Yuhi Kurenai's Nighttime Invitation

When Chiba stepped down from the arena, the applause erupting across the hall nearly blew the roof off the Konoha Combat Arena.

Several young chunin examiners clapped until their palms were red. Might Guy jumped up in the back row and shouted, "This is the Wood Release of youth!" before the people beside him pulled him back down.

Chiba did not linger by the arena. He returned to his front-row seat along the steps, not even glancing at Asuma, who was being dragged to a corner below the stage for emergency treatment.

Tsunade was waiting for him at her seat. The teapot had been refilled with fresh water, and two cups of tea sat on the table—one in her hand, the other at Chiba's place.

"You're back? I brewed a new pot after the tea went cold."

Chiba sat down and took a sip from his cup.

"Lady Tsunade, did you see it clearly?"

The corner of Tsunade's mouth curved up, and she lowered her voice until only the two of them could hear.

"A synchronized output of Wood Release and Yin Release, with absurd precision. Your True Tree Binding Death has an extra layer of mental interference compared to Grandpa First's Flower Tree World Emergence. When did you develop it?"

"I extracted Snake Sage energy from Anko's curse mark to open the second stage of the Dual Sage Body. Once the density of my Yin Release rose, I casually revised Yuhi Kurenai's Tree Binding Death."

A glint flashed in Tsunade's eyes as she leaned back with her teacup in hand.

"You revised someone else's genjutsu and demonstrated it right in front of her. Was that for her to see?"

Chiba drank his tea without answering, his gaze passing over the rim of the cup toward the seat beside him.

Yuhi Kurenai was still sitting there, leaning forward with her hands folded over her knees. Her interlaced fingers were tense, something churned in her red eyes, and her breathing was half a beat faster than usual.

Chiba set down his cup and angled his body slightly toward Yuhi Kurenai.

"Kurenai, you okay?"

Yuhi Kurenai's shoulders trembled, as though merely hearing her name carried some sort of impact.

She turned to face Chiba directly. Only a teacup's distance separated them.

"That technique just now... you turned my Tree Binding Death into something completely different."

"I only added a few things. The foundation is still yours."

"It's different, Chiba. That was completely different from mine."

Yuhi Kurenai's voice was lower than usual, and she spoke more slowly, as if every word had to pass through her mouth before being released.

"You embedded a physical Wood Release chakra network beneath the visual guidance layer of the genjutsu. It's like you gave the illusion a physical skeleton. Even if the target sees through the genjutsu, they still can't escape, because the thing binding them truly exists."

Chiba's lips twitched.

"You noticed."

"I'm a genjutsu-specialist jonin. How could I not?"

A mix of grievance and reluctance entered Yuhi Kurenai's voice, while the light in her red eyes trembled.

"But I can't do it, Chiba. I don't have Wood Release. I only have Yin Release. The revised version you displayed in three seconds was a direction I never thought of even after six years of research."

Chiba poured a fresh cup of tea from the pot and pushed it toward Yuhi Kurenai.

"You don't need Wood Release. What you need is purer Yin Release density. The reason your genjutsu can be broken by the Sharingan and opponents with huge chakra reserves is that your spiritual power isn't heavy enough. It can't suppress the core of their consciousness."

Yuhi Kurenai accepted the cup. Her fingertips hesitated for a beat when they touched the porcelain, as though its warmth had scalded her.

"I know you mentioned this by the arena before, but that was only theory. Chiba, do you have a specific training method?"

Chiba looked into her eyes and extended his right hand, palm up.

"I do, and only I can teach it to you. Come to the Senju Main Residence tonight. I'll demonstrate mental power refinement through Yin Release chakra and let you experience what true mental suppression feels like."

Yuhi Kurenai's breathing stopped for half a beat.

Her gaze moved from Chiba's face to his outstretched palm, then toward Tsunade beside him.

Tsunade held her teacup with the relaxed expression of someone who saw everything but could not be bothered to interfere. Yet the knuckles of the hand holding the cup were so tense that the skin had tightened around them.

Behind Chiba, Anko stood with her arms crossed, one corner of her mouth crooked into an almost arrogant smirk as she watched Yuhi Kurenai with the look of someone enjoying a good show.

Yuhi Kurenai withdrew her gaze and looked down at her folded hands on her knees.

Three seconds of silence passed.

"Chiba."

"Yeah?"

"Did you plan it in advance? Using your revised version of my Tree Binding Death against Asuma in the arena today?"

Chiba did not deny it.

"Yes. I deliberately used your technique."

Yuhi Kurenai's lips moved. The emotion flashing through her red eyes was complicated—displeasure at being used, surprise at being valued, shock at Chiba's strength, and above all, an indescribable quickening of her heartbeat.

"If you'd told me your purpose earlier, I at least wouldn't have been kept in the dark."

Chiba leaned forward several centimeters and lowered his voice into the space between them, as close as that cup of tea.

"Kurenai, your reaction is most genuine when you're kept in the dark. The expression you had while watching me cast that technique from the stands was far prettier than when you demonstrated Tree Binding Death in the arena."

The tips of Yuhi Kurenai's ears visibly reddened, the color spreading from her earlobes down the side of her neck.

She lifted her cup and took a large drink, hiding half her face behind it, though it could not hide her ears.

"You're very improper when you talk."

"I've always been perfectly proper."

"Then why did you hold my hand and bring me to sit in the front row in public, right in front of more than seventy jonin?"

"Because someone near the seat you were in smelled too strongly of cigarettes, and you don't like cigarette smoke."

Yuhi Kurenai's fingers tightened around the cup.

"How did you know I don't like cigarette smoke?"

"When you were sitting in front of Asuma earlier, every time he lit a cigarette behind you, your left index finger tapped against your knee once, matching the rhythm of his smoking. That was an unconscious reaction of irritation. Even you didn't notice it."

Yuhi Kurenai put down her cup and faced Chiba directly. Her red eyes shone remarkably brightly under the lights of the Konoha Combat Arena.

She stared at Chiba for five seconds. Then her lips curved slightly. It was a very small movement, but it was the first trace of a smile Chiba had seen on her face that day.

"Fine. I'll go to the Senju Main Residence tonight. You can teach me Yin Release refinement."

Chiba withdrew his right hand from the table and lightly tapped his knuckles against its surface twice.

"We'll have dinner together. Shizune's cooking has improved lately. The tofu in her miso soup is softer than before."

Yuhi Kurenai's eyelashes fluttered.

"We're only studying techniques. I'm not promising anything else."

"Studying techniques, then. What do you think I wanted you to promise?"

Tsunade nearly sprayed out her tea. She forcibly swallowed it, set her cup on the table, and porcelain struck wood with a crisp sound.

Anko leaned close to Tsunade's ear. Her voice was low, but Yuhi Kurenai still heard it.

"Lady Tsunade, that cup nearly got destroyed for the third time today. The Senju Clan budget can't handle this much breakage."

Tsunade shot her a sharp glare. Anko shrank her neck, but the curve of her lips did not fade at all.

Yuhi Kurenai watched the interaction between the older and younger woman beside Chiba, and the light in her red eyes brightened a little further.

She set her cup back on the table and folded her hands over her knees again, sitting upright. This time, though, her body unconsciously leaned two or three centimeters toward Chiba.

Chiba noticed, but did not point it out. He simply refilled her cup.