Cultivating Illusion Techniques

Before long, Chiba Shun took the three C-rank Illusion Techniques and led the three little ones away from the mission office.

After returning to the Ninja Academy, Chiba Shun's life resumed its regular rhythm. Every day, he handled matters at the Ninja Academy, helped Aoki Yuyi fill in the gaps in his knowledge, and then cultivated.

Chiba Shun now had quite a substantial amount of chakra. He planned to devote half the chakra he had originally used to practice Earth Release ninjutsu to Illusion Techniques.

Illusion Techniques were a ninjutsu system entirely different from the five elemental types.

The five elemental types of ninjutsu were relatively easy to learn. Once one completed chakra nature transformation and shape transformation, one could begin attempting them.

But Illusion Techniques were different.

In addition to understanding the underlying theory, casting an Illusion Technique required Yin-nature chakra.

Learning Illusion Techniques was, in truth, learning how to use Yin Release.

The nature transformation of the five elemental chakra types was easy. Kumogakure had theories for it, but it lacked any systematic theory on how to perform the nature transformation of Yin-nature chakra.

Kumogakure had ninja who had learned Illusion Techniques, but they generally relied on talent. There was no theoretical system that could be used to train the next generation.

Although Konoha had provided a copy, whether it could be trusted was another matter.

Thus, Chiba Shun's attempt to get started was nowhere near as smooth as when he had cultivated Earth-Style Wall.

He first looked into the effects of his first Illusion Technique.

This Illusion Technique caused a person's consciousness to fall asleep, leaving them at the caster's mercy. It was a very simple Illusion Technique.

After reading the contents recorded for the Illusion Technique, Chiba Shun began to think.

This Illusion Technique was very simple. He estimated that as long as he knew how to complete the Yin-nature transformation of chakra, he would be able to use it.

The Yin-nature transformation of chakra was, put plainly, the use of soul power.

After reading through the half-true, half-false materials Konoha had provided, Chiba Shun recalled all the ninjutsu related to Yin Release from the original story.

There were all kinds of Illusion Techniques, the Yamanaka Clan of Konoha's Mind Body Switch Technique, the Nara Clan's Shadow Imitation Technique and Shadow Neck Binding Technique, as well as the Spirit Transformation Technique used by Tsunade's lover, Dan Katō.

There was also Kaguya's Yin Release ability that created Black Zetsu, and the Sage of Six Paths' method of allowing his soul to exist apart from his physical body.

Beyond those, there were all kinds of ocular techniques, especially the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan. The ever-changing Sharingan ocular techniques should all have been Yin Release.

These Yin Release techniques varied in rank and seemed vastly different, but their essence was the same: they all drew upon the power of the soul.

Suddenly, Chiba Shun seemed to think of something. He returned to his residence and took out a scroll.

What was written on the scroll was the Byakugan and Gentle Fist cultivation methods and insights Akira Hyuga had written back then.

The Sharingan was Yin Release, and the Byakugan was actually Yin Release as well.

Akira Hyuga's notes included methods for activating and cultivating the Byakugan.

Although those methods focused on the eyes, they were more or less related to Yin Release.

Chiba Shun spent several days completing the theoretical preparation needed before casting Illusion Techniques, and only then did he feel that he had finally found a thread to follow.

So, he began making all sorts of attempts.

Half a day later, Chiba Shun finally felt that he might have succeeded.

He had successfully drawn upon the power of his soul, which meant he had successfully completed the Yin-nature transformation of his chakra.

However, testing Illusion Techniques required a target. Chiba Shun did not know whether they would harm people, so naturally, he could not practice on the Ninja Academy students.

Thus, he found some animals in the village and practiced Illusion Techniques on them.

Perhaps animals had weaker mental strength than humans, because Chiba Shun's Illusion Technique worked very well. On his first attempt, he made a wild boar that was about to be turned into barbecue fall asleep.

After practicing several times, Chiba Shun was quite pleased.

It was not merely because he had learned a C-rank Illusion Technique, but because his talent for Illusion Techniques seemed quite good.

He could feel that casting C-rank Illusion Techniques was far from his limit.

That meant his Yin Release talent could support even higher-level Illusion Techniques.

Chiba Shun then spent several more days learning the other two C-rank Illusion Techniques as well.

Illusion Techniques were difficult to cultivate, and learning them was much slower than learning five-element ninjutsu of the same rank. Yet after mastering the three C-rank Illusion Techniques, Chiba Shun confirmed that he had not reached his limit in this field.

Thinking of that, Chiba Shun gritted his teeth and went to the mission office again to buy every C-rank and B-rank Illusion Technique in the village.

Including the three he had bought last time, he had spent a total of 850,000 ryo. Now, he only had 50,000 ryo left that he could use.

He would probably have to borrow money again before long.

Forcing himself not to think about such mundane matters, Chiba Shun continued cultivating Illusion Techniques.

C-rank Illusion Techniques were not difficult. Chiba Shun could learn one every few days on average.

Moreover, his speed became faster the further he progressed. Including the time spent learning the previous three and studying the theoretical knowledge, Chiba Shun spent a total of one and a half months.

Of course, his proficiency was still far from sufficient. Casting those C-rank Illusion Techniques required more than ten hand seals.

They were naturally impossible to use in actual combat.

Then came the B-rank techniques. The difficulty of B-rank Illusion Techniques suddenly rose by a great deal.

Nearly every B-rank Illusion Technique required constructing an illusionary scene, a scene that the person caught in it could not see through.

Yet the process of constructing it was not done by the caster themselves. Instead, it used memorable images from the target's own mind to build the scene.

This was very difficult. At first, Chiba Shun cast Illusion Techniques on animals, but it was rather awkward. With the intelligence of those beasts, they simply could not construct a proper illusionary scene.

This was extremely unfriendly to Chiba Shun's Illusion Technique studies.

After thinking it over, Chiba Shun asked A for help and requested that he take him to Kumogakure's prison so he could cultivate Illusion Techniques using the prisoners there.

A did not refuse. He directly brought Chiba Shun to the prison outside Kumogakure.

That was right. Kumogakure's prison was outside the village, with its own separate barrier and independent defensive forces.

If ninja on missions captured prisoners, they would send them directly to the prison rather than risk bringing them into the village.

After entering the prison, an Elite Jonin received the two of them.

He agreed to Chiba Shun's request immediately, but he had one condition: if Chiba Shun learned advanced Illusion Techniques, he would need to help interrogate the prisoners held there.

Naturally, Chiba Shun had no reason to refuse. This was also an opportunity to practice Illusion Techniques.

After introducing Chiba Shun to the Elite Jonin, A left.

When the Elite Jonin, Yuichi Nishida, saw A leave, he smiled and said to Chiba Shun, "You're Chiba Shun, the one who asked about ninjutsu while carrying a stack of Explosive Tags?"

Sure enough, the matter of Chiba Shun learning ninjutsu had caused quite a stir throughout Kumogakure.

Chiba Shun said awkwardly, "You flatter me, sir."

Yuichi Nishida shook his head. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. If I'd had that kind of determination back then, I wouldn't have taken so many detours."

Chiba Shun replied, "Taking detours is also a kind of realization. Perhaps if you had not taken those detours, you would not have reached this point."

Yuichi Nishida thought about it, then said, "Mm, that makes sense."

Chiba Shun found it somewhat strange. This Yuichi Nishida seemed very polite toward him.

That politeness did not seem to be because of A.

After chatting for a while, Yuichi Nishida said, "I have a son who entered the Ninja Academy just recently."

Chiba Shun understood at once and asked with a smile, "Is there anything I can do?"

Yuichi Nishida said, "My son has dual Lightning and Earth natures."

"I originally thought there was no need to develop his Earth nature, but I never expected the village to suddenly acquire Earth-nature ninjutsu."

"I hope you can give him some guidance in Earth-nature ninjutsu."

Chiba Shun nodded. "Guiding the younger generation of the Will of Lightning is my responsibility."

Yuichi Nishida smiled and considered it for a moment before saying, "The Will of Lightning? That's an interesting way to put it."

"Then by helping you learn Illusion Techniques, I'm also opening a convenient door for the younger generation of the Will of Lightning?"

Chiba Shun nodded and answered decisively, "That's right!"

Yuichi Nishida smiled, then asked, "What level of ninja do you plan to start with? Chunin or Genin?"

Chiba Shun said somewhat awkwardly, "I've never tried casting Illusion Techniques on people before. Could we start with ordinary people?"

Yuichi Nishida paused, then nodded. "Sure. There aren't many ordinary people in the prison, but there are some. I'll take you there."

Next, Chiba Shun first tested all the Illusion Techniques he had learned on those ordinary people to understand their effects, then began experimenting on Genin.

This time, things were not so smooth. The C-rank Illusion Techniques Chiba Shun had learned worked inconsistently on Genin.

Those people were wary of Chiba Shun's sudden arrival, so they were not so easily caught.

Chiba Shun felt that if his level had not far exceeded those Genin, he might not have succeeded in casting the techniques while they were on guard.

Seeing this, Chiba Shun began testing the first B-rank Illusion Technique on those Genin.

The first step of this B-rank Illusion Technique was to affect the enemy's senses, causing them to hallucinate and return to some deeply memorable scene.

After trying several times, Chiba Shun felt that he had succeeded. He had captured an image from his target.

The deepest image in that person's heart seemed rather warm.

Although Chiba Shun could not see the scene, he could tell from the other person's expression.

This judgment was very important. It was a conclusion Chiba Shun had reached after several failures.

Because most Illusion Technique users' techniques were merely support and could not directly kill the opponent, they often needed to launch an attack in the instant their opponent lost focus.

But if the caster's actions differed from the illusionary space, it was easy to arouse the victim's suspicion.

At such times, one needed to adapt according to the contents of the scene the victim saw.

For example, when faced with such a warm scene, one could slowly approach the other person and then kill them with a smile.

When the enemy saw your smile, they would mistake you for a relative from their memories and would not resist.

But if you wore a ferocious expression, they might feel that something was wrong and wake up.

If the scene they saw was the thing they feared most, then you had to launch your attack with the bearing of a stronger person.

If you still had a smile on your face, it would be easy for them to notice the flaw, disrupting their own chakra and waking up immediately.