As the originally strongest of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Konohagakure possessed not only traditional ninjutsu and taijutsu, but also another power within the shinobi world: genjutsu.
Unlike ninjutsu and taijutsu, genjutsu targeted an enemy's five senses, plunging them into illusions. Highly skilled genjutsu users could even manipulate the flow of chakra within an enemy's brain nerves at will, making it a combat style that required high intelligence and battle awareness.
Genjutsu was one of the three fundamental skills of a shinobi, and many shinobi could use it. However, most used genjutsu as support while relying primarily on ninjutsu. Only a handful specialized in genjutsu, such as Itachi Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha, Kurenai Yuhi, Tayuya, Hozuki Gengetsu, and Yakumo Kurama.
Genjutsu generally used the five senses as its medium, so avoiding it required shutting off those senses. Might Guy's unique fighting style of not looking into his opponent's eyes could only deal with visual genjutsu. Yakushi Kabuto could use a snake's eye membrane to block his vision, but that too only worked against visual genjutsu.
According to the official databook, Book of the Sha, there were two ways to break genjutsu: 1. Non-dōjutsu genjutsu: one could disrupt one's own chakra flow to break it; 2. Dōjutsu genjutsu: one could only break it by having someone else disrupt one's chakra flow. In addition, perfect Jinchuriki who had reached an understanding with their Tailed Beasts could resist genjutsu attacks.
Binding paralysis genjutsu was a relatively unusual category of genjutsu. Known examples included the Uchiha Clan's "Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique," Jiraiya's "Sage Art: Toad Confrontation Chant," and Tayuya's "Demonic Flute: Phantom Sound Chains." Its defining feature was that the victim knew they had fallen under genjutsu, yet their body could not move. Note: binding paralysis referred to a condition in which a person