At this moment, Kurenai Yuhi felt like an item stripped bare and put on display to be scrutinized and judged at will.
"This battle attire…"
Raien's fingertips lingered on the rough purple bandages, feeling the warmth and tautness of the skin beneath the fabric.
"It's full of wild tension. Very suitable for you, Yuhi. It makes you look like a beautiful, untamed female leopard."
His words carried a morbid kind of praise, yet every syllable was like a poisonous thorn, stabbing deeply into Kurenai Yuhi's dignity.
"However…" Raien's tone shifted.
His fingertips suddenly pressed hard, nearly digging into the muscles of her back, sending a sharp sting of pain through her body.
"As my Women, you'll wear something more suitable—something luxurious—in the future. This outfit makes one far too easily coveted."
Kurenai Yuhi bit down fiercely on her lower lip.
The metallic taste of blood flooded her mouth as she barely suppressed the screams and curses clawing up her throat.
Her body was firmly restrained by invisible chakra chains.
She couldn't even turn her head to avoid his sickening gaze.
All she could do was glare at him with those burning red eyes, blazing with fury trying to tear Raien apart with her stare alone.
But Raien seemed to enjoy her powerless rage.
He chuckled softly and leaned closer, so close his lips were nearly brushing her earlobe.
His warm breath, laced with incense, sent a chill straight down her spine.
"Don't look at me like that, Yuhi. You know… It only makes me want to conquer you more to completely crush that pride of yours."
His voice was like a lover's whisper, yet every word dripped with malice.
"Look at your perfect waist…" His hand finally left her back only to suddenly clamp around her slender yet resilient waist like an iron hoop.
Forcing her rigid body to press even closer to him.
Their bodies were nearly touching.
Kurenai Yuhi could clearly feel the rise and fall of his chest, and the powerful, cold fluctuations of his chakra.
"It seems you haven't done anything foolish with Asuma yet…"
Those words made her heart seize violently.
She had already confirmed her relationship with Asuma—how could he—
"Let go of me, Raien!" Kurenai Yuhi finally forced out the words through clenched teeth, her voice shattered with humiliation and fury.
"You lunatic! You demon! I, Kurenai Yuhi, am a ninja of Konoha not some plaything for your harem!"
"Plaything?" Raien's eyes turned instantly cold.
The Mangekyo Sharingan spun violently.
A crushing mental pressure, like a roaring tsunami, slammed into Kurenai Yuhi's consciousness.
Her head throbbed violently. Her vision blurred.
"It seems you need to relearn your place, Yuhi."
His voice lost all warmth, leaving only icy command.
"A ninja of Konoha?" He scoffed, tightening his grip around her waist, almost as if he meant to snap her bones.
"Soon, Konoha itself will kneel at my feet. And you, Kurenai Yuhi—my wife— will become the most perfect symbol linking the new order of the Land of Fire with Konoha's old era."
A symbol…
Those cold words and the sharp pain nearly suffocated her.
She finally understood Raien's true, terrifying intent.
He didn't just want to possess her.
He wanted to use her as a trophy.
A political emblem.
To turn Kurenai Yuhi—elite Jonin of Konoha, mentor of Team 8 into living proof of the Emperor's domination over the ninja village.
To humiliate the Hokage. To crush Konoha's spirit.
To declare absolute authority over the entire ninja system.
"Never…" Kurenai Yuhi gasped, her eyes blazing with defiance.
"I'd rather die—"
"Die?"
Raien suddenly seized her chin, forcing her to stare directly into the ominously spinning Mangekyo.
"Before these eyes, death is nothing but a luxury illusion, Yuhi. And if you die Hinata will experience all of this instead. Now," he whispered, "let us begin the first lesson of recollection."
Hinata…
The moment she thought of her innocent, naive student, Kurenai Yuhi's heart shattered.
She couldn't allow that.
She was still just a child…
Clear tears slid down from the corners of Kurenai Yuhi's eyes as she closed them in resignation.
"Asuma…"
The name escaped her lips unconsciously.
Raien laughed even more happily.
"Yes…" he said softly, placing her onto the Dragon Throne.
"Keep calling his name later."
"Bastard… don't touch—"
Rip!
As if he hadn't heard her plea at all.
That iconic bandaged outfit—
was torn open.
[Ding! Communication with Kurenai Yuhi completed. Obtained "Genjutsu: Three Peerless Lotuses."]
An hour later.
Raien straightened his back, listening to the system notification echoing in his mind.
To be honest, he was dissatisfied.
With the Mangekyo Sharingan, genjutsu itself posed no challenge to him.
He had only copied an area-of-effect genjutsu from Kurenai Yuhi.
It felt… low-grade.
Tch. Then let's continue.
Without hesitation, Raien flipped the softly panting Kurenai Yuhi over.
"Wait… you… wait a moment…"
Her body trembled violently, unable to form a complete sentence.
How is he still coming?
She was truly afraid now.
Her treasure—preserved for so many years—had already been brutally taken.
That was one thing.
But this… this utter lack of restraint…
"Ugh—ah…"
A shower of pear blossoms pressed against the crabapple…