Thirty-Seventh Chapter. Training to Resist Genjutsu, Hyuga Sho's Past

"All right. I'll continue being friends with Young Master Asuma, but in exchange, you have to specifically help me train to resist genjutsu."

Hyuga Sho made up his mind.

If Kakashi really knew genjutsu,

then he would most likely use it when Sho challenged him in the future.

Therefore, preparing a way to resist genjutsu in advance became the top priority.

There were still fifty-five days...

Hyuga Mami and Hatake Kakashi would graduate early.

All Sho had to pay was two months of social connections.

Saturday.

Yūhi Kurenai, who had agreed to Hyuga Sho's request,

arrived at the Ninja Academy early in the morning.

The school was completely deserted on the day off.

The two of them went to the rear training field and began practicing how to resist genjutsu.

"Ninja Art..."

Yūhi Kurenai formed hand seals.

"Let me warn you in advance: if you're scared to death, it has nothing to do with me."

"Come on. I'm a gutsy person. Nothing has ever been able to scare me since I was little."

Hyuga Sho smiled, revealing a row of pearly white teeth.

"Good. Then be careful... Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!!"

Hyuga Sho met Yūhi Kurenai's gaze. Staring into those ruby-like eyes, he soon fell into an illusion.

A few days ago, Yūhi Kurenai had said that the Hell Viewing Technique allowed someone to see the thing they feared most in their heart.

In essence, it relied on eye contact.

The genjutsu user manipulated the opponent's cerebral Chakra.

It was a method of confusing the opponent's five senses.

A moment later...

"!"

Hyuga Sho's vision blurred.

The scenery around him changed.

"..."

Mountains, sunlight, and a river.

After looking around, he felt something strange in his mind.

"That's right... I've been on the run for 325 days..."

Hyuga Sho took out the radio he carried with him.

The radio was broadcasting the news.

"Warning. A vicious criminal has fled into the mountainous region of A City. To preserve human peace, we will activate our ultimate measure..."

"Hmph... Criminal? Ultimate measure? What method haven't you people tried?"

Hyuga Sho turned off the radio and stood up.

He picked up his backpack and continued fleeing.

Just then,

a deep rumble suddenly came from the sky.

It sounded like some kind of man-made object flying overhead.

"!"

Hyuga Sho raised his head and looked towards the sky.

A modern weapon trailing tail flames exploded right before his eyes.

A nuclear missile.

The crystallization of human technology and wisdom.

The terrifying surprise attack left Hyuga Sho completely unable to react.

He had barely seen the flash

when the nuclear missile exploded.

The intense flames, shock wave, and radiation instantly swept across the surrounding dozens of kilometers...

In an instant, the temperature surpassed 10,000 degrees. Hyuga Sho had no chance to escape.

He was melted on the spot.

"Ugh!!"

Hyuga Sho broke free from the genjutsu.

His vision was blurry for a moment before Yūhi Kurenai's figure appeared before him.

"I..."

Only then did Hyuga Sho realize

that everything just now had been an illusion.

"How was it?" Yūhi Kurenai asked as she released her hand seals.

"So realistic..."

Hyuga Sho clenched his fists.

Everything in the Illusionary Realm just now had felt completely real.

"And while I was in the 'genjutsu,' I didn't realize that it was a 'genjutsu.'"

Hyuga Sho summed up the experience.

He had genuinely believed that he was on Earth and still on the run.

What he had experienced in the Illusionary Realm just now

was actually the final scene of his previous life.

"That's normal. Genjutsu acts directly on the brain," Yūhi Kurenai answered matter-of-factly.

The disrupted Chakra caused the brain to function abnormally.

The hallucinations... naturally became as real as reality.

"So... what did you see just now?"

As the caster, Yūhi Kurenai could make Hyuga Sho fall into the Illusionary Realm,

but she had no way of knowing what he was experiencing.

Yūhi Kurenai was puzzled.

Because...

everyone who fell victim to the "Hell Viewing" genjutsu

should, without exception, show an expression of fear.

But...

Hyuga Sho had not.

He had displayed none of the negative emotions one would expect—fear, panic, or anxiety.

So this was completely... unreasonable.

"Again!"

Hyuga Sho said to Yūhi Kurenai.

He wanted to experience the genjutsu again.

This time... he at least had to realize that he was in an illusion.

Yūhi Kurenai: "..."

A few seconds later, Yūhi Kurenai formed her hand seals again.

He opened his eyes.

It was still that familiar scene.

Hyuga Sho stood up.

"!"

This time, a trace of clarity appeared in Hyuga Sho's muddled thoughts.

"I think I just... fell under Yūhi Kurenai's genjutsu."

He looked around, checked his pack,

and opened the radio as well.

"Warning, citizens. A vicious criminal has fled into the mountainous region of A City. To preserve human peace, we will activate our ultimate measure..."

This time, Hyuga Sho did not continue fleeing.

Instead, he raised his head and gazed at the sky.

Soon, a dazzling flash covered everything within his field of vision.

Including Hyuga Sho himself.

"Again!"

"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"

Hyuga Sho felt no confusion.

The instant he awoke, he began searching for cover.

When the nuclear missile exploded, Hyuga Sho lived one second longer than he had the previous time.

"Slash!"

The knife mercilessly cut across his body.

Fresh blood sprayed from his arm.

After doing this, Hyuga Sho gazed up at the sky.

The dazzling flash burst open.

"Release!"

Hyuga Sho formed hand seals with both hands.

He desperately urged the Chakra within his body,

trying to make it erupt all at once and dispel the disturbance Yūhi Kurenai had caused in the Chakra inside his brain.

A few seconds later, the nuclear missile exploded.

"The wounds I inflicted on myself in the genjutsu can't affect my real body."

"Condensing Chakra in the genjutsu is also just an illusion."

Hyuga Sho summarized the reasons for his previous failures.

When one was truly caught in a genjutsu,

those methods of breaking free were not easy to carry out.

Although he had failed several times,

Hyuga Sho did not know that...

Yūhi Kurenai, standing opposite him, was becoming increasingly shocked with every use of the genjutsu.

"This Hyuga Sho had no resistance to genjutsu at first, but after one attempt, he developed resistance."

"On the second attempt, I increased the genjutsu's precision and the amount of Chakra I invested."

"The third time, the fourth time... every attempt became more difficult."

"If this continues, even if I use genjutsu with all my strength, I won't be able to trap him."