Having discovered the workings of Hoshigakure's Star, Shiki naturally wanted to test its limits, wondering if it was useful to him.
To do that, he needed to acquire it first however, Hoshi was technically an allied village and if their precious Star disappeared while Konoha shinobi were around or just after they visited . . .
Well, the answer as to who the thief was would be very obvious.
Hoshigakure would likely be able to do nothing about it but it would be ammo usable against him in Konoha village politics.
'Those old relics grow to become more of a nuisance every day . . . Might have to encourage them to retire after the coming war.' Shiki brooded.
He ultimately decided not to steal the Star for the time being and come back later, possibly years down the line when no suspicion would be placed on him.
'We'll see . . .' The boy mused, moving his thoughts towards the coming battle.
There was nothing he could do short term to improve his strength but there were still preparations he could make . . . Fuinjutsu preparations . . .
But while he handled those, an unexpected request came out of left field.
*
"Hey! Help me out putting the finishing touches on a new jutsu I've been working on?" Inori called out to Shiki after finding him during his ponderings.
"What jutsu?" The boy inquired.
"After we developed Meikyo Shisui, I got some inspiration for a genjutsu of my own. I have been working on it since before Team 6 was even formed but that inspiration proved crucial. I just need your assistance on some final adjustments." Inori explained.
"Alright. Let's hear it then." Shiki naturally agreed to help.
It would help in the coming battle and, as per their unspoken agreement, jutsu developed by the two of them would be shared property so it was also a chance to learn a cool new genjutsu.
"I've been trying to make a genjutsu based on the most powerful genjutsu talent in Konoha, the Kurama clan's kekkei genkai. Do you know about it?" Inori questioned.
"Sure, I haven't heard of any current users but supposedly, it powers up genjutsu to the point it trick the target's brain into manifesting illusory damage into reality." Shiki replied.
"Exactly. Rather than a specific jutsu, the kekkei genkai powers up any genjutsu they use while also allowing more powerful and complex genjutsu than regular shinobi can achieve." The Violet Rose continued.
"The Kurama clan favors a genjutsu called Demonic Illusion: Mirror World because of this advantage. It is much easier to cast with their talent and its effects perfectly suit their kekkei genkai."
"Mirror World traps the target in an illusory reality which the user can control. The scale of reality manipulation scales with the user's spiritual energy and Yin Release power which Kurama kekkei genkai holders have lots of. They can even manipulate time itself inside the illusion."
"Then, with their unique ability, they can cause whatever the target suffers in the illusory world to manifest onto the target's real self."
"Mirror World is cumbersome to use without the Kurama clan's innate advantages but I thought of a cross between it and my Hiding in Dreams Jutsu." Inori concluded the preamble and now started getting into the meat of the subject.
"Hidding in Dreams interferes with all targets in an area, scrambling their ability to detect me and anyone I want to hide. Easily detectable and broken but even then, it ensnares targets right away again."
"So I thought of creating a genjutsu that interferes with the five senses not to hide something, but to make targets detect something that isn't there. A Mirror World that doesn't trap targets within it but is instead overlaid on top of reality, making it impossible to tell what is real and what is not."
Inori's enthusiasm rose higher and higher the further along the explanation she went.
"I was having a hard time putting it all together but Meikyo Shisui which was developed with some basis on my Hiding in Dreams, meshed much better with what I was trying to create."
"Meikyo Shisui perfectly hides things from all six senses and is undetectable but any strong activation of chakra, even just from hard training or an active combat state will break it."
"My new genjutsu is the opposite. It creates illusions that fool the six senses and is very easy to detect but very hard to break through brute force." The Violet Rose finally concluded her explanation.
"In keeping with Genjutsu: Meikyo Shisui's naming convention, I call it, Genjutsu: Kyoka Suigetsu." The Yamanaka was evidently very proud of her creation.
'I was beaten to the punch. I was thinking about a genjutsu like that and even had that very ominous and storied name selected but . . . As expected of someone who shares my taste in genjutsu . . .' Shiki thought to himself.
"So what is the problem? Everything seems alright according to what sensei explained." The boy spoke.
"That's the thing. Kyuka Suigetsu is not as solid as projected. It can be broken with enough brute force and if too many enemies crowd the area of effect, it quickly becomes unstable." Inori revealed.
"Hmm . . . Can sensei explain the inner workings to me?" Shiki requested.
The Yamanaka then proceeded to guide him through the specific chakra manipulation, Yin Transformation and Hand Seal sequences required to perform Kyoka Suigetsu.
The pair then brainstormed together through the night, trying to find solutions to the jutsu's issue, drawing the jealous eyes of two precocious little girls, one significantly more precocious than the other.
It was only at the break of dawn that Shiki suddenly thought of a possible solution with a flash of inspiration.
"We are already applying principles of Meikyo Shisui in Kyoka Suigetsu, showing the two jutsu are extremely compatible. What if we try to fuse the two into a Combination Genjutsu, just like a Combination Ninjutsu?" The boy proposed.
Inori's first instinct was to dismiss it as genjutsu did not work that way but considering the overlap between their two jutsu . . .
"That might actually work! The first true Combination Genjutsu that is not just two genjutsu layered upon one another . . ." The Violet Rose was excited as was Shiki.
Unfortunately, she was the one in charge of the diplomacy with Hoshigakure as she was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most socially adept individuals in their entire group, leaving the boy to keep working on the jutsu alone.
But two days later, at night, the pair finally completed the initial form of this new killer move.
"Twin Illusion: Meikyoka Shisuigetsu!" X2
". . ." Sensei and student looked at each other.
The fused name sucked and they both realized it as soon as it was said.
"Let's keep it simple and go with: Twin Illusion: Meikyo Shisui, Kyoka Suigetsu."
The literal translation was: Clear Mirror, Still Water; Mirror Flower, Water Moon.
As for the effect of this final completed jutsu . . .
They would be unveiled in the coming battle.
Arrangements with Hoshi were done with them just being told that they were preemptively going to get rid of a possible threat and wished to leave the caravan resting in the village for a few days.
It was the truth. They simply did not give any details as to what the threat actually was.
After all, Hoshi might not be very cooperative if they knew Kumo was involved in the matter.
Regardless, things were settled and the Reinforced Team 6 would set off the following night.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -