Chapter 181: Sharingan Genjutsu Is Just That Unreasonably Broken
"The invaders have problems?"
Rasa was bewildered. These invaders obviously had problems, but he understood that Chiyo's warning meant something deeper than what was immediately visible.
Following the principle of caution above all else, he immediately modified his tactics. The gold dust pursuing the Cloud ninja slowed its pace and reduced its intensity, shifting more effort toward defense. Gold dust swirled around him like smoke clouds.
Chiyo spoke urgently. "Kazekage-sama, this one looks like the Cloud ninja genius Magnetic Release user Troy, but according to my intelligence, this talented Cloud ninja is already dead!"
"Dead?"
Rasa's heart jumped.
His gaze shifted to Troy, who was being pursued by his gold dust manipulation. Rasa wasn't just an outstanding combatant—he was also a sufficiently skilled sensory ninja. The Sand technique developed by the Second Kazekage was remarkably versatile, not merely combining offense and defense, but also excelling in sensory perception.
So—
After receiving Chiyo's warning, he immediately detected through the feedback from his gold dust that these captured Cloud ninja truly weren't living people. One by one, they lacked the body temperature and pulse that living humans should have. They were like... puppets.
Rasa blurted out, "Is this puppet technique?"
Chiyo shook her head. "I'm not certain, but it's definitely not any puppet technique I've mastered. These things don't even have control chakra threads attached."
She stared intently at these Cloud ninja, scrutinizing them. A kunai whistled through the air, striking the ear of one Cloud ninja bound by gold dust, completely severing the right ear.
As expected, no blood flowed from the wound. But she also couldn't see any mechanical construction whatsoever. Only pale white threads drifted from the wound, hooking onto the severed ear and pulling it back into position. The ear reattached without showing any trace of injury.
Chiyo's brow furrowed deeply as she murmured, "What exactly are these things?"
But no one answered her question.
Rasa's sensory abilities were limited to surface-level perception—he lacked the skill to penetrate and understand the underlying mechanisms. He didn't plan to waste mental energy speculating, instead thinking he'd first capture all these non-living Cloud ninja, then find a way to extract intelligence from their minds.
Under his manipulation and control, the gold dust pursued replica Troy relentlessly, quickly driving Troy into a desperate situation.
Though both possessed Magnetic Release Kekkei Genkai, they followed completely different development paths. Hidden Cloud Village's Magnetic Release users inherited Warring States era traditions, combining their Kekkei Genkai with ninja tools, manipulating weapons through magnetic force in combat.
Sunagakure, however, under the leadership of the Second Kazekage Shamon—a once-in-a-generation genius—conducted unprecedented research using the One-Tail as a sample, developing the unique Sand technique.
As for whether the Sand technique was truly formidable, one need only observe that both the Third and Fourth Kazekage had relied on masterful Sand technique to defeat numerous competitors and claim the Kazekage position. This alone demonstrated how powerful mastering this technique could be.
Unfortunately, the Sand technique's training difficulty was equally high. Not everyone with Magnetic Release Kekkei Genkai could master it. Only a rare few geniuses could grasp the Sand technique through arduous training.
In summary—
The Sand technique was extremely powerful, and every Sand ninja capable of mastering it was without exception a genius.
So Rasa had thoroughly suppressed replica Troy, Hidden Cloud Village's genius Magnetic Release user, from start to finish. Once replica Troy's ninja tools became submerged in that tsunami-like gold dust, they were completely restricted. Moreover, this gold dust containing magnetic force interfered with his control over his weapons.
He was thus completely engulfed by the gold dust, his entire body wrapped in sand sparkling with flecks of gold light. No matter how he struggled, he couldn't break through the gold dust encasing him.
Magnetic Release: Gold Dust Binding Coffin.
Rasa's right hand clenched in a grasping motion.
The next second—
All the gold dust encasing replica Troy and the other captured replica Cloud ninja suddenly erupted with tremendous force under magnetic attraction, violently crushing all the replica Cloud ninja. Countless pale white threads filled the air.
"Be careful!"
Chiyo suddenly shouted.
Rasa hadn't let down his guard. The moment Chiyo cried out, he also detected dozens of threads among the floating pale strands rapidly approaching him. He reacted swiftly without hesitation. The gold dust swirling around his body spun at high speed, severing and shredding all approaching pale threads.
But—
Chiyo herself, who'd warned Rasa to be careful, got caught instead. As a top-tier puppet master, she'd already drawn out two puppets, but the problem was that while Rasa's gold dust shredded all the pale threads, her puppets failed to block them. The threads easily penetrated the puppets and burrowed directly into her body.
Seeing this, Rasa's hair stood on end. He roared, "Elder Chiyo!"
Sunagakure's current talent pool was severely depleted. Especially after Sasori of the Red Sand defected and his wife Karura died in childbirth delivering their youngest son, among the younger generation only he and Pakura remained as pillars of support. They had no choice but to rely on elders like Chiyo and Ebizo to help maintain appearances.
If something happened to Chiyo here, the village's situation would definitely become even worse.
Rasa manipulated the gold dust like spinning blades, racing forward to sever all the pale threads. However, Chiyo appeared unharmed—the pale threads that had penetrated her skin and muscle hadn't caused any injury.
Chiyo frowned but didn't relax despite being uninjured. "Rasa, these things have no lethal power, but you'd better not let these threads get close."
Rasa remained silent. His gaze locked firmly on the source of the pale threads—a young man wearing a tiger-head mask, dressed in black, standing on the ruins like a ghost. The pale threads that had invaded Chiyo's body originated from his right palm.
"Who are you?"
Rasa demanded harshly. His gaze focused on the black tea kettle cradled in the masked man's left hand, fierce killing intent rising in his eyes. "No matter who you are, put down the Shukaku pot now, and I can let you die quickly. Otherwise..."
"Otherwise what?"
Uchiha Tatsuhata's lips curled beneath his mask in a contemptuous smile. Without any courtesy, he interrupted Rasa's threat with a cold laugh. "Fourth Kazekage, you think you've got me cornered? Your Sunagakure doesn't even have a qualified jinchuriki—where do you get the confidence to spout such arrogance before me?"
He didn't take Rasa, this Fourth Kazekage, seriously at all.
He'd come to Sunagakure precisely because he'd identified Sand ninja as currently the weakest and easiest to bully. He'd returned from Konoha empty-handed, took what he wanted from Cloud ninja and left, but if he couldn't even show backbone against Cloud ninja, he'd be wasting these Mangekyō Sharingan of his.
In fact, coming to Sunagakure had truly been like entering an unguarded realm. He'd easily infiltrated Sunagakure's ANBU base and obtained the black tea kettle—the ninja tool called the Shukaku pot—that sealed the One-Tail. Even the One-Tail sealed within had become his spoils of war.
Having been thoroughly provoked, Rasa's face turned iron-blue. He roared, "Seeking death!"
His hands moved like an orchestra conductor. The endless gold dust was his orchestra, obeying his direction. Boundless gold dust surged toward Uchiha Tatsuhata like ocean waves.
But—
The next instant—
Uchiha Tatsuhata's eyes turned crimson. Rasa, who'd been staring intently, was caught completely off guard. The moment their gazes met, Uchiha Tatsuhata released Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique. Rasa's spiritual consciousness was immediately dragged into an inescapably realistic illusory world.
In the genjutsu world, Rasa's body was firmly nailed to a frame by thick metal stakes. His mind and limbs were completely immobilized.
And in the real world, Rasa froze as if someone had pressed pause. His arms remained outstretched like some artistic sculpture, standing rigidly motionless. Even the surging gold dust tsunami suddenly stalled like a car that had run out of gas. Large amounts of gold dust washed over Uchiha Tatsuhata's feet but caused no harm, soft and powerless.
"Sharingan?"
Chiyo let out a strange cry.
She immediately lowered her gaze, manipulating the two puppets before her to attack Uchiha Tatsuhata with one hand. Her other hand extended five chakra threads from her fingertips, all connecting to Rasa's body, forcibly penetrating through skin and flesh deep into Rasa's interior, disrupting the chakra flow within his body.
However—
Sharingan genjutsu was just that unreasonably broken.
Even though Uchiha Tatsuhata's talent in genjutsu was mediocre—his genjutsu mastery ranked only mid-tier within the Uchiha clan—he now wielded Mangekyō Sharingan. Using this higher-level ocular power to drive genjutsu, even if his technique was crude, it still produced excellent results.
Rasa, whose chakra flow had been disrupted, didn't break free from Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique immediately. Instead, the spreading pale threads penetrated even deeper into his body.
Neither Chiyo nor the surrounding Sand ninja could prevent it.
Because Uchiha Tatsuhata had recovered the life threads scattered when the replica Cloud ninja were crushed, releasing all the unharmed replica Cloud ninja once more. They clashed fiercely with the surrounding Sand ninja.
As for the two puppets Chiyo controlled, a prime-aged replica Shimura Danzo fought them both, his fierce Wind Release techniques overwhelming the two puppets. He looked more like a Kazekage than Rasa himself.
And Chiyo's prided deadly poisons had absolutely no effect on replica Shimura Danzo. Instead, while the puppets attacked him with poison-coated weapons, he used Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere to shatter both puppets.
Fortunately, Chiyo reacted extremely quickly. While retreating, she produced a white scroll she carried with her. She unfurled it and released ten puppets stored within, all dressed in white robes with distinct appearances.
White Secret Technique: The Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets.
This was Chiyo's ultimate trump card.
These ten puppets were inherited from Monzaemon, the founding ancestor of Sunagakure's puppet masters—Monzaemon's greatest masterpiece in his lifetime. Chiyo relied on these ten puppets along with poison-crafting and poison-usage techniques also inherited from Monzaemon to carve out her formidable reputation on the battlefield.
At this moment—
Chiyo judged Uchiha Tatsuhata an extremely dangerous enemy. She didn't dare hold anything back. If she still tried to conserve strength now, those hidden techniques might accompany her into the grave.
This elderly woman, advanced in years, let out a furious roar. "You bastard, don't underestimate the Sand ninja who survive in this harsh environment!"
As her words fell, her ten fingers trembled like playing a piano. Each finger independently controlled one puppet—ten fingers simultaneously controlling ten puppets.
This was the skill of the shinobi world's top-tier puppet master.
One must understand that ordinary skilled puppet masters could simultaneously control two puppets, with left and right hands each controlling one. More formidable ones could at most control three puppets simultaneously. More than that wasn't about inability to control them, but difficulty operating them in actual combat.
But at this moment, under Chiyo's hands, the ten puppets advanced and retreated in perfect order with seamless coordination, erupting with astonishing combat power. They actually suppressed replica Shimura Danzo.
Honestly, if this were an ordinary jonin, Chiyo's ten puppets would have already sliced him to pieces. Only replica Shimura Danzo feared neither deadly poison, injury, nor death, so he stubbornly avoided being chopped into mincemeat by the Chikamatsu Collection.
Chiyo's expression was grim. She showed no satisfaction despite suppressing replica Shimura Danzo, because Sunagakure's Fourth Kazekage was in dire straits. Those pale threads of unknown purpose had penetrated Rasa's body for over ten seconds.
Though she herself hadn't been injured earlier, the pale threads had invaded her body only briefly. Who knew if prolonged exposure would produce unknown effects?
"Damn it! Kazekage-sama, please pull yourself together!"
Chiyo shouted in frustration.
And quite coincidentally, whether because her earlier disruption of Rasa's chakra flow had taken effect or because this heartfelt cry had worked, Rasa finally broke free from Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique.
His first sight was the pale threads densely embedded in his body like tree roots. Goosebumps covered his entire body. The gold dust on the ground instantly spun at high speed, severing all these pale threads.
Simultaneously—
He averted his gaze from Uchiha Tatsuhata and observed his surroundings.
One look revealed Troy and other Cloud ninja he'd killed were fighting with ANBU. He saw Elder Chiyo using White Secret Technique: The Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets, gang-beating Konoha's Root leader Shimura Danzo... Wait, where the hell did this old schemer Shimura Danzo come from?
At this moment, Rasa truly felt like he'd fallen into another genjutsu.
Otherwise—
How could he possibly see Shimura Danzo appearing here? And if he remembered correctly, hadn't Konoha already announced Shimura Danzo's death?
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