Chapter 40: Contrast Beauty and the Two Gatekeepers

Over the next few days, Yagyu stayed indoors, not leaving his house. Even when he needed groceries, he had his shadow clones handle it. He spent all his time inside, doing who knows what.

Meanwhile, many new faces appeared in the center of Konoha. These were genin from other countries who had come specifically to participate in Konoha's upcoming Chunin Exams. After arriving, they wasted no time and used various methods to gather information on Konoha's genin from recent years.

As the top student of Konoha's 60th class, Yagyu naturally became one of their targets. Whether it was his real body at home or his shadow clones out buying groceries, Yagyu noticed numerous prying eyes. However, seeing that none of them had the audacity to infiltrate his home, Yagyu chose to ignore them.

During this time, Ino, Sakura, and Hinata also didn't seek out Yagyu, as they were all busy preparing for the Chunin Exams. Sakura had it easier, but Ino and Hinata, as heirs of their respective ninja clans, were undergoing intense training in their family's secret techniques. As future clan leaders, being eliminated too early would be a great embarrassment—this was a matter of family honor!

Ino was in a slightly better situation, as her father, Inoichi, wasn't too strict. However, for Hinata, as the heir of Konoha's last great noble clan, these days were definitely challenging for her.

———

July 1st, 10:50 a.m.

After being a shut-in for a few days, Yagyu finally stepped out of his house.

As he made his way to the usual meeting spot for Team 8, Yagyu spotted Hinata from a distance, who had already arrived. Hinata had her hands in the pockets of her white coat, her small face looking serious as if she were on high alert, scanning her surroundings.

Click!

Instead of immediately greeting Hinata, Yagyu reached into his black coat, accessing his spatial inventory, and pulled out his film camera. He captured the current version of Hinata's cool and focused appearance.

Hearing the sound of the camera, Hinata's sharp gaze instantly turned toward him. But the moment she saw that it was Yagyu, her imposing demeanor softened visibly. Her cheeks flushed, and almost instinctively, she lowered her head. Her hands slipped out of her coat pockets, and she began fidgeting with her fingers in front of her chest, which had grown quite prominent and stood out among her peers.

Click, click, click…

Instead of stopping, Yagyu kept pressing the shutter, capturing the entire transition of her mood. If it weren't for time constraints, he would've loved to rush home and develop the photos immediately.

After finishing, Yagyu put the camera away, walked over to Hinata, and gave her a thumbs-up, saying, "Hinata, you looked really cool just now. Your aura was completely different from usual. Looks like you've grown a lot in these past few days."

"Yagyu-kun, you're exaggerating," Hinata mumbled softly, her voice barely above a whisper as she kept her head down.

But inside, she felt as sweet as if she had eaten honey.

"Be more confident. Don't keep your head down all the time," Yagyu said, patting her shoulder with a smile. "I like the way you looked just a moment ago even more."

"…Mm."

Hinata responded quietly and lifted her head, though her eyes still didn't dare meet Yagyu's, darting around shyly as the blush on her cheeks deepened.

Even more adorable was that Hinata didn't seem to realize her hands were still nervously tapping her fingers together, the rapid motion betraying her anxiety.

If Yagyu didn't know that Hinata's threshold had already been pushed to the limit, he might have taken out his camera again to capture this cute scene.

The slightly romantic atmosphere was quickly broken.

"Sorry, I'm late," Shino's voice cut through, startling both Yagyu and Hinata.

Looking at Shino, who had appeared beside them without a sound, standing with his hands in his pockets and striking a cool pose, Yagyu asked, "Shino, when did you get here?"

"I arrived while you were secretly taking pictures of Hinata. I didn't want to disturb you two," Shino said indifferently.

At that moment, Hinata's already blushing face turned bright red, and steam seemed to rise from her head.

Cough, cough…

Seeing that Hinata was on the verge of fainting from embarrassment, Yagyu quickly cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Now that we're all here, let's head to the academy. Did you both bring your completed application forms?"

"We're ready," Shino said.

"Me too," Hinata added.

With a grin, Yagyu said, "Then let's go meet our seniors and the genin from other villages!"

And so, Team 8 set off for the ninja academy.

Along the way, they encountered many other genin from different villages. These genin glared at them, trying to intimidate Team 8 with hostile stares.

However, with just a brief glance, Yagyu's gaze left these hostile genin in a daze. A few moments later, they snapped back to reality, drenched in cold sweat.

"Wh-what… was that a genjutsu?"

"Who… who is that guy?"

"Remember his face! If we see him during the exam, we run!"

Unaware of their reactions, Yagyu merely wanted to give them a little warning, reminding them whose territory they were in. Coming to an enemy village and acting so arrogantly—as if they were from the major ninja villages—was unwise.

Upon arriving at the academy, Team 8 followed Kurenai's instructions and headed to the administration building to submit their application forms.

As they reached the staircase, they saw a sign indicating that the submission desk was on the third floor.

However, as soon as they reached the second floor, Yagyu and his teammates felt something was off.

Exchanging a glance, all three quickly used their index and middle fingers to disrupt the chakra flow in their bodies, dispelling the Yin chakra that had just invaded them.

Looking around the second floor, they saw many genin wandering around, seemingly searching for the submission desk.

Yagyu and his teammates, all trained under a genjutsu expert, immediately recognized that these genin had fallen under an illusion, tricked into believing the second floor was the third.

At the staircase leading to the real third floor, two chunin in green vests stood watching the scene with amusement.

These two chunin were none other than Konoha's two famous gatekeepers—Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki.

Without paying any mind to the crowd, Yagyu and his team made their way toward the staircase guarded by the two chunin.

Seeing the three approaching, Kotetsu and Izumo were initially surprised, but upon noticing Hinata's eyes, they nodded in understanding.

So that's how they broke through our Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique! they thought.

However, they weren't about to let them through so easily.

Just as Kotetsu and Izumo exchanged a glance, smiling in mutual understanding, and prepared to give these juniors a little test…

The moment they turned their gaze toward Yagyu, their expressions suddenly became dazed, just like the genin from earlier.

By the time they snapped out of it, Yagyu and his teammates had already disappeared.

"Kotetsu, did you notice anything?" Izumo asked.

Kotetsu shook his head. "No. You?"

"I didn't either."

Izumo's eyes widened in shock. "There was no sound, so it wasn't a sound-based genjutsu. No scent either, so it wasn't smell-based. And… he didn't even make any hand seals!"

Kotetsu chuckled, "He doesn't seem to have any of the typical clan traits, but he still managed to put us under a genjutsu with just a glance. This year's Chunin Exams are going to be interesting."

"Haha, and he's one of our own Konoha genin. If his genjutsu is this strong at such a young age, he might become a genjutsu specialist in the future."

Izumo grinned. "I can't wait to see if there are any other impressive geniuses among the genin this year."

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