Genjutsu Trap!

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Deep beneath the earth lay the Senra cavern, unknown to all.

"Lord Madara, the plan is going very smoothly. First we lured the Yellow Flash away, then we manipulated the Stone Ninja into attacking a civilian village in the Land of Fire. Finally, Konoha wiped out an entire Stone Explosion Corps unit. This incident is certain to stir up conflict between Konoha and the Stone Ninja." The strange, affected tone sounded as though it came from something inhuman.

In the pitch darkness, a crimson eye opened.

"Very good. With this, the Third Shinobi World War will break out within the next year. We can proceed with the next phase of the plan..." The voice was old and clearly close to death, yet it carried an indescribably oppressive presence. "The record of the battle has been prepared, I take it?"

"Yes, and we also stumbled upon an interesting little brat."

"Oh? Did you? Is he qualified to become a proxy?"

"I leave everything to your judgment."

After Shunren successfully killed the last Stone Ninja invader, the counterattack came to an end. It had gone more smoothly than expected, and the price they had paid was not high.

To be honest, the enemy had been a famous Stone Explosion Corps unit: four Special Jōnin and one Jonin, all of them shinobi with Kekkei Genkai. Konoha had a Jonin holding the fort as well, but Inoichi came from the Intelligence Division, and his individual combat ability was limited. Of the remaining rookies from Team 8 and Team 9, Kakashi was a little better off as a Chunin, while Shunren's unusual ability made him an unconventional fighting force.

All in all, judging by their stats on paper, the Stone Ninja had been far stronger. Yet Konoha had won a resounding victory, killing four enemies and capturing one alive. Although many on their side had been injured, miraculously, not one had died.

The Stone Ninja's crushing defeat was largely due to their strange attack on the civilians. They had used large-scale explosive techniques to bombard and massacre the village, consuming a great deal of Chakra in the process. Then, with their fighting strength diminished, they had chosen to stay where they were and face Konoha's reinforcements.

On closer thought, there had been far too many mistakes in the Stone Ninja's operation, and much of their strange behavior seemed to hint at something deeper. Inoichi, with his background in intelligence, had noticed this, which was why he had been so impatient to forcibly interrogate Gari, the man in charge of the operation, despite his own injuries.

Shunren and Kakashi's group returned to the small village and rejoined Inoichi. Seeing him with a hand pressed against Gari's head, they knew what he was doing.

"Inoichi-sensei, aren't you finished yet?" Kurenai asked worriedly from the side.

Shizune felt the same way. "Sensei didn't have much Chakra left to begin with. If this goes on, I'm afraid..."

"Sizzle~"

Inoichi's eyes were tightly shut, the veins on his forehead bulging as hot white steam rose from both his and Gari's foreheads.

Shunren narrowed his eyes slightly and pondered, Did something go wrong while he was using the technique?

Just as Shunren suspected, Inoichi's consciousness was currently inside Gari's mental world.

Inoichi had yet to reach Gari's mind. He had been stopped outside a gate formed by a mental defense barrier.

"Open!"

Taking heavy steps, Inoichi pushed the gate open, only to find another gate waiting before him!

Inoichi gritted his teeth and pressed on.

By now, Inoichi had broken through no fewer than seven or eight such mental defense barriers, but the deeper he went, the more alarmed he became. Just how many barriers against outside mental intrusion had been placed in Gari's brain? The human brain was the most complex thing of all. Having so many techniques packed into it would cause enormous harm to the shinobi himself. Why would the Stone Ninja cripple someone of Gari's caliber and damage their own fighting strength?

No wonder the strength Gari had displayed had fallen short of expectations.

As an elite Stone Jonin and a shinobi with a powerful Kekkei Genkai to boot, Gari had gone down far too quickly, even though Konoha had fought him two against one. The more Inoichi thought about it, the more certain he became that a greater mystery lay hidden here. And the key to unraveling it all was inside Gari's brain. As long as he invaded the depths of Gari's mind, he could steal the truth!

"Open!"

After finally breaking through the thirteenth barrier, Inoichi reached Gari's brain.

"Huh?! This is..."

Inoichi was stunned by the sight before him. Gari's brain had taken shape before his eyes, pierced through by one sharp black rod after another.

But what truly shocked Inoichi was the deeper implication: even with these unidentified black rods embedded in his brain, Gari had still been able to move normally!

On top of that, the dense layers of barriers set up in the mental world had left even Inoichi of the Yamanaka Clan, long versed in secret Yin Release techniques, struggling to cope.

Just how skilled was the one who had placed the techniques on Gari?!

Inoichi had never seen such black rods and did not dare touch them recklessly. All he knew was that the one who had placed them had to be a master at the very pinnacle of control over Yin Release!

A glimpse through a tube was enough to see a leopard's spots. Though Inoichi had never met the mysterious caster, the black rods alone made him feel that he could never catch up.

Should I retreat? Inoichi was deeply wary of the caster and felt inclined to withdraw in the face of the difficulty. But the intelligence he sought was only one step away, and he was unwilling to give up now.

"Gurgle~"

A strange tremor ran through Gari's mental world.

Has this guy's life reached its limit? Inoichi could tell Gari's mental state at a glance: he was already at death's door.

Once Gari died, the only lead that could reveal the Stone Ninja's plot would be lost. Inoichi struggled with himself for a moment, then made his decision.

"As an intelligence shinobi, how could I give up on such an enormous secret right in front of me?" Inoichi's consciousness came before the manifested brain. He held out both hands and reached inside...

Inoichi's consciousness went pitch-black in an instant.

Dimly, he seemed to sense an eye watching him.

"Thump~" A heartbeat.

"Thump, thump, thump~" A rapid heartbeat.

"Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump~" A heart that seemed ready to burst!

"Smack!" A huge blue hand reached out of Gari's brain and seized Inoichi.

"What on earth is..." Overwhelming power! Inoichi could barely struggle at all before the giant hand forcibly crushed his invading consciousness!

Back in reality, Inoichi looked as though he had suffered a devastating blow. He spat blood and pitched headfirst to the ground, unable even to cry out!

"Inoichi-sensei!" Everyone was horrified by the sudden change in Inoichi.

What was even more terrifying was the blood now oozing from Inoichi's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Blood flowed from all seven orifices, making him look utterly ghastly!

Shunren's expression turned deadly serious. Familiar with the shinobi world, he immediately thought of a terrifying possibility. "What a vicious Genjutsu trap! A mental attack that could crush Inoichi-sensei... could it be...?"