A red eyed ninja body flickered on top of a tall building. There an old man stood, with his back turned. He gazed upon the Village, watching. He loved seeing the daily bustle of village life, how the people lived their lives so peacefully. A peace he was willing to give his life to protect.
In all honesty though, anything was better than the mountains of paperwork. That is why he brought their conversation here - the office was stifling.
"Kurenai..." He said slowly. "What have you come to me for?"
There were few matters that required his personal attention. The Nine-Tail's Jinchurikii was one of them. The Last Uchiha was another. And finally, the Hyuuga clan exile was the last one. This year had so many influential graduates in fact, that he had given the overseeing Jonin permission to come to him directly if they saw fit.
Kurenai got on one knee and bowed.
"Hokage Sama. I have come regarding the civilian ninja you placed under my command."
Sorry, what? The Hokage's brows furrowed. "May you remind me of the boy's name?"
"Saul." Kurenai explained, "He professes to have learnt the Multi-Shadow Clone jutsu from Naruto. In addition, the former Hyuuga clan heiress, Hinata, seems to be inseparable from him."
He taught another genin the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu? That brat, Naruto! Why did he always cause so much trouble for his old man!? If a ninja without the appropriate mental fortitude was not careful - that jutsu could get them killed!
"What of Saul? What were your impressions...?"
"The Genin seems aloof and observant. He seems to be more mature than what I'd normally expect from a Genin. Yet, he seems to care for Hinata quite strongly. He was always looking out for her in conversation."
"Hmm..." The Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, stroked his chin.
The wills and ideals of the younger generation were especially important to Hiruzen, especially ones that were shaping up to be influential. He did not know the extent of Saul's relationship with Naruto, but he'd talk to the boy himself to ascertain that. As for now though, he could see an upcoming problem from the Hyuuga clan if he did not take action...
"Go and speak to Hiashi, the Hyuuga clan head, when you have time. Inform him of the relationship between his daughter and the civilian. I will speak to Naruto myself. Also, immediately warn Saul of the dangers of the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu! I do not wish to see another budding leaf of Konoha enter eternal sleep because of it!"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" She body flickered away.
"Now... Let me take a look at their interaction myself..." He muttered, already pulling out his crystal ball. Anything to delay the dreaded paperwork!
Kurenai arrived shortly after at the small house on the outskirts of Konoha. The place was remarkably clean for a bachelor, she noted. The front door was accessible - Kurenai could knock. However, Kurenai was a kunoichi.
"Let's test the boy's reactions..."
Kurenai walked across the grass to the side of the house. Kurenai placed one foot on the wall. Then the next. Kurenai continued walking casually, but she was perpendicular to the wall! She investigated every nook and cranny of the outside of the house, confirming it was a 1 story with no attic or basement.
Alright then... She guessed it was time to head inside. Walking around the wall of the house, she crouched and peeked into the bedroom window. Saul was standing right there, looking at her oddly. He opened the window.
"Kurenai sensei! Welcome! Were you planning on coming inside anytime soon, or did you want to walk around the house some more?"
This boy... Better than she thought, huh. She had been brazen in the way she investigated because he was just a Genin, but she still didn't expect to be caught so easily! He even let her continue to do as she wished, without a word!
Kurenai decided to teach him a small lesson for not taking her seriously. She made multiple hand seals and sent out a compressed blast of air containing her chakra. In an instant her chakra was inside his body.
The three fundamental fields of a ninja were Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu. Ninjutsu acted on the outside world, Taijutsu enhanced the inner body, and Genjutsu controlled the mind. Yet, the ninja academy only taught the first two. Why was Genjutsu omitted?
For one, the barrier to entry was too high. Genjutsu was a difficult discipline that required a strong will, refined chakra control, and talent. Without all three one would make little progress in the discipline.
Additionally, Genjutsu is traditionally strong against the weak and weak against the strong. Against ordinary people, even the most basic user of Genjutsu could completely control and ruin their lives. Yet against another ninja of a similar skill Genjutsu often performed quite poorly.
The problems were numerous. Activating the Genjutsu often took time, so it could not be used to defend oneself, only to attack. When defending against Genjutsu, it usually only took the victim about a second if they knew the trick to free themselves. But setting up the Genjutsu in the first place would take much longer!
Because of the above problems it was not a viable combat technique unless your other foundations were ridiculously bad. The Daimyo would not support Ninja's who learnt it either - as the potential for abuse was way too high.
As a Jonin famed for her excellence with Genjutsu, Kurenai knew all this, yet she didn't care. Genjutsu was her passion! Her relative excellence in the field made her experience after casting Genjutsu on Saul so much stranger. The Genjutsu had properly taken effect, yes. She could feel her Genjutsu interacting with his bodily functions. It left him standing there dazed by the open window.
However Kurenai felt something was off. There was no instinctive resistance that she would feel from a normal body, no mental barriers, no-
A hand tapped her on the shoulder, "H-"
She spun around and seized the throat of the boy behind her. After recognizing his face, she quickly released him. He dispersed into smoke. Then, a voice came out from the house.
"Gosh, won't you let me finish a sentence? I was only trying to say hi! You can come in Kurenai sensei, but please don't cast any Genjutsu on me. That's not really appropriate to do outside of a training setting."
A thoroughly un-nerved Kurenai sat down across from Saul a couple of seconds later. Hinata sat beside him, positioned protectively in front of him with a hostile look on her face. Had she unintentionally scared the girl?
"Sorry about the lack of hospitality. Hinata and I weren't expecting guests. Would you mind telling me the occasion?"
Kurenai took a breath.
"The Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu. The Hokage sent me here to warn you about it. It is quite a dangerous forbidden jutsu."
Normal shadow clones couldn't mimic the body like that. It had really caught her off guard to see her Genjutsu activate on something fake. Was the Multi-Shadow Clone jutsu that different?
She continued, "I'm sure you've noticed, but after the clones are recalled, your thoughts temporarily merge. We've had many Ninja summon too many copies at once and be put into a coma after using this Jutsu."
Saul nodded. This was useful to know. The scroll had been quite vague on the risks, and Naruto himself forgot to even mention it. If he hadn't read the contents of the scroll before-hand, things could have become quite ugly.
"If I might ask... Do you happen to know the limit of clones that can be active at once before it poses a risk?"
Kurenai was stunned. She hadn't thought that far. Rather she believed that Saul, after being informed of the risks, would stop using the Jutsu! Any sane person would do that, right?
"And what happens if I dispel them one by one instead of all at once? Would that pose a problem?" He asked detachedly, as if he was not actively talking about dancing the line between life and death!
Kurenai exhaled. Thankfully she knew the answer to that one. "Yes... You see, the problem does not occur directly after dispelling the clones. It happens after you've summoned the clones, and then you fall asleep."
Hoh? This was getting interesting! He knew the hippocampus was the part of the brain that stored long term memories. But here was the catch. It only stored memories from during the day into long term memories after one went to sleep.
If that theory was true - there was a limit to the total amount of memories that could be in your brain per day. You tried to surpass that limit by using chakra to cram it into your brain? You'd never wake up again.
Author's Note: Sorry this ch got quite long again, couldn't find a good stopping point. I hope you guys enjoy it though!
Notice - Tomorrow I will only be posting one chapter - I'll be busy.