Flaw in the Genjutsu

After the exchange meeting officially began, several jonin took turns going up onto the combat platform to demonstrate ninjutsu.

Might Guy went first. After stepping up, he stripped off the upper half of his green jumpsuit and demonstrated a basic taijutsu routine from the Eight Gates. When he finished, he gave the stands a thumbs-up and shouted, "Youth!" Sparse applause followed from below.

Torune Aburame went second. He released a swarm of Parasitic Insects and arranged them into several tactical formations on the platform, explaining the applications of insect-based ninjutsu in reconnaissance and interference. It was professional but dull, and people in the back rows began to yawn.

Third was Yuhi Kurenai.

When she rose from the seat beside Chiba, she smoothed her skirt, her long black hair swaying behind her.

Chiba's gaze followed her retreating figure from their seats to the edge of the platform. He watched her climb the steps and come to a stop at its center.

Her crimson eyes stood out under the lights of the arena. She stood straight, her hands hanging naturally at her sides, radiating a quiet but impossible-to-ignore presence.

"Next, I will demonstrate the Konoha Genjutsu Division's research achievement: Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death."

Yuhi Kurenai's voice was not loud, but her words were crisp and carried far through the echoes of the Konoha Combat Arena.

Her hands began forming seals. She was not particularly fast, but every seal was extraordinarily precise. The angles of her fingers and the rhythm at which she infused chakra matched perfectly.

The air above the platform began to change.

The first sign was a visual distortion. An image of a tree emerged from the wooden floor at the center of the platform, its trunk bursting through cracks in the boards. Its branches spread in every direction, while its leaves rustled in a wind that did not exist.

Genjutsu.

But it was incredibly lifelike. The patterns of the bark, the veins in the leaves, the curves of the bending branches—all of it was detailed to the point of nearly resembling the real thing.

The jonin in the stands began to take it seriously. Several leaned forward, their eyes fixed on the illusionary tree atop the platform.

The branches continued growing. One tree became three, and three became a small grove. The entire platform was covered in plants created by genjutsu.

Yuhi Kurenai completed her final seal, and the roots of the thickest tree in the grove suddenly surged upward. Like snakes, they coiled around a training post placed at the edge of the platform, wrapping it completely from top to bottom within three seconds.

Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death.

Low murmurs and scattered applause rose from the stands. Several jonin knowledgeable in genjutsu nodded, their expressions approving.

Asuma, seated in the third row, clapped the loudest. A cigarette hung from his mouth, and his lips curled upward with the smug air of a man thinking, That's my woman.

Chiba sat in the front row without applauding. He held a teacup in his hand, his gaze never leaving the platform.

Tsunade glanced at him from beside him and lowered her voice.

"Did you spot something?"

"I did."

Yuhi Kurenai dispelled the technique on the platform. The illusionary forest vanished within three seconds, and the platform returned to normal. She stepped down and returned to the front-row seats.

When she sat down, her breathing was slightly faster than before she had gone up, and a thin layer of sweat had formed at her temples. The expenditure of mental chakra had been considerable.

Once she was seated firmly, Chiba pushed the teacup before him toward her.

"Have some tea. You used up quite a bit just now."

Yuhi Kurenai took the cup and drank a sip. After setting it down, she turned to look at Chiba.

"Chiba, what did you think?"

Chiba did not answer immediately. He leaned slightly toward her, bringing his lips close to her ear, his voice dropping to a level only the two of them could hear.

"The technique is beautiful. Its precision can easily rank among the top three in Konoha's genjutsu."

The tips of Yuhi Kurenai's ears grew faintly warm, but her expression did not change as she waited for him to continue.

"But there's one fatal problem."

Yuhi Kurenai's fingers paused against the wall of her teacup.

"Your Tree Binding Death relies too heavily on visual guidance through plant forms. Essentially, you use a massive amount of mental chakra to construct an extremely realistic plant-filled scene, then use the immersion of that setting to bind the target's senses and movements."

Chiba's voice was low, his breath brushing Yuhi Kurenai's ear. Her shoulders tensed, but she did not pull away.

"That approach is enough against ordinary ninja, but it will fail outright against two kinds of people."

"Which two?"

"First, the Sharingan. The Uchiha Clan's Sharingan can naturally see through the flow of chakra in genjutsu. Your visual plant guidance is no different from transparent glass before the Sharingan. They could even trace your chakra channels in reverse and use genjutsu to make you suffer backlash."

Yuhi Kurenai's fingers tightened, and the teacup turned halfway in her palm.

"Second, those with immense vitality or natural energy. Your Tree Binding Death imitates plants, but your mental chakra lacks the density of true Yin Release. Put plainly, your genjutsu isn't 'heavy' enough. Against an opponent whose chakra reserves overwhelm yours, all they need is one burst of chakra to break your genjutsu from within. You, on the other hand, would suffer meridian damage from chakra backflow."

Yuhi Kurenai's body stiffened for two seconds.

She turned to face Chiba directly. Less than twenty centimeters separated their faces. His reflection lay in her crimson eyes, and her pupils slowly widened.

"How do you know all that?"

"Because I am a Wood Release user. The plant forms your genjutsu imitates look to me like the difference between a tree drawn by a child with crayons and a real tree. The shape is similar, but the essence is not. What it lacks is the underlying logic of vitality."

Yuhi Kurenai's lips moved. She wanted to say something, but swallowed it back.

Chiba leaned away slightly, giving her room to breathe.

"The solution isn't complicated. You need to add a deeper refinement of Yin Release properties into your mental chakra. Not more chakra, but greater density and weight. The essence of genjutsu is not deceiving the eyes. It is suppressing the other person's mental core, making their brain actively accept the world you construct. What your Tree Binding Death lacks isn't technique—it's the underlying concentration of Yin Release."

Yuhi Kurenai stared at Chiba for five seconds. She placed the teacup in her hand back on the table, and its base made a soft clink against the surface.

"Chiba, would you be willing to teach me?"

When she said it, her voice was half a tone lower than before, carrying a seriousness and sincerity that even she herself had not fully realized.

The corner of Chiba's mouth moved.

Deep within his mind, a golden panel quietly lit up.

[Potential romantic target detected: Yuhi Kurenai. Current favorability: 18. 2 points short of the binding threshold of 20. Trigger conditions: academic recognition and spiritual resonance. It is recommended that the host continue deepening interaction in the professional field.]

Chiba closed the panel and nodded at Yuhi Kurenai.

"I can, but we'll need to find somewhere quiet. There are too many people here, and it's too chaotic."

Yuhi Kurenai's lips curved slightly. The smile was small, but enough for Asuma in the third row to see clearly.

The cigarette in Asuma's mouth had burned down to the filter, scorching his lips and making them twitch. The cigarette butt fell onto his pants, and he hurriedly slapped out the sparks. When he looked up, he saw Chiba and Yuhi Kurenai sitting side by side in the front row, their heads close together, the distance between them enough to send his blood pressure soaring.

He clenched his back teeth, the muscles in his cheeks bulging.