Standing still, Ren Uchiha let out a heavy sigh. His gaze fell upon the pond before him. After some thought, he had roughly pieced together how he had fallen under the Genjutsu.
The Sharingan's illusions, beyond direct eye contact, could be cast through a specialized method: Genjutsu: Ephemeral. This was a technique reserved for Uchiha elites who mastered illusions. In the future, Itachi Uchiha would use this to cast Genjutsu simply by pointing a finger, or by embedding it into external objects like crows, clones, or even the environment.
Shinichi Uchiha had used this technique to link Ren's vision with the reflection of his Sharingan in the water. At that moment, Ren was already caught.
Understanding it was one thing; breaking it was another. The rumor that "one-on-one against an Uchiha means certain flight" existed because of the near-absolute nature of these visual illusions. Unlike regular Genjutsu, which could be dispelled by disrupting one's own chakra flow, a Sharingan's ocular illusion usually required an outside partner to intervene.
To turn the tide, Ren needed an ally. Fortunately, he had a little partner right inside him.
Ren's gaze drifted toward his abdomen. "Jinchuriki can bypass Genjutsu through coordination with their Tailed Beast. I'm technically half a Jinchuriki, so..."
Ren's eyes sharpened. He slapped his stomach and shouted, "Stupid snake, it's dinner time!"
Inside him, the little Zero-Tails perked up its head, looking confused. It scratched its head with its tail, wondering what its "idiot master" was barking about. There wasn't any food in sight.
Sensing the shift in chakra, Ren smirked. He linked their chakras and began to coax the creature. "Zero, you're a mature Tailed Beast now. You need to learn to move on your own and help me activate Phase 2. Only then will I have the motivation to feed you. Understand?"
The Zero-Tails blinked its hollow eyes and looked at the "shameless" chakra of its master with utter shock. Since moving into this body, the master had never once "cultivated" it except for that one time in the cave. Every other time, he just forcibly drained it dry whenever he needed something.
He... he's a total scoundrel! And now he had the nerve to ask for more?
Seeing the Zero-Tails' lack of cooperation, Ren's forehead twitched. After a moment of hesitation, he held up one finger.
"If you do this, I'll take you for a stroll through the field hospital camp every day!"
The four red stray hairs on the Zero-Tails' head stood up like antennas. "Chiu! Chiu?"
"Of course I'm serious!"
The Zero-Tails rubbed its chin in deep thought, then crossed its tail over its body to form a cross shape—the number ten. "Chiu!"
Ren's eyes widened. He shook his head violently. "No way! Ten extra times is too much! And that's a four, you illiterate!"
After some intense haggling—where time in the chakra space moved far slower than in reality—they finally settled on a price. One second had passed in the real world.
Suddenly, the situation changed!
In the real world, Ren had been standing like a fish on a cutting board, eyes glazed and vacant. But in the next second, a violent, chaotic black chakra erupted from his body. Gale-force winds whipped his black cloak upward, revealing his abdomen. A pitch-black Ouroboros pattern appeared on his skin, spinning with a mechanical clack-clack-clack.
Shinichi Uchiha's face twisted in shock. His Genjutsu was active, and the kid was alone—yet a second power was rising from within him that threatened to shatter the illusion!
Shinichi gritted his teeth, his gaze turning murderous. "Anything in the Genjutsu world can be faked by consciousness! This must be the brat's trick! He can't possibly be this strong!"
To protect his pride as a senior, Shinichi drew a kunai and leaped onto the water, charging toward Ren at full speed.
However, a smirk played on Ren's lips. Through his Combat Intuition, he felt the rush of malice heading straight for him. This was exactly what he wanted!
Ren didn't actually know how to break an ocular Genjutsu, and the Zero-Tails knew even less. Making the Zero-Tails "move" was just a ruse to create the illusion of breaking free, forcing Shinichi to take physical action.
As soon as the senior committed to an attack, he fell into Ren's trap.
In the illusion world, Ren closed his eyes, ignoring his distorted senses. He kicked up a rock, caught it in his teeth, and flipped backward. He treated his hands as feet, his mouth as his right hand, and the rock as his Kusanagi sword—completely defying the logic of the illusion.
In the real world, Ren's eyes were still vacant, but his body moved on instinct. He unsheathed his Kusanagi, leaped high to dodge Shinichi's thrust, and landed with a hand-spring. He kicked the kunai out of Shinichi's hand and delivered a palm strike to the man's jaw.
Shinichi's head snapped back. Ren followed up with a scorpion kick that launched the senior into the air. Ren leaped after him, spinning with a vertical slash!
He reversed the blade at the last second, striking with the blunt side!
BAM!
Shinichi was smashed into the ground.
[CLANG!]
[You have fiercely counter-attacked Shinichi Uchiha, who intended to piss on your face. The opponent is utterly defeated and unable to refute.]
[The counter-attack was significant; a Critical Reward has been generated.]
[You have obtained a random skill from the opponent: Genjutsu: Sharingan (Requires Sharingan. Power scales with ocular prowess. Currently: B-rank, Proficient).]
[Skill CRITICAL! Current Attribute: Genjutsu: Sharingan (B+ rank, Great Success)!]
[Your Heartsteel stacks have increased.]