How Come You're Moving In?

When the Ninja Academy resumed classes, it was nothing unusual for the Uchiha Clan's great geniuses not to show up. But two commoners skipping class? Even Tenma and Shinji could barely handle it. They had never done anything this outrageous in their lives and had no idea how they would conduct themselves in Konoha from now on.

The Konoha Ninja Academy graduated students at the end of March. Applying for graduation at that time would count as normal "early graduation," and they would only need to take the Academy's graduation exam alongside the regular graduates.

It was nothing more than the Basic Transformation Jutsu, just a formality. Tenma and Shinji had long since met the standard.

But it was only the beginning of October. Graduating early now was basically jumping off the train by force, which was why the graduation standards had been raised.

Over this period, the three of them had been practicing Genjutsu under the guidance of Ukyo and Yulong. Once Ukyo and Yulong returned to Konoha, they solved the problem of the techniques Tenma and Shinji needed to graduate. The siblings each had their own self-created skills, which they could legally teach the two of them.

For a ninja who had trained to the level of Jōnin, creating their own skills was standard practice. Kakashi's future ability to create the S-rank Lightning Cutter would count as exceptional talent. Ukyo was not that gifted, and the Genjutsu he was teaching the three of them was called the Cat Travel Mad God Technique.

After an enemy was caught in it, they would see countless ninja cats pouncing on them and surrounding them. At advanced levels, the enemy could even feel pain—the pain of being frantically clawed by cats.

This was probably a D-rank Genjutsu, meaning Genin-level Genjutsu, about as difficult as the Sexy Jutsu among ninjutsu. Apparently, Ukyo had designed it based on his group of summoned ninja cats.

It was nothing to Retsuo, but it was truly difficult for Tenma and Shinji. The two of them first needed to meditate and transform Yin Release Chakra. That was the starting point of all Genjutsu, and it was difficult in itself.

"There's nothing to be done. This is a self-created ninjutsu. Ninjutsu created by Jōnin was never suited for Genin to learn." Ukyo looked smug, then did not forget to add, "Besides, this is a ninjutsu created by a genius like me, and you two aren't even Genin yet."

Just look at you showing off! Retsuo formed hand seals and raised his hand, launching a surprise Cat Travel Mad God Technique at Ukyo. Ukyo seemed to have expected it and calmly used Mirror Heaven and Earth Turn. But before the reflection could occur, Retsuo swiftly formed another series of seals: Horse—Rooster, then pointed a finger.

"Heavenly Ridge Seal—Release!"

What he shouted was Heavenly Ridge Seal—Release, but he had actually layered it with a Yin Release Barrier. This utterly ordinary release technique caught Ukyo off guard. The Cat Travel Mad God Technique that was about to surround him abruptly collapsed, while Mirror Heaven and Earth Turn, having built up all that momentum, reflected nothing and instead backlashed onto him.

"Ah! My head! What kind of technique was that?"

"This is... huh?" Yulong had watched the entire process and could not help asking curiously, "It looked like it was only a strand of Yin Release Chakra? No, that's impossible! How could simple Yin Release make an already completed Genjutsu disappear outright?"

Retsuo thought that he could tell Ukyo and Yulong about the Sharingan, but the Yin Release Barrier was another matter. He had discovered by chance that Heavenly Ridge Seal—Release could carry a Yin Release Barrier. Telling anyone about the Yin Release Barrier would put that person in danger.

For now, this technique could barely be called a "combination ninjutsu," though it could only dispel his own Genjutsu. But if he continued developing it, could it dispel other people's Genjutsu?

"Big Sister Yulong, this is a secret technique I accidentally awakened during the Nine-Tails' Rampage. It can sense hostility in the surroundings."

Retsuo pulled out the explanation he had used countless times and added some further embellishment. "Now, it seems to provide a certain boost to Genjutsu as well."

Sensory abilities truly depended heavily on Spiritual Energy, so this counted as another way of using Yin Release Chakra, though it was not something the Sharingan excelled at.

He had to admit, this explanation was becoming more and more flawless. As Retsuo explained with matching body language, Ukyo kept clicking his tongue.

"Damn... kid, you've got something there. By the way, why haven't you gone to Lord Orochimaru's lately?"

Retsuo thought that was because Shinnō needed some psychological preparation. People in the Shinobi World were generally bad at giving themselves psychological preparation, which was why so many people went dark.

"Speaking of which, Brother Ukyo, does the clan have any opinions about me frequently visiting Lord Orochimaru's residence?"

"Opinions? Lord Orochimaru is one of the only people among Konoha's higher-ups who has a decent relationship with our Uchiha Clan. What opinions could there be?" Ukyo revealed an inscrutable smile. "But if it were any other Konoha higher-up, the clan head would probably have sent someone to warn you long ago."

Retsuo thought about it and realized that made sense. In the original timeline, Orochimaru only became obsessed with the Sharingan after Uchiha Itachi casually crushed him. Right now, he did not think much of the Sharingan and had no conflict of interest with the Uchiha Clan.

Yulong touched the scar on her cheek and softly said, "During the Third Shinobi World War, Lord Orochimaru was the commander on the Land of Wind front. He could originally have restrained our Uchiha Clan or even made things difficult for us, but he did not. Throughout the entire Third Shinobi World War, the Uchiha Clan independently attacked the Sand Shinobi, so we remained largely intact and suffered very few casualties. Quite a few people in the clan support Lord Orochimaru."

Retsuo thought that perhaps this was why Orochimaru could not become Naruto? With Leng Jun's maturity, there was no way he could not see through that, yet he still did not do it. Perhaps it was because of pride?

The Three Legendary Sannin were all proud to the bone.

They were nothing like their teacher.

While they were talking, Shinji suddenly stood up from the other side and shouted, "I succeeded! Retsuo, take this!" Then she swiftly formed hand seals.

"Cat Travel Mad God Technique!"

Retsuo quietly watched Shinji cast Genjutsu at him. In his vision, a group of cats bared their fangs and claws as they surrounded him.

Perfect. Without showing any change in expression, he immediately swept out his Yin Release Barrier.

Retsuo had been waiting for this moment. This was the first time he had used the Yin Release Barrier to confront someone else's Genjutsu head-on. It was even more anticipated than when he had learned Demonic Illusion—Mirror Heaven and Earth Turn.

He could not use the Yin Release Barrier when Ukyo cast Genjutsu on him, but there was no need to hold back against Shinji. As the Yin Release Barrier swept across the illusion, Retsuo concentrated intently and saw several cats immediately begin spinning in circles as though they had gotten lost.

"Huh? What's going on?"

He had long wanted to see what effect using the Yin Release Barrier to directly resist someone else's Genjutsu would have. He had imagined all kinds of possibilities: the Genjutsu might collapse outright, the Barrier might block the Genjutsu, or perhaps he was simply messing around and the Barrier could not be used this way at all, and so on.

He had never expected that he could actually play with cats inside an illusion?

Some of the cats even lay down on the spot and started acting cute. What kind of lazy cats had Ukyo contracted?

Wait, weren't these cats formed by Shinji's Genjutsu? Why did it feel as though they had entered the Yin Release Barrier like real creatures entering a real environment?

At that moment, Shinji's Yin Release Chakra was exhausted, and the group of cats finally dispersed. Retsuo thought that if her Chakra had not run out, would these cats have simply moved in?

And why was it Shinji? He looked at Tenma in surprise. Tenma was still sitting there meditating.

Under his stimulation, Tenma's Yin Release Chakra should have been stronger than Shinji's, shouldn't it?