"S... success!" Sana cried excitedly, looking at Shira, who stood frozen in place.
Saya's own body likewise stood motionless, her eyes shut tight and her mind entirely focused on maintaining control. Through the puppet, she experienced Shira's body with a sense of novelty.
"Oh? This feeling..." Saya moved his hands and feet in surprise. Though her movements were still somewhat stiff, she could clearly feel the astonishing explosive power contained in his body, its solid strength far surpassing that of an ordinary person, and the muscle memory honed through countless hours of training.
"What a fine vessel!"
Controlling Shira's body, she made a few strange dance moves like a marionette, then tried throwing several quick punches and kicks, each cutting sharply through the air.
"He's fast, too. Much better to use than that idiot Mamushi!" Saya was thoroughly caught up in her amusement, treating Shira like a novel toy.
Watching everything from his mental world, Shira found it all absurd.
Holy crap, I'm being NTR'd!
The children around them stared in stunned silence, astonished by Saya's strange and terrifying ability and shocked that Shira had been controlled so easily.
Yome and Sen, who had just finished training and walked over, saw it too. Sen's eyes were full of concern. "It's Saya's Curse Puppet. That kind of mental restraint is hard to break free from."
Trapped inside his own body, Shira felt a storm raging in his heart.
Helplessness, absolute helplessness! For all his strength, he couldn't summon even the slightest bit of it.
This kind of attack on his mind and consciousness was completely beyond anything he could currently handle!
He remembered Might Guy's teaching: the pinnacle of Taijutsu required a perfect union of will and body. But if one's will was taken away, even the strongest body was meaningless.
Genjutsu, mind control! This was his greatest shortcoming and his deadliest weakness!
If he had faced a truly malicious Genjutsu master today instead of a playful Saya, he might have died countless times already!
After an unknown amount of time-perhaps only a minute or two-Saya seemed to have grown bored, or perhaps maintaining that control was taking quite a toll on her as well. She cut off the Chakra connection and withdrew her consciousness.
Shira felt his whole body relax, and control returned to him in an instant.
He staggered a step, gasping for breath, cold sweat covering his forehead. The physical exertion had little effect on him, but the mental shock was no less than having a nightmare in which a doctor told him his father was about to give birth and asked whether to save the father, the baby, or Pavel Korchagin.
Saya opened her eyes too and rubbed her temples. Looking at Shira, her face showed a hint of satisfaction and curiosity after having her fun. "Not bad, Shira. You've trained this body of yours in an interesting way. Play with me again next time!"
She seemed to think she hadn't done anything excessive at all. She turned and left with Sana, who still wanted more, and Mamushi, whose face was full of lingering fear.
The training ground gradually returned to calm.
Shira stood there without moving for a long time.
The frustration of defeat wasn't particularly strong, because her ability really was strange and hard to defend against. But a powerful sense of crisis and a realization filled his heart.
She really had picked a fight for no reason, and she had also made him aware of another of his shortcomings. One thing had nothing to do with the other. He would remember this; after all, he was no saint.
He had focused too much on honing his Taijutsu while neglecting another equally terrifying system of power in the ninja world. A single glance from Uchiha Itachi could make Kakashi collapse, while Might Guy could counter Genjutsu by observing an enemy's body movements.
Shira needed a method, one that didn't rely on fine Chakra control but could protect his own will and resist mental intrusion.
That feeling of helplessness was too much.
He looked at his hands. Thick calluses covered his palms, along with scars that had yet to fully heal.