The Wealthy Kurenai Yuhi

"But... I lost to you."

Kurenai Yuhi lowered her head and muttered softly, her voice like crimson silk crushed in someone's hand, thick with unwillingness.

Her curled black hair gleamed faintly beneath the sunlight, and ripples flickered in her red eyes, clearly concealing a sense of grievance.

"That doesn't mean you won't grow stronger in the future. Maybe you'll beat me next time. The Sharingan isn't invincible."

For the sake of the entries, Kiyoshi continued comforting her.

The Sharingan was certainly not invincible.

To make the Sharingan powerful, one had to continuously increase its tomoe—or rather, its comma-shaped markings—until they reflected the power of one's own heart, allowing the Sharingan to synchronize with its wielder's heart.

A real "kaleidoscope" contained countless pieces of colored glass. As long as the kaleidoscope was turned and the fragments formed different combinations, it would create different patterns.

The "Mangekyō Sharingan," meanwhile, continuously rotated its tomoe, using fragments of one's own heart to construct a "pattern" unique to oneself.

And the heart and spirit were, in truth, the power of "Yin Release."

The Uchiha Clan had inherited this power of "Yin Release" from the Sage of Six Paths, passing it down through their bloodline generation after generation.

At those words, Kurenai Yuhi's eyes flickered, and her expression improved considerably.

"Alright, Kiyoshi. I'll definitely prove myself!"

Kurenai Yuhi raised her head, her voice carrying a rare determination as a small flame ignited in her youthful red eyes.

"Alright."

Kiyoshi nodded.

Kurenai Yuhi's father was Mahiru Yuhi.

Mahiru Yuhi's genjutsu was indeed considered powerful among Konoha's jonin.

There were even rumors that his genjutsu could reflect the genjutsu of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

However, neither the manga nor the anime had ever shown anything to support that.

He was probably strong, but his genjutsu had not reached that level.

If his genjutsu could reflect Mangekyō genjutsu, then he could not possibly have died so hastily during the Night of the Nine-Tails.

Besides, how many pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan even existed in the entire Shinobi World?

Was Mahiru Yuhi supposed to reflect Madara Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan, or someone else's Sharingan?

Fugaku's questionable Mangekyō Sharingan?

Fugaku had only awakened the Mangekyō in anime-original content, not in the manga. Now that this was reality, Kiyoshi had no idea which version it followed.

But one thing was certain: in the anime, Fugaku had not even told Mikoto that he possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, concealing it until the very end.

He had wanted to wait until he was absolutely certain before using the Mangekyō Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails.

The result was that he had played the pig to eat the tiger for too long and truly became a pig. He showed nothing at all and willingly died at Itachi's hands.

"Mm!"

She was still a child, after all. She had the pride of someone unwilling to admit defeat, someone who wanted to prove herself.

Kiyoshi saw that in her determined gaze, but said nothing more. He merely nodded lightly, a meaningful smile hanging at the corner of his lips.

Grow stronger.

The stronger, the better.

Let me see whether you can bring me new entries once you grow stronger.

"Ahem, Kurenai, that was what I actually meant."

Seeing that the situation seemed to be taking a bad turn, Asuma Sarutobi hurriedly stepped forward.

He wanted to salvage what he had just said.

Unfortunately, Kurenai said nothing.

She simply left quickly.

Asuma Sarutobi knew Kurenai was angry. Scratching his head, he hurried after her, hoping to coax her back into a good mood.

After watching the two leave, Kiyoshi did not follow. He remained behind to continue training.

Lightning Release: Iron Skin had many areas that electrical currents could not train, such as deeper muscles, bones, internal organs, and so on.

For those places, Kiyoshi had to rely on his own efforts.

He ran toward a gently flowing river, stepped onto its surface, and began running.

Ordinary running could only train physical stamina.

Running on water could temper Chakra control while also strengthening the body. It was killing two birds with one stone.

Such training consumed Chakra very quickly. Without Kiyoshi's Chakra reserves as a foundation, one would be panting in no time and end up exhausted for the entire day instead.

Evening.

Kiyoshi dragged his sweat-soaked body home.

Before long, he spotted a red figure standing at his doorway.

Kurenai Yuhi?

Why had she come again?

Kiyoshi had no idea why just anyone seemed to know where he lived.

Kakashi had somehow found his house.

The same went for Kurenai Yuhi. He had clearly never taken either of them home.

"Have you already prepared to prove yourself again?"

Kiyoshi asked flatly.

By the usual course of events, shouldn't Kurenai Yuhi go through a period of grueling training before returning to challenge him later, conveniently dropping a few entries along the way?

"I... I wanted to discuss genjutsu with you. We've already practiced it, but we still lack theory. Kiyoshi, your theoretical knowledge can't be bad either, right? That way, I can become stronger faster."

Kurenai Yuhi held a scroll in her hand. It was obvious that she wanted to study with Kiyoshi.

"I'm planning to take on some part-time work during my spare time lately, like serving dishes at a sushi shop. I don't have much time."

Kiyoshi frowned slightly.

His precious time could not be wasted on Kurenai Yuhi.

Kurenai Yuhi did not have a mature figure like Samui's, one that could make Kiyoshi's Eye Power react.

Unless she became a mature beauty in the future, then he could consider it. The married-woman version would not be bad either.

"Is Kiyoshi really that short on money?"

Kurenai Yuhi froze.

She had not known Kiyoshi had such troubles. He was actually planning to work odd jobs.

"I can... I can pay you tutoring fees. I only brought some with me, but there's more at home."

Kurenai Yuhi hurriedly searched through her pockets for the money she had brought, then opened both hands to look at it.

It was quite a sum—around eight hundred ryo.

Mahiru Yuhi treated Kurenai Yuhi very well and always stuffed her with plenty of spending money.

"It's a long story. But after thinking it over carefully, I realized that discussing genjutsu is something that will benefit everyone in the future. I like that very much. Kurenai Yuhi, please come in."

A slight curve appeared on Kiyoshi's otherwise expressionless face. He opened the door and gestured for Kurenai Yuhi to follow.

Since there was money involved, this was easy to handle.

He now had a source of funds to buy ninja tools!

Kurenai Yuhi was an only child. Kiyoshi estimated that he could probably squeeze quite a lot of money out of her.

At the very least, buying a Kodachi should not be a problem.

And it would stand up to scrutiny. This was money earned through legitimate means.

"Really?"

After taking a few steps, Kurenai Yuhi asked hesitantly.

She had not expected Kiyoshi to actually agree.

"Of course, Kurenai Yuhi. Now, let me tell you about some of my understanding of genjutsu..."

Kiyoshi wiped away his sweat and began explaining genjutsu to Kurenai Yuhi.

Setting aside some time to discuss genjutsu also reinforced his own knowledge.

Kiyoshi now looked at Kurenai Yuhi as though she were an ATM—one that could drop both entries and money.

The evening glow streamed in through the window, bathing everything in golden light.

Kurenai Yuhi's small head nodded from time to time as she listened attentively.

A few days later.

Kiyoshi had taken an advance on Kurenai Yuhi's tutoring fees for the next three months and finally had enough money to buy a secondhand Kodachi.

Standing in the courtyard, he watched as the wind gently swept up fallen leaves and sent them drifting across the ground.

Kiyoshi's dark eyes fixed on one of those leaves as his left hand tightened slightly around the scabbard.

Rustle.

A stronger gust of wind blew past.

Thank you all for your tremendous support. This book has successfully made it through a round of recommendations. After it goes premium, there will be a major update spree. My longtime readers know that my previous book maintained ten thousand words a day for a long time and even earned two ten-thousand-words-per-day badges. This book cannot fall behind either.

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My deepest gratitude.