Illusionary Arts Prodigy

Yūhi Shinku's words were no passing whim.

"A son-in-law is half a son" was an old saying in the Land of Fire, but in the shinobi world, a son-in-law could genuinely inherit a clan! After all, you couldn't choose your son—whether he was stupid or clever was up to fate—but a son-in-law could be handpicked from the best. So choosing a son to carry on the family legacy risked ruin, but if you kept selecting excellent sons-in-law, the family fortune might only grow. As for the issue of descendants changing surnames, the shinobi world didn't care about that. After all, who's to say a grandson isn't still your own blood?

Yūhi Shinku's wife had been injured on the battlefield, and she was already twenty-eight when she gave birth to Yūhi Kurenai. The doctors advised against her having more children. Yūhi Shinku had no intention of remarrying, which meant Yūhi Kurenai would be his only daughter. So his legacy could only be left to his daughter or son-in-law.

From that perspective, Hyuga Ningyuan's Branch Family status was actually a plus. Since the Branch Family couldn't learn the core techniques of the Hyuga Clan, he was perfectly suited to inherit Yūhi Shinku's genjutsu. The only question was whether Hyuga Ningyuan was willing to learn. Maybe he was the type who looked down on everyone except the Hyuga Clan. There were plenty of such clans in the shinobi world—the Ino-Shika-Cho, the Uchiha, the Aburame, all like that.

But Hyuga Ningyuan's reaction was: eyes wide, face alight with excitement! "You're willing to teach me genjutsu?"

Yūhi Shinku chuckled. Willing to learn, that was fine. Then the only problem left was: "I just don't know if you have any talent for genjutsu!" After all, he'd never seen a Hyuga use genjutsu—maybe they couldn't?

"We'll find out by trying, won't we?" Hyuga Ningyuan said eagerly. His [Arcane Brush Palace] stored a massive amount of mental energy, but without the proper method to use it, he could only rely on Telekinetic Power for crude applications. It was a complete waste! Now, with genjutsu, it was like rain after a long drought! And since the genjutsu was taught by Yūhi Shinku, the lineage was clear, so he could use it openly! No problem—from now on, he was a genjutsu shinobi! Rotation? Not even a dog would learn that!

Seeing Hyuga Ningyuan's fervent attitude toward learning, Yūhi Shinku guessed he might just be saying that to curry favor. But what did it matter? Wanting to please him only proved he liked his daughter! Once you accepted someone, you'd desperately find good points in them. Looking closely now, the kid was quite handsome, with an elegant bearing—female shinobi would be dazzled just by his looks. What a natural-born genjutsu prodigy!

"I'll teach you the simplest genjutsu first. Give it a try!" Yūhi Shinku said, forming five hand seals. "This technique is called the Mist Servant Technique. The seals are like this, and the chakra flow goes like this." The Mist Servant Technique made the enemy see one black phantom after another, and when attacked, the phantoms would split. It was a purely scare-tactic jutsu.

Yūhi Shinku explained in great detail, but Hyuga Ningyuan felt the explanation was superficial—just teaching the operation, not the principle. But that probably wasn't Yūhi Shinku's fault; it was the whole shinobi world's way. Only teach application, not theory. Maybe only Orochimaru and Tobirama Senju delved deeper into ninjutsu theory. Still, no big deal. Even though Yūhi Shinku didn't explain, Hyuga Ningyuan figured it out himself.

The principle of this genjutsu was to inject genjutsu chakra into the enemy's brain to interfere with their vision. Because the interference was shallow, it only created a blurry phantom. If upgraded—say, turning the phantom into a person or some terrifying scene—the technique would become something else. Higher-level genjutsu interfered with more senses. For example, Demonic Flute · Phantasmal Lock interfered with hearing. The Kurama Family's Kekkei Genkai was even more impressive, directly interfering with all five senses. But that wasn't the highest level. The highest level—Tsukuyomi, Infinite Tsukuyomi—were genjutsu that directly interfered with the soul.

Techniques that interfered with the five senses could still be broken by disrupting chakra flow, but soul-interference was absolutely unsolvable. Once your soul was affected, you couldn't mobilize chakra at all; you could only take a beating in the genjutsu space. So the progression of genjutsu levels should be: interfere with one sense → interfere with two senses → interfere with three senses → interfere with four senses → interfere with five senses → interfere with the soul!

There were also some special genjutsu, like Demonic Illusion: Steam Paradise, used by the Second Mizukage Ghost Lantern Gengetsu. It used water to refract light, creating a mirage. Though it didn't invade the five senses, it still had the effect of confusing vision, so it counted as a genjutsu. Broadly speaking, genjutsu could be divided into three types.

First: ninjutsu that injects chakra into the enemy's brain to interfere with the five senses. Second: genjutsu that alters the external environment to interfere with the five senses. Third: genjutsu that interferes with the soul.

Yūhi Kurenai's specialty was the first type.

"So, did you get it?" Yūhi Shinku's demonstration lasted only a moment, but he had no idea that Hyūga Ningyuan had already thoroughly grasped the principles and classifications of genjutsu in that brief span.

"Can I give it a try?" Hyūga Ningyuan asked.

"Sure!" Yūhi Shinku nodded. The test subject would naturally be himself.

A full-fledged Jonin had nothing to fear from a Ninja Academy student's jutsu.

"Hand seals, chakra release!" Hand seals were crucial for releasing jutsu—this was the Sage of Six Paths' encoding of Otsutsuki Kaguya's chakra. As long as you mastered this code, you could release genjutsu even without understanding the underlying principles of chakra.

That was why a four-year-old Itachi could unleash the Great Fireball Technique.

It was like typing on a keyboard—press a key, and a character appears. You didn't need to know the mechanics behind it.

Hyūga Ningyuan naturally used chakra that hadn't been refined through a Cultivation Method. He needed to first understand how genjutsu was activated, then replicate it with his own chakra.

"Oh!" On the very first attempt, Yūhi Shinku noticed a phantom image flickering beside Hyūga Ningyuan.

He quickly mobilized his chakra and dispelled the genjutsu.

Then, his eyes blazed with intensity!

"You have a talent for genjutsu!" Yūhi Shinku stared with crimson eyes. "And it's extremely high!"

To learn a genjutsu just by watching someone demonstrate it once—what did that mean?

People like this were usually called geniuses!

Keep in mind, he had been teaching Kurenai genjutsu since she was four, and she still hadn't mastered a single one!

"My legacy as Yūhi Shinku has found its heir!" A wave of relief washed over him, and he added, "Let me teach you another one—Fox Heart Technique!"

This was a genjutsu that made the enemy feel trapped in a complex maze, doomed to walk an endless path—similar to a ghost blocking the way or being bewitched by a fox.

It was a C-rank Ninjutsu, not only harder to learn but also more demanding on chakra consumption.

He wanted to see the limits of Hyūga Ningyuan's talent.

A moment later, sensing the shifting environment around him and his own slightly dazed mind, Yūhi Shinku's grin became harder to suppress than an AK-47!

A genius—a super-genius of genjutsu!

He didn't know just how far the Uchiha Clan's mastery of genjutsu went, but being able to learn a C-rank genjutsu after a single demonstration—even an Uchiha would be no more than this!

"Let's try a B-rank one!" Caught up in the excitement, Yūhi Shinku couldn't hold back. If he could, he'd teach Hyūga Ningyuan every genjutsu he knew in a single day. That way, even if he dropped dead tomorrow, as Hyūga Ningyuan had put it, he'd have fewer regrets.

"This one's called Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death. It summons an illusory tree to bind the enemy!"

"Uh, I don't have enough chakra!" Hyūga Ningyuan tried but shook his head.

He could have succeeded, but instantly learning a C-rank genjutsu was one thing—instantly mastering a B-rank one would be too outrageous.

A kid still had to act like a kid.

"Right, right!" Yūhi Shinku calmed down a bit. It made sense—how much chakra could a five-year-old have?

Besides, B-rank genjutsu was far more complex. It would take some time.

"My bad, my bad. It's rare to meet a genjutsu genius—I got too excited!" Yūhi Shinku patted Hyūga Ningyuan's shoulder. "From now on, come to my place after school. I'll teach you genjutsu for two hours, how about that? I can also teach you some Taijutsu and other things. Oh, right—your father is Hyūga Yuuki, isn't he?"

Hyūga Ningyuan nodded.

"He's a reliable comrade too. But the situation at the border is complicated right now, so he can't come back yet. Your mother should be home, though. How about our families get together this weekend and settle things for you?"

"Still chatting? Time to eat!" Yūhi Kurenai's mother walked out carrying a dish, set it on the table, and looked at Hyūga Ningyuan. "Lord Ningyuan, why don't you stay for dinner tonight?"

"Uh, I'd better head back. My mother's waiting for me with dinner ready!" Hyūga Ningyuan quickly said.

"No worries, I already sent someone to tell her you're eating here tonight!"

"Huh?" Ningyuan scratched his head. Well, that worked.

"Stay," Yūhi Shinku said softly. "After dinner, I'd like to talk with you."

"Mm!" Hyūga Ningyuan nodded. Since it had come to this, staying was the obvious choice.