Saul's battle strategy against Yakumo was designed around her Genjutsu. She would destroy him if he was touched by even one attack. As a shadow clone - the Saul fighting her did not have much chakra. He couldn't afford to create more Shadow clones. Yet D rank jutsu were still on the table.

At first the strategy was rudimentary. He just had to hope he could both dodge her Genjutsu constructs and not get unlucky enough to get hit. But as the fight progressed, he noticed something. Yakumo's stamina sucked! She couldn't support that kind of chakra consumption for long. 

So while she was tumbling on the ground, he made a trench in the ground to hide from her vision and summoned three more illusory clones. The two D-rank jutsu practically required no chakra, yet if he caused her to waste just a little more chakra he'd win with a guarantee. There was no need to risk anything; no need to cause the girl more pain than necessary.

He did not however, account for her Kekkai Genkai deciding to manifest itself on its own and attacking him outright, even without a Genjutsu to platform off of. How in the hell was he supposed to account for that! It was literally cheating!

The Saul that was doing physical conditioning with Hinata nearby, suddenly clutched his stomach and started rolling around in pain.

"Saul-kun!? What's wrong?"

The dispersion resistance training he did with the Shadow Clones had an unintended side effect. Sure they could last longer even after taking certain blows, but since they weren't being dispelled at the first touch, whatever attacked them had time to inflict enough pain that they'd be forced to dispel. That pain would transfer back with their memories - causing the original much more trouble.

"J-just a little complication..." Saul got back up, his expression slowly easing.

There was no actual injury transfer however, so the pain would quickly go away. Still - it could be problematic in actual combat. 

"Really?" She abandoned her training and ran up to support him. Saul stopped her with a hand.

"Really, I'm fine." He forced a smile, "Yakumo just got one of my Shadow Clones pretty good..."

Hinata's eyes narrowed, then she activated her Byakugan. Yakumo sat by a tree. She was curled up with her back to the tree trunk, holding her knees and looking down. Her face was pale. Kurenai looked to be scolding her.

The two arrived there shortly afterward, with Hinata standing behind him with a frosty expression and Saul in front.

"...inherited the Kurama clan demon, Yakumo. You cannot allow yourself to lose control! If that was not a shadow clone, he could have died! Did you know it was a shadow clone?"

"No..."

Yakumo shook her head sadly. In the original series, she didn't likely have any sort of incident like this. It was all just... Superstition. Until a curious Kurenai looked into her mind, causing her to discover the dark thing hiding within.

"You cannot be a ninja if you harm your allies, your friends! If you can't prove to me-"

Saul interrupted. He wouldn't allow her situation to deteriorate to the point it did in Canon.

"Hey Yakumo, whatsup!"

She looked at me with fear, regret, and shock. It was quite an uncommon cocktail of emotion.

"Saul! I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to do something like that... Are you ok?"

"Completely fine. It was just a shadow clone. I have to do physical training with my real body, so I let the clones focus on other things. How are you holding up?"

He didn't hold anything against her? Why did he seem less affected by the whole thing than she was! Even though she had a million questions, Saul's nonchalant demeanor helped Yakumo calm down a little more, despite herself.

"...Thank you."

Kurenai interjected, "Saul, this is serious! You could have been seriously hurt!"

"It won't do any good lecturing her. I know Yakumo well enough that none of what happened was intentional, or really her fault. Her mind-body palm had run out at the time, sensei. Her kekkai genkai acted out on its own somehow, otherwise she would have had no way to conjure anything with Genjutsu."

Kurenai went silent. That was her point exactly. Because Yakumo couldn't control her power, she was a danger to herself, her teammates, even... Kurenai shuddered. From the speed and power of that hand, she knew even she wouldn't be able to withstand it. If Kurenai had faced Yakumo today, she might have lost her life. She was a Jonin! How could a young woman, with barely any formal training, be capable of slaughtering her? Like some sort of ant!

"I must speak to the Hokage-sama about this..."

Seeing Yakumo's face turn horrified, Saul intervened immediately. Good lord Kurenai, were you trying to get us all killed!

"Yakumo, the lord third is known for being a very kind, powerful, and resourceful man! He's the strongest shinobi alive! I'm sure he'll be able to do something to help!"

"Really?"

Yes, of course. He'd get Kurenai to completely seal your chakra, destroying all your hopes and dreams of being a shinobi and crippling you as a person. Then you'd be under house arrest for the rest of your life! You wouldn't even be allowed near your clan members - isolated and miserable!

Saul tried to come up with a backup plan. He hadn't expected her Kekkai Genkai to act up so soon! It seems he would have to accelerate them - he had no way to take things slowly any more. If Kurenai ended up sealing Yakumo's chakra then everything would go up in smoke.

"Of course! Though in the meantime, why don't we hold off on sparring for now. We should just do some Genjutsu training instead."

"Saul-kun, I don't think that would be a good idea." Hinata interrupted. She gazed at Yakumo coldly.

Hinata... You're not helping!

Kurenai agreed, "Yes, we still are not aware what exactly is going on with Yakumo. Her Kekkai Genkai originates from within. If you connect with her consciousness through Genjutsu, then who knows what could happen? It's too risky."

Yakumo smiled sadly, "T-they're right Saul-san."

She bowed to everyone present.

"I'm sorry about my mistake. Thank you all for showing trust in me by inviting me here to train with you guys. It is my deepest regret to have betrayed your collective trust. I will await the third Hokage's assistance; the last thing I want is to put any of you in danger. Especially you, Saul-san, I'm really, really sorry for disappointing you like this."

Even though she tried her best to keep her apology polite, noble, and formal, her voice cracked at the end. She looked to be barely containing her tears.

"I-I should go back now..."

Saul sighed. Despite his attempt at intervention, things seemed to still be heading in the same direction. Should he just... Give up?

Author's Note - Sorry for the late ch, I procrastinated lol. The continuation to this will come soon though, hope everyone is enjoying this arc so far!