Illusionary Cultivation

Night. A cool breeze gently brushed past.

Two figures, one large and one small, sat facing each other on the grassy riverbank.

"Genjutsu, in essence, is a type of Yin Release technique. It works by mobilizing Mental Energy and using Chakra to interfere with the opponent's five senses, plunging them into an illusion!"

Though he still disliked Soseki, Kurenai Yuhi held nothing back. While instructing him in genjutsu, he explained everything to the best of his ability.

"So, genjutsu can be roughly divided into categories based on sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch?" Soseki asked, propping his chin on his small hand.

"Oh? There's a classification like that?" Kurenai Yuhi's eyes lit up at the idea.

The basic knowledge level of shinobi wasn't particularly high, mostly stuck at an elementary school level. As a result, even simple tasks like categorization and summarization were rarely attempted.

"Indeed, what we used to call disrupting the five senses was mostly based on sight, hearing, and touch. Relatively speaking, genjutsu targeting taste and smell are almost nonexistent. If we could develop techniques for those two, maybe in the next war we could give the other villages..."

"Senior Shinku! Senior Shinku!" Seeing Kurenai Yuhi lost in endless fantasies, Soseki had to call out to him.

"Huh?" Kurenai Yuhi snapped back to reality. Catching Soseki's strange look, he felt a bit embarrassed. To save face, he forced an explanation. "See? A truly powerful genjutsu shinobi needs to be able to fantasize like this to succeed."

Soseki didn't call him out on it. Instead, he nodded in acknowledgment.

Genjutsu—without a bit of imagination, it really wouldn't work.

"Before I formally guide you in genjutsu training, I'll first teach you how to break out of genjutsu." Kurenai Yuhi's expression turned serious. "Only by understanding the weaknesses of genjutsu can you avoid being targeted by enemies on the battlefield."

"There are two ways to break a genjutsu. One is to disrupt the flow of Chakra within your own body yourself. The other is to have someone else disrupt the flow of Chakra in your body. Note that for Dojutsu-based genjutsu, only the second method works. So, when facing an enemy who uses a Dojutsu to cast genjutsu, you must never fight them alone."

As Kurenai Yuhi spoke, a hint of melancholy crept into his voice. Though he was Konoha's strongest genjutsu shinobi, he knew that in his entire life, he would never reach the heights of the Dojutsu masters of history.

That was precisely why, when he discovered Kurenai's talent for genjutsu, he had been overjoyed. He wanted to prove that human talent and effort could break the rule of bloodline dominance.

Soseki paid no attention to Kurenai Yuhi's dejection. Instead, he asked thoughtfully, "Disrupting the flow of Chakra in the body... isn't that essentially about controlling the body? If someone could perfectly control their own body, would that mean they're immune to the first type of genjutsu?"

Kurenai Yuhi was taken aback, then shook his head with a wry smile. "That interpretation isn't wrong, but... something like that is probably only possible for someone like the First Hokage, the God of Shinobi."

Soseki didn't argue. Inwardly, he mused, "Perfect control over one's own body... the Eight Gates?"

Regarding the Eight Gates, Soseki wasn't as enthusiastic as some of his "predecessors." He was well aware of his own strengths—talent, intellect, learning ability. These were of little use for the Eight Gates, which relied on grinding time.

Spending twenty years for a single moment of brilliance wasn't worth it for a genius. At least in Soseki's view, he had plenty of other ways to obtain power at that level.

That didn't mean Soseki dismissed the Eight Gates entirely, though.

What he actually wanted to pursue was a lower-tier application of the Eight Gates.

For instance, maintaining a constant opening of two or three Gates within his body—using Medical Ninjutsu to repair the damage caused by opening the Gates, storing the excess Chakra squeezed out through the Yin Seal, and even, in critical moments, using Creation Rebirth to open even more Gates.

The difficulty in realizing this perpetual motion fantasy lay in the need to constantly perform repairs within his own body. This required not only extremely high Chakra control but also a near-split mental focus.

Beyond that, physical training was also crucial. The stronger the body, the less damage opening the Gates would cause, and the less Yang Release Chakra would be needed for repairs. Otherwise, the Chakra released by opening the Gates might not even be enough to heal the body.

Kurenai Yuhi had no idea that Soseki was thinking about taijutsu during his genjutsu lesson. After a brief moment of reflection, he continued, "The strength of a genjutsu mainly comes from two aspects. One is the strength of the user's mental will. The other is the realism of the constructed illusion."

"Do you know what makes the genjutsu of Dojutsu masters stronger than that of ordinary people?"

Soseki pulled his wandering thoughts back and answered without hesitation. "Dojutsu doesn't require hand seals. It's more convenient and harder to detect than ordinary genjutsu."

Kurenai Yuhi nodded in approval and asked, "And?"

Soseki thought for a moment, then ventured, "Is it that the eyes act as amplifiers, enhancing the mental strength of the genjutsu?"

"Amplifiers? That's an interesting way to put it." Kurenai Yuhi sighed as he spoke. "We genjutsu shinobi go to great lengths to weave realistic illusions, yet in the end, we might not even match a crude illusion casually thrown together by a Dojutsu master. The reason is that their spiritual origin is far, far stronger than ours."

Soseki nodded lightly. Indeed, having a powerful spiritual origin was just that unfair.

Take Itachi's Tsukuyomi, for example. It constructed a world that defied all logic. The target knew immediately that they were caught in a genjutsu, yet they simply couldn't break free.

From Soseki's past-life understanding, this was like the principle of "overwhelming force trumps all techniques" often mentioned in xianxia novels. No matter how shoddy the illusion, if your mental strength wasn't up to par, you couldn't escape.

But that didn't mean the realism of an illusion was unimportant. The best proof was the Infinite Tsukuyomi—an ultimate genjutsu that constructed a realistic illusion capable of pulling the entire world into a dream and making them lose themselves in it.

Thinking of this, Soseki asked, "Senior Shinku, is there no way to increase mental strength?"

"Increase mental strength? I've never heard of such a thing, but..." Kurenai Yuhi shook his head at first, then hesitated. "Legend has it that the First Hokage's mental will was so strong it could influence reality. But he didn't seem to have that power at the beginning. If we connect that with his experience of pacifying the Warring States period, perhaps the method lies in undergoing the baptism of war or life-and-death struggles, gaining conviction from it, and expanding one's own capacity."

Soseki nodded thoughtfully. He knew more than Kurenai Yuhi, which was why he placed even greater importance on spiritual growth. Asura and Indra's mental wills had caused their Chakra to reincarnate across multiple eras. The Sage of Six Paths, meanwhile, existed in a soul state between life and death, even single-handedly pulling the souls of the village Kage from the Netherworld back to the living world.

That level of mental strength was almost incomprehensibly powerful.

"Chakra, spirit, soul... Perhaps I need a technique that can touch the essence of the soul."

Seeing Soseki silent, Kurenai Yuhi thought he was discouraged by the limitations of genjutsu. "Ahem, don't be too disheartened. Just like with individual talent, it's ultimately up to you to dig out your own potential. Otherwise, how would the title of Konoha's strongest genjutsu shinobi have ended up in my hands instead of those Dojutsu clans?"

Though he hadn't drunk Kurenai Yuhi's mental chicken soup, Soseki still pretended to be encouraged. "I understand, Senior Shinku."

"Good. Next up is an entry-level genjutsu training. D-rank Genjutsu—Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique. The hand seals are Boar, Snake, Ram. Now, experience the terror of genjutsu for yourself..."