Chapitre 138: CH_4.38 (138)
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The genjutsu lessons continued as usual. Neither Takuma nor Mikoto bought up the Ring part of his life, which was how Takuma preferred it. While he would've liked to create a close relationship with "Jonin" "Uchiha" Mikoto, Takuma was fine as long as he got genjutsu lessons out of it, which was the reward he asked for.
"Did you have a chance to look at the scrolls?" asked Mikoto.
"I did," he replied. Mikoto had given Takuma three days to look at the scrolls. Both of them realized that Takuma had a full-time job and thus took it into consideration while issuing her deadlines.
Takuma hadn't been able to do anything the day Fugaku informed him that the Commander-in-Chief and some higher-ups were aware of his Ring identity. The next day, he went to Chunin Yakumi and Setsuna to talk with them about the new revelation. While Yakumi was displeased and ended their talk with: "The results of your team better be good," Setsuna straightforwardly said he didn't care. He didn't have the authority to meet Jonin Uchiha Sayuri, the Head of Organized Crime, with no notice and had to schedule a meeting— her secretary had returned to him the next day saying that she knew Takuma wanted to talk about and there was no need.
With that matter bearing down on his mind during the day, Takuma had to pull an all-nighter to read the scrolls. The four D-rank genjutsu were reasonably diverse; clearly, Mikoto wanted to use the four genjutsu as a basis for further studies by using them as examples. The four genjutsu were:
Genjutsu: Flower Hill— a furious tornado of flower petals would cover the target, lasting a maximum of a few seconds, completely obscuring their view in all directions.
Genjutsu: Bell Sound Clone— the target's head would fill with overwhelming bell sounds with a light paralysis effect while they saw rudimentary clones would appear in front of them.
Genjutsu: Haze— the target's vision of the entire area turned hazy and blurry; the more the target looked around, the higher haze and blur would be, potentially having a nauseating effect.
Genjutsu: Poisonous Stomach Hell— the target would feel a sudden and acute onset of cramping, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. It was a simplified downgrade of a C-rank jutsu, which had more bodily effects with higher intensity.
"And what did you learn in regard to the connection component?" asked Mikoto.
"Flower Hill is a smell-based genjutsu, Bell Sound Clone is sound-based, Haze is touch-based, and Poisonous Stomach Hell is taste-based," said Takuma. "I have some questions regarding these."
"Correct on all four. Go for the questions."
"So, Flower Hill. It's smell-based genjutsu, but there needs to be a smell that can be used as the "carrier" of chakra. Does that mean I will always need to carry a smoke bomb with a scent to be able to use the genjutsu? Isn't that a big restriction? I mean, you don't need anything for a visual-based genjutsu like Mist Servant Jutsu."
"Not all five senses were made equal. Some of them are simply easier to use," said Mikoto with a small smile. "Your comment of visual-based genjutsu not needing any aid is incorrect. The light entering the eye is the carrier, and well, light is ever-present. The "carrier" is the user themselves because the target is focusing on them. But it also presents a restriction— you can't use visual-based genjutsu from hiding or when the target doesn't have sufficient focus on the user. It's well-researched that the difficulty rockets when the user is standing in the peripheral vision when compared to then standing in front of them."
"It's easy to get attention in a battle," said Takuma.
"It is," Mikoto said with a soft shrug. "As I said, not all senses are made equal. However, you're underestimating Flower Hill and other olfactory genjutsu. You don't require a smoke bomb. You can simply use perfumes, colognes, gels, and balms with distinct scents, which you can wear all day long, and once a target registers the scent, which they will once you get close enough, you can build a connection through that scent. If you're indoors, you can use incense and candles and cast a genjutsu from hiding without ever facing them directly.
"Of course, there are restrictions on what scents you can use. It can't be something they're so used to that won't work, but it can't also be too distinct, which sets off a target's alarms. Balance and care are needed. An expert olfactory genjutsu user can juggle the variables to make their genjutsu work with a high success rate."
Takuma repeatedly nodded as Mikoto explained and noted down her words. This is what he was looking for. The thought of applying a puff of cologne as he entered a battle or a party and using that scent to cast genjutsu on the enemy or target was an exciting prospect.
"My next question is about Haze," Takuma continued with his question. "As I was reading the scroll, the text strongly recommended targeting the neck or forehead as the point of contact for establishing the connection. From a practical standpoint, those are some difficult targets. No fighter is going to tilt their head up and give access to their neck, and the head is perhaps the most protected part of the body, not to mention that a lot of people wear their forehead protector… well, on their forehead— doesn't this make this genjutsu useless?"
Mikoto laughed; Her laugh was pretty and melodic. She said, "The touch receptors in our skin are not uniformly distributed. Skin with hair on it is much less receptive— torso, legs, hands, and the head— and most of the time, all of that is covered with clothes. The neck, forehand, and the front side of your hand are the most receptive as they lack hair. For shinobi, hands will be mostly covered in calluses, making them an undesirable location. It is true that the majority of shinobi cover their foreheads. Leaving the neck as the best position."
"You can't say touch-based genjutsu has any advantage in the field," said Takuma.
"I agree that touch-based genjutsu doesn't have much use in combat. But during sex, touch-based genjutsu is always the choice."
Takuma was stunned speechless. Even with both his lives combined, he would only be in his mid-twenties; not to mention, Takuma was currently going through full-bloom puberty, and Uchiha Mikoto was a stunning woman. Moreover, Takuma wasn't expecting the topic of sex to be part of his genjutsu lesson. If he wasn't as busy as he was, thinking about sex would be a good chunk of his day.
"Ma'am?"
"You need to widen your mind, Takuma. Combat isn't the only place where jutsu are used. Shinobi specializing in seduction and sexual espionage are one of the premier experts in genjutsu, and they use touch-based genjutsu extensively during sex. People let their guard down when they're in bed— and well, genital areas are much more sensitive than the neck and forehead."
"… T-That sounds about right."
"It is right," Mikoto seemed to be having fun seeing Takuma's reaction. "Next."
Takuma cleared his throat and quickly noted everything down, but before asking his next question, he asked, "So, Haze is useless in battle?"
"As it is right now, yes, Haze is useless in battle."
Takuma frowned, "What do you mean?"
"Leave it for now. We will discuss it later in a future lesson."
Takuma wanted to know right now because he really liked the potential of Haze in combat and really wanted to get it working, but he let it go. He noted Mikoto's comment and moved to his next question.
"I'm confused with Poisonous Stomach Hell— actually, with all taste-based genjutsu. Do they require the target to ingest a hallucinatory agent like a drug or something?" he asked.
"No, no, no. Please, don't confuse those two; they're different," Mikoto waved her hand in emphasis. "Genjutsu, which use taste as a connection component, require the target to eat something infused with your chakra. Your chakra needs to interact with the taste buds in their tongue for you to gain control of their chakra flow. The more chakra comes in contact with their tongue, the faster and stronger genjutsu works. As you would notice, taste-based genjutsu also doesn't have any presence on the battlefield, but it shines in other places. It's surprising how people check for poison, but they don't check for the presence of chakra in food and drinks."
"And drugs?" asked Takuma as he made notes.
"Drugs affect the brain and its functioning, which makes people much more suspectable to outside influence. Genjutsu becomes an extremely potent weapon when the target is not in their right mind. It doesn't need even need to be some rare drug— alcohol inebriation is enough for genjutsu to work better."
That made sense. Takuma made his notes and thought about how well his Mist Servant Jutsu worked on someone high on weed. He almost wanted to test the before and after— and who knows, he might actually conduct that experiment.
"Any questions on the Bell Sound Clone?" asked Mikoto.
"I'm sure the answer is in the scroll," Takuma hadn't read the text in its entirety; there was a lot more to read for every genjutsu, "but the scroll said to create the bell sound every five to seven seconds to maintain the genjutsu."
Bell Sound Clone required the user to produce a bell ring even after the genjutsu was successfully in place. And unlike Flower Hill, he couldn't apply a cologne and call it a day, he needed to continue ringing the bell every few seconds, which got in the way.
"If you don't repeat the bell, the genjutsu will weaken, and the chance of the target realizing they're in a genjutsu will rise. I understand where you're coming from, but every jutsu has its use," Mikoto answered patiently. "Combat often happens between groups. Imagine you trapping an opponent in a genjutsu while your teammate takes them out with zero danger. That's where genjutsu like Bell Sound Clone comes into play. Of course, not all auditory genjutsu requires recurring sound production, but it's a common trait because it allows the user to keep the genjutsu's hold on the target strong. Experts with high skill in auditory genjutsu are able to use their voice to cast genjutsu, which is extremely dangerous. You can close your eyes, but can you block all sounds when shinobi are able to modulate their voices?"
"I know how to modulate my voice," said Takuma, and his voice came out as highly distorted; it was the voice he used as Tobi. He could also increase the amplitude and pitch it up and down, and while he couldn't perfectly mimic someone's voice, he just needed practice to reach that level.
"Auditory genjutsu is an option you can explore," Mikoto said, and her voice sounded different. She sounded like another woman.
"Isn't that the anchor from the radio station?" Takuma asked.
Mikoto nodded with a smile.
She was more skilled at it than him.
"So, it's clear that Uchiha Clan specializes in visual genjutsu. I mean, with those eyes, it'd be illogical not to," Takuma looked at Mikoto, who nodded understandably. "But what about Yuhi Clan? They're dubbed as Hidden Leaf's premier genjutsu clan. Do they specialize in anything?"
"Hmm… as far as I understand, Yuhi Clan doesn't specialize in one connection component as a clan. But individual clan members do tend to specialize in one sense as it's naturally difficult to juggle multiple, and specialization provides a higher return on investment. If you look a little deeper, genjutsu users in the village follow trends— if a popular genjutsu user makes their name using auditory genjutsu, novice genjutsu users would look at them and get influenced. But I'd suggest that you don't fall into that and carefully research and use genjutsu to find what suits you."
Takuma had no idea which direction he would go, but he had five genjutsu, one from each sense, and an excellent teacher to guide him. He wasn't in a hurry, and eventually, he knew he would figure it out.
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———
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The link is in the synopsis!
Chapitre 139: CH_4.39 (139)
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to Patreón @
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
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Shisui stretched his torso to relieve the tension from sitting in one place for too long and tweaked his neck and shoulder to get the kinks out with satisfying snapping clicks.
ANBU had trained him in stealth which often required staying in one place without moving for extended periods of time, but he dreaded the experience of sitting through one of Uchiha Clan's monthly meetings to discuss the progress of their primary clan objective— which at the current moment was overthrowing the current administration and establishing the new with the Uchiha at the very top.
Or, in fewer words— a Coup D'état.
Something Shisui was completely against.
They discussed their plans of establishing alliances with influential clans, investing more and more in the village's business, thus increasing their share in the economy, and buying physical assets like prime real estate, fertile and commercial land, and valuable metals like gold and silver. Recently, the clan had even sent diplomatic envoys to the Daimyo's court intending to get mining rights for precious mineral ores from reserves around the Land of Fire.
Before the formation of the Hidden Leaf village, in the Warring Era, the Uchiha Clan was the strongest shinobi clan in the Land of Fire, rivaled only by the Senju Clan. The clan had built the foundation of their wealth in that turmoil-filled era— they owned vast expanses of land, some were fertile lands which they put to farming by employing common folk, and eventually, farming towns had sprouted with the Uchiha land as the backbone of the people living in those villages, other were filled with mineral reserves which they mined, and once again mining towns were born which expanded into industrial cities— both existed to date. The Uchiha Clan was also one of the rare cases of privately-owned crude oil reserves.
All of it was gained by bloodshed and violence during the time when the law didn't exist for shinobi. Even after the formation of the Hidden Leaf and its shinobi recognizing the Fire Daimyo's position as the ruler of the Land of Fire, the Daimyo didn't dare ask for what the Uchiha had gained by sheer force.
The Daimyo, with his vast Samurai vassal forces, knew better than to be adversarial to shinobi. In truth, the Daimyo and his samurai were stronger than any single shinobi clan, but with the vassal forces split into facing multiple shinobi clans, the Daimyo could only watch as the shinobi raided and pillaged across the Land of Fire. And Daimyo's window of dominance truly closed with the inception of Hidden Leaf when all prominent shinobi clans joined hands.
Any action against Hidden Leaf shinobi would result in making enemies of the strongest force in the Land of Fire if not the entire Elemental Nations.
The Senju Clan was, once again, their only rival in terms of both owned wealth and military strength. Other shinobi clans like the Sarutobi, Shimura, Akimichi, Nara, Yamanaka, Aburame existed, and were strong in their own rights, but they couldn't match the Uchiha and the Senju— no one could, not even shinobi clans from outside the Land of Fire.
But perhaps both clans had enjoyed too much prosperity, and the scales of fate were uneven, which resulted in the need of the fixing the balance.
Soon after the creation of the Hidden Leaf, tragedy struck the Uchiha in the form of the clan leader Uchiha Madara, the man who had single-handedly caused the clan to soar to heights never seen before— the same man forsook the clan who refused to turn against the village which had bought peace and stopped the bloodshed.
Uchiha Madara battled the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and lost his life. The place they battled became known as the Valley of the End. Statues of the two men were carved in the place of their final battle, in the memory of the two greatest shinobi that ever lived.
It was one of the most beautiful places on the mortal plane.
That battle had negative effects. The village was displeased with the Uchiha Clan, and many even turned against them. The system of a hidden shinobi village had its multitude of advantages, but it also came with its caveat, after all, there was no free lunch in the world. If it were before, it would've meant war, but the Uchiha had bought into the concept of a peaceful village— they had to step back and take responsibility for their clan leader's action.
Ask any Uchiha, and they would say that was the moment the Uchiha stopped growing. Even though they had lost Uchiha Madara, they were still the strongest clan in the Hidden Leaf, excluding the Senju. Even though no one truly understood it back then, the Uchiha Clan had fallen out of favor with the rest of the village, which didn't improve after the First Hokage's death as his younger brother, Senju Tobirama took command as the Second Hokage.
There was no man the Uchiha hated more than Senju Tobirama. They respected Senju Hashirama for his strength and because the man was the reason the Hidden Leaf existed in the first place— but they hated the younger brother as Tobirama pushed the Uchiha Clan further down the hole they didn't know they were in.
In Tobirama's reign as the Second Hokage, the man isolated the Uchiha Clan. Slowly until the day he died in the First Shinobi World War, Tobirama had made sure the Uchiha were kept away from the village's central administration as much as possible.
It was during the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen's reign, did the Uchiha realize what had been done to them. As much as 80% of the clan worked in the Leaf Military Police Force— no other clan was concentrated in one organization as the Uchiha. Every other clan made sure to spread their members in as many aspects of the village as they could. Even clans like the Yamanaka Clan, who were perfect for T&I Division, had only a moderate presence there and had ensured they didn't have all their eggs in one basket.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was no better than his predecessor. While he didn't take any measures against the Uchiha, he also didn't do anything to improve their situation. The damage had been done, and the Uchiha were in their condition.
But they weren't doing as bad as their co-founding peer, the Senju Clan.
The Uchiha Clan hadn't let peace dull their blades, especially after Uchiha Madara's death; they had ensured that the clan maintained their position as the strongest clan. Proper systems were put into place to help the clan's future generations grow properly, and their clan's bloodline prospered and protected. The result of those efforts was that in the present, the Uchiha Clan was the strongest clan in the village. Their only competition in terms of military strength was the Hyuga Clan.
The same couldn't be said about the Senju Clan. They let peace rust their blades. The younger generation wasn't properly trained. As much as Senju Tobirama did for the improvement and standardization of training for the new Hidden Leaf shinobi, he had not done the same for the Senju Clan. On top of the Senju Clan enjoying the peace, they also suffered from low birth rates and high infant mortality rates. On top of that, Senju Hashirama wasn't able to pass on his legendaryWood Release to his progeny, and Senju Tobirama died before he could produce any children who could have inherited his potent Water Release affinity or his intellect.
Peace created a weak Senju generation, and those weak men floundered away the clan's wealth until the clan's name no longer existed in the Hidden Leaf. The only prominent legacy existed in the form of Senju Hashirama's granddaughter, the legendary iryo-nin, one of the Legendary Sannin, Princess Tsunade, who had long since left shinobi service, no longer lived in the village and withdrawn from shinobi circles.
The other clans, including the Uchiha, saw an opportunity and slowly ate the pie known as the Senju's wealth. Half of it, which was too important for the clans to have, and they couldn't decide how to split, went to the village itself, but what could be divided was distributed among the clans.
Two more Shinobi World Wars were fought, and the time came for the aging Third Hokage to choose his successor. He had fought in and survived three wars, and he had served the village well, but now it was time for the village to be handed to young blood. It was time for the Hidden Leaf to get its Fourth Hokage.
It was a chance for Uchiha to rise again by having an Uchiha wear the Hokage's hat. They even had a prime contender in Uchiha Fugaku, the most talented of his generation and a war hero feared and respected around the globe.
However, the competition was tough.
One of the Legendary Sannin and the Third Hokage's most talented disciples, Orochimaru. The man had done everything from participating in wars to working in ANBU to contributing to essential research, which had benefited the village better understand chakra.
Then there was Namikaze Minato, another war hero who had risen around the same time as Fugaku. He, too, was connected to the Third Hokage through the Legendary Sage Jiraya, the last of the three Sannin. Minato was Jiraya's disciple. Minato was deemed the most talented shinobi in his generation as he was able to learn the Second Hokage's Hiraishin and had somehow able to improve it, which earned him the moniker of the Yellow Flash.
The Uchiha had invested a lot in Fugaku and had pushed for him in the political circles— alas, the Third Hokage chose Namikaze Minato.
The Uchiha Clan was unsurprisingly upset that Fugaku didn't win, but they thought the outcome was the second best after Fugaku as Hokage. Unlike the other option in Orochimaru, Namikaze Minato was a young man with an open mind, who the Uchiha Clan could build a positive relationship with
Moreover, they weren't completely surprised by Namikaze Minato being chosen— the young man was engaged to the Nine Tail's jinchuriki, and it was clear that it played into the decision as the First Hokage was married to the previous jinchuriki. Keeping jinchuriki close to the village royalty was a common tradition among all the Great Shinobi Hidden Villages.
And by becoming the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato was royalty.
The Uchiha Clan pivoted to their new strategy of becoming close to the Fourth Hokage and his office, but before they could make any significant progress, the young Hokage had to sacrifice his life to protect the village from the Nine-Tail's rampage.
Of course, the blame… was put on the Uchiha Clan.
Shisui sighed as he looked at the night sky. Why did these meetings have to run so late into the night?
As the clan members exited the clan community hall, Shisui smiled and nodded and exchanged passing words with people who were as tired as him and just wanted to get home and turn in for the day.
Ever since the formation of Hidden Leaf, the Uchiha Clan had entered an era of stagnation. They hadn't weakened, but they hadn't grown. In comparison, the other clans had taken advantage of the situation and had grown. There was still a gap between the Uchiha Clan and others, but it was no longer insurmountable as it once was. They were still the wealthiest clan in the Hidden Leaf, but they had fallen behind in other aspects. Their new rival, the Hyuga Clan, had become closer to them in terms of strength and had surpassed them in terms of prestige and influence within the village.
Shisui was in support of the steps the Uchiha Clan took to prepare for the Coup D'état. They were increasing their influence, taking back power, making friends, and securing opportunities for the younger generation to follow. For example, slowly opening the Leaf Military Police Force was so that the Uchiha could decrease their presence there and spread their members throughout the village like other clans.
He simply didn't like the motivation— the end goal— behind all these steps. If the clan changed the end goal to continued peaceful existence with the village while still doing what they were doing, he was willing to sit through any number of meetings.
He sighed. From the looks of it, that future was his wishful thinking as even those initially not enthusiastic about the plan were now slowly falling in line. He was losing potential future allies.
"Why not talk to me instead of sighing?"
Shisui glanced to his side to see Itachi standing beside him. Their relationship had been on the rocks for a while in the between, but Shisui couldn't stay angry with his only ally— and he saw Itachi as his brother, he couldn't break the relationship.
He only had his parents as his family, and his health hadn't been too great. Shisui needed someone he could lean against for support. Even though he was the 'big brother,' Shisui greatly appreciated the unmoving stability Itachi provided. Almost nothing phased the young genius.
"If they keep at this pace, the clan will be ready in two to three years, four if we are being pessimistic," Shisui sighed. "That's not a lot of time."
"Really? I think that's a lot of time," said Itachi.
Shisui chuckled. He sometimes forgot that his younger brother was only thirteen, and three years was indeed a long time for someone that young.
"You'll understand when you grow up a bit more. Time passes faster the older you grow," he said. Shisui looked at Itachi, who had suddenly gone silent, and there was a peculiar expression on Itachi's face. "What is it?"
After a good while of silence, Itachi finally spoke,
"… Shimaru Danzo came to meet with me."
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———
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The link is in the synopsis!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
200+ Classement
Power Stone 
109 Power
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