"My name is Haruma. I specialize in genjutsu and Fire Release, I enjoy camping and barbecuing with my friends, I dislike sake, and my dream is to become a strong genjutsu user and learn new fire jutsu."
What Haruma did not realize, however, was the expectations that Kurenai Yuhi already held for him.
The moment he noticed her gaze turn toward him, he immediately gave his self-introduction. Yet within those words, truth and falsehood were interwoven, though there was far more falsehood than truth.
It was true that Haruma excelled most at genjutsu and fire release. His tastes in food were genuine as well. Yet as for his dream, it was not what he claimed.
In his eyes, genjutsu was nothing more than a game for those beneath the Kage. The strongest illusions would always belong to the three great dojutsu techniques: Tsukuyomi, Kotoamatsukami, and the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Haruma's true ambition was far more audacious, to consume all three of these ocular jutsu, and ultimately to surpass not only Kaguya Otsutsuki herself, but the entire Otsutsuki clan.
As for why he declared his dream to be a strong genjutsu user, this was merely a façade, mainly because Haruma had set his sights on Kurenai's own expertise in genjutsu.
Once Haruma awakened the mangekyo sharingan, even the tailed beasts themselves could be bound with a look. Which meant, in truth, Haruma had no need for Kurenai's genjutsu at all.
The problem, however, was that Haruma could not yet afford to reveal his sharingan. Until he possessed the strength to contend with men such as Danzo and Obito Uchiha, he had to keep his eyes concealed. If he exposed the sharingan prematurely, then every witness would have to die.
Thus, until the time came, he would need to rely on Kurenai's genjutsu as a temporary substitute.
"A strong genjutsu user, is it?"
Naturally, Kurenai had no inkling of Haruma's true motives. Upon hearing his dream, her beautiful eyes brightened with delight. She resolved then and there that once the survival exercise began, she would test his aptitude for illusions. If his talent proved exceptional, she would entrust him with the full breadth of her own techniques.
"I am Shino Aburame. I specialize in my clan's secret techniques. My favorite foods are vegetable salad and winter melon. I dislike anything with too strong a taste. My dream is to discover new species of insects."
"My name is Hinata Hyuga. I specialize in the Gentle Fist. My favorite foods are red bean paste, cinnamon rolls, and cold dishes. I dislike shrimp and crab. My dream is… to earn my father's recognition."
At that moment, both Shino and Hinata completed their introductions. When Hinata spoke of her dream, however, she faltered slightly on the final sentence, as if hesitating. Neither Haruma nor Kurenai noticed the change in her tone, mistaking it instead for mere shyness.
From this small detail, it was clear that Haruma's relationship with Hinata had not yet progressed beyond the level of friendship.
"Well then, I suppose we have at least gotten to know one another," Kurenai said with a light clap of her hands and a smile. "Next, I want to test both your individual strength and your ability to work together. So we'll play a little game."
"Survival training, you should all be familiar with it, yes?"
From her pouch, she withdrew three small bells painted red, blue and yellow and dangled them before the team. "Your task is to take these three bells from me."
"Well then… let's begin!"
Whoosh—
No sooner had Kurenai's words left her lips had Haruma and his two companions vanished, leaving only afterimages behind.
Watching the spot where they had disappeared, Kurenai produced a pocket watch and announced a time: "Five minutes!"
The scene shifted to a towering tree with dense leaves. Haruma, Shino, and Hinata crouched on its branches, peering through gaps at Kurenai standing below on a stump as they began to whisper among themselves.
Shino was the first to speak, his tone calm but cutting straight to the point: "Kurenai-sensei is a jonin. Unless she holds back, it's impossible for us to take anything from her."
"That's true," Haruma agreed with a nod. "Just as Kurenai-sensei said, this survival exercise is meant to test both our abilities and our teamwork."
"Especially our teamwork, that should be the real focus here," Haruma continued, analyzing. "The five minutes must be the time she's giving us to prepare a strategy."
"What do you intend to do?" Shino asked, tilting his head toward him. The gesture, subtle though it was, indicated that he was deferring the role of leader to Haruma.
Hinata said nothing, but she looked over at Haruma's profile, a resolute look in her eyes that seemed to say she would follow his every instruction without hesitation.
Her contrast was striking. Normally, she was shy to the extreme, yet when it came to serious matters, she could swiftly compose herself, shedding indecision and showing real strength. So long as she wasn't fighting someone she held close, there was nothing hesitant about her. Of course, her kindness meant she would always hold back to a degree.
It was a disposition Haruma greatly admired.
Thus, he quickly organized his thoughts and began issuing tactical orders.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—
Before the five minutes had even elapsed, several sharp sounds sliced through the air toward Kurenai.
Three kunai flew at incredible speed, each aimed at a vital point—her head, her flank, and her legs.
Clang, clang, clang!
Rather than dodge with the Body Flicker Technique, Kurenai simply drew three shuriken from her pouch and flicked them forward with casual precision, deflecting each kunai with ease.
At that very moment, a shadowy figure appeared behind the stump where she stood.
"The Demonic Illusion: False Darkness Technique?"
Kurenai's expression brightened with surprise as her eyes fell on the black phantom, which would have been enough to frighten an ordinary person into unconsciousness. "When did he cast a genjutsu on me? Or is it that he can project illusions from a distance?"
She had not expected that the survival exercise had barely begun, and yet Haruma had already caught her so off guard.
To deceive a genjutsu-specialist jonin without her even noticing, it proved that Haruma's foundation in illusions was formidable indeed. If it was truly long-range genjutsu, then it was all the more astounding, for it meant his Yin chakra reserves were exceptional.
Either way, the conclusion was the same. Haruma was a prodigy in the art of illusion.
And so Kurenai felt an uncontainable thrill. Her anticipation for his performance only grew deeper.
With a mere thought, the phantom visible only to her eyes dissolved into nothingness. In the next instant, Kurenai herself vanished from sight.
"Even a D-rank genjutsu cast at range wasn't enough to sway her?"
Watching Kurenai dispel his Demonic Illusion with nothing more than a disruption of her chakra flow, Haruma sighed inwardly.
Just as she suspected, the D-rank genjutsu had indeed been projected from a distance.
What level did Shisui's genjutsu reach, to be called the strongest in the shinobi world? So powerful that he could ensnare two masked shinobi from a distance so vast it required the Byakugan to even see, and fell them in an instant.
Though Haruma had yet to awaken the Sharingan, for him to project genjutsu across this small distance was child's play. Were he to reveal the Sharingan, Kurenai would be no match at all.
After all, in the years that had passed, Haruma's Sharingan had already evolved… into the three-tomoe Sharingan.
One tomoe, the Eye of Observation. Two tomoe, the Eye of Mimicry. And three tomoe, the Eye of Hypnosis, also known as the Genjutsu Eye.
With this, the illusions of the Sharingan required no hand seals, possessed overwhelming power, and could even pierce or rebound genjutsu themselves.
Thus, every Uchiha with a fully matured three-tomoe Sharingan was regarded as one of the most terrifying masters of illusion in the shinobi world.
Now, with his eyes at three tomoe and fragments of Shisui's memory within him, Haruma had already grasped countless formidable techniques, though most required the Sharingan to wield. Among non-ocular genjutsu, he knew only a handful, and all but one were low-level. The sole advanced technique could not yet be used openly.
So when Kurenai dispelled his Demonic Illusion with such ease, showing him no mercy, Haruma felt a twinge of helplessness. He hadn't anticipated that her expectations for him would be set so high.
It seemed he had no choice but to get serious.
"Proceed according to the plan!"
Leaving only that command behind, Haruma vanished from the tree's canopy.
When he reappeared, it was in an open clearing. There he drew a kunai and thrust it into seemingly empty air.
In that moment, under the scrutiny of Hinata's activated Byakugan, Haruma's chakra suddenly turned chaotic. And in front of him, chakra flared into being, revealing Kurenai's form out of thin air.
She had not disappeared with Body Flicker at all. Rather, Team 8 had been caught in one of her illusions without even realizing it.
"A… amazing!"
Seeing how easily Haruma shattered Kurenai's genjutsu and uncovered her position, Hinata could not help but part her lips in awe, her admiration for him growing ever deeper.
At her side, Shino formed seals, disrupting his chakra flow before his body dispersed into a swarm of insects.
Watching Shino begin his move, Hinata steadied her breath, her Byakugan locked on the clash of blades between Haruma and Kurenai, as though awaiting the perfect moment to act.