It was precisely because the Kurama Clan's Kekkei Genkai was so absurdly powerful.

Kishimoto realized that this side character was too overpowered. After Naruto helped her deal with the monster, Yakumo Kurama never appeared again.

She didn't even show up during the Fourth Shinobi World War or at Naruto and Hinata's wedding.

Some people said she might have died young from Kekkei Genkai Disease.

After all, even Orochimaru, the Ninja World's greatest scientist, couldn't do anything about Kekkei Genkai Disease.

Orochimaru could only watch Kimimaro, his fiercely loyal subordinate, die. There was nothing he could do.

Kekkei Genkai Disease was a hereditary illness caused by one's bloodline.

The bloodline behind a Kekkei Genkai brought powerful abilities, but it also came with genetic disorders, to varying degrees.

For example, the Uchiha's Kekkei Genkai Disease made the whole clan prone to paranoia and extremes, along with issues like blindness from overusing their eyes and poor physical health.

The Hyuga's Kekkei Genkai Disease was simpler: everyone in the clan had "cataracts," meaning their eyes were completely white even when their Byakugan wasn't activated.

As for the Kurama Clan's Kekkei Genkai Disease, so far it seemed to cause nothing more than frailty and frequent illness.

It should be fine as long as her muscles, organs, and bones were all strengthened, right?

But that was only Kimura Takuya's guess. He'd need to examine her carefully to know for sure.

Kimura Takuya and Teacher Kurenai agreed to meet again tomorrow. For today, he'd go home and rest, and the two of them left together.

Just as Kimura Takuya was about to leave—

"Wait a moment, please!"

Oh, no.

She'd still stopped him.

He'd deliberately left with Teacher Kurenai so this kunoichi wouldn't stop him.

After all, uh...

"They'll grow back. I only moved the fat from that area."

"Uh, I understand. Thank you, Kimura. I thought I wasn't going to make it. I'm Uzuki Yugao. I'll repay you for saving my life."

"Ahaha, you're welcome. You were injured serving the village. As a member of Konoha, it was only right for me to help you."

Kimura Takuya paused in surprise. No wonder that purple hair had looked so familiar.

So she was Transparent Escape user Gekko Hayate's girlfriend.

But why had she suffered an injury like this at this point in time?

Without him, there was no way she would've survived this injury.

Had someone else saved her?

But in Konoha, the only people who could treat an injury like this were Tsunade and Shizune.

Could Tsunade have returned today?