A Bad Feeling

His breathing was steady and deep, as though he held the rhythm of the entire battlefield in his grasp.

His genjutsu began to unfold soundlessly. A faint, almost imperceptible ripple spread through the air, making the Sunagakure Jonin's movements falter slightly.

"What are you doing?!"

The Sunagakure Jonin shouted furiously. He sensed that some force was interfering with his perception, and the trajectories of the sand iron began to lose their precision.

He bit down hard on his tongue, using the pain to clear his mind, then formed seals again with both hands. "Magnet Release: Sand Iron Barrier!"

Countless grains of sand iron intertwined in midair, forming an enormous net that enveloped Aoba.

The sand iron was so dense that even the air seemed to grow heavy.

Aoba was finally trapped within the net. Sand iron pierced toward him from all directions, as if it meant to crush him completely.

At that moment, a sharp glint flashed through Aoba's eyes.

His hands formed seals rapidly as he murmured, "Genjutsu: Realm of Reality and Illusion."

In an instant, the scene around them seemed to warp. In the Sunagakure Jonin's eyes, the paths of the sand iron became blurred and indistinct.

He had clearly seen Aoba pierced through by the sand iron, but in the next second, Aoba's figure vanished like an illusion and appeared in another direction.

"Genjutsu?!"

The Sunagakure Jonin's expression changed. He immediately circulated his chakra, trying to dispel the genjutsu.

However, Aoba's genjutsu was not merely a visual deception. It was woven together with his precise control over the flow of chakra.

Every attack the Sunagakure Jonin launched seemed to have been predicted by Aoba in advance, striking nothing but empty space.

Aoba's figure flickered in and out across the battlefield, and every appearance was accompanied by the