Day Slash, You Will Regret It

"Do you have any suspects?" Sarutobi Hiruzen lit his pipe and asked in a deep voice.

Danzo replied solemnly, "I did suspect you. But then I thought, you have always bathed yourself in the sunlight; you would never do such a thing."

"Then there is only one possibility."

Sarutobi Hiruzen hurriedly pressed, "Who?"

Danzo sat back down, his expression grim. "Do you remember the person who controlled the Nine-Tails to attack Konoha all those years ago?"

"It was him?" Sarutobi Hiruzen realized with a start.

Danzo said in a low voice, "To possess that level of Body Flicker, aside from the late Second Hokage and the Fourth, as well as the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure, no one else could possibly achieve it. Even Uchiha Shisui could not. Only that Uchiha villain who controlled the Nine-Tails could have done it."

Danzo spat the final words, "Uchiha villain," with heavy emphasis.

Hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent for a long time before finally speaking, "I understand. But the village has only just stabilized; let this matter rest here for now. Do not interfere further. I will send someone to investigate this."

Danzo asked, "Is it Uchiha Itachi again? He was the last person to see Uchiha Shisui. It is highly likely that Shisui entrusted his left eye to him, yet he never mentioned it to you. Uchiha Itachi is no longer worthy of trust."

"No, it is not him." As he spoke, Sarutobi Hiruzen revealed that he had sent Fujiwara Chiya to act as an undercover agent.

"Foolish," Danzo snapped. "Hiruzen, how can you be sure that the boy won't be bought off by the Uchiha clan instead?"

"What if he leaks our intelligence to the Uchiha clan?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen replied, "Danzo, you are too suspicious. Chiya is the child of the Fujiwara family; his parents sacrificed themselves to protect the village, and he has inherited their will, vowing to protect the village, to protect Konoha. He is just a civilian, not the Uchiha you fear so much."

"That is not certain. As long as he marries a girl from the Uchiha clan, he becomes one of them. It would be better if I..." Danzo made a sinister throat-slitting gesture.

"Enough, Danzo. I am the Hokage." Sarutobi Hiruzen stood up, slammed his hand on the desk, and rebuked him sternly.

"Hiruzen, you will regret this."

Danzo gritted his teeth, slammed his own hand on the table, and stormed out, his resolve to become Hokage only growing firmer.

The next day, Chiya arrived at the training ground on time, as agreed upon with Yuhi Kurenai.

Every team has a period of adjustment when first formed, so there were no missions for the first three days.

During this time, in addition to understanding each team member's strength to arrange tactics, the jonin leader could also provide appropriate guidance in ninjutsu.

Because Akizuki Airi and Akimichi Pangci both had families to rely on, Yuhi Kurenai did not need to worry about their ninjutsu.

After confirming they had no talent for genjutsu, she simply gave them some pointers on their training progress and sent them off to practice.

When it was Chiya's turn, she formed hand seals and cast the genjutsu Three Absolute Cherry Blossoms on him.

"Chiya, you possess excellent talent for genjutsu. This is Three Absolute Cherry Blossoms. It allows the enemy to see flower petals, creating a distraction to facilitate a surprise attack. If you master it to a high level, you can even control the petals to cover the enemy, restricting their movements or even causing them to suffocate to death."

"The hand seals and the principle of the technique are as follows..."

As she spoke, Yuhi Kurenai's figure suddenly dissolved into petals in Chiya's eyes.

"Did you understand?" Yuhi Kurenai's voice sounded beside Chiya's ear as the petals re-condensed, her graceful figure reappearing before him.

Chiya nodded. Having devoured Shisui's bloodline and possessing Kyōka Suigetsu, his talent for genjutsu could be considered maxed out.

Following Yuhi Kurenai's instructions, he quickly formed the hand seals with both hands.

In an instant, his entire body dissolved into petals and vanished from Yuhi Kurenai's sight.

"This... this is..." Standing in an ocean of cherry blossoms, Yuhi Kurenai gasped in shock, looking at everything before her in disbelief, her eyes flashing with excitement and agitation.

"Teacher Kurenai, does this count as me having learned it?" Chiya's voice echoed from all directions, as if every petal were his true self, making it impossible to discern the truth.

The petals quickly condensed, and Chiya's figure reappeared.

At this moment, Yuhi Kurenai felt as if she were seeing the shadow of her father, Yuhi Shinku, in Chiya.

Her gaze went blank for a moment.

It wasn't until Chiya reminded her that she snapped back to reality, exclaiming, "You really are astonishing! Chiya, in the future, you will surely surpass me. No... you will surely become a genjutsu ninja who surpasses the Uchiha clan."

Chiya smiled calmly and did not deny it.

Time flew by, and half a year passed; the new Chunin Exams were approaching.

Chiya was nearly twelve years old and had carried out many missions of varying sizes with Yuhi Kurenai.

During this time, he encountered all sorts of opponents, even including a jonin, all of whom were dealt with by Chiya's masterful genjutsu.

Due to his high mission completion rate, Chiya became somewhat famous among the ninjas of Konoha.

Konoha, Hokage Office.

Just like the previous year, the team leaders arrived one after another to recommend their students to the Konoha F4 for the Chunin Exams.

Yuhi Kurenai was naturally among them.

When it was her turn, she respectfully handed over the files for Chiya and his two teammates. "Lord Hokage, advisors, Lord Danzo, these are the candidates I recommend for the Chunin Exams."

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a symbolic look at the files of Akizuki Airi and Akimichi Pangci before passing them to Danzo and the others. As he looked at Chiya's file, he said, "Kurenai, I hear that young Chiya has been very active in his missions lately."

"Yes, Lord Hokage. He is a genjutsu genius in the truest sense, and he also possesses remarkable talent in ninjutsu and taijutsu. I have nothing left to teach him," Yuhi Kurenai replied respectfully.

As soon as these words were spoken, not only Sarutobi Hiruzen, but the other three members of the Konoha F4 and the other team leaders present couldn't help but look over.

The vast Hokage office suddenly fell into a dead silence.

Yuhi Kurenai's evaluation of Chiya was incredibly high, reaching a level that could no longer be described in words.

It was as if she were on the verge of saying that Chiya already possessed the strength of a Jonin.

The last time a situation like this had occurred, it had been with Uchiha Itachi.

Danzo cast a flickering, uncertain glance at Sarutobi Hiruzen. After a long while, he was the first to speak, breaking the silent atmosphere in the room, "Jonin Yuhi Kurenai, may I interpret this as Chiya already possessing the strength of a Jonin, or perhaps even surpassing you?"

"Yes, Lord Danzo," Yuhi Kurenai replied noncommittally.

Only those who had spent time with Chiya could truly understand his terrifying talent as a ninja.

Although the two of them had only been together for a little over half a year, Chiya's strength had grown at a speed visible to the naked eye almost every single time.

As of now, Chiya had already mastered all of her genjutsu, and in terms of ninjutsu and taijutsu, he had surpassed her as well.

She truly had nothing left to teach him.

Perhaps this was what people often referred to as a genius.