In the days that followed, Kakashi found himself in a desperate situation of depleted inspiration.
Even though he was known as Kakashi the Copy Ninja, there were times when even he would run completely dry.
Under Naruto's relentless "exploitation," he continuously taught him known Wind Style ninjutsu.
Some ninjutsu were rather useless, like chicken ribs, while others were extremely powerful.
Regardless of the ninjutsu, Naruto could learn it in an extremely short amount of time.
Although his proficiency and stability would be relatively weak, these could be compensated for with later practice.
Finally, when Naruto asked again, the mouth under Kakashi's mask twitched slightly, and a look of helplessness appeared in his dead-fish eye. "There's one more ninjutsu suitable for you. Want to learn it?"
"Learn it? Why wouldn't I? What ninjutsu is it?"
"Thousand Years of Death."
From then on, Naruto never sought Kakashi out to learn ninjutsu again.
Kakashi expressed his regret over this.
Just imagine: Naruto, with a gentle smile, first uses Kyoka Suigetsu to control the enemy's vision, then uses Shunpo to get behind them, and after a complex series of hand seals, uses Thousand Years of Death to penetrate the enemy's warmest, most vulnerable spot.
It was the ultimate ninjutsu, tailor-made for his Kekkei Genkai!
A pity.
He wouldn't get to see that scene.
At the training ground.
At Naruto's request, Sasuke prepared to activate his Sharingan to try and break Kyoka Suigetsu.
"I'll be troubling you this time, Sasuke." Naruto still wore his signature gentle smile.
Opposite him, Sasuke looked smug. "Hmph, bring it on. Before these eyes of mine, all illusions are nothingness."
The Sharingan possessed extremely strong resistance to genjutsu, so Sasuke was confident that Naruto's Kekkei Genkai would be useless against him.
"Then, be careful. Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu." Kyoka Suigetsu in Naruto's hand fell to the ground, shattering into pieces and disappearing from sight.
Sasuke only felt his vision blur, the world seemingly rippling.
"This is the Kyoka Suigetsu I fell for before, right?" Sasuke took a deep breath. He wasn't in a hurry to activate his Sharingan, first experiencing Naruto's illusion with his normal eyes.
"It controls the opponent's vision by refracting natural elements like water, mist, and light, thereby creating visual deviations." Sasuke committed Kyoka Suigetsu's abilities to memory and remained constantly vigilant.
"Over here." Naruto threw a punch straight at Sasuke.
The wind from the punch whistled. Sasuke's eyes widened. "It's right in front of me!" He threw a punch but hit nothing but air. Instead, a pain shot through his right shoulder, and he was knocked back several steps.
However, Naruto had pulled his punch at the critical moment, so he didn't cause Sasuke too much pain.
"Impossible!!! Even if my vision is off, the wind from the punch definitely came from straight ahead!" Sasuke exclaimed, perplexed.
"Illusions aren't as simple as you think." Naruto walked over to Sasuke and waved a hand in front of his eyes.
A light breeze brushed past, and ripples appeared before his eyes. In Sasuke's vision, Naruto's palm descended straight towards his face. He subconsciously took a step back.
"The human brain is quite marvelous," Naruto said, retracting his hand and explaining with a smile. "In your view, my Kekkei Genkai is a pseudo-illusion type, creating illusory effects by altering the surrounding environment. To a certain extent, it's not actually considered a genjutsu."
Sasuke nodded. "A true genjutsu should be able to affect all senses."
"Wrong," Naruto shook his head.
"Wrong? Could it be that Kyoka Suigetsu can affect other senses too?" Sasuke looked skeptical.
"That's one of your misconceptions," Naruto continued.
"Misperceptions arise from two possibilities. One is the visual system itself; when the visual system has blind spots, or if you yourself are colorblind or visually impaired, the information processed might be erroneous. The second is that the visual system is correct, but because the brain and other areas override the neuro-visual system, it will reassemble the information on its own and fabricate an entirely new, 'correct' story."
Naruto's words instantly made Sasuke's head spin. Although the ninja world had some lessons involving science, they weren't this hardcore.
Those who could calmly delve into scientific research were basically very important laboratory members.
Like Orochimaru, one of the former Sannin of Konoha, who was once a very outstanding researcher.
"Simply put, besides the visual system, there's another crucial information processor: the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe is a high-level thinking area, and it's the part of the brain responsible for prediction and decision-making."
"This also means that all visual analysis, calculation, and prediction during observation occur outside the visual system."
"In other words, the illusions I weave are meticulous enough to deceive your brain, thereby affecting your other senses to some extent," Naruto said with a smile. Under his control, the world in Sasuke's eyes rippled once more.
"I can simulate the ripples produced by the vibration of a punch in the air, even the subtle changes in the surrounding flowers and grass caused by it. Thus, through your eyes, I can construct the scene I want in your mind. This can also affect your other senses to a certain degree. Is this explanation clear enough?"
"I understand now. So that's why this Kekkei Genkai is called a pseudo-illusion Kekkei Genkai," Sasuke realized with a start.
"That's more or less the principle. So, closing your eyes can indeed counter my Kekkei Genkai very well," Naruto nodded. "But most ninja are very reliant on their eyes."
"Then let's use the Sharingan." Sasuke's eyes transformed into the Sharingan.
With the appearance of the Sharingan, Sasuke's confidence began to swell. He covered his face and laughed wildly, "I see it! I see it again!! I see the illusions you're weaving!"
"I'm not actually weaving any illusions right now," Naruto said gently.
"Er..." The air fell silent.
"That's not important! Hurry up and use Kyoka Suigetsu, Naruto! I'll defeat you with these eyes of mine!" Sasuke laughed maniacally.
"As you wish." Naruto waved Kyoka Suigetsu, beginning to alter the surrounding environment.
Kakashi, observing the battle from the sidelines, also watched intently.
Kyoka Suigetsu's true ability was to control the five senses, but manipulating vision alone was also a simple feat for it.
Naruto had chosen this confrontation with Sasuke to test whether Kyoka Suigetsu's visual manipulation was effective against the Sharingan, and incidentally, to demonstrate the details of his ability more meticulously to Konoha's higher-ups.
Once the illusion was constructed, Naruto sent a light palm strike towards Sasuke.
Sasuke's Sharingan spun wildly, chakra gathering in his eyes, a look of joyful surprise appearing.
"I see it!" Sasuke sidestepped, evading Naruto's attack, and countered with a punch aimed at Naruto's face.
"A 2-tomoe Sharingan can break through visual manipulation that isn't at full power," Naruto thought, his heart tensing slightly, as he exchanged several blows with Sasuke.
Sasuke's eyes soon showed signs of fatigue, his breathing becoming ragged, and his internal chakra rapidly depleting.
"Looks like this is your limit." Naruto forcefully pushed Sasuke's arms away and retreated from the battlefield.
"Let's leave it at that."
"It's not over yet!" Sasuke supported himself on his knees, panting heavily, an unwilling look on his face. "I can still fight!"
"You've already done very well," Naruto said, shaking his head.
He had gained a certain understanding of Kyoka Suigetsu's abilities from this experiment.
As long as Naruto used his full Reiatsu, Kyoka Suigetsu was sufficient to overwhelm Sasuke, who possessed a 2-tomoe Sharingan.
One had to remember that the Uchiha's resistance to genjutsu was very high.
As long as Naruto's Reiatsu saw a significant increase, a fully powered Kyoka Suigetsu would be something even a 3-tomoe Sharingan couldn't withstand.
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