Chapter 436: Yakumo Kurama
The Forest of Death.
Masahiko strolled through it.
He had just witnessed several battles. He encountered both events that had occurred in the original story and those that hadn't, but he didn't gain a single Witness Point.
"As expected, all events are counted toward the grand plot of the Chunin Exams. I can forget about getting ten or eight Witness Points just by watching a battle." Masahiko was slightly disappointed.
Since Orochimaru hadn't come, Masahiko didn't need to worry about the safety of Naruto and Sasuke. Barring any accidents, Team 7 would pass easily. The only ones posing a threat to them were Tenten's team and Toneri's team. The Sand Village... was borderline.
"The Konoha candidates are too strong."
After watching another match where Shikamaru outsmarted a team from the Hidden Waterfall Village and successfully obtained an Earth Scroll—identical to their own team's—Masahiko found it rather dull. With a flicker, he left the Forest of Death.
A moment later, Masahiko materialized in the Hokage's office.
Konoha's Jonin instructors were gathered around Obito, their eyes firmly glued to the crystal ball in front of him.
"Ahem." Masahiko coughed twice. "Obito, is this the Telescope Technique?"
"Ah! Master!" Obito was startled. "Lord Third taught me this, it's very convenient."
"Oh?" Masahiko raised an eyebrow, forgiving himself for letting his mind wander into the gutter every time he saw this ninjutsu.
Nodding in response to the greetings from the Jonin, Masahiko spoke with a smile: "You can't see clearly from here. I just took a lap around the Forest of Death. Konoha's kids are either exceptionally strong or highly intelligent. There won't be any problems, rest assured."
The group nodded. Asuma instinctively stuck a cigarette into his mouth, but realizing the environment was inappropriate, he quickly pulled it out. "Sorry, force of habit. It's still better to keep an eye on things here. Shikamaru always lacks motivation; it would be bad if he slacks off..."
"Shikamaru's IQ is sufficient, but his strength is a bit lacking. Becoming a Chunin is merely a hopeful prospect at best..."
"He must at least make it to the top eight!" Asuma blurted out, and the others instantly showed expressions of agreement.
Masahiko froze for a moment, his mouth twitching. "Placed a bet? You guys..."
A group of Jonin gave embarrassed smiles and nodded, even Obito was the same. Only Guy felt completely out of place with everyone else...
Masahiko was stuck between laughter and tears. These instructing Jonin had all executed S-rank missions, so their savings wouldn't be small. Major clients indeed.
"How much did you wager?"
Kurenai: "Five hundred thousand."
Obito: "One million."
Kakashi: "Eight hundred thousand."
"Ten mi... cough cough cough!"
Masahiko's eyes widened, and the others were shocked as well.
"Asuma, you have that much confidence in Shikamaru? Ten million Ryo?!"
Asuma nodded with another embarrassed smile.
Masahiko inhaled a sharp breath of cold air. He remembered that the payout odds for Shikamaru making the top eight were 1 to 6. If by some chance he lost, his revenue this time would instantly be slashed by half. This was going to claim his old life...
"With Shikamaru's IQ, it's really hard to say. I set the odds too high." Masahiko glared fiercely at Asuma. "Kurenai, come out with me for a moment!"
Asuma: ???
Kurenai's face flushed slightly. Her relationship with Asuma hadn't spread out yet, so how did Masahiko know? And why was she getting implicated by association?
She also gave Asuma a stealthy glare before following Masahiko outside. Kakashi and Obito exchanged a glance, their smiles curling up in perfect telepathy.
Guy once again felt completely out of place with them.
"Senior, how did you find out?" Outside the door, Kurenai spoke hesitantly.
Masahiko was startled. Before he could even ask, Kurenai already knew what he wanted to ask?
"How did you know that I knew?"
Kurenai: ???
Seeing her dazed, Masahiko knew that something must have gotten cross-wired. He spoke up again: "There is a girl named Yakumo Kurama. You used to be her private tutor, right?"
Kurenai paused, opening her mouth in confusion: "Senior, how did you know?"
Masahiko: "..."
Communication was a bit exhausting.
Kurenai offered an apologetic smile: "Sorry, Senior, I didn't react in time just now. You are asking about Yakumo. She is indeed my disciple, but her physical health is quite poor, so ultimately she couldn't become a ninja. It's a great pity."
Masahiko knit his brows slightly. He vaguely remembered that Yakumo had some kind of inner demon in the original story. Looking at Kurenai's slightly evasive gaze right now...
"Hiding it from me? Why?"
Kurenai was startled once more, her expression turning complex: "Where did you learn about this? That child Yakumo... is very pitiful. Because she couldn't train, she awakened an inner demon and accidentally killed her own parents. Right now, she can only live a normal life because her brain's defense mechanism made her forget that memory..."
"Take me to see her," Masahiko said calmly.
Kurenai's expression changed: "Senior, her inner demon is also another version of her. She can only conquer it herself. If we use external force, I'm afraid it will harm her!"
Masahiko waved his hand, slightly puffing out his chest: "That's because your level of Genjutsu is insufficient. Take me there. I wouldn't go so far as to harm a little girl. If you had looked for me earlier, she would have been liberated long ago."
Kurenai hesitated for a moment. Thinking about the Genjutsu Masahiko used in the preliminaries yesterday, she finally reluctantly agreed: "Her ability is too dangerous. Back then, Lord Third isolated her on the outskirts of Konoha, in a place called the Satomi丘 (Satomi-ga-oka) Mansion. I will take you there."
Masahiko was slightly dissatisfied. The Great Ancestor hadn't used Genjutsu for a long time, and now his strength in this aspect was actually being doubted? It seemed he needed to use it a few more times...
On the way to the mansion, Kurenai introduced more details regarding Yakumo Kurama to Masahiko.
"No need to speak of her ability." Masahiko waved his hand, speaking with a bit of a sigh: "The Kurama clan yields a successor of their Kekkei Genkai once every five or six generations. The last one happened to live in the same era as me, a generation younger than myself."
"Back then, he really screwed me over quite a bit, making me have a fierce fight with Madara Uchiha." At the mention of Madara, Masahiko's fists felt a bit itchy again.
At the Satomi-ga-oka Mansion, Kurenai stepped forward and knocked on the door.
A moment later, a cold-faced girl with brown hair and black eyes opened the door. Seeing Kurenai outside, her expression seemed to turn even colder. Without even offering a greeting, she turned to walk back inside.
"Hey, little girl, don't you recognize the Great Ancestor?" Masahiko raised his eyebrows.
Yakumo Kurama's footsteps paused, her body trembling slightly as her cold voice drifted out: "Great Ancestor... the one from the Uzumaki clan? Is Konoha finally going to make a move on me? I didn't expect they would send you!"
Masahiko was startled. What on earth was all this logic?
Kurenai shook her head with a bitter smile: "This child has some misunderstandings regarding myself and Lord Third."
"How could it be a misunderstanding!" Yakumo suddenly screamed. The surrounding environment immediately warped, and several giant trees seemingly came to life, 'extending their hands' to strike at Masahiko.
"Yakumo, don't!" Kurenai was startled: "Senior, please show mercy!"
Masahiko, however, revealed a smile: "Yes, this is exactly the kind of method I wanted. The Kurama clan should possess a specific training method for Genjutsu interfering with reality."
"How can the Forest of Death be called a Forest of Death without a few tree monsters? Those kids' exam is just too mundane..."
His figure flickered, and Masahiko instantly closed the distance between himself and Yakumo. His right hand lightly tapped her forehead. Yakumo lost consciousness immediately, and the 'tree monsters' also fell still.
Passing the unconscious Yakumo into Kurenai's arms, Masahiko raised his eyebrows and spoke: "Rest assured, it's just a simple fainting spell."
"Go inside, find a bed for her to lie on, and let me solve her inner demon completely!"
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