BOOM!
Amidst a peal of thunder, the scenery changed again.
"No—at this rate, Fenghuo's mind will collapse!"
Yamanaka Inoichi (note: the manga name is Inoichi, not Kaiichi) finally snapped back to his senses.
"This Genjutsu… no, it's not just one. It's a complex overlay of multiple illusion layers. Fenghuo's consciousness is sinking deeper and deeper. What a vicious technique!"
Inoichi glanced around. Towering skyscrapers gleamed in the sun, and the city streets were packed with people and lavish storefronts. Compared to this, even Konoha felt like a backwater village.
"I have to find him and forcefully anchor his mind—before permanent damage sets in!"
He pushed through the dense crowd, eventually spotting Fenghuo slumped at a street corner.
The boy was in tatters. Arms and legs were missing. He sat begging on the ground, pain etched across his face. Before Inoichi could act, a man and woman strolled up. The man leered, his arm around the woman, and sneered down at Fenghuo.
"Your girlfriend, huh?" he mocked. "She's mine now—ah!!"
Inoichi's fist sent him flying.
Without wasting a breath, he slung Fenghuo over his shoulder and bolted.
"Put me down!" Fenghuo shouted, thrashing. "That's my girlfriend! Mine!!"
Inoichi was panting. "Fenghuo! Wake up! It's me, Yamanaka Inoichi!"
"You… how do you know my name?"
"Damn it! Don't you remember?! You're Uchiha Fenghuo, a Chūnin of Konoha! You awakened the Sharingan—use it to pierce through these illusions!"
Fenghuo kept struggling. "Inoichi? Uchiha? What is this, a Naruto fanfic? You're insane! Or I'm insane!"
Inoichi gritted his teeth, set Fenghuo down, and roared:
"This is all an illusion! None of this is real! You're Uchiha Fenghuo! Use your Sharingan—look closely at the cracks in this world!"
Fenghuo collapsed, breathing heavily. His limbs twitched—and to Inoichi's astonishment, arms and legs regrew from his sleeves as if they'd never been missing.
Inoichi blinked. "What in the world…?"
Fenghuo looked exhausted. "Beggars these days can't be trifled with. You get scammed even when you don't wear shoes. So don't get on my nerves, or I'll blow your whole chakra network apart."
Inoichi was too stunned to speak—until the same man and woman appeared again.
"Haha! Fenghuo, your girlfriend's amazing! Every night she—argh!!"
Inoichi punched him mid-sentence, turning his face into a swollen pulp. But no sooner had he turned away than the two reappeared again, unharmed.
Inoichi was trembling. "Fenghuo! Look at him! I just destroyed his face, but now he's whole again. Can't you see it's fake?"
Fenghuo didn't answer—he just stared at the woman.
With a snarl, Inoichi struck her too.
Fenghuo wailed, "Why did you hit my ex-girlfriend, you psycho?!"
Inoichi grinned. "So you do remember she's your ex now!"
Fenghuo was helpless to stop him. He could only watch as Inoichi clawed at the illusionary woman's perfect face, then ran off with him again.
"You'll go to prison for this!" Fenghuo shouted.
"You'll understand soon," Inoichi said darkly.
Sure enough, moments later, the pair reappeared—untouched.
Fenghuo stared, stunned. "Her face… it's perfect again."
"Now do you see?" Inoichi said. "This world is fake! You're dreaming—trapped! You are Uchiha Fenghuo! Remember who you are!"
"Uchiha… Fenghuo…?" Fenghuo mumbled, his vision blurring.
At the same time, Inoichi's spirit was forcibly ejected from the Genjutsu world.
Back in the real world, Yūhi Kurenai (note: not Makoto Yuhi) leaned over him anxiously. "What happened?!"
Inoichi opened his eyes slowly, face grave. "Fenghuo's trapped in multiple Genjutsu. But they're… strange."
"Strange?"
"These illusionary worlds don't match any known Uchiha or Kurama patterns. They're erratic—chaotic. I found a weakness, but whether he escapes… is up to him."
Kurenai narrowed her eyes. "Is it Genjutsu cast by another Uchiha?"
Inoichi shook his head. "I don't think so."
Inside the illusion world…
Fenghuo's mind spun.
"Damn it! Why did Inoichi crash into my dream like that?"
But it didn't matter. He couldn't escape.
In a moment of desperation earlier, Fenghuo had awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan—and attempted to break through his own subconscious by layering Genjutsu on himself.
But it backfired.
Each illusion fed into the next, forming a continuous loop. A self-reinforcing feedback of dream within dream—like Inception. The illusions devoured one another endlessly. There was no way out.
"No way…" he muttered, "Did I overdo it?"
"Calm down. Focus!"
"I triggered all these illusions myself… based on the assumption I'd be asleep. But now I'm awake… logically, they should be nullified!"
The illusion pair appeared again.
The man jeered, spittle flying. "Still here, loser?"
Fenghuo froze.
"Is this reality? Is Naruto the illusion I invented to escape getting dumped?"
"Which world is real…?!"
"No—no!"
"I created these illusions. They can't trap me!"
His eyes widened. The Sharingan activated—three tomoe, spinning faster and faster.
"I'm going to reach the pinnacle of the shinobi world. You think this can stop me?!"
"Even Tsukuyomi can't trap me!"
The jeering man's eyes locked onto his—then faltered. "Wait… your eyes…!"
Fenghuo's Sharingan whirled. The illusion shattered.
BOOM.
He opened his eyes in the real world.
His Sharingan slowly faded. He drifted into sleep—peacefully, this time.
Kurenai gasped. "His eyes…"
Inoichi nodded, solemn. "You saw correctly. That was the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. The illusion pressure must've catalyzed his evolution. A blessing in disguise."
Kurenai sighed in relief. "At least… he's safe."
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