167-Real Genjutsu
'A distraction? Just what I needed,' Renjiro thought as the three of them landed on the ground and separated, using the smoke from the explosion as cover. They had already come up with a plan earlier; the only thing left was to execute it.
Amid all this, Renjiro sensed a new chakra field. 'This is a new chakra field, it definitely belongs to one of them since it is different from Sama's or Hiro's,' he thought.
Despite Hiro and Sama not being bonafide sensory shinobis, they still possessed chakra fields since it was quite versatile. After spending a week with Sama doing missions and even longer with Hiro, Renjiro could instantly recognize their chakra fields.
'Where is it from?' Renjiro wondered, trying to pinpoint the origin of this new chakra field. 'There!'
Renjiro flickered to the source he identified, spotting a red-haired kunoichi with a black armband like the rest. Now that he got a closer look, Renjiro realized that instead of wearing the usual jumpsuit, she had on a black, tight dress that barely let her breathe.
The dress was sleeveless with a high collar and waist-high slits. Despite his observations, Renjiro had other things on his mind. 'She must be their sensor. I'm not sure if they have any more, but them losing one would surely benefit us.'
'They are still alive somehow. Even one of them just appeared in front of me,' Yasu said through their squad's mental link.
She prepared to engage the red-haired Chunin in front of her, who had crouched, using his left hand to hold his right hand. While she found the posture strange, Yasu charged towards him holding a kunai, or at least she tried to.
Yasu suddenly heard a high-pitched screeching noise, resembling that of a thousand birds chirping before she felt her legs giving in and began falling down.
'What is happening?!' She thought. It was only then that the pain from having her chest impaled registered in Yasu's brain.
'This is more messy than they depicted,' Renjiro thought as he flicked his hand to get rid of Yasu's blood.
'We were outnumbered and severely outpowered, so I hope this helps our odds.' Renjiro concluded.
Having their mental link destroyed, the three Jounins were alarmed. They all turned their focus to where Yasu was, only to see the Chunins near her flicker his hand just as Yasu collapsed.
Norio and Yamada, who were occupied with Hiro and Sama respectively, became more aggressive. An orange mist began emanating from the sword Norio was holding, a clear contrast from the water he was using in tandem with his sword attacks. Ige, who was the only one unoccupied, quickly dashed to where Renjiro was and threw a punch.
Renjiro, anticipating the attack, sidestepped swiftly. Ige's punch missed its mark, and he immediately followed up with a series of rapid punches and kicks, aiming to break through Renjiro's defence.
Renjiro dodged each strike, his body weaving and twisting to avoid contact. His eyes, sharp and calculating, observed Ige's patterns, waiting for an opening.
'He's too fast!' Renjiro thought.
Ige was the first person that Renjiro had trouble predicting their movements. He was fast probably the fastest shinobi he had matched up against, and Renjiro was trying to keep up.
'I need to be wary of his eyes; that's probably how he got Yasu,' Ige thought.
"Come on, is dodging all you've got?" Ige taunted, a hint of frustration creeping into his voice.
Renjiro smirked but didn't respond. He needed to conserve his energy and keep Ige guessing.
'I am just a Chunin, does he expect me to go blow for blow with him?' Renjiro thought.
As Ige launched a fire-style jutsu, Renjiro leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding the searing flames that erupted where he had stood moments before.
Ige's hands then blurred through a series of hand signs. "Lightning Blade!" he shouted, and his hand crackled with intense lightning chakra.
He lunged at Renjiro, the electrified hand aimed at his chest. Renjiro's eyes widened. He had to think fast.
At the last possible moment, he twisted his body, allowing the Lightning Blade to graze his shoulder. The pain was sharp, but it was a calculated risk. He used the momentum to flip backwards, creating some distance between them.
Renjiro then exhaled a massive fireball towards Ige, hoping to buy some time. Ige deftly dodged to the side, the fireball exploding harmlessly behind him.
Ige's patience was wearing thin. "Enough games," he muttered.
He then channelled chakra through his body as his muscles constricted. Lightning then began crackling all over his body. Renjiro knew he had to act quickly. He formed a series of hand seals and slammed his palm to the ground. A wall of earth erupted between him and Ige, giving him a moment's respite.
Ige, enhanced by the lightning around his body, immediately burst through the earth wall, only to find Renjiro missing.
'Huh? Where did he go?' Ige wondered.
Sama stood eyeing the three shinobi in front of her. They were all completely similar as Yamada had created clones that she had been fighting for the last couple of minutes.
Just as Sama was about to make another move, Renjiro suddenly appeared in front of her, gripping the air to her side.
As he did so, Renjiro placed his hand on Sama and injected his chakra into her causing Yamada's real figure to be revealed to Sama.
'A genjutsu? When?' Sama thought.
"Let me show you a real Genjutsu," Renjiro said as his Sharingans dilated.
"You need to go and help Hiro," Renjiro then instructed the Kunoichi.
Sama was reluctant at first since she considered Renjiro her junior, but she relented when she realized that without his help, she wouldn't even know she was caught in a genjutsu. She dashed to where Norio and Hiro were fighting.
Ige arrived a few moments after Sama left and, as he spewed lightning bullets from his mouth toward Renjiro, he was surprised when Yamada created a clone who moved to protect Renjiro.
The lightning bullets hit the clone, dispelling it, as Yamada charged at Ige. "What are you doing, Yamada!" Ige shouted at his comrade.
'This won't hold for long,' Renjiro thought.
While he had not gone on as many missions as he'd hoped, Renjiro's time in the force had been fruitful so far as he had time to better his Sharingan use, particularly his genjutsu.
Tobe and Toda had advised him on ways he could improve his genjutsu skills, which helped him. He was now able to trap anyone below the Jounin rank in a genjutsu they would have a hard time breaking from.
This was a far cry from the poor yet effective attempt he made at Riku, his Jounin sensei, near the end of his genin days. Currently, Renjiro did have some trouble using his genjutsu on Jounins, and the fact that Yamada was a genjutsu expert meant Renjiro knew he wouldn't be trapped in the genjutsu for long.
Before Yamada could even make contact with Ige, Renjiro manifested another adamantine chain that headed directly towards Yamada and Ige. He knew that Ige would easily help his comrade break out of the Genjutsu, so why would Renjiro let this opening his enemy gave him, by turning his back, go?
The chain moved with lightning speed, aiming at both Jounins and creating an opening for Renjiro to launch a follow-up attack if it failed.
Ige's eyes widened as he realized the chain's trajectory. "Yamada, watch out!" he shouted, but it was too late.
The adamantine chain did not wrap around Yamada but instead stabbed into him. Ige managed to dodge just in time, but the distraction gave Renjiro the opportunity he needed. With a swift motion, Renjiro formed a Rasengan on his arm as he leapt towards Yamada.
"Boom!!"
The ground sounded as Ige, anger still evident in his eyes, was alert and managed to flicker away and Renjiro's Rasengan only hit where Ige was a few moments ago.
Renjiro landed on the ground, panting heavily. He had used a significant amount of chakra, but he had managed to take down one of their strongest opponents. 'Two down, two to go,' he thought.
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