The Proper Use of Genjutsu

Genjutsu's "First Graduation" wasn't the important part. What mattered was that he had initially grasped how to use genjutsu techniques to uncover, explore, and alter an enemy's subconscious or even deeper layers of consciousness.

Using those techniques on himself, combined with the Sharingan's enhancement of jutsu and memory, allowed him to review his memories from before he transmigrated to a certain extent. That was the key.

For now, the Side Effect of using genjutsu to examine his own memories was that he couldn't move, along with the mental fatigue that came from watching videos for too long.

Searching through memories didn't come with a keyword search function. Even if the Sharingan could organize and tag memories, he still had to go through every last one with the Sharingan first.

Just because someone was reborn with memories from a past life, did that mean they could remember every single thing they had ever glimpsed in that life down to the tiniest detail?

So both the world before and after rebirth were digital worlds, then? Everything you had seen, whether you remembered it or not, was automatically recorded as high-definition video, compressed, packaged, organized without any loss, and then all crammed into your post-rebirth brain?

Why hadn't he gotten such a sweet deal?

The less frequently scenes in his memories had been recalled, used, or encountered, and the older they were, the blurrier they naturally became. Calling some of those low-quality fragments 360p would have been generous. There were occasional missing frames, scenes spliced in from who knew where, and even bizarre, fragmented dream scenes mixed into his memories.

Still, after slowly sorting through them all, Sasuke could use the Sharingan to fill in extra details. But that no longer counted as the original version.

Study materials were knowledge when all was said and done. High definition wasn't important. As long as he could make them out, it was fine.

So, after mastering this method of using the Sharingan, Sasuke would have a Shadow Clone sit before a mirror and cast genjutsu on him for several hours before bed every night.

The main cost was that keeping the Sharingan active continuously consumed more Chakra. The other costs were manageable, and after school, he didn't have to worry about the repercussions if the Shadow Clone suddenly dispersed.

He could speed up the playback. Forget double speed—so long as he could see clearly, eight times speed or even twenty times speed wasn't much of a problem. There was just one catch: he couldn't skip around, because he had no idea whether an unknown segment on the "progress bar" might contain some little interlude or hidden surprise.

Sorting through and organizing thirty years of memories from his past life would take two or three years at the very least, by rough estimate. If he kept only the "essence" of the knowledge, the time before graduating from the Ninja Academy would be enough no matter what.

Of course, the warm childhood years before Sasuke's family was destroyed were his first priority. That way, he could quickly review the various Uchiha techniques, fill in the gaps, and use them against Neji. Nothing could have been more fitting.

Sasuke had already figured out Neji's family training schedule.

Neji couldn't possibly lie, either. Hinata, the young lady who was currently the family heir, was in Sasuke's class. He could get the answer just by asking around.

Neji's father was dead, but his mother was still alive. However, her status was low. Though Neji himself was a genius among the younger generation of the clan, he was still young and belonged to the Branch Family. It was easy to imagine how he was treated—his life was passable, barely.

As one of the Hyuga clan's public faces in Konoha, he dressed smartly on the surface, but his pockets were far from deep. After interacting with him a few more times, Sasuke realized that although Neji came from a larger clan, his treatment was obviously nowhere near as good as Shikamaru's, the young clan heir.

They were going to settle the score in their second match?

There was no way they were settling anything. What if Neji had a fragile heart? If he lost once, Sasuke would have to comfort him afterward. At most, both of them would end up physically exhausted. That was the optimal solution Sasuke had come up with.

And honestly, Sasuke wanted to lose. Preferably not too obviously, though. It would help him hide his edge in the village. He was just still considering how to lose.

"I've been holding back a trump card!"

They had thrown that harsh line at each other after their last match. In reality, he was probably the only one who had actually been holding anything back.

Of course, if Neji's desperate Eight Trigrams Thirty Palms counted as a trump card.

Seeing Neji run out of stamina and drop to one knee first, Sasuke thought, No, young man, don't do this yet. Look at me—I'm practically full of holes from all the times you poked me...

He hadn't immediately gone along with it and collapsed earlier. Would pretending to fail from exhaustion and falling down now be a little too late?

Feeling somewhat guilty, Sasuke began to call it a draw. "Looks like you've improved too. We tied again this time."

"No, I lost this time. I trained one year longer than you, yet I could only draw with you. If that isn't losing, what is? I'll keep working hard!"

Well, damn. Did you also dream of becoming a man of defeat?

Things often developed differently from what Sasuke expected. It wasn't like he could see the future. In his past life, he hadn't been a strategist or worked in pyramid schemes.

Even if he'd never seen a pig run, hadn't he at least eaten pork?

Sasuke tried using Talk no Jutsu as well.

"When you go back to the clan and the elders ask you about it, you'll say you were beaten by an Uchiha? You really won't get punished for that? Scolded? Put through extra training out of spite?"

Though Neji believed he had lost, his pride remained. He snapped, "I don't need a draw born of your pity!"

Now that Sasuke knew Neji's mother was alive, it was easier to play the family card.

"Your mother has it hard enough on her own. You might not Care About it, but would she be bullied or gossiped about by others because of this?"

Whether his words worked depended on whether Neji was filial. He was usually quite polite and occasionally even used honorifics, so he was probably a sensible kid.

Neji fell silent, and Sasuke knew he had succeeded halfway.

"This was just an ordinary sparring match without a winner or loser. Or you can say I overestimated myself, challenged you, and lost. Or that you won. Say whatever is convenient for you."

After hesitating, Neji still insisted, "I won't lie!"

"A draw doesn't count as lying, does it?"

Before Neji could say anything else, Sasuke seized the initiative and changed the subject.

Sasuke pulled Neji to his feet. "Last time, I said I'd treat you to ramen, and you agreed. You're free today, right? You won't go back on your word again, will you?"

When they met for the second time, Sasuke copied Naruto's methods and easily formed a "ramen friendship" with Neji. It would have been even better if Neji hadn't blushed when getting up and had acted more naturally.

"Uncle Teuchi, two deluxe ramen bowls and two assorted Tempura."

Uncle Teuchi was intrigued as well. This was an unfamiliar new customer, and he even had the Hyuga clan's white eyes.

"Yo, Sasuke. You're not here with Naruto today? And this young man, I've never seen him before."

Could it be? Neji, were you also the type whose allowance wasn't enough for ramen?

"This is my upperclassman, Neji. I asked him to train Taijutsu with me, so I didn't come with Naruto and the others."

Though Sasuke hadn't come often, he ordered the deluxe set every time. As for the ramen upgrade perk for new customers, Teuchi could only flexibly change it into a complimentary plate of braised meat.

When two training fanatics talked, they naturally couldn't produce even a hint of gossip in three sentences. Teuchi listened for a while before focusing on serving the other customers.

After saying a brief goodbye to Neji,

Sasuke's plan could be considered a success.

He had already said it—a draw was impossible.

The first time he came to Ichiraku Ramen, he had already observed Teuchi with the Sharingan. Uncle Teuchi's Chakra made it unlikely that he was some hidden Otsutsuki boss.

So if he couldn't use genjutsu in front of Neji, couldn't he use it on Uncle Teuchi instead?

After all, Ichiraku Ramen was to Konoha what Chaoyang Street was to Beijing.

Sasuke and Neji had trained, but Sasuke hadn't won, so Sasuke treating Neji to ramen had already been deeply impressed upon Uncle Teuchi and his Store Clerk. All he had to do was slightly stir their desire to interact with customers. Once the genjutsu automatically wore off after a few days, they wouldn't remember today's details clearly anyway. There would only be a tiny, harmless error in their information.

Neji, just wait to become a good person who protected his friend's pride!