The Kurama clan was one of the minor families that joined Konoha when Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara first founded the village.
This clan specialized in genjutsu, but to the Uchiha—who possessed the Sharingan—the illusions of those who hadn’t awakened their bloodline limit were nothing more than a joke.
As ti passed, fewer and fewer mbers of the Kurama clan were suited to becoming shinobi, and eventually, most of them returned to ordinary civilian life.
Because the Kurama clan had contributed to Konoha’s peace in the past, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, did not pressure them, allowing them to fade away naturally.
The Kurama clan’s lands were located in a remote corner of the village, tucked away in an obscure corner of Konoha.
If not for Kurenai leading him here, Hikari would never have guessed that the Kurama clan’s estate was in such a place.
From the perspective of blending in and avoiding notice, the Kurama clan head’s decision was quite wise.
In wars between shinobi, unless absolutely necessary, civilians were rarely targeted for slaughter. Now, the Kurama clan’s ties to the shinobi world were tenuous at best. Without the bond between Kurama Yakumo and Yūhi Kurenai, they would likely have completely faded into obscurity as an ordinary civilian family.
"We’re here!" Kurenai pointed to the large estate ahead as she introduced it to Hikari.
’This place is huge. If it were in the center of the village, it’d be worth a fortune!’
Tainted by worldly greed, Hikari’s first thought upon seeing Yakumo’s residence was its potential value. If Kurenai knew what he was thinking, she’d probably question why she had even brought him here.
Could soone like this really be capable of solving Yakumo’s problem?
As the two approached, the estate’s gates swung open on their own, as if the owner inside had sensed their arrival and welcod them in.
’This feels... off.’
Kamizuki Hikari narrowed his eyes, carefully observing the courtyard. He sensed a strange aura enveloping the estate, and the gates opening by themselves didn’t seem like a chanical trigger—it was more like soone had used so peculiar ability to open them directly.
Gravity manipulation?
Or sothing else?
With these doubts in mind, Hikari maintained a calm expression as he followed Kurenai inside.
Passing through a long corridor, they arrived at the inner courtyard. There, amidst a garden of flowers, sat a girl with long brown hair. Her pale hands propped up her chin, as if whatever she was gazing at were the most precious treasure in the world.
"Yakumo, look who I brought!" Kurenai said.
As she spoke, a fleeting look of unease crossed Kurenai’s face, as if she were feeling unwell.
"Ah, Kurenai-sensei... you’ve co."
Yakumo turned her head. Her grayish eyes held no trace of emotion, and her voice was flat—almost robotic.
"I’m here, Yakumo. Are you... doing alright?" Kurenai’s eyes were filled with concern and tenderness as she looked at Yakumo.
For her first student, Kurenai had poured far more emotion into Yakumo than she ever had into her current Team 8.
"Sensei, I’m fine. Besides, didn’t you bring Hikari-sensei here to treat ?" Yakumo’s gaze shifted to Hikari, and for the first ti, a flicker of emotion appeared in her eyes.
"Yes... I brought... Hikari." Kurenai’s words sounded oddly stiff, her deanor unlike that of a Konoha jōnin. Instead, she seed more like an ordinary, emotionally vulnerable housewife.
Her feelings were far too exposed.
"Kurama Yakumo, right?" Hikari finally spoke. "No wonder things felt strange today. So you’re the one pulling the strings."
Yakumo turned to face him fully, her hollow eyes now tinged with amusent.
"Holy Light-sensei... I’ve read your works. The Hypnosis series was... quite inspiring!"
’Holy shit, even a girl this young has read my books?!’
Though inwardly shocked, Kamizuki Hikari’s judgnt remained unaffected. Glancing at Kurenai—whose expression remained unchanged, still staring at Yakumo with doting concern—he’d have to be worse than a genin not to realize sothing was wrong with her by now.
"If I had to guess, Kurenai never went to see the Hokage today. After leaving you, she ca straight to , didn’t she?"
Faced with Hikari’s accusation, Yakumo nodded without hesitation.
"That’s right. It was ."
Hikari was montarily speechless.
’Girl, you do realize you’re admitting to wrongdoing here, right?’
Yakumo studied Hikari with a playful gaze, her eyes roaming over him from head to toe. The way she looked at him made him feel like he was being ogled by a stalker, sending an uncomfortable shiver down his spine.
Fortunately, Yakumo didn’t keep up the act for long.
"Not bad. You’re a little more handso than I imagined." She flicked her finger, and the ground in front of Hikari churned as stones rose and assembled themselves into a chair.
"Sit. When Kurenai-sensei visited at noon and ntioned that she’d sent Anko to find you, I made this decision. I wanted to et you."
"et for what?" Hikari sat on the stone chair, marveling at how unnervingly real it felt.
’The Kurama clan’s bloodline limit is seriously overpowered. And more importantly, Yakumo’s mastery of it has progressed even further than in the original story.’
"Of course, I wanted Holy Light-sensei to guide into the adult world!" Yakumo’s tone was casual, as if she were discussing the weather, but her words made even Hikari blush.
"What?!"
"Is that so surprising?" Yakumo tilted her head, her eyes filled with skepticism. "You’re the famous author whose works are revered as classics by n across the shinobi world. My favorite is the Hypnosis series—thanks to the techniques described in it, I’ve developed a few abilities of my own."
"Let demonstrate."
With a beckoning gesture, Kurenai obediently knelt and rested her chin on Yakumo’s hand.
Yakumo began stroking Kurenai’s chin as if petting a dog.
For Kurenai, this level of humiliation would have been unbearable if she were conscious. If she ever woke up from this, she’d probably faint from sheer embarrassnt.
"Originally, I could only use this ability on the useless mbers of my clan to keep them from bothering . But recently, Kurenai-sensei ca to visit . Maybe out of guilt, she let her guard down around ."
"So..."
"I hypnotized her."
Yakumo grinned—a mad, unsettling smile that sent chills down Hikari’s spine.
As for the Hypnosis series, Hikari had only written it based on his own conjectures about psychology, sprinkling in a few suggestive elents. He never expected Kurama Yakumo to actually bring those techniques to life—and worse, to use them on Kurenai!
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Read 40 advanced Chapters on my P@treon.
/KakuzuTL
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