Naruto: Wolf of the Hidden Leaf

The classes continued after Minato left. There wasn't going to be any ninjutsu class today, which was kind of a bummer for me. But apparently, the preparations for the ninjutsu training field aren't going to happen till tomorrow. So, we only had the academic classes, taijutsu class and genjutsu class at the very end.

Taijutsu class was pretty predictable. Just as the shounen troupes go, a few of the older kids tried to corner me and 'teach a lesson'. But one look at Umbra's fangs and they went running another way.

After their failed attempt at bullying me, they took Itachi as their next target. Which was just as stupid as it sounds.

Itachi whopped their asses as quickly as I would've expected. Most of them quickly got out of there realizing that they had no freaking chance of winning against him.

Unfortunately, one of these bullies actually had some backbone. He got up and tried to attack Itachi again, which Itachi dodged easily.

My enhanced perception proved to be useful once again as I noticed the hidden kunai the bully had.

With quick movements I used the 'Body Flicker Technique', moved behind him and grabbed his arm in a deadlock.

"Enough! You should not draw your weapon without thinking about the consequences." I said in a threatening tone. "This is a place where we came to learn, not engage in petty squabbles. If you want to create more problems than you already have then you're going to have a chat with me and Umbra here."

Umbra growled at him threateningly. His eyes darted around us and he realized that everyone on the field was staring at him. After a few seconds of contemplating, he stopped resisting and went back towards his friends. He did give some threat while leaving. But my attention was already elsewhere.

Itachi looked at me with his same calm gaze and spoke,

"I didn't need your help."

"I didn't do it to help you. I did it so that the poor kid doesn't get a scar at such a young age. Don't pretend that you don't practically have an arsenal of ninja weapons on you." I said as I looked towards his left hand. "You were going to use that shuriken."

"You have sharp senses." Itachi said.

"Just a specialty of our clan."

"No, I've met a genin from your clan. She was too loud to ever perceive anything important."

"I have this weird feeling that you're describing my sister. Was her name Kaho by any chance?"

"Yes. She didn't even notice that she left her mission details in my father's office. I had to run around the whole village to give it to her. How did she even graduate from the academy?"

"You shouldn't underestimate her based on just that. I personally think that her senses are even better than mine."

Itachi gave a dubious look at me hearing that. So, I explained.

"Her senses are more akin to a beast's than a human's. I used to train with her during the war and I've seen her dodge entire minefields without even breaking a sweat. When I asked her how she did it, she just simply said that she moved how she 'felt like it'. Unlike normal humans, she doesn't need to think to properly fight. And yet she somehow just miraculously escapes all challenges unharmed."

"But that must be quite limiting, isn't it? One of the greatest quality of humans is our mind. If someone doesn't use it, then they're basically cutting their power in half."

"That's what I said to her!" I replied with enthusiasm.

"What did she say?"

"She beat me up and said that I was a 'smart mouth'." I replied with disdain.

Itachi chuckled hearing that. This might be the first time I've ever seen him show proper emotion.

"Hey, don't laugh! I was only three at that time!" I said as I too started laughing. It was quite funny to think about it now.

"Siblings, am I right?" I said as I maneuvered the conversation towards the way I wanted it to go. "Do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah. I have a baby brother, Sasuke."

"Must be nice to have someone younger than you in the family. I swear being the youngest in the family can sometimes be such a pain."

Itachi was going to reply to me, but got interrupted when someone called him from the back. I recognized them as the ones he was sitting with in the class.

"The teacher said to group up according to how we sat in the classroom." The boy called Itachi.

Itachi said to them that he's coming. He turned towards me.

"I'm going to join them. But we should train together sometimes. I really want to see the skills of someone who challenged the Lord Fourth himself."

I just smiled in response.

That went well. Good first contact.

Now, I need to meet with those two I was sitting with in the class.

What were their names again?

Shit. I forgot to even ask their names.

'And you say that I'm the one who needs to work on his social skills.' Umbra.

I swear he was giving me a 'wolf smirk' right now.

'Oh, shut up. I was just busy doing other stuff.'

'Yeah. Making a new BFF.'

'I really regret teaching you that word.'

I said with a groan as I moved towards where my group was.

So, the ones who sat beside me were Aoi and Riku. They were both nice people. We practiced together for some time and they were okay, I guess. Nothing special. None of them even wanted to be a combat ninja, so I doubt that I'll ever see them again.

We all moved towards our classroom after half an hour of basic taijutsu practice.

Kurenai was already standing there, with her arms folded behind her back and her red eyes scanning the students. The students quickly moved back to their seats not wanting to annoy their teacher any further.

After a minute, she started.

"Today's topic is Genjutsu. Some of you may think that genjutsu is about making your opponent see something that isn't there. And while that's technically true, it's also an oversimplification. Genjutsu isn't just illusion, it's manipulation. Of what?" She asked as if she wanted an answer from the class.

"The sense." One of the students replied.

Kurenai gave a small nod. "Correct. But not completely. Genjutsu manipulates the target's chakra, specifically the chakra flow in their brain, to alter their perception of reality."

She walked to the blackboard and drew a rough outline of a head, a brain, and a chakra network diagram inside it.

"Genjutsu attacks the chakra system directly. You don't throw it at someone—you feed it into them. A successful Genjutsu needs to be subtle. Quiet. Almost… gentle."

She turned back to us. "That's why Genjutsu is not usually a first move. It's a second. A setup. The best Genjutsu users don't just cast illusions. They control narratives. They make you believe what they want you to believe."

Then she raised a finger. "But the illusion is only half the battle. The other half—" she snapped her fingers, "is keeping them in it. And for that, your control over chakra flow needs to be precise, not powerful."

Kurenai walked slowly down the aisle between desks. "Let me give you an example. I'll use a genjutsu on you that'll trap you in your fear. I'll only use it for a couple of seconds to let you know how it feels to be in a genjutsu. You'll not be harmed by this. For this to work you need to look into my eyes."

With quick movements, she performed the hand signs.

I felt a specific chakra flow towards my brain quickly. My vision was changing and the scenes were changing, but before any of that could happen, I forcibly disrupted the flow of chakra in my brain. I obviously knew how to use Kai. It was one of the techniques that I've mastered just after I learned how to control my chakra.

Anyone that has ever seen Naruto knows how dangerous genjutsu can be.

Still, experiencing genjutsu for the first time was quite enlightening. I could practically feel how the chakra invaded my brain. I could already picture how it worked.

Kurenai had already dispelled the jutsu and started teaching the class about Kai. But I found myself being distracted as a certain someone was staring daggers at me. A certain bully who gave me a few empty threats just half an hour ago.

On a whim, I started weaving the hand signs that Kurenai had used just a few minutes ago. A snake sign followed by a rat. I made eye contact with the boy and activated my jutsu.

For a moment, there were no reaction apparent on his face, which was quite normal considering the fact that it was really hard to do a jutsu after seeing once. Specially without any Dojutsu to help me.

I was ready to stop suppling chakra when all of a sudden terror crossed through the boy's eyes and he screamed. He prepared to bang his head on the table as if he was going to split his head open.

But before his head could touch the table, Kurenai appeared instantly beside him and knocked him out before he could hurt himself.

The class had pin drop silence as everyone tried figuring out what the hell had happened. Which also included me, by the way.

I still wasn't sure what the hell had happened, but all I found was Kurenai staring intensely at me with her red eyes. Anger clearly evident in her face.

"Rei. What the hell did you just do?"