Chapter 16: Kakashi: Tsukuyomi Countermeasure Feasibility Analysis Report
The scene shifted. The Tsukuyomi Genjutsu ended, and Hatake Kakashi finally returned to reality from that boundless, infernal hell. In an instant, he was gasping for breath, as if he had undergone endless torture, and then collapsed onto the water's surface.
What is wrong, Kakashi? Can you not open your eyes yet?
Hearing the commotion, Yuhi Kurenai asked hurriedly.
Hatake Kakashi merely gasped and said: No, not yet.
Sarutobi Asuma also realized something was wrong and said: What exactly happened? He had only just finished speaking, and you collapsed.
Hatake Kakashi barely managed to stay on one knee, thinking: Three days in that world... was it only a momentary event in reality?
But why has he not eliminated me yet? If he wanted to, it should not be difficult.
For a moment, more and more questions swirled in Hatake Kakashi's mind.
Oh? You actually took that move without suffering a mental breakdown. But speaking of which, Itachi-san, overusing those eyes is risky for you too, is it not?
Hoshigaki Kisame asked.
And Uchiha Itachi's face was twitching slightly, seemingly verifying Hoshigaki Kisame's statement.
Outside the screen, Hatake Kakashi had, at some point, already taken out a pen and paper to start recording.
Tsukuyomi!
Is it a pupil technique limited to Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan? Or is it a Dojutsu ability possessed by all Mangekyo Sharingan?
Reconstructing space, time, mass, and pain sensation within a Genjutsu space. Even an Elite Jonin like himself, proficient in Genjutsu and dispelling Genjutsu, could not resist. If one counts the Sharingan's own strong resistance to Genjutsu, this means that the people this Genjutsu can affect might even surpass the Elite Jonin level; even Kage-level figures might find it hard to escape being locked on.
It has already surpassed the intensity of any Genjutsu he currently knows. He did not know if the level of Tsukuyomi itself was just that high, or if it had a direct relationship with the Mangekyo Sharingan's amplification of Genjutsu.
Or perhaps it was both.
Hatake Kakashi recorded the doubts in his heart on the paper. For a ninja, the most important thing is intelligence.
There are no invincible Ninjutsu, only invincible people. Now that he had obtained important intelligence on Uchiha Itachi, he would not be so foolish as to look directly into his eyes if he encountered him in the future.
Being tortured for three days and three nights like that... even if his mind did not collapse, he had probably suffered heavy damage. And such injuries are difficult to treat with ordinary medical means.
But at the same time, he also had the same question as his future self. Judging from the intensity of Tsukuyomi, it should have been easy to kill him. But Uchiha Itachi did not.
Was it because of their past friendship as his old superior that he let him off?
Or was it because this was already Uchiha Itachi's limit? Judging from Hoshigaki Kisame's words, generally, people hit by this Jutsu would suffer a mental breakdown. But this Jutsu is ultimately just a Genjutsu; in the end, it has limits. In other words, if one possesses extremely powerful mental strength and inner fortitude, they can still survive it and will not necessarily suffer a mental breakdown.
However, Hatake Kakashi quickly recorded a guess on the paper.
This Tsukuyomi is a seventy-two-hour torture for the victim, but it probably is not easy for the caster either. It could be seen from how Uchiha Itachi tried to maintain his composure after the Jutsu ended but could not help his facial twitching.
So it seemed that Tsukuyomi should have a very narrow casting range; perhaps only one, or a very few people, could be affected by it at a time.
Secondly, although Tsukuyomi displays such great power, the price to pay is also huge: there is a risk of overusing the Sharingan.
Others might not understand this point, but Hatake Kakashi understood it very well because he often overused his Sharingan.
For an outsider like him who was not of the Uchiha clan, using the Sharingan for a slightly longer time would lead to a state of overuse, resulting in total physical and mental exhaustion requiring a long recovery.
But Uchiha Itachi is an Uchiha and possesses the Mangekyo Sharingan, yet he began to enter a state of overload after casting Tsukuyomi just once?
Given the power displayed by Tsukuyomi, that should not be the case. Or perhaps, does Uchiha Itachi actually have some physical problem that cannot support such consumption?
Or is the burden of the Mangekyo Sharingan on the body just that heavy inherently?
Moreover, from the beginning, the conversation between these two had been casually leaking intelligence. For example, their purpose for returning to Konoha, intelligence on the Mangekyo Sharingan, and the fact that using the Mangekyo Sharingan leads to overload.
These should all be extremely important intelligence for ninja, yet the opponents revealed them as if they did not care at all.
He did not believe the opponents were unaware. After all, these two were originally outstanding figures among the ninja of their respective villages.
If even they did not understand something as simple as keeping confidential information from leaking, then few people in this world would understand.
For a moment, countless question marks flashed through Hatake Kakashi's mind. He scribbled and drew on the paper but could not find the answers, so he continued watching.
Is it Sasuke you are looking for? In the video, Hatake Kakashi asked upon hearing the conversation.
Uchiha Itachi slowly calmed his expression, then said: No, it is the Fourth Hokage's legacy!
Hearing these words, both Sarutobi Asuma and Yuhi Kurenai were shocked.
Because as some of the few Elite Jonin in the village and important members of the Jonin Council, they knew exactly what the Fourth Hokage's legacy was. It was precisely Uzumaki Naruto.
Or rather, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox inside Uzumaki Naruto.
Is it Naruto? Hatake Kakashi asked.
At this moment, outside the screen, Uchiha Sasuke fell into confusion. He was different from Hatake Kakashi.
Hatake Kakashi had always known Uzumaki Naruto's identity, knowing he was the child of his teacher and his teacher's wife, and that the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was sealed within his body.
But Uchiha Sasuke knew nothing at all. He had not joined Team 7 yet and had not formed any bonds with Naruto. To him, the Naruto he knew was just an annoying brat who only knew how to cause trouble and did not study properly.
The key was that this annoying brat came to find trouble with him all day long and seemed to dislike him.
But he had seen plenty of hot-blooded idiots like that and did not feel there was anything special about Uzumaki Naruto.
If there was anything special, perhaps it was that such a hot-blooded idiot was actually assigned to an elite class, the same class as elites like them.
The Fourth Hokage's legacy?
What exactly was that thing?