Hokage Tower, Hokage's office.
Hiruzen sat in his chair with a dark expression.
The murderous intent he emitted was so intense it even made the flies on the windowsill shudder.
Not long after, the office door opened.
Danzo, bandaged and equally grim-faced, walked in.
"Hiruzen, you asked for me." Danzo's voice was low.
"Yes, I asked for you." Sarutobi's tone was deadly, "If I didn't summon you, who knows what other 'good deeds' you might have done?"
Hiruzen's murderous aura was palpable. Seeing him like this, Danzo knew things were probably bad. His actions against Takumi yesterday had likely been discovered by Hiruzen.
"Did that brat tell you?" Danzo secretly clenched his fist, 'So, he's learned to tattle now. It seems the lesson wasn't harsh enough!'
"Hah~~" Sarutobi exhaled a puff of smoke and said disdainfully, "Don't use your filthy mind to guess Takumi's thoughts. Tattling? He wouldn't stoop to something so low."
"I found out through other channels."
The 'other channels' Sarutobi referred to were, naturally, Takumi's diary. Ever since Takumi set his scheme in motion, Hiruzen had been thoroughly trapped. He faithfully fell for the trick, completely believing the 'inner thoughts' written in Takumi's diary!
"Although I don't know how exactly he avoided your technique, Takumi is a junior I'm focusing on nurturing. If you dare try to brainwash him, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Clearly, Hiruzen knew about Danzo's secrets. The arm full of Sharingan, the half-body Wood Release, and the most important one… Shisui's Sharingan.
Hiruzen simply couldn't be bothered to intervene, as Danzo still held value for him, needed to handle those dirty jobs and be his scapegoat.
Seeing his plan completely exposed, Danzo stopped pretending.
"Correct, I want Takumi's power. Besides, Hiruzen, that boy's power is not something you can control."
"He even directly resisted my Kotoamatsukami!"
Hearing this, Hiruzen, who had been venting his anger on Danzo, suddenly narrowed his pupils. He stared at Danzo in shock.
"What did you just say?" Hiruzen asked again, unsure.
"I said, that brat directly withstood my Kotoamatsukami! I used it on him several times, but it's completely ineffective!" Danzo's voice was full of fury.
He had spent all last night thinking about it but still couldn't figure out how Takumi resisted his Kotoamatsukami.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen was also utterly shocked.
When he read Takumi's diary earlier, he found it strange. Takumi wrote that he felt like Danzo-sama was following him yesterday, that they had even met face-to-face a few times, and Danzo even paid for his tea.
When Hiruzen first read that diary entry, he was furious. Knowing Danzo as he did, how could he not guess what the other was planning? He definitely wanted to use Kotoamatsukami to brainwash Takumi and turn him into his pawn!
However, after reading Takumi's diary, Hiruzen felt slightly relieved. It seemed Danzo hadn't succeeded in casting the technique on him yet. Otherwise, how could Takumi sit at home and write this diary entry?
But now, Danzo claimed Takumi had directly resisted his technique. What the hell was going on!
"Danzo! Are you joking with me!" Hiruzen shouted angrily, his old face twisted with shock, "How could anyone resist the Kotoamatsukami!"
Kotoamatsukami was Shisui's Genjutsu, arguably the most unsolvable Genjutsu in the entire Uchiha Clan, even the entire Shinobi World world! Once hit, the target's will would be modified! They would act according to the caster's wishes! And remain completely unaware!
To be honest, even Hiruzen couldn't withstand this technique. That's why he secretly informed the village's elders that unless he died, he wouldn't pass the position to Danzo.
If he started acting strangely, it must be because Danzo brainwashed him! It was this insurance that allowed Hiruzen to remain Hokage safely until now. Otherwise, Danzo would have made his move long ago.
"You're shocked too, right? To be honest, I'm also shocked." Danzo's tone held a hint of self-mockery, "In all my years, I've never seen anything so bizarre. Someone actually withstanding the Kotoamatsukami..."
His most prized Sharingan and Genjutsu, his ultimate trump card that had resolved countless issues, had become useless trash in front of Takumi!
"Could it be that you..."
"I made sure! I already said it! I used it on him several times with no effect!"
"And the technique wasn't malfunctioning!"
Before Hiruzen could voice his doubt, Danzo roared incessantly. Did he need Hiruzen to suspect such things? He had already tested every possible point of failure!
"Such a thing exists..." Hiruzen leaned deeply into his chair, his heart filled with indescribable shock.
After a long moment, he put down his pipe.
His face regained its composure.
"If he truly can resist the Kotoamatsukami, then he will be the strongest genius Konoha has ever seen."
'I must test this!'
'To see if he really possesses such power!'
Soon…
Under Hiruzen's arrangement, a group of Konoha's Shinobi:
Kakashi, Guy, Kurenai...
And elites from several major Konoha's Shinobi Clans were summoned.
Everyone gathered at the training ground.
"How could such a thing happen? Someone immune to Genjutsu?"
"I bet that brat is just boasting again."
Asuma spat out a puff of smoke disdainfully.
Since Hiruzen couldn't reveal the truth, he only said that Takumi seemed to have strong resistance to Genjutsu and called them here to test it.
"Tch, arrogant." Kurenai shook her head displeased.
Anko nearby chimed in, "I feel like this Asuma holds a deep grudge against Takumi? Is it because of you?"
Kurenai's face flushed slightly, but she remained silent.
She was definitely the main reason. After all, she and Takumi had already... that, and Asuma still didn't know. He was still here trying to act cool to get her attention.
"I think it's possible, though." Guy stepped forward, "Takumi is ridiculously strong! Every impossibility becomes possible with him!"
Kakashi also nodded, "Takumi is an incredible person. Don't judge him by common sense."
As the group waited…
Soon…
Takumi arrived with the other rookies.
And pushed ahead of Naruto was Sasuke.
Sasuke had also come in a wheelchair.
"Hokage-sama, I've brought them all," Iruka stepped forward and said.
Hiruzen nodded, then took two steps forward to stand before Takumi.
"Takumi, the reason I called you here today is actually to ask you something."
Although Takumi already knew perfectly well, he still put on a clueless expression, "Hm... What is it?"
Hiruzen asked with a smile, "Have you ever noticed any special talent in yourself regarding Genjutsu?"
"Genjutsu?" Takumi frowned, answering innocently, "I don't know..."
"I haven't learned any Genjutsu yet."
That wasn't a lie.
Previously, Takumi struggled even with the basic Three Basic Techniques, so how could he have learned Genjutsu?
Hiruzen's smile widened. He patted Takumi's shoulder and said, "Actually, I'm not referring to your talent for learning Genjutsu, though you might have that too."
"But what I want to say today is that you might have a very strong innate talent for resisting Genjutsu."
Takumi still looked confused.
"Genjutsu is a profound Shinobi Technique, requiring extremely demanding talent from the practitioner. Roughly one in every twenty or thirty people possesses Genjutsu talent."
"Once Genjutsu is cast, it can lightly cause neural confusion and paralysis, or heavily trap the target in an illusion. I think you might possess a special talent that allows you to resist Genjutsu..."
"Would you like to give it a try?"
Hiruzen posed the key question.
Whether it was truly as Danzo said, that he could even resist Kotoamatsukami, would be determined by the upcoming test.
And Takumi, naturally, accepted all comers.
He just happened to also want to see the difference between ordinary Genjutsu and Uchiha's Genjutsu.
"Although I'm not very confident, if the Hokage wants to test me, I'll give it my all!" Takumi put on a serious, passionate expression.
Seeing him so sensible, the onlookers praised him.
Kurenai: "Look, look, this is my Hub… cough, this is his level. Unlike some people who only know how to be sour."
Yugao: "He just gets more and more sensible the more you look."
Anko: "Yeah, this kind of kid is the one people like!"
Under everyone's gaze, soon, Takumi walked to the center of the crowd.
Naruto beside him muttered puzzledly, "Resist Genjutsu? Doesn't seem very reliable..."
Sakura also nodded nervously, "Yeah, how could an ordinary person possibly resist Genjutsu? Even a strong one like Sasuke-kun probably couldn't..."
Hinata: "Takumi-kun..."
Shikamaru turned to look at Sasuke in the wheelchair, "Sasuke, what do you think?"
Sasuke looked aloof, "Don't know. He might resist ordinary Genjutsu, but if it's Uchiha's Genjutsu, he definitely can't resist it."
After Hiruzen gave a signal, a Kunoichi from the Yamanaka Clan stepped forward.
"Little brother, I'll go first then?"
"If you can't withstand it, just call out."
Takumi nodded. Then, the other party formed hand seals:
"Genjutsu: Binding Chains!"
A special Genjutsu force instantly rushed towards Takumi, attempting to invade his mind.
If it were an ordinary person, the vision they would see now would be themselves bound by chains, unable to move.
However…
Under Takumi's rock-solid Genjutsu resistance, this Genjutsu force was like an egg hitting a mountain-high iron wall, shattering on the spot.
And Takumi remained completely unharmed.
"Huh? Has it started already?" Takumi raised his hand in confusion.
He looked as if he hadn't even noticed the Genjutsu had begun!
Witnessing this, the surrounding crowd erupted!
"Whoa! What's going on!?"
"He's really completely fine!?"
"No way, that Genjutsu just now seemed pretty strong. If you got hit, you'd be unable to move!"
"Yeah! I've been hit by that Genjutsu before. I was paralyzed for dozens of seconds!"
Discussions broke out everywhere!
And the Yamanaka Clan's Kunoichi who had just cast the technique was also utterly stunned, extremely shocked.
'Nothing?'
'He had no reaction at all!'
'He didn't even feel when the technique started!'
Seeing this, Kurenai's face was full of admiration: "This isn't 'hasn't started yet'... it's clearly already over..."
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FOR EVERY 50 POWER STONES, I'LL UPLOAD ONE CHAPTER