Battle Against Kurenai

Not far away, Kurenai Yuhi heard Aizen addressing her without even using "sensei," and the corner of her mouth twitched in frustration. Impatiently, she said, "Have you figured it out yet? I'm in a hurry."

"Oh, it's all set," Aizen responded with a cheerful smile.

"Then let's begin," Kurenai said as she stood her ground, her entire demeanor shifting instantly into battle mode.

The three of them exchanged glances before Airi Akizuki made the first move. She threw several shurikens and drew her kunai.

Kurenai, still standing in place, didn't even need to draw her own kunai. With a few quick sidesteps, she easily dodged the attack. In a flash, she appeared in front of Airi, snatched her kunai, and delivered a punch to her abdomen.

Airi let out a dry heave, her body flying backward as she instantly lost the ability to fight.

At that moment, Ponzu's giant, enlarged fist came crashing down with a loud bang. The ground shook, creating a shallow crater with dust swirling everywhere.

"Did I get her?" Ponzu swallowed nervously as he retracted his fist, staring intently ahead.

"Not yet," Aizen's voice came from beside him. At the same time, Kurenai's voice chimed in, "Too naive."

Before the words even finished, Kurenai's foot struck Ponzu's neck, sending his bulky frame flying away.

With a thud, a broken wooden log appeared in the shallow crater—Kurenai had used the Substitution Jutsu.

"Now it's your turn, Aizen," Kurenai said, having taken out two of the trio, her gaze now fixed on Aizen, who had yet to make a move.

"Sure, but if I somehow manage to win, you'll have to agree to go out with me when I grow up, okay?" Aizen grinned mischievously.

"If you can pull that off!" Kurenai, her competitive spirit ignited, charged at him. Although, as Airi had mentioned, her specialty was genjutsu, not taijutsu, she was still a skilled Jonin—far beyond a fresh academy graduate.

But soon, she regretted her decision. To her surprise, Aizen easily parried her string of taijutsu attacks, his strength shockingly greater than she expected from a boy not even twelve years old.

Every time their bodies collided, a stinging pain surged through her, as if she were fighting a body made of steel.

"Who is this kid? Could he have trained in the Iron Fist technique like Guy?" Kurenai thought to herself, secretly amazed.

Airi and Ponzu, both already defeated, exclaimed in shock, "He's so strong! He's actually holding his own against Kurenai-sensei!"

"Looks like you're destined to become my second wife, Kurenai-sensei," Aizen teased with a laugh. He wasn't using any advanced techniques, just his powerful physique and basic taijutsu to engage with her.

"Don't get cocky!" Kurenai snapped. She hadn't expected to face such a rebellious student on her first mission as a team leader. If she didn't teach him a lesson today, how could she command respect in the future?

With a swift body flicker, she widened the distance between them, forming hand seals rapidly. In an instant, she vanished, her body dissolving into a fluid mist.

At the same time, small saplings sprouted from the ground beneath Aizen, quickly transforming into a towering tree that bound his limbs.

**Genjutsu: Naraku Clone** was in effect.

"You're too green, kid," Kurenai's real form emerged from the ground, a satisfied smirk on her face.

"Is that so?" Aizen's voice suddenly echoed beside Kurenai's ear. Her eyes widened in shock as she felt a kunai pressed against her neck in the next instant.

From a distance, Airi and Ponzu watched in utter confusion, completely clueless as to what had just happened.

What was going on?

Why had Kurenai-sensei just stood still, talking to herself, only for Aizen to leisurely walk up behind her and press a kunai to her throat?

"Ponzu, do you know what just happened?" Airi asked, turning to Ponzu, whose face was still swollen, but who was diligently munching on potato chips.

Ignoring the pain, Ponzu stuffed a large handful of chips into his mouth, chewing as he shook his head, "No clue, but it looks pretty awesome."

"How did you do that?" Kurenai asked, taking a deep breath, a sense of defeat creeping into her heart.

As a Jonin, she had just been bested by a kid fresh out of the ninja academy. What did that say about her?

Aizen withdrew his kunai and pointed to the clone of Kurenai still bound by the tree across from them, chuckling. "Kurenai-sensei, the academy textbooks mention that genjutsu disrupts the target's chakra flow, causing them to experience illusions by manipulating their senses."

"While I wasn't sure which hand seals you used, I knew you were a genjutsu expert, so I started disrupting my chakra flow before the battle even began, making your genjutsu ineffective. Then, I used a basic clone jutsu to distract you."

"You got careless, sensei."

As he spoke, both Aizen's clone and the tree vanished, and the ground returned to normal.

"I see. I really did lose. I never imagined you'd defeat me with just a basic clone jutsu from the academy. It seems the Third Hokage was right—you truly are a genius." Kurenai's face showed a wry smile.

"Kurenai-sensei, you're too kind. You were clearly going easy on me. If this had been a real battle, I'd probably be a corpse by now."

Aizen's eyes flickered coldly for a brief moment as he spoke with feigned modesty.

The Third Hokage had secretly assigned people to monitor him, but with his heightened senses, Aizen had been aware of it all along.

For the past five or six years, wherever he went, he made a habit of casting **Kyouka Suigetsu** whenever possible.

The version of him the Third Hokage's spies had been observing was often just an illusion.

Otherwise, how could he have developed in secret, undisturbed?

By now, with his mastery of **Kyouka Suigetsu** and the **Heavenly Gang Technique**, storing his chakra in sage mode, he was more than capable of defending himself.

His display of strength in defeating Kurenai today was just the tip of the iceberg—a convenient way to further weave his illusions into the minds of the Konoha villagers.

"A loss is a loss. No need to make excuses," Kurenai said, her tone softening. Suddenly, a mischievous smile appeared on her face, "But why aren't you calling me 'Kurenai' anymore?"

"Are you serious?" Aizen froze for a moment, a playful smile tugging at his lips as he met her gaze.

Kurenai, her competitive spirit reignited, stared back at him for a long moment, but in the end, her cheeks flushed red, and she turned away in defeat. "Hmph, such a little brat. I can't believe what they're teaching kids in school these days."

Turning to Airi and Ponzu, Kurenai added, "What happened today is top secret. Don't tell anyone. Be here on time tomorrow for training, or you'll be left behind."

With that, she glanced back at Aizen one more time, then disappeared with a flash, her heart racing.

As Aizen watched her retreating figure, his smile faded. He murmured to himself, "Still just a simple girl at heart."