Chapter 97 - The Art of Genjutsu

Hi guys. Fair warning. Bit of an info dump chapter. This is my take on Genjutsu. It may be right, it may be wrong or maybe it's something in the middle…

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Daichi was fighting his clones in the forest while being blindfolded. He relied on his other senses and wanted to improve them. He wanted to evolve his sense skills as quickly as he could. But Daichi's clones were just as capable as he was. So the battle lasted for some time before he was able to successfully defeat and dispel his clones. After meditating and recovering his strength he opened his skill list. Daichi's eyes went to the skills related to the 6 senses.

'They're almost at level 50. Maybe another two or three battle sessions like this and they'll be ready to evolve.'

Daichi closed the skill list and headed home. During the battle he received a notification that indicated that reputation had increased with Hiruzen Sarutobi. Daichi was confused and not sure why that notification would show up at this time. 'Well, as long as it's not a 'reputation decreases' notification I don't mind.'

There was also something else he wanted to ask his grandfather.

Before long he reached his home. He noticed Kensei on the porch and he seems to be immersed in deep thoughts.

"Hey old man. You seem like you have something important on your mind."

Daichi's voice snapped Kensei out of his thoughts. He smiled and replied. "It's nothing you need to worry about."

Daichi looked at Kensei for a second and then nodded. Daichi at that time smelled the faint scents of tobacco lingering in the air. He also smelled the heavy scent of sake. He knew Kensei didn't smoke.

"Was someone here?" Daichi asked.

Kensei looked at the kid and sighed. 'His senses are getting sharper and sharper. I was planning on keeping Hiruzen's visit to myself for now but…'

"Yes Daichi. I had an unexpected visitor this morning. But it's nothing you need to concern yourself with. I'll tell you when the time comes."

Daichi was slightly confused but then nodded and let it go. He had something more important on his mind. "Hey gramps. I'm thinking about working on my taijutsu and genjutsu and then some medical ninjutsu this year. What do you think?"

Kensei thought about the question. The warning Hiruzen had given him about Orochimaru's spy was prevalent in his mind. "Focus on your taijutsu and genjutsu and sharpen the skills you already possess. Learning too many things without mastery of anything won't help you."

Daichi nodded and agreed with that assessment. "Can you tell me about Genjutsu? I want to focus and improve my awareness on it as well."

Kensei smiled. He motioned for Daichi to come and sit near him. "So you're finally interested huh. The art of Genjutsu. This will take a while to fully explain."

Daichi focused and paid attention to every word Kensei was going to say.

"Genjutsu or the Art of Illusions is the third and least common of the basic combat specialties for a shinobi. Now Taijutsu and Ninjutsu both apply damage or alterations to the physical world while Genjutsu mainly targets the mind."

Daichi was confused. "But during our fight you changed the terrain… How is that…"

Kensei chucked. "What I did falls under Genjutsu but let me remind you, I did not alter the terrain with genjutsu. I merely placed an illusion on the hole on the ground I created with Ninjutsu… I'll explain… As I said, Genjutsu can not affect non living or environmental things and physically alter them. Now, genjutsu is the most versatile of the three, but it is also the most difficult to use effectively. Our mind, our imagination, it's limitless. So are the possibilities of genjutsu. It depends on the user. Whether it's a simple distraction, or traumatizing someone or an outright powerful attack on the psyche of a person, a capable genjutsu user can accomplish it all."

Daichi was attentive to every word. 'In the show, most characters that genjutsu were used on had a bloodline limit or something else that helped them negate it. Mainly the Uchiha and their Sharingan, the Hyuga and the Byakugan, the Rinnegan and Jinchurikis who are partners with their tailed beasts. Compared to the number of shinobi in the world who are not immune to genjutsu this number is very small. While illusions won't be useful against powerful A or S rank enemies, they will definitely be useful against most people below those ranks. I can't ignore this field.'

Kensei continued. "Now just like ninjutsu, genjutsu requires usage of hand-seals and precise control of chakra. There are three ways to utilize genjutsu. All the techniques of the illusion arts fall under these three categories.

The first is Sensory-based illusions. The most common type of genjutsu. They can target a single or multiple opponents and they have great potential. Many techniques used by the shinobi fall under this category. A manipulation of the target's perception of reality. Chakra enters a person's body and manipulates their senses."

"The five major senses of the body?!."

"Yes! The most common is manipulation of our vision. The sense of sight. The genjutsu that affects what you see. Make something invisible or change the appearance or make you see something that doesn't exist.

Then there is Somatic sensation. It's the sense of touch. We can induce pain, numb the body, change the perception of temperature and much more.

Auditory sensation. The Sense of hearing. Manipulating what the enemy hears. It can be used to feed false intelligence to create outright throbbing headaches. It can be used to annoy your enemy or take away their sense of hearing entirely.

Gustatory. Your sense of taste. Now this is one of the rarer types of genjutsu. But with a creative mind it could be very effective.

Then manipulating the olfactory senses. It's the sense of smell. It could be something as simple as creating the smell of smoke to go along with fire or something similar.

Then there is the vestibular sense. It dictates our balance and movements. Our hand-eye coordination will be disrupted if this sense is affected. Now these types of genjutsu are usually B rank and above.

Now the remaining two main senses are the Temporal and Kinesthetic sense. The former deals with controlling the victim's perception of time and the latter can manipulate the spatial awareness of the body. With this you can make your victim lose the feeling of a limb or more… Depends on a creative and slightly sadistic mind."

Kensei smirked as he said the last part.

Daichi slightly grimaced as he looked at the creepy smile on the old man's face. 'Yikes!'

"Now these jutsus can affect more senses but they can be easy or difficult to notice. Although these techniques are strong they are limited to the minds of those affected after activation. Now remember! All the above fall under the first category of genjutsu. Sensory based illusions. The important thing to remember is that these jutsus need a trigger to work. Trigger is an action or an object which catches the attention of the target's senses. The exception is the wide area effect genjutsu. They use space as the medium."

"Wow. What they teach us at the academy are peanuts compared to what I just learned."

Kensei replied hearing the kid. "Yes. They only teach the basics. And information on not just genjutsu but all the ninja arts is restricted. Once a student graduates, only then will they have access to more information and techniques."

Daichi nodded. 'Makes sense I guess. Wouldn't want powerful techniques to fall into the hands of an irresponsible kid.' "So what's the next to two categories?"

"The second category is Memory based genjutsu. Like the name suggests, it affects our mind. Specifically our memories. Now these types of genjutsu require time to activate and need great focus to utilize it on the battlefield properly. These types of techniques are mainly used in interrogation, planting false memories and thus false intelligence. This type is only used by the Yamanaka clan due to their strong affinity towards Yin chakra and mental manipulation."

Kensei stopped and looked at Daichi. "Now I believe you can defend yourself against genjutsu of these two categories. Because these two types of genjutsu are direct type genjutsu that attack the brain and you have immunity against them… Now comes the third category. The type of genjutsu you are susceptible to."

Daichi paid close attention to every word his grandfather spoke. He needed to be aware of these types of illusions.

Seeing he had Daichi's undivided attention, Kensei continued.

"Optical based Genjutsu. Chakra is used to bend or refract light to modify or create images. These illusions are based on natural illusions in nature like Rainbows or Mirages. Jutsus such as False placement or Haze clones fall under this category. The jutsu I used on you also falls under this category. These types of jutsus create images out of chakra but do not send them directly to the enemy's mind. It essentially creates a physical Illusion that everyone can see."

"But if we're creating physical images out of chakra and layering them over objects then doesn't that fall into the category of Ninjutsu? I thought genjutsu cannot be casted on objects with no chakra network…" Daichi questioned the old man.

"You would think so but no. First this isn't classified as ninjutsu. These are still illusions. For these types of techniques we use a small amount of Yang chakra in conjunction with Yin chakra. This also answers your second question."

Daichi nodded. Kensei continued with his explanation.

"These types of genjutsu are used to alter the appearance of wide area terrains and such. They are easy to dispel but difficult to notice. But they can't be used to hide or mask a person. Now I want you to know that optical illusions do not interfere with your other senses."

Daichi's eyes widened as heard the last part. "Wait a minute. When you used that blackout genjutsu on me, you said you took away my sight, sound and smell… But now you're telling me…"

"I lied. I took away your sight. That's true. But what I did was make sure to reduce the amount of any sound or smell. The sounds and smell present were muted but they were still there. In the heat of the battle when you heard that I took away three of your senses you didn't think to double check. That's a lesson I want you to keep in your mind. Never trust your enemy. And be vigilant of your allies."

Daichi thought back to that battle. 'He's right. He only took my sight away but I believed him when he said he took my sense of sound and smell… The root cause of that mistake is trust… In a world full of killers and backstabbers I'll have to be careful not to let my guard down around anyone.'

"Don't worry. With enough training and experience you'll be able to identify optical Genjutsu…"

Daichi looked at Kensei and nodded. He then asked his grandfather something that was on his mind. "What about emotions? Can genjutsu be used to control a person's emotions?"

"Genjutsu can affect the senses but it can't control or change one's emotions. They are only capable of indirectly inspiring one's emotions. You can create a giant fearsome snake with the intent to scare the target but whether he/she gets scared or not, how that person reacts… it all depends on them."

Kensei took a moment for Daichi to digest all the information. After a while he began explaining the last and crucial part of the Genjutsu arts. How to dispel them.

"Figuring out you're in a genjutsu is only half the battle. Now there are a few methods for negating genjutsu and they aren't very difficult. Pain or physical trauma. Either self inflicted or afflicted by the enemy. Now what you need to keep in mind is that the pain must be strong enough to overcome the mental attack. The second method is the Genjutsu release Kai. The person stops all flow of chakra in their body and restarts their flow. The amount of chakra required depends on the jutsu used. The third method is if you are freed by another party. If you have a teammate then he must realize that you're caught in a genjutsu and help you out. This person must make physical contact with the person trapped in the jutsu… These are the three major ways someone can escape genjutsu… Now some people have natural resistance to illusions. Like those with Sharingan and Byakugan. And ordinary shinobi too, over time can develop resistance to certain genjutsu techniques."

"Now you have a thorough understanding of the Genjutsu arts. Since you're immune to most you won't have to worry that much but it's still prudent that you learn and master the field." Kensei completed his explanation and workings on the field of genjutsu.

Daichi was grateful. He now had much better understanding and knowledge on the subject. "I understand. Thank you." 'This seems really interesting. The only limit to Genjutsu is one's imagination… I wonder how far I can take this field?'

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Author's Note:

So now that you guys have an understanding of my take on genjutsu, I Would love to hear yours.