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Kurenai Yuhi's voice was distorted by extreme fear.
Di Yan watched Kurenai Yuhi's reaction, like a startled bird.
The smile on his lips deepened a few degrees.
He slowly withdrew his hand, as if he had just brushed away a speck of dust.
"See... Yuhi."
Di Yan's voice was terrifyingly calm, yet it carried a desperate certainty, "I knew you would 'agree'."
His gaze swept over Kurenai Yuhi's protective stance over Hinata, carrying a cruel insight into human nature.
"For Hinata, you'll do anything, won't you?"
Kurenai Yuhi trembled violently, her arms holding Hinata tightening desperately.
Di Yan's words coiled around her heart like a cold viper.
Yes, for Hinata... for this student she regarded as her own child.
She could sacrifice everything, including her dignity, her life... even, including the bottom line of betraying Konoha?
The thought made her almost suffocate in pain!
Di Yan said no more, as if everything was under his control.
What Kurenai Yuhi didn't know was that Ino of the Ino–Shika–Chō was also his target.
Di Yan glanced at Kurenai Yuhi's conflicted expression and casually raised his hand.
With a gesture of condescension.
He lightly patted Kurenai Yuhi's taut buttocks, which were tense from nervousness.
"Before dawn, I want to see the letter."
Leaving this cold command, Di Yan, just as he had arrived.
Silently turned and got out of bed.
His figure merged into the shadows of the bedchamber, disappearing outside the door.
The heavy palace door gently closed, isolating the outside world.
Inside the bedchamber, only the cold moonlight remained.
And Kurenai Yuhi's figure, clutching Hinata tightly, trembling silently.
Tears fell like broken pearls, large drops rolling down and landing on Hinata's sleeping face.
Hinata seemed to sense something.
She frowned uneasily in her dream, mumbling an indistinct dream-talk.
Kurenai Yuhi lowered her head, looking at her disciple's innocent sleeping face, her heart twisted in pain.
Di Yan's threat was like an invisible mountain.
Pressing down on her, making her unable to breathe.
Writing the letter meant personally sending Asuma and the Ino–Shika–Chō into the trap Di Yan had meticulously set.
Not writing... Hinata... She trembled as she reached out, her fingertips touching the cold tabletop.
Paper and pen had been prepared there at some unknown time.
White paper, black ink.
At this moment, in her eyes, they were like a contract leading to hell.
Her fingers hovered above the paper.
Trembling violently, unable to fall for a long time.
Every second of hesitation was like a slow torture to her soul.
The instinct to protect Hinata and the belief in guarding Konoha fiercely tore and collided within her heart.
This letter, to write or not to write?
How should she choose?
... 19 Kurenai Yuhi's Little Trick, Accepting Punishment
The morning sun, with a hint of coolness, shone on the exquisite courtyard of the palace.
Di Yan was dressed in training clothes.
He was performing morning exercises that seemed casual but contained a certain rhythm.
His breathing was long and steady.
Uchiha Izumi stood like a shadow in the distance, her gaze vigilantly sweeping around.
Footsteps sounded, carrying a barely perceptible tremor.
Kurenai Yuhi's figure appeared at the courtyard entrance.
Her face was pale, her eyes red-rimmed.
Clearly, she hadn't slept all night.
She clutched a folded letter tightly in her hand, her knuckles white from the force.
Di Yan slowly finished his movements.
His gaze calmly fell upon Kurenai Yuhi, as if he had long anticipated her arrival.
Kurenai Yuhi took a deep breath.
Forcing down the humiliation and churning emotions in her heart.
She walked up to Di Yan and handed him the letter in her hand.
Kurenai Yuhi's eyes darted away.
She dared not meet Di Yan's eyes, which seemed to pierce through everything.
"The letter... it's written."
Her voice was dry and hoarse.
Di Yan took the letter but did not open it immediately, merely weighing it casually.
His gaze swept over the neat handwriting on the envelope.
Recipient: Asuma Sarutobi.
Sender: Kurenai Yuhi.
A barely perceptible curve formed at the corner of his mouth.
He slowly opened the envelope and pulled out the letter paper inside.
His gaze quickly scanned it.
The content of the letter was exactly as he had "requested":
The wording was earnest, full of despair and helplessness.
It detailed being "trapped in the palace," "surrounded by an unknown powerful force," "the situation is extremely critical"... every word bleeding as it pleaded with Asuma to bring his most trusted subordinates, the Ino–Shika–Chō trio, to come to their rescue with utmost speed.
Kurenai Yuhi's body trembled slightly.
She nervously watched Di Yan's expression, her heart almost pounding out of her chest.
She had staked all her hopes on the letter paper, on that extremely subtle genjutsu mark that required special spiritual power to activate.
It was something she had painstakingly condensed under immense mental pressure!
As soon as Asuma saw this letter and came into contact with her spiritual power mark.
The genjutsu would immediately activate.
It would clearly transmit everything that happened here... Di Yan's Mangekyo Sharingan, the Uchiha survivor, the experiences of Inuzuka Kiba and Shino Aburame, Di Yan's ambition for Konoha, and their true predicament at this moment... all back to Konoha!
This was her only resistance, her only hope!
Di Yan finished reading the letter, his face devoid of any surprise.
It even carried a hint of... boredom?
He looked up at Kurenai Yuhi, who was as nervous as a startled bird.
Her red eyes were filled with unease and a final stubbornness.
"Hmm, well written."
Di Yan's tone was as flat as if he were evaluating an ordinary report.
A red glow flashed in his eyes.
Then he casually refolded the letter paper and put it back into the envelope.
Kurenai Yuhi's heart was in her throat.
He... he didn't notice?
Or... he noticed but didn't care?
Just then, Di Yan spoke faintly:
"Izumi."
Like a phantom, Uchiha Izumi, who had been hidden in the shadows, instantly appeared beside Di Yan, kneeling on one knee:
"Your Majesty."
"This letter," Di Yan handed the letter to Izumi, his tone unequivocal, "Deliver it to Hidden Leaf Village with the fastest speed, and personally hand it to Asuma Sarutobi."
"Make sure he opens and reads it himself."
"As you command!"
Izumi took the letter without the slightest hesitation.
With a flash, her figure transformed into a black shadow and disappeared into the courtyard.
Her speed was astonishing.
Watching Izumi disappear with the letter that carried her last hope.
Kurenai Yuhi's heart felt like it was on a rollercoaster.
First, it plummeted, and then a surge of unbelievable euphoria welled up!
He sent it out!
He really sent it out!
Could it be... could her genjutsu mark be so perfectly hidden?
That even Di Yan, who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, couldn't detect it?
Hope was like a faint flame.