Then, Uchiha Hikaru stood directly in front of Izumi, looking down at her as only her head remained above the ground.

He crouched and gently placed his hand on her hair, tousling it softly.

With an amused look on his face, he continued to explain:

"The Uchiha clan is naturally skilled with shurikenjutsu and Fire Style techniques."

"You've already reached the level of a Tokubetsu Jonin."

"But you forgot—Sharingan can't distinguish another Sharingan user."

"Your strength is almost on par with Hayate's, but you still need to push yourself a bit harder~"

Hikaru had noticed this proud little girl's sensitivity. While he encouraged Izumi, he also wanted to push her further—see if she had other abilities yet untapped.

After all, Izumi still hadn't demonstrated the signature strength the Uchiha excel at once their Sharingan awakens.

Hearing those words, Izumi couldn't help but feel a flush of joy at being recognized—but that joy was quickly replaced with a sense of frustration.

It was like Hikaru had just told her, "You're good... but not good enough."

Chakra surged through her body, shaking loose the soil around her—and in a burst of force, she leapt free from the ground.

Hikaru smoothly jumped back, creating space between them once again.

"Teacher Hikaru, then let me show you my unique ninjutsu!"

The moment the words left her mouth, Hikaru sensed something was off.

Though he'd intentionally not resisted her earlier genjutsu, he immediately noticed something different about this one.

The Izumi standing before him suddenly appeared bashful, walking slowly toward him, her steps graceful, her figure gradually maturing with each stride.

For a brief second, Hikaru thought he saw Yeyue in her place.

He couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh in his mind.

From across the training field, Izumi smirked confidently as she saw Hikaru freeze.

Humph~!

This is an illusion I developed myself. It's cast through sound~

You touched my head earlier, and now you're caught in my trap!

She happily skipped up to Hikaru, rising on tiptoe as she reached out to touch his forehead in return.

Smack!

Hikaru's hand shot up and caught Izumi's wrist mid-motion.

Just as her hand was about to rest atop his head, it froze in place.

Izumi's eyes widened in shock, and she instantly tried to break free.

She shoved her left hand toward Hikaru's chest in a counterattack—

Smack!

Her left wrist was also snatched up and held firmly.

Now both her hands were restrained by Hikaru—but Izumi didn't back down.

She raised her right leg and kicked toward the space between Hikaru's legs, aiming to trip him.

But Hikaru didn't give her the chance.

With a grin, he spun her in place by her arms.

"Spin Technique~!"

"Ahhhhhh~~~!"

Izumi's body was lifted off the ground and whirled around in circles until she was horizontal, screaming the whole time.

And just when she thought it was over—

Hikaru launched the already-dizzy Izumi into the air.

She shrieked in surprise as the world suddenly grew distant beneath her. Panic bloomed across her face as she fell.

But before she could hit the ground—

Hikaru caught her princess-style in his arms.

Startled, Izumi instinctively wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, her cheek pressed against the warm space between his neck and collarbone.

A few seconds passed before Hikaru's voice finally broke the silence.

"All right, how long do you plan on holding me?"

"You're not a kid anymore."

"Hop down already."

Izumi's eyes snapped open as the reality of her position hit her.

Flustered, she quickly let go of Hikaru's neck and hopped down from his arms.

Hikaru looked at her as she stood straight before him, chest puffed out in anticipation of praise.

He reached out and gently flicked her forehead, then let a satisfied smile appear on his face.

"You're not at Jonin level yet…"

"But you're doing pretty well."

"You're already stronger than Hayate."

"Well done."

Izumi leapt with joy, a radiant smile spreading across her face.

She had finally heard the words she had longed to hear the most!

Even as Uchiha Hikaru's student—she wanted to be the strongest among them!

Then, curious, Hikaru tilted his head and asked:

"Izumi, where did you learn that sound-based genjutsu from?"

"Did your mother teach it to you?"

"This is the first time I've seen someone use sound to cast illusions."

In Hikaru's memory, the only sound-based genjutsu he'd seen was the legendary Toad Confrontation Chant, cast by the two Great Toad Sages of Mount Myoboku. That was part of the Sage Art: Frog Song.

Even Pain, wielder of the Rinnegan, had fallen victim to that one.

Aside from that, only Tayuya—one of Orochimaru's underlings—had performed genjutsu using a flute.

Later, Kabuto had used something similar: the Demonic Flute: Illusionary Sound Lock.

That jutsu had even affected Mangekyō Sharingan-level Sasuke and an Edo Tensei-revived Itachi, until Itachi freed himself using Kotoamatsukami.

In Hikaru's mind, sound-based genjutsu had always been extremely advanced and rare.

He hadn't expected Izumi to surprise him like this today.

Izumi shook her head.

"No, Kaa-san doesn't know anything about sound genjutsu."

"Actually… it's thanks to the song we sang together at the celebration."

"When I saw how happy the villagers looked, almost as if they were in a dream… I had the idea of using sound to cast illusions."

"So I experimented with it and figured it out on my own!"

She stopped speaking, but her face still radiated a clear message: "Praise me! (^o^)/"

"Oh my god~"

"You're a little genius, Izumi~!"

Hikaru's exaggerated praise made Izumi burst into laughter.

"Ahahaha~!"

"Teacher Hikaruyouhaha~!"

"Stop it, you're making me laugh too hard~!"

"Release me~!"

But the next moment, Izumi noticed something odd—Hikaru, who had been standing in front of her, hadn't made any over-the-top movements.

Her expression shifted to one of shock.

"Wait, Teacher Hikaru—you saw that?!"

Hikaru raised a hand to stroke his chin with a mysterious grin.

"Of course I saw it."

"If you can come up with it, don't you think I could too?"

"But what were you thinking about, huh?"

"You looked way too happy a second ago."

"I just copied the genjutsu you used on me."

"What did you see that made you react that way?"

Realization dawned on Izumi.

She hadn't just been tricked—she'd completely humiliated herself.

Her knees buckled, and she squatted down to the ground, poking the dirt with her finger as if drawing invisible circles.

My ladylike image… gone… (;＿;)

What she didn't realize, though, was that from the very beginning—whether it was her shy stiffness, her fierce determination in combat, or her scream when flung into the sky—

She had never once looked like a proper lady.

She was just a beauty. A wild, radiant beauty… 💫

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