"Huh? Seriously?" Yujin instinctively expressed doubt.
He wasn't a sensory-type ninja, and he had virtually no ability to perceive another ninja's chakra. So, he could only rely on his own mental feedback to judge whether someone had cast a genjutsu on him.
Yet right now, he felt absolutely nothing.
"Look into my eyes. Do I look like I'm joking?"
Uchiha Mei was visibly surprised by Yujin's apparent immunity to her genjutsu.
Her Sharingan wasn't the illusion-focused type, but as a standard Uchiha, her genjutsu skills were nothing to scoff at.
Not that she was overly confident in her genjutsu or thought it could overcome every obstacle—but still...
If someone got caught in her genjutsu and broke out immediately, she'd think nothing of it. That was just a standard counterplay—reasonable and expected.
But Yujin's reaction suggested her genjutsu hadn't taken hold at all. She had never encountered anything like this.
If genjutsu was like setting a pitfall trap, then a normal ninja would fall into it and then climb back out. But Yujin? The pit was clearly there, yet he walked right over it like it didn't exist.
It defied logic.
But then again, chakra isn't always bound by logic.
After his transformation into White Zetsu, Yujin might have been stuck at the bottom of the deepest pit imaginable—so trying to dig a smaller pit inside it would mean breaking through the center of the earth first.
So, when responding to Yujin's doubt, Uchiha Mei cast the same genjutsu again—only to get the exact same result: nothing.
"Well then… can you try something stronger?"
Yujin secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The fact that he wasn't affected confirmed, to some extent, his earlier suspicions.
Since basic genjutsu didn't work on him, it was only logical to test something more powerful—so he made the request.
"…Fine."
Although the situation was bizarre, Mei was a bit competitive. With her Sharingan active, she formed hand seals and used a significantly stronger genjutsu.
Yujin… stared intently, eyes unusually clear, focusing on her Sharingan. Watching her wide, unblinking stare, he even wanted to ask if her eyes were getting dry.
"Still not working?"
This time, Mei had used a powerful mental-control genjutsu. In theory, her chakra should've invaded the target's mind and yanked out the desired information. But instead, she felt like she was reaching into an empty void—pulling out nothing but loneliness.
What was going on? Had genjutsu control theory just… stopped existing?
With this genjutsu also "failing," Mei clenched her teeth as the three tomoe in her eyes slowly spun—and morphed into an even more complex pattern.
She had activated her Mangekyō Sharingan.
With its power, even a weak genjutsu could yield top-tier mental manipulation. And yet—
Yujin blinked and said, "Fascinating. It even looks unsettling to the eye… Truly worthy of the title 'the Sharingan among Sharingans.'"
These eyes represented both power and risk. When locked onto by them, any ninja would instinctively feel a chill—like their life and death were now in someone else's hands.
"Why isn't my ocular power working?"
"How should I know? It's your ocular power—you should ask yourself."
Yujin had gotten the confirmation he wanted. Genjutsu had once been his greatest fear, but now he could finally relax. Truly… such excellent Sharingan illusions—they only made his mind clearer.
Mei deactivated her Mangekyō, looking at Yujin thoughtfully. His identity and background were clearly not ordinary; there had to be some secret hidden within him.
Someone who could stare calmly into Mangekyō Sharingan eyes could not be just another ninja.
But then again, it made sense. Anyone capable of rallying a group of rogue ninja in the shinobi world would likely be hiding something—a hidden past, a bold plan, some sinister tricks, or perhaps...
A never-before-seen secret jutsu.
Mei was deeply curious about Yujin's apparent immunity to genjutsu, but such matters touched upon someone's trump cards—she couldn't ask directly.
She wanted to ask—so badly it made her itch—but Yujin simply dusted off his sleeves and left, hiding his strength and reputation.
The next day, the two groups began to merge in the small forest grove.
Given that the Fūma clan was still relatively weak, Yujin proposed a mixed formation, pairing members across groups to enable one-on-one support within smaller squads. Essentially, it meant breaking apart the old Fūma structure and reorganizing everyone into new teams.
Yujin's approach was entirely reasonable—even open and transparent.
Small cliques were dangerous; real solidarity came from warming together as one big group.
As for Gorō, the clan leader, Yujin appointed him as his lieutenant—on equal standing with his two best aides.
They only had just over fifty people—about the size of two middle school classes—but restructuring them still took a lot of time and effort. They ended up staying in place for a full day and night before order was restored and they set out again.
With their numbers more than doubled, Yujin's supplies were quickly stretched thin. Unlike before, they could no longer afford to avoid towns—they had to approach them actively.
Yujin planned to buy supplies and gather intel in the next town.
The genjutsu he experienced back in "Big Brother Town" had been mental interference. What he'd gone through during that time was a mix of real and false events—but fortunately, the money he'd found was real.
Unfortunately, even with money, he couldn't spend it. When Yujin brought two people into a nearby town to buy food, the vendors refused to sell to them.
Because Yujin and the others were strangers, and in these chaotic times, food merchants only dealt with familiar faces… A restriction that made sense in wartime.
Still, Yujin was incredibly frustrated by the idea of having money he couldn't spend. He nearly lost his temper and used "Pick Up" on the spot.
Fortunately, he restrained himself. Watching another ninja successfully shop, he found a chance to steal some of the man's chakra, used Transformation Jutsu, and disguised himself as a regular customer.
He spent all the money and bought enough food to last a few weeks.
During this time, one of the scouts Yujin had sent out returned with useful intel—one of the local lords to the west was urgently hiring ninja.
A short distance outside a certain town, in the ruins of a small, unremarkable village, lay Ashes' temporary camp.
With the food crisis resolved, morale stabilized.
At that moment, Yujin, Morinaga , Ryūnosuke, and Gorō gathered to hear the report of one of their ninja.
"Word is, the lord of Kikyō Castle, Lord Date, is actively recruiting ninja."
"Kikyō Castle… and the Date clan?" Yujin silently repeated the familiar names to himself.
"What happened to their original ninja?" Morinaga asked.
For a feudal lord—or any worldly power—to maintain control in this era, they had to have an affiliated ninja force.
Whether through direct control or looser cooperation, no lord could function without ninja. A ninja might not need a lord—but a lord definitely needed ninja.
"Apparently, their previous ninja force was wiped out after a recent mission conflict with another group. So the Date clan has a major gap in their defenses and urgently needs replacements," the scout continued.
It was vague intel, but Yujin wasn't going to nitpick. Given their rudimentary organization and lack of familiarity with the region, this was good enough.
"Sounds like a great opportunity."
"But we might also be stepping straight into danger."
"There's always danger. That's the life of a ninja, isn't it?"
Yujin remained silent while the others weighed the potential benefits and risks of taking a "job" under the Date clan.
The logic was simple: if they accepted the lord's offer, they would have to carry out his missions—some of which would likely involve casualties.
"We're fragile right now—barely able to take on any risks."
"But we're just ninja. We can't escape our roles or the invisible rules that come with them…"
"Only through bloodshed can we carve out space to live."
"No one can deny that."
The conversation gradually took a grim turn.
Yujin simply listened. He seemed to be weighing the pros and cons, but in truth, he wasn't thinking that far ahead.
He couldn't bring himself to say something naive like "I'll make sure no one else dies." It would be laughably unrealistic—even someone like Hashirama Senju wouldn't dare promise that.
Even the "God of Shinobi" couldn't protect every clansman. And Yujin wasn't a god.
In a war-torn world, a ninja could only rely on strength. That was the road they walked, and along that road, there would always be battles—some won, some lost.
Victory meant survival. Defeat meant death. Simple enough.
And even if there were other things worth relying on, Yujin would still choose strength—because it was the one thing he could truly depend on.
A ninja's life may seem cheap, but in this era, only ninja had the right to control their own fate. Because they were the most dangerous, they were also the safest.
The logic was simple: those who could kill, could protect themselves.
Feudal lords might control more resources and appear to be above the ninja class—but the hand that held the sword could always be cut off.
The current state of the shinobi world was this: ninja factions were in constant conflict, while the ninja class as a whole maintained a fragile balance with the civilian-ruled domains of the feudal lords.
Ninja usually targeted other ninja. They rarely lashed out at feudal lords.
Likewise, lords rarely ordered ninja to attack rival lords—no one wanted to open that Pandora's box.
But with war intensifying, such political understandings weren't likely to last. Sooner or later, someone would try to get clever.
Give a man a hammer, and he'll look for something to smash.
Put a button on the table, and eventually, someone's going to push it.
Yujin knew full well what it meant to be a ninja. He didn't join the discussion—he had already made up his mind.
Before starting his own venture, he'd take a job.
Once the conversation wound down, Yujin calmly opened his mouth and said:
"Alright. Then let's head out...to Kikyō Castle."
His word was final.
...
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