This Guy's Genjutsu Was Actually This Strong?!

On the training field, Aoba and Obito stood facing each other.

A circle of students had already gathered around to watch.

Everyone knew that Obito had improved greatly over the past year, and quite a few people had fought him during practical combat classes.

To be fair, while Obito's academic performance was somewhat lacking, he was genuinely strong in actual combat.

There were now only a handful of people in practical combat class who could reliably defeat Obito.

Today, Obito had actually taken the initiative to challenge Yamashiro Aoba, the top-ranked student. This was going to be entertaining.

Although Yamashiro Aoba had inherited Kakashi's first-place ranking, that did not mean he was weak.

However, Yamashiro Aoba rarely fought others. Most of the time, he only sparred, so no one really knew Aoba's true strength.

They wondered whether they would get to see Aoba go all out today.

Everyone was looking forward to this match.

"Before we begin, form the Seal of Confrontation."

The taijutsu teacher was more than happy to stir things up and directly acted as the referee.

Aoba and Obito formed the hand seal at the same time.

However, at the instant they formed the seal, Aoba narrowed his eyes slightly. Chakra flowed through his hands and was silently released.

Obito did not notice at all.

"Begin!" Teacher Ueno gave the order.

Obito shouted and pushed off with his feet, charging forward like an arrow released from a bow.

Facing the approaching Obito, Aoba did not make any move. He simply lowered his hands calmly.

"What's going on?"

"Is Aoba giving up?"

"No, look at Obito!"

Just as everyone thought Aoba was about to surrender, Obito, who had been charging forward aggressively, suddenly stopped.

Obito stood rooted to the spot, his eyes unfocused while he muttered endlessly under his breath.

"Trying to run? No way!"

Then he suddenly shouted, turned sharply, and charged at a wooden post, smashing his fist into it.

In Obito's vision, Aoba suddenly showed a panicked expression, turned around, and fled.

Overjoyed, Obito erupted with chakra beneath his feet, becoming even faster as he slammed a fist toward "Aoba's" back.

"Haha, die, Aoba!"

"I am Uchiha Obito!"

Obito's chuunibyou voice echoed across the training field as his fist slammed heavily into the wooden post with a dull thud.

He did not realize in the slightest that he was attacking nothing more than an inanimate object. Instead, he was incomparably excited because he had "hit" Aoba.

He began circling the post, using what he considered his strongest Uchiha Style taijutsu. His fists and kicks flew together, every attack carrying tremendous force.

"How's that?! Now you know how powerful the Uchiha are, right?!"

"Submit!"

"It's not too late to beg for mercy! As long as you loudly admit that Uchiha Obito is the strongest, I'll let you go!"

Obito's mouth was not idle either. One ridiculous line after another poured out as he became completely immersed in the illusion he had woven for himself, talking to himself and enjoying himself immensely.

In his eyes, Aoba was being beaten back step by step, fleeing in a miserable state.

In the real world, the entire field had fallen silent.

Only Obito's chuunibyou-filled shouting echoed across the grounds.

Everyone stared with their mouths wide open, blankly watching Obito frantically attack a wooden post while occasionally striking poses he apparently thought were cool.

"Pfft—"

No one knew who was the first to fail to hold it in, but a deeply suppressed laugh escaped.

Then, as if some kind of switch had been flipped—

"Hahahahahaha!"

"I can't take it anymore, my stomach hurts!"

"What is Obito doing? That's a wooden post!"

"Is he talking to a wooden post? Hahahaha, he's even telling it to beg for mercy!"

Explosive laughter instantly swept across the entire grounds.

The taijutsu teacher gritted his teeth hard and thought through every sad event of his life before barely managing not to laugh.

Everyone knew Obito had fallen under a genjutsu, but that did not stop them from laughing.

"He's under a genjutsu!"

"When did Aoba make his move? I didn't see anything at all!"

"That's way too strong! He took Obito down in one move!"

Laugh as they might, quite a few clear-headed people were still shocked by Aoba's strength.

Among them was Sarutobi Asuma, who had once been thoroughly beaten up by Aoba. He could be said to be one of the people paying the closest attention to Aoba.

Only those who had truly fought Aoba knew how strong that guy's taijutsu was. Even now, Asuma had no confidence that he could defeat him.

He had not expected this guy's genjutsu to be this strong too!

It looked like the time for his "revenge" would have to be pushed back yet again.

"Damn it!"

When Obito had charged toward the wooden post, Aoba had already walked aside, casually found a rock to sit on, and admired his handiwork.

This was the genjutsu Hell Viewing Technique: Modified.

It had originally made the target see frightening visions, but after Aoba's modifications, it slightly distorted the target's senses. By using chakra to interfere with the opponent's perception, it replaced the wooden post with his own image while also blocking out the surrounding sounds.

This was a side benefit of learning Medical Ninjutsu.

Although it was his first time using it, the results were not bad.

In the end, it was the taijutsu teacher who could no longer bear to watch.

"Enough."

The teacher used Body Flicker to appear beside Obito, placed a hand on his shoulder, and poured in chakra to forcibly dispel the genjutsu.

The world before Obito's eyes instantly returned to clarity.

He blinked blankly, looked at the wooden post right in front of him, then at the students around him laughing so hard they were doubled over, and finally at Aoba in the distance, still leaning against a wooden pillar as though nothing had happened.

"I... I just now..."

Obito's voice trembled as an unprecedented wave of humiliation swept over him.

"You were caught in a genjutsu."

The taijutsu teacher said flatly, "From the very beginning."

When he remembered what he had done in the genjutsu—unleashing attacks on a wooden post and making all those "grand declarations"—his face instantly turned the color of pig liver.

"AAAAAHHH! YAMASHIRO AOBA! I'LL KILL YOU!!!"

Obito let out a grief-stricken roar and lunged forward with bared teeth and claws, ready to fight for his life.

However, the taijutsu teacher held Obito down firmly.

The match was already over. If Obito attacked again after losing, the nature of the matter would be entirely different.

The Uchiha clan, publicly recognized throughout the Shinobi World as the ninja clan best at fire techniques and genjutsu, had actually been instantly defeated by someone else's genjutsu in full view of everyone.

Although this only happened during a match between students at the Ninja Academy.

In this era of scarce entertainment, however, gossip spread at a speed comparable to the Flying Thunder God.

Especially since this involved the Uchiha clan, it came with an instant boost in attention.

Before the Ninja Academy's dismissal bell had even rung, the news spread through all of Konohagakure as though it had grown wings.

The story of "an Uchiha clansman being instantly defeated by genjutsu at the Ninja Academy and wildly trash-talking a wooden post" spread through every street and alley.

If it had merely been an ordinary loss in a genjutsu contest, it would have been one thing. But Obito's lines like "Submit!" and "The Uchiha are the strongest!" were simply too entertaining.

Rumors always spread with astonishing speed, especially when they involved the arrogant Uchiha clan. People were always happy to see those perched upon an altar stumble and fall.

Even more ironically, the Uchiha clan had always been renowned for the Sharingan and its genjutsu masters, yet one of their own children had been pinned to the ground and rubbed into the dirt with the most basic technique in their strongest field.

This was no longer merely embarrassing. It was like throwing the Uchiha clan crest onto the ground, stomping on it twice, and then spitting on it.