A sharp gasp cut Kurenai off mid-thought. She turned on Asuma, her expression darkening fast. Her father was still around and one of the village's top jonin, so she wasn't about to back down.
"Asuma, what exactly do you mean? Do I need your permission to learn from someone else?"
"No—Red—listen, I just—" Asuma stumbled over his words, face flushing. "I'm just worried Taiichi doesn't have anything useful to teach you. Yeah, that's it!"
Taiichi kept his face blank while laughing on the inside. Served the guy right. Didn't he know desperate guys never won?
Out of the corner of his eye he caught Shino quietly shaking with suppressed laughter, shoulders twitching under that high collar. The guy might look stoic, but he was clearly enjoying the show. When Shino noticed Taiichi looking, he gave a small nod, his dark glasses flashing in the light.
Kurenai's situation was tricky. Her family specialized in genjutsu, but her father was too busy with work to teach her, and her current jonin instructor was an Uchiha who focused on Fire Release. Her progress had been slow, and watching her friends get stronger was starting to eat at her. Asking Taiichi was half desperation, half opportunity.
"It's fine," she said firmly. "Taiichi's already a jonin. He can definitely teach a genin. And I trust him."
Asuma looked like he'd swallowed something sour but couldn't argue without sounding worse.
Taiichi didn't care about Asuma's internal meltdown. If Kurenai wanted to train, he had shadow clones to spare. "Come by my place every day at three in the afternoon."
"Got it. Thanks in advance."
They kept talking for a while, though Asuma stayed distracted and Shino occasionally threw in a quiet comment. At eight o'clock their shift ended and everyone said their goodbyes. Taiichi walked home after checking in with Grandma Keiko.
Kurenai returned home in unusually high spirits. Her father, Yuhi Kurenai, noticed immediately. He'd seen the stress she'd been carrying lately and felt guilty he hadn't had time to help.
"Red, something good happen today? You look happier than usual."
"Father!" She grabbed his hand and swung it excitedly. "I ran into Taiichi at the orphanage today—my old classmate. He's a jonin now! We talked about the front lines and I asked if he could train me. He said yes and told me to come over every afternoon at three."
Yuhi Kurenai's eyebrows rose. He'd heard the name Matsushita Taiichi before—from Yamaguchi Masasuke, Minato, and even Hiashi. Always with praise. Now his daughter wanted the boy to teach her. A dozen protective questions immediately popped into his head. Was the kid capable? What were his intentions? He wanted to march over right then and vet him, but it was already dark and he had a meeting with the Hokage in the morning. He could ask there.
He chatted with his daughter a little longer, then sent her to bed and returned to his paperwork.
Asuma, meanwhile, went home looking miserable. Hiruzen had come back early in a good mood and immediately noticed his son's sour face.
"Father, am I useless? Taiichi's already a jonin and I'm still just a genin who's never even seen real combat."
Hiruzen's mouth twitched. Comparing yourself to Taiichi was a losing game. The kid was in a league of his own. Still, he kept his tone encouraging.
"Everyone has different talent. Taiichi's strong, sure, but how many people like him exist? I was still a genin at his age, and look where I am now. Focus on the future, not the present."
Asuma's eyes lit up. His father was right. He just had to keep working.
"Father, will you train me?"
Hiruzen couldn't say no to that kind of enthusiasm. He took Asuma out to the training ground and started drilling him personally—feeding him moves, correcting his jutsu, pushing his taijutsu.
An hour later the Hokage was already regretting it. Teaching the Sannin had been challenging but rewarding. Teaching his own son was pure suffering. Asuma's talent was only average and his fundamentals were shaky. Hiruzen felt both guilty for neglecting his training all these years and painfully aware that no one else could give the boy better instruction than he could.
So one kept grinding and the other kept suffering.
The next morning Hiruzen dragged himself into the office looking exhausted, dark circles under his eyes. Everyone who saw him did a double take. The Hokage never looked this worn out even after all-nighters.
He spent the morning chain-smoking just to stay awake.
Yuhi Kurenai arrived later to give his report. The thick smoke in the office made him cough the second he stepped inside. He shook his head and got straight to business.
After finishing his update, he hesitated.
"Something else on your mind?" Hiruzen asked.
Yuhi Kurenai decided to be direct. "Hokage-sama, I wanted to ask about Matsushita Taiichi."
Hiruzen's expression sharpened. Asking about a jonin's background wasn't standard. He was about to shut it down when Yuhi quickly explained the situation with Kurenai and her request for training.
Hiruzen relaxed. Then his eyes lit up. This was perfect. Taiichi was an all-rounder—top-tier Fire and Wind Release, excellent taijutsu. He could teach both Kurenai and Asuma at the same time.
"Relax, Kurenai. Taiichi's a genuine all-rounder. His genjutsu might not be his strongest point, but teaching a genin is well within his ability. In fact, I was just thinking of asking him to train Asuma too. Two students won't be any harder than one."
Yuhi Kurenai left feeling completely reassured.
Meanwhile, Taiichi was already deep into his own training. His real body worked on taijutsu while clones handled ninjutsu. The panel showed Advanced Taijutsu and Advanced Meditation both just a few hundred points from leveling up. One more solid month and he'd push past his current limits.
Time passed quickly. At three o'clock Kurenai arrived at the address he'd given her—deep in what used to be Senju territory.
The old clan grounds had been broken up and turned into ordinary housing long ago. Only a few original structures remained, including the one Tsunade had left to Taiichi.
Kurenai followed the street until she found the right house. She stood outside for a moment, gift in hand, then knocked.
The moment the door moved, the alarm barrier Taiichi had set up triggered. One of his clones went to answer while his real body kept training.
A few minutes later the clone led Kurenai to the training ground. Taiichi finished his last set, straightened up, and turned to face her.
She looked a little nervous but polite, clutching a small wrapped gift. Taiichi smiled and waved her over.