"How could this be?"
After feeling the signal flare at his waist—the one that should already have been fired into the sky—the Root ninja's expression turned terrified.
He watched Shinji slowly approach him. "Y-you used genjutsu on me?"
Shinji said, "You noticed?"
"I underestimated you!"
In his shock, the Root ninja decisively bit his tongue.
A sharp pain soon surged through him. Stimulated by it, his somewhat dazed mind cleared up again.
He avoided Shinji's gaze, pulled out the signal flare once more, and quickly fired it into the sky.
Whoosh.
Boom.
Shinji looked up at the flare blooming in the night sky.
Seeing that the signal had gone out successfully, the Root ninja breathed a sigh of relief. "I didn't expect a little brat like you to have such powerful Dojutsu. But as long as I don't meet your gaze, your Sharingan can't do a thing to me!"
Shinji smiled. "Is that so?"
"What are you laughing at?!"
The Root ninja roared.
He was certain he'd just broken free of Shinji's genjutsu, but for some reason, his hand still reached for his waist of its own accord.
Suddenly, he felt the familiar touch of the signal flare.
He abruptly looked down, only to see it hanging at his waist, completely untouched.
"How is this possible?" The Root ninja paused, then shouted at Shinji in terror, "Damn it! When did you use genjutsu on me again?"
Shinji said calmly, "What made you think you'd escaped my genjutsu?"
"You..."
The Root ninja was about to say something when he noticed in horror that the black cloak he'd first taken off was still draped over him.
He shuddered, then realized that he'd fallen under Shinji's genjutsu the instant he landed.
Everything he'd done afterward—taking off his cloak, firing the signal flare, biting