#114 - Chapter 114: The battle of illusion is the battle of spiritual energy

"Open your eyes."

"I said, open your eyes!"

At her wits' end, the usually gentle and mild-mannered Uchiha Mikoto finally resorted to a woman's innate skill: utter irrationality.

She simply wanted to witness Hyuga Tenhao's space-time ninjutsu.

It would both give her insight into the boy who made her change her surname and vent some pent-up emotions.

And what happened?

Hyuga Tenhao simply closed his eyes, making her meticulously prepared Sharingan genjutsu a wasted effort.

Yet, Uchiha Mikoto was completely helpless.

After all, even the Sharingan's genjutsu couldn't force Hyuga Tenhao to open his eyes willingly.

"Alright,"

"Consider it my return gift to you, Mikoto-nee."

Hyuga Tenhao spread his hands and then opened his eyelids.

"Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!"

Uchiha Mikoto had been waiting for this moment. She immediately glared with her Sharingan, unleashing a powerful genjutsu.

"Hmm?"

The instant Hyuga Tenhao opened his eyes, he felt a chilling aura sweep over him, like icy frost assaulting his meridians.

Moreover, his hands and feet were instantly assaulted with sharp stinging pain.

Looking closely, he realized his limbs had been pierced by massive stakes.

"Sharingan genjutsu, huh?"

"This should be the same move Uchiha Itachi used to sever Orochimaru's arm."

"Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique."

Hyuga Tenhao's limbs were bound, and he was wracked with pain, but he immediately understood.

He couldn't help but secretly praise her.

No wonder she gave birth to sons who awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Born a woman, yet she awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan; her strength was truly remarkable.

Because even he had to admit that the best way to deal with him was with Sharingan genjutsu.

Especially instantaneous and inescapable genjutsu.

"Tenhao, I've researched your information."

"In taijutsu, even as a Jonin more than a dozen years your senior, I can't compare to you with your Byakugan."

"In ninjutsu, with your mastery of space-time ninjutsu, your Kusanagi Sword would probably be at my neck before I could even start weaving signs."

"Genjutsu, especially eye-based genjutsu, is your only weakness."

Uchiha Mikoto's blood-red Sharingan spun rapidly, emitting a powerful and sinister ocular power.

"Certainly, the Hyuga's Byakugan can see through genjutsu, but it only sees through it; it's not deceived by it."

"Unlike the Sharingan, which can both see through and reflect genjutsu."

"My Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique, even if you can see through it, you can't break it. You can only watch yourself be defeated."

As she spoke, she held a kunai in her right hand, lightly stepped off the ground, and dashed towards Hyuga Tenhao like a gust of wind.

However,

Uchiha Mikoto had barely left the ground, less than a second into her body flicker technique, when she forcibly interrupted it herself.

An icy chill pressed against her neck, spreading throughout her body along her skin.

Her Sharingan slowly looked down.

If she hadn't looked, it might have been better, but the moment she did, the three tomoe that had been spinning like a windmill abruptly stopped.

Visible shock appeared in her scarlet Sharingan.

Because, without her noticing, a blade had been placed against her neck.

"When did this happen?"

Uchiha Mikoto's pupils contracted, and waves of shock surged through her heart.

She recognized it instantly.

It was the Kusanagi Sword.

But,

Uchiha Mikoto's gaze refocused on the front, only to see nothing.

"Impossible!"

Hyuga Tenhao, who should have been immobilized by her genjutsu, had vanished without a trace, even under the watch of her Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

This made her feel disbelief.

First, she couldn't understand why Hyuga Tenhao could still move.

Second, she was shocked that Hyuga Tenhao's space-time ninjutsu was so fast that even the Three-Tomoe Sharingan's perception couldn't keep up.

"As you wished,"

"Mikoto-nee."

"This is the space-time ninjutsu you wanted to see."

Hyuga Tenhao stood behind Uchiha Mikoto, holding the Kusanagi Sword to her neck.

"My Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique should be extremely effective against you."

"Even if you could use space-time ninjutsu after being caught in the genjutsu, your limbs shouldn't be able to move."

"After all, Sharingan genjutsu can only be broken by disrupting the flow of chakra through others."

Uchiha Mikoto clenched the kunai in her hand tightly.

After activating the Sharingan, stimulated by the cold and sinister ocular power, she seemed to have become a different person.

She had become more aloof and fanatical than usual.

Especially towards the Sharingan's ocular power, she had an inexplicable worship and blind faith.

It was one thing for Hyuga Tenhao to close his eyes and ignore the Sharingan's genjutsu, but later, under her unreasonable demands, he opened his eyes and still fell victim to the Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique.

But the genjutsu was broken, and she ended up with a blade to her throat.

How could she accept this calmly?

"The battle of genjutsu is a battle of spiritual energy."

Hyuga Tenhao chuckled lightly, retracting the Kusanagi Sword from Uchiha Mikoto's neck.

The so-called ocular genjutsu, which can only be broken by disrupting the flow of chakra through others, is ultimately because one's own spiritual energy is far inferior to the ocular ninjutsu.

The more tomoe the Sharingan has, the stronger the ocular power and the stronger the spiritual energy.

Even with Three-Tomoe, ordinary ninjas trying to compete with the Uchiha in spiritual energy are dreaming.

But was Hyuga Tenhao an ordinary ninja?

No.

He possessed the Byakugan.

As an ocular technique inherited from Otsutsuki Kaguya, capable of evolving into the Tenseigan, how could it be weak?

It had always been the Hyuga Main Family that was lacking, not the Byakugan.

After developing the Byakugan and supplementing it with Sea King flesh training, Hyuga Tenhao's ocular power had improved by leaps and bounds, and his spiritual energy was even more impressive.

He definitely couldn't beat a Mangekyo Sharingan user head-on, but breaking the genjutsu of a Three-Tomoe Sharingan user, with the right method, really wasn't a big problem.

At least, breaking Uchiha Mikoto's Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique wasn't difficult, but this only applied to Uchiha Mikoto with the Three-Tomoe.

This wouldn't work against Itachi, the weasel, with the Mangekyo; at least, it wouldn't work with his current spiritual energy.

After all, even Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, had to leave an arm behind when facing Itachi.

The same genjutsu, when used by a Three-Tomoe and a Mangekyo, was worlds apart.

Of course, it wasn't without a solution.

If spiritual energy wasn't enough, he could use his Devil Fruit ability.

If he really faced Itachi, even if Hyuga Tenhao's spiritual energy couldn't beat the Mangekyo Sharingan, he could still easily break the Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique.

He could directly open ROOM and manipulate the flow of chakra in his meridians.

The Op-Op Fruit could sense any object within the space, freely cut, assemble, swap, control, or combine targets within the space; it could even lift a Buster Call warship or a bridge.

Whether it was stopping or disrupting chakra, it was just a thought away.

It was ten times stronger than disrupting chakra through others or Tailed Beasts.