Genjutsu

"I told you, I didn't!"

Seeing that Ye Ning merely chuckled twice and paid her no mind, Tsunade grew flustered and hurried to defend herself. "This is standard practice! When teaching a student, you first need to understand their strength so you can tailor your instruction!"

"What revenge? I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Fine, fine. It's all for teaching."

Ye Ning spread his hands and pointed at the house, which had been reduced to rubble, looking utterly innocent.

"You're the one who smashed all this up. Even if it's your own house and you don't mind, we can't exactly spend the night here, can we? Sleep in the rubble?"

Come to think of it, had all the houses in the Senju Clan Grounds been painstakingly built with Wood Release by the First?

Using the First's Wood Release to build houses seemed like a bit of a waste, but there were so many of them. If they'd built them all by hand, it must have taken a lot of work, right?

Tsk.

The First's Wood Release really was practical. It was practically essential for life at home and on the road.

Even if a house got damaged by accident, he could build a new one right away. And when away from home on a mission in the wilderness, he could conjure up a place to stay out of thin air.

How tempting!

Ye Ning clicked his tongue, feeling a little regretful.

Too bad he couldn't get his hands on Hashirama's cells yet. Otherwise, he might have tried fusing with Hashirama's chakra. Maybe he could even have learned Wood Release that way.

Ye Ning was so lost in his rambling thoughts that he completely ignored Tsunade calling him. After calling his name three times without getting any response, Tsunade finally lost patience, stepped up beside him, and punched him.

"Ugh, that hurts!"

Ye Ning jolted awake and glared at Tsunade.

For some reason, he felt like Tsunade was a little like Garp.

She threw a loving punch at him at the drop of a hat.

Ugh...

Thinking of those two together...

What a sin, what a sin!

Tsunade was still better.

He couldn't handle an old man like Garp, all scruffy with a beard!

No matter how awful or crazy Tsunade was, at least she was easy on the eyes. When she wasn't angry, she was pretty nice to look at.

"Brat, didn't you want to learn genjutsu? Are you even listening?"

???

Ye Ning's face filled with question marks.

Tsunade knew genjutsu too?

In the Databook, Tsunade's genjutsu score was 7, which wasn't low. But since she'd never shown it in the original story, Ye Ning naturally had his doubts when she suddenly said she'd teach him genjutsu.

The look of suspicion on Ye Ning's face made Tsunade's mouth twitch. Her chest heaved, sending waves rolling beneath her robes. She was clearly furious.

Luckily, Tsunade managed to put on the brakes at the last moment, holding back from punching Ye Ning again.

"I'm just going to explain some basic principles of genjutsu. I'll ask someone else to teach you how to use it."

Someone else?

There weren't any famous genjutsu masters in Konoha, were there?

The Uchiha Clan... might count?

But there was no way Tsunade would ask someone from the Uchiha Clan to teach him.

So apart from the Uchiha Clan... were there any other shinobi skilled in genjutsu?

Ye Ning thought it over and actually came up with someone.

Yuhi Shinku.

Yuhi Kurenai's father, a Konoha jonin who died in the Nine-Tails Incident.

The original story said nothing at all about Yuhi Shinku's strength. But given Yuhi Kurenai's talent for genjutsu, her father Yuhi Shinku couldn't have been too far behind.

Besides, quite a few fanfics described Yuhi Shinku as Konoha's genjutsu master, so he probably had some skill, right?

Seeing Ye Ning zoning out again, Tsunade lost patience and smacked the back of his head. "Pay attention!"

Ugh...

Tsunade hadn't held back much. The back of his head really hurt!

"Genjutsu, ninjutsu, and taijutsu are the three basic skills of a shinobi. To become an elite shinobi, you need to make sure none of them are obvious weaknesses. Usually, shinobi use genjutsu as support and ninjutsu as their primary means of attack."

"Genjutsu is also different from ninjutsu and taijutsu. It targets an enemy's five senses, disrupting their chakra and trapping them in an illusion. There are two types: genjutsu cast using Yin Release and genjutsu cast using a Kekkei Genkai."

"The Uchiha Clan of Konoha are the most famous users of genjutsu. Their unique Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan, greatly enhances their talent and ability with genjutsu."

Ye Ning listened closely as Tsunade explained.

But he didn't entirely agree with some of what she said.

For example, the idea that you had to develop all your basic skills evenly, without any weaknesses, to become an elite shinobi.

Might Guy was an obvious example.

The truth was, a shinobi could become powerful by reaching the pinnacle in just one area.

Of course, that was only an exception.

Most shinobi still had to keep strengthening their weaker areas and developing evenly if they wanted to improve.

Seeing that Ye Ning had finally settled down to listen, Tsunade nodded in satisfaction.

"Genjutsu uses the five senses as a medium. When you and your opponent are at the same level, you have to shut off your five senses to evade their genjutsu. But if you fail to evade it and fall under their genjutsu, don't panic."

"If it's a genjutsu that doesn't rely on dōjutsu, all you have to do is disrupt the flow of chakra in your body to break it. If it does rely on dōjutsu, you can only pray that you have a partner nearby who can disrupt the chakra in your body and help you break it."

Tsunade thought for a moment, recalling the jutsu Ye Ning had used earlier, then carefully offered her advice.

"I'd recommend using genjutsu and taijutsu as support, with ninjutsu as your main approach. Combining Swift Release's high-speed movement with the A-rank Lightning Release: Chidori you developed can catch your opponents off guard. But some shinobi have extraordinary reflexes and can react quickly. That's when you'll need genjutsu."

"If you can trap an enemy in an illusion, even for just an instant, that'll be more than enough for you."

"Also, you need to keep up with your taijutsu training. I watched you carefully during that fight. I'm not entirely sure, but I suspect Swift Release doesn't use much chakra. Yet after using it a dozen times, you were already panting. It's obvious your physical conditioning hasn't kept up."

"So, you still need to work on that physique of yours."

Tsunade raised a finger and wagged it at Ye Ning, the smile at the corner of her mouth turning devilish.