"Hasn't Sister Kurenai eaten yet?" Shisui asked from the side.
Kurenai Yuhi shifted her gaze. She had been too focused on Mo just now to notice the little bean sprout standing beside him.
"Huh? Shisui?"
Shisui smiled and nodded. With his eyes narrowed in a grin, he said, "I'm learning Genjutsu with Nii-san today too. I won't disturb you, will I, Sister Kurenai?"
Upon hearing that, Kurenai Yuhi unconsciously tugged at the hem of her clothes. Her eyes darted away in panic, and she awkwardly stepped aside to clear the doorway.
"Of course not..."
Uchiha eyes were terrifying!
Mo led Shisui into the entryway and glanced toward the shoe cabinet. Seeing this, Kurenai Yuhi immediately bent down and took out two pairs of spare guest slippers.
After Mo and Shisui changed into the slippers, they entered Kurenai's home. It was worth mentioning that Shisui was still too young. Though the slippers were already quite small, they were still somewhat too large for his feet, and every step he took made them slap against the floor.
Led by Kurenai Yuhi, the two crossed the corridor and arrived at the courtyard beyond the living room.
"Mo, what Genjutsu are you planning to teach me?" Kurenai Yuhi sat cross-legged on the grass, looking somewhat excited.
Although she had indeed invited Mo to her home with other intentions, her desire to learn Genjutsu from him was genuine. With Shisui here, her primary objective had clearly fallen through, so she could only reluctantly turn her attention to her second objective for now.
If I become stronger, Mo will look at me more too, right? Such a thought lingered in the girl's heart.
Mo looked at Kurenai Yuhi, then at Shisui, before slowly speaking.
"First, I want to ask you both a question. What is Genjutsu?"
Kurenai Yuhi puzzledly twirled a lock of her curly hair. Her delicate little face scrunched up slightly as she tentatively replied, "A technique that uses chakra to disrupt an opponent's five senses and make them fall into an illusion?"
Mo did not judge whether she was right or wrong. Instead, he looked at Shisui. "Shisui, what do you think?"
"It is a technique that deceives the opponent to achieve a combat objective!" Shisui straightened up, his tone brimming with confidence.
As soon as he finished speaking, Mo's lips curled upward slightly.
He looked at Kurenai and said, "Kurenai, what you said was correct. But when you heard my question, your first reaction was to explain the conventional definition of Genjutsu, while Shisui's reaction was to answer what Genjutsu should be."
Kurenai Yuhi's fair little face was full of confusion. Her brows furrowed slightly. "I don't understand what difference that makes."
Mo shook his head. "That is the level at which Genjutsu is used. No matter how powerful a Genjutsu user is, they would not stupidly tell the enemy that they are about to use Genjutsu. The core of Genjutsu is not the technique, but illusion—deception..."
"For you, if you want to make your blade stronger, the first thing you should do is not sharpen it, but learn how to swing it."
Root's Visit, That Person
By the time they left, the sky had gradually darkened.
After declining Kurenai Yuhi's invitation to stay for dinner, Uchiha Mo and Shisui set off for home.
That day, he had not taught them any specific Genjutsu. Instead, he had focused more on the application of Genjutsu and theoretical knowledge such as Yin Release. Kurenai Yuhi had only understood bits and pieces, while Shisui had grasped it with ease.
However, Mo had not expected Kurenai Yuhi to understand everything. As long as she had a general impression, learning Genjutsu later would become much easier.
Before leaving, Mo left behind a scroll of the Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique for her to study on her own, saying that he would come tomorrow to answer her questions. Uchiha Mo still had many matters of his own to handle, so naturally, he could not teach her hand in hand like a private tutor.
After Mo and Shisui returned home and rested briefly, Shisui plunged straight into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Before long, the table was filled with beautifully presented dishes.
Thanks to Mo's gains in the Land of Birds, their meals had become much more lavish. Moreover, both brothers were still growing, so Mo naturally did not skimp on food.
Dinner officially began, but before the two could eat more than a few bites, several uninvited guests suddenly arrived in the room.
They were three figures clad in iron armor and animal masks, two men and one woman. They slipped into the room through several open windows in the living room.
"Uchiha Mo, Uchiha Shisui, an important person wishes to see you. Come with us now."
"ANBU?"
Shisui's hand holding his rice bowl paused slightly. He turned to look at his older brother hesitantly.
Mo remained expressionless. Without even turning his head, he picked up a piece of meat and placed it in his bowl.
"Eat."
"Ah... okay!"
Hearing that, Shisui no longer cared about the ANBU and continued wolfing down his food.
"..."
The three figures stiffened slightly. After a moment, the woman spoke sharply, "Put down your bowls and chopsticks, and come meet that person!"
"..."
As her words fell, the entire room sank back into silence. Only the clinking of bowls and chopsticks and the sounds of chewing remained. No one paid her any attention.
"..."
The woman immediately clenched her fists, her entire body trembling slightly. Though her expression beneath the mask could not be seen, it surely was not pretty judging from her movements.
"Tap!"
She stepped forward and reached for Mo's shoulder.
However, the moment she moved, Uchiha Mo abruptly turned his head. Violent killing intent flashed within his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and powerful ocular force instantly flooded the entire room. A cold, terrifying aura assaulted everyone's nerves.
"!"
All three of them stiffened at once, even instinctively holding their breath.
"If you dare reach out that hand, I'll chop you to pieces and feed you to the summoned beasts."
"!"
This guy... isn't joking... He really will kill me!
Looking into Mo's eyes, the woman's mind jolted. Stiffly, she withdrew her hand.
I'm only not fighting him because I have to complete Lord Danzo's mission...
The female Root member muttered to herself as if comforting herself, then returned to her original position with rigid steps.
The three Root members simply watched in silence. After a while, all the dishes on the table had been cleared, and Shisui swiftly cleaned up the tableware and the table.
After Shisui had finished cleaning everything up, the tall male Root member finally looked at Uchiha Shisui and said in a deep voice,
"Now you should come with us, right?"
Shisui looked at Mo uncertainly, but Mo's expression remained calm.
"It's time for you to sleep."
For adolescents, nighttime was the golden period for physical growth. Even the Ninja World's superhuman physiques were no exception, so Mo required Shisui to get enough sleep every night no matter how busy he was.
Shisui looked at the three armored figures, then at his older brother. In the end, he nodded and headed toward his bedroom.
"Uchiha Mo!"
The three Root members immediately became enraged at his words. The man stepped forward, gritting his teeth, his voice trembling slightly with fury.
"Do you know what kind of person wishes to see you? The three of us have quietly waited while you brothers finished an entire table of food. Don't you—"
"What kind of person? Before the Uchiha, there are no so-called important people. Your master is nothing but a maggot in a gutter to the Uchiha Clan. A creature that cannot bear the light wants to throw its weight around before me? If he wants to see me, then tell him to crawl his ugly self into the sunlight!"
Before the Root member could finish, Uchiha Mo cut him off.
"As for you... I never said I would go with you."
As his words fell, the air sank into deathly silence.
The three Root members trembled, their expressions twisting beneath their masks.
"You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!"
With a low shout, the tall Root member in the lead reached for the short blade on his back. The other two instantly crouched down as well, their right hands resting on their weapons in a battle-ready stance.
"Overestimating yourselves."
Mo calmly uttered four words, and scarlet light suddenly erupted from his eyes.
Genjutsu: Sharingan!
Powerful ocular force poured forth in an instant. The leading Root member reacted quickly and hurriedly shifted his gaze away, but his other two teammates trembled and were instantly caught!
Their eyes transformed into the appearance of Sharingan, and they stood there blankly.
The sole remaining Root member hurriedly drew the short blade from his back, gripping the hilt tightly with both hands. His gaze was fixed firmly on Uchiha Mo's legs as cold sweat streamed down his body.
They could not be called strong, but all three of them were outstanding among Chunin. Yet when facing Uchiha Mo, two of his teammates had not even possessed the strength to resist.
Is this the strongest genius the Uchiha Clan has produced since the village was founded? This gap in strength...
He swallowed, vigilantly staring at the young man's calves.
However, after glancing at him, Mo simply turned around and headed toward his bedroom.
"Go back and tell your master that the Uchiha Clan is the strongest clan in the Ninja World. The power of the Sharingan will not be used by light-fearing rats. Save your breath."
"Tap, tap, tap..."
"Creak—click!"
Only after the door had opened and closed, and Uchiha Mo's figure had completely vanished from the living room, did the Root member let down his guard and begin gasping for breath.
As the sound of the door closing rang out, the two Root members beside him slowly came back to their senses.
They awoke groggily and looked in confusion at their captain, who was gasping heavily.
"Boss, what... what's wrong with you?"
The Root member turned to look at his teammates and gritted out,
"Go. We're returning to report the situation to that person!"
"Huh? What about the mission?"
"Shut up. This guy isn't easy to deal with. Follow orders!"
The Great Elder's Invitation
Naka River.
"Clang, clang! Clang..."
Mo swept his kunai sideways to block Shisui's slashing short blade. Amid flying sparks, his other hand suddenly grabbed for Shisui's hair. Shisui's eyes shifted, and he took the opportunity to raise his short blade toward Mo's wrist. Yet the next moment, the hand reaching for Shisui's head abruptly pulled back, and the short blade sliced through empty air beside his fingers.
A feint?! I'm—
Before Shisui could finish his thought, a heavy side kick slammed fiercely into his abdomen.
"Urgh!"
Shisui's pupils contracted violently, his body bending like a shrimp. He felt as if he were about to vomit up his bile as his whole body was sent flying.
"Bang!"
His back crashed heavily into a large tree before he fell to the ground, making the entire trunk shudder.
Mo did not press the attack. Instead, he shook his head and said,
"Your swordsmanship relies too heavily on the Sharingan. Without its dynamic vision and predictive ability, you will be easily deceived. Remember this: first learn to actively observe during battle, then use the Sharingan to enhance your perception. We'll stop here for today. From now on, you are not allowed to use the Sharingan when practicing swordsmanship either."
Shisui rubbed his head and nodded, while Mo walked to one side, sat down cross-legged, and began his own training.
The Kekkei Genkai involving the fusion of Fire-Lightning Release was temporarily stuck, but Mo still had other training tasks.
His own talent might be considered exceptional compared to ordinary people, but compared to geniuses on Shisui and Kakashi's level, Mo knew that he was far inferior.
The reason he possessed such strength at the age of ten, aside from the abilities granted by the Seven-Colored Lotus, was also due to his own hard work.
Increasing proficiency and unlocking abilities could raise Mo's stats, but fundamental techniques, combat ability, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu were all things he had to learn himself.
Yet it was precisely because the Seven-Colored Lotus could lighten his burden while quantifying the results of his training that his training efficiency could yield twice the result with half the effort.
According to the training plan Mo had set for himself, today's theme was Genjutsu.
Before you continue