Chapter 39: Beginning to Study Genjutsu
Seeing Kaito's disappointed expression, Nakatani Michi tried to comfort him:
"But you don't need to worry too much. These are all very advanced concepts that you'll have opportunities to learn later in your career. For now, I'll teach you all the fundamental techniques first and build a solid foundation."
Kaito nodded at him, thinking to himself:
"I suppose my expectations were unreasonably high. This guy doesn't actually owe me anything. I guess having such a helpful homeroom teacher like Genshu raised my expectations too much."
He thought for a while longer and finally reached a conclusion:
"Alright, if the Hokage doesn't grant me chakra weapons as a reward, I can request that he arrange for someone to teach me advanced kenjutsu techniques. Although Nakatani-san said those techniques are closely guarded secrets, it's impossible that no one in Konoha knows them. Besides, since Nakatani has already mentioned them to me, I now have a legitimate reason to explain how I learned about their existence."
After their discussion concluded, Nakatani Michi began teaching the three interested students fundamental kenjutsu principles.
Later that same day, Kaito purchased a proper small katana for himself.
Although this sword was ordinary quality without chakra-conductive properties, it was still considerably better than a standard kunai.
After some negotiation, he bought it for 22,500 ryo.
He purchased it because he couldn't practice chakra flow techniques with the blunt practice swords available at the Academy.
That year passed steadily with consistent training.
Nakatani Michi indeed instilled tremendous fundamental knowledge into Kaito, and Kaito absorbed everything like a sponge.
As for the five basic elemental jutsu Genshu was teaching the class, Kaito decided he was too busy to bother learning them immediately.
Starting from the second week of the semester, Kaito began leaving two Shadow Clones at home to study fuinjutsu, which theoretically should have doubled his learning speed.
However, to avoid mental confusion and severe headaches, both Shadow Clones practiced the same symbols or sealing formulas simultaneously.
A month and a half after the fourth year began, Kaito completed all the basic sealing techniques from the first scroll.
During this training period, he also discovered that having both Shadow Clones practice identical material didn't actually double his learning speed as he'd hoped.
After dispelling them both, he gained the combined perspective and muscle memory of both clones. Therefore, it only made his foundation considerably more solid, but this came at the cost of raw learning speed.
All in all, Kaito calculated his learning speed had only increased by approximately 60%.
He performed further analysis and concluded:
"The most efficient way to use Shadow Clones would be having each clone learn completely different things simultaneously. However, when I attempt that, it gives me absolutely terrible headaches when they dispel. So while this isn't the theoretically optimal use of Shadow Clones, it's the most practically suitable method for me. I believe having an extremely solid foundation is more important than raw learning speed anyway."
After mastering the basic sealing techniques, he decided to begin studying more advanced fuinjutsu from the intermediate scroll available in Section D of the Library.
The sealing formulas in this scroll could store elemental chakra. For example, fire could be sealed within a tag and released later.
This made him wonder—was the sealing technique Jiraiya used to contain Amaterasu's black flames really based on principles this straightforward?
Stored elements could be created using ninjutsu and then sealed, but this wasn't mandatory.
Elements could also be collected directly from the environment. For instance, even ordinary water from a river could be stored in sealing tags.
As he studied the various sealing formulas in the scroll, he realized:
"It seems the sealing tag that Shikamaru used against Kakuzu is documented in this scroll. However, he didn't use ordinary water—he used water that conducted electricity far more efficiently. He must have added substantial amounts of salt or perhaps other minerals to dramatically increase its conductivity. However, these techniques aren't immediately useful in direct combat. Using them effectively requires exceptional creativity and tactical planning."
He then began systematically learning these new intermediate sealing techniques.
Three months after the fourth year began, Kaito could successfully perform Wind Release: Great Breakthrough without requiring any hand seals whatsoever.
Over the following month, he successfully achieved the same with Earth Release: Mud Wall. However, he still needed to slam both hands firmly on the ground to properly channel the earth chakra.
He thought to himself critically:
"I should learn to perform Mud Wall by stomping with only one foot instead. So I must develop the ability to transmit Earth Release chakra underground through my foot."
He pondered the technical challenge for a while longer and reached a conclusion:
This would indeed be extremely difficult. The hand seals for Mud Wall gathered Earth Release chakra into the hands and then released it underground through physical contact.
To accomplish this through stomping would require manipulating chakra flow to be released from his foot instead—a completely different pathway.
But if Kaito could master this technique, it would become an exceptionally versatile form of defense.
He thought with anticipation:
"When retreating or evading, each step backward could instantly form a defensive barrier. I think this is definitely worth investing time to develop, so I'll add it to my training list. I should also experiment with creating wind blasts through foot strikes for enhanced mobility."
Another month passed, and Kaito decided to begin training seriously with two swords simultaneously.
He asked Nakatani Michi to guide him in adapting the same fundamental techniques to dual-wielding. He also deliberately practiced openly where many people could observe him training with two blades.
His previous sword had deteriorated significantly over these five intensive months, so he purchased two new katanas to replace it.
He continued practicing for another month but still did not succeed in eliminating the hand seals for Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage.
With only four months remaining until the graduation exam, he decided to temporarily stop Earth Release training and finally begin studying genjutsu.
He visited the Library and began searching systematically for genjutsu scrolls.
He found several relevant scrolls in Section 0. Some contained basic genjutsu theory already introduced in Genshu's classes, some focused on methods for detecting and dispelling genjutsu, and one specifically explained how to learn and perform genjutsu.
He began reading the instructional scroll on learning genjutsu. However, the very first sentence startled him.
His immediate thought was:
"This seems deceptively simple!"
The scroll began by stating bluntly:
"Genjutsu requires exceptionally precise chakra control and very high intelligence. If you lack either quality, don't waste your time attempting to learn this discipline."
However, he quickly grew skeptical of this assertion:
"Does it really require extraordinarily high intelligence? After all, Kurenai Yuhi once foolishly attempted to use genjutsu directly on Itachi Uchiha!"
He continued reading and analyzing the principles:
"So that's how it works. The practitioner extends their chakra into the opponent's cerebral nervous system, manipulating the opponent's mental chakra, thereby affecting all five senses, and genjutsu is created. In this manner, completely illusory sensory information can be fed directly to the opponent's brain."
Genjutsu techniques could generally be divided into two broad categories.
The first category involves creating an entirely fabricated environment with genjutsu. In these cases, the opponent can usually recognize that genjutsu is being used, though escaping may be difficult. Itachi's Tsukuyomi, or Kurenai's genjutsu used against Itachi and Kisame, fall into this category.
The second category involves making subtle alterations to reality—essentially implanting minor suggestions or hypnotic influences in the opponent's perception. This type is considerably harder to detect but generally not as overwhelmingly powerful as the first category. However, if deployed at precisely the right tactical moment, it can prove equally deadly.
The scroll also provided extensive instruction on how to extend chakra through an opponent's nervous system and techniques for doing so with maximum subtlety. It included numerous detailed diagrams of the brain's neural pathways and chakra points.
Then he proceeded to Sections D and E of the Library to search for any basic genjutsu he could begin learning.
Soon, he encountered a genuinely shocking discovery.
Just these two sections alone contained hundreds of different genjutsu techniques! He felt absolutely astonished:
"Did they archive everything from the Uchiha and Kurama clan libraries here?"
He sighed heavily. The hundreds of genjutsu scrolls that needed to be read and analyzed represented an enormous time investment.
To avoid wasting excessive time, he decided to skim through the scrolls on the spot, reading each one briefly to understand its function, then returning it to the shelf.
Even with this efficient approach, it still required over 4 hours to review all of them.
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