The Genjutsu Devil of Konoha

Kaito seemed proud—like, way too prideful, like he had some sort of trick up his sleeve to win this fight.

Seijuro wondered what made him think that. The boy had never defeated him in a fight before. He did seem to hate him.

Wonder why. Did he expect to have first place or something? Even Minato, a civilian, was stronger than him.

How the mighty Uchiha had fallen.

"I'll defeat you, Kurama! Genjutsu won't save you when I'm two steps ahead."

Hm. He sounded cocky... way too cocky.

The examiner raised a hand.

Seijuro took out his sword, but kept it sheathed—no point in hurting the kid.

He watched as the instructor called out:

"Hajime!"

As those words left the instructor's mouth, a one-tomoe Sharingan could be seen in the boy's eyes. He looked quite smug.

"With these eyes, you will not beat me," he said, full of pride.

Seijuro began hearing people in the crowd gasp.

"The Sharingan."

Some people were whispering about its visual prowess and how it was the Uchiha clan's most prized possession.

Just straight-up glazing it.

Kaito seemed to be basking in all that glory.

"The Sharingan, heh..." Seijuro looked at the boy.

The boy smiled.

"Do not despair now. Let me show the might of the Uchiha clan."

This would be very embarrassing if he lost after all that showboating.

Seijuro watched as the boy rushed at him, tossing a kunai his way.

He dodged it easily, rushing toward Seijuro and engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Seijuro met him halfway, clashing fists and trying to gauge his level.

Blocking a strike, he aimed to counter with a blow to the chest, but Kaito twisted his body to avoid it.

For just a split second, he lost visual contact with Seijuro.

When he recovered, Seijuro tossed a kunai at him. He dodged—barely.

Kaito retaliated, throwing a kunai of his own. Seijuro drew his sword and slashed it in half.

"If I remember correctly, the Sharingan grants the wielder two broad abilities: the Eye of Insight and the Eye of Hypnotism. If my memory serves me right, the Eye of Insight allows you to see chakra—though not as detailed as the Byakugan, you see it in color..."

"Even being able to see through some constructs, copy someone's jutsu with a glance, and predict someone's next move just by observing muscle twitches."

"So you know a lot about it. Doesn't mean it'll change shit."

Kaito rushed at Seijuro again. Seijuro watched his muscles twitch—a right hook incoming—so he tilted his head slightly left...

And Kaito ran straight into a punch, face first.

"What the hell?!" The boy looked baffled.

"Being able to see something and being able to react to it are two very different things."

"I saw it—you were going to throw a right hook." He looked genuinely confused.

"Oh, so it's quite effective on you guys," Seijuro said with a smirk.

"The hell are you babbling about?"

"It's quite simple. What you saw was merely a Genjutsu, nothing more. All I did was place a subtle illusion, nothing most people would notice unless they were looking for it. Long story short—your eyes aren't as reliable as you believe."

"Bullshit!"

"Use your Genjutsu. I dare you."

Seijuro sighed and drew his blade once more.

"Shatter, Kyōka Suigetsu."

The sound of glass shattering echoed in the air.

Kaito grinned as his one-tomoe Sharingan spun, and to him, reality cracked.

Yes.

He quickly went through a set of hand seals:

Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger

"Katon • Gōkakyū no Jutsu"

(Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)

The boy spewed out a massive fireball.

Seijuro responded with his own hand seals—fast, precise.

Tiger → Hare → Boar → Ram → Dog → Ox → Snake

Though really, he only needed:

Tiger → Hare → Boar → Ram → Snake

All done in roughly a second.

Granted, he could've gotten away with just three seals and the same result—but oh well.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall"

The earth rose as the fireball collided with it, creating a thick smokescreen.

Kaito smiled. In this chaos, he had the advantage.

Jumping over Seijuro's wall, he locked eyes with him.

"Got you." His one-tomoe Sharingan spun again as he cast a Genjutsu.

Seijuro... felt like this was an insult to his damn pride.

You know what?

Fuck this kid.

The second it triggered, the sound of glass shattering rang out again.

Kaito snapped back to reality.

The first thing he saw was the instructor, hand resting on his shoulder.

...Heh.

He turned around slowly.

Seijuro was sitting. Drinking water.

Wait... when?

How?

How did he lose?

His one tomoe Sharingan was still active—wait, what... when?

Back in the stands, Hiruzen would look at the scene.

He had seen it. He had seen when the illusion was cast. This illusion, however, had a delayed activation. The illusion was cast when the two were clashing. When the boy had released his blade, the Genjutsu was there. However, Kaito, being arrogant, thought only one Genjutsu was placed, not knowing that two Genjutsu were placed on him.

He got out of the first one, the obvious one. The second one, however, activated the second he lost track of Seijuro in that smokescreen. The boy was bitterly fighting ghosts for a solid 5 minutes—while Seijuro just watched.

Hm.

Next up: Hiashi Hyuga vs. Choza Akimichi.

Choza grinned, confident. "Hope you're ready, Hyuga!" Unlike his future son, he in fact was ready for that smoke.

Hiashi merely activated his Byakugan with a chilling stare. Those puny tricks of Seijuro would not work on him.

But first, to beat the fat man.

"Expansion Jutsu!"

He ballooned to enormous size, fists swinging.

The man simply dodged the attack, evading them with unheard-of grace, fighting quite seriously all things considered. He was the Hyuga heir, having received training since he was 4 years old. He had reached a high level long ago, and with his Byakugan, nothing could get in his blind spot.

Using the Gentle Fist, he began shutting down Choza's tenketsu points.

He was moving quite fast. He needed to win. He had to win.

Final hit—a palm to the chest—knocked the air out of him and ended the match.

Winner: Hiashi Hyuga.

Next up: Minato Namikaze vs. Inoiji Yamanaka.

The next fight was nice and all. He watched as Minato showed his quick speed and reaction time, even using the Shunshin Jutsu. It was quite nice to see. He had potential to be something great. If Seijuro didn't exist, he certainly would have been top of the class, since without him, Hiashi wouldn't have gotten so motivated to train.

Mikoto wouldn't be so strong, and Nawaki wouldn't have this rival-ish bond with him.

So yeah.

Oh well, long story short, he baited a Mind Transfer. When Inoiji entered his mind, the kunai Minato had launched in the air landed on the man's unconscious body.

So... yeah.

Mikoto Uchiha vs. Hizashi Hyuga.

The next fight was Mikoto vs. Hizashi. Unlike Kaito, she did not possess the Sharingan. It was fine—she was like 10 years old, turning 11 soon. She had plenty of time, and even with the Sharingan, Kaito was not that strong. His physical strength wasn't all there.

She parried a Gentle Fist strike and counterattacked at the boy's chest, to which Hizashi blocked. The Byakugan and its near-perfect vision, I tell you.

She was on the backfoot, making sure to stay out of his range. Academy students out here performing like newly graduated Genin, by the way. Oh well, who cared.

She used the Fireball Jutsu, and Hizashi, using his Byakugan, struck the fireball's chakra point and split it perfectly in half. Yes, perfectly in half.

This, however, wasn't her plan.

As her hand came out from the ground to pull him underground, the man jumped away—he had long seen her before she even had the thought of making that plan.

Launching a kunai at the man, he blocked. Once more, she used the Fireball Jutsu. Two kunai were launched through the fireball, and since the kunai were made of wood, two fire kunai were thrown at the man. He dodged the first one, and the second one, getting ready to split the fireball in half.

Individuals with a Byakugan have a near-360º field of vision around themselves, save for a small blind spot at the back of the neck above the first thoracic vertebra.

As the kunai reached that point, Mikoto pulled on the string attached to it.

Causing the kunai to return back to Hizashi... while the man was busy with the fireball, the kunai hit him, in the back of the head.

And since they were going by semi-realistic rules, in a battle, a kunai hit like this in the back of the neck... was fatal.

Winner... Mikoto.

Takeshi Uchiha vs. Shikaku Nara.

Takeshi came out swinging—fast, strong, with high aggression. Shikaku?

He stood still.

Until a shadow crept up.

Takeshi didn't notice until his body froze mid-swing.

Shikaku raised a hand lazily. "Checkmate."

Winner: Shikaku Nara.

Nawaki Senju vs. Ryo Sarutobi.

Ryo was no pushover. He used traditional Sarutobi style—taijutsu paired with Fire Style: Ash Pile Burning and skilled weapon control. But Nawaki was just as talented as his lineage suggested. He broke through the flames with Earth Release and overwhelmed Ryo with physicality and well-timed Shadow Clones.

One clever misdirection later, and Ryo was ringed out.

Winner: Nawaki Senju.

Quarterfinals are now set:

Seijuro Kurama vs. Hiashi Hyuga

Minato Namikaze vs. Mikoto Uchiha

Shikaku Nara vs. Nawaki Senju

{Some Inazuka vs Some Aburame}

Seijuro Kurama vs. Hiashi Hyuga

Hiashi walked up, and Seijuro was already there—his blade still sheathed. If only Seijuro knew how much this clan heir wanted to defeat him... it wasn't even funny anymore.

After making the seal of confrontation—

"Hajime!"

Hiashi's Byakugan immediately activated, his gaze scanning for anything suspicious, anything that stood out even slightly.

Getting into his stance, he didn't say much and immediately moved toward Seijuro. Seijuro made the smart choice to keep his distance and simply parry the strike.

The sound of palms being slammed away or redirected echoed. Not once in their exchange did Seijuro allow the boy's palms or fingers to make contact with his body.

"Gentle Fist," Hiashi said, aiming a blow at Seijuro's chest. Seijuro slightly unsheathed his blade—the glint of steel somehow reflecting in the Hyuga's blank eyes.

"Shatt—" Hiashi used his leg to kick the sword back into its sheath, then jumped away, eyeing Seijuro carefully.

"Your illusions... they require eye contact, don't they?" Hiashi said, staring at Seijuro, who responded with silence.

Hiashi had, in fact, sealed the sword tightly.

"As long as you do not release your sword, your illusions cannot be used. Now, can they?" Seijuro felt the boy was a bit too proud of his "achievement."

Oh well. He didn't care much.

He stepped into a fighting stance. Hiashi smiled faintly. If it was Taijutsu, the Hyuga were on top.

Rushing in again, they clashed once more. Seijuro ducked under a blow and aimed a punch at Hiashi's chest. The Hyuga blocked it and retaliated with a strike aimed at Seijuro's chest. Seijuro barely managed to parry it, causing the boy's fingers to graze his shoulder.

Damn, this was closer than he expected.

Launching a kick, Seijuro met Hiashi's block, who then aimed Gentle Fist at Seijuro's leg. In response, Seijuro flicked his wrist, producing a wooden kunai.

He tossed it at Hiashi's head. The boy now had to dodge—or he'd lose the match right then and there.

As Hiashi glanced at the wooden kunai, it seemed to shimmer.

"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu."

Hiashi didn't hear that, though. He rushed toward Seijuro again, only to be kicked away. Seijuro blocked every strike, but each one left his hands feeling number and number, until eventually, he could barely feel his arm anymore.

"You feel it, don't you?" Hiashi said. "You have no control over your hands anymore—and thus, cannot draw your sword. I have defeated you. Give up."

Seijuro sighed.

"Since when were you under the illusion that I have not already cast my illusion?" The boy's demeanor didn't change at all.

"There is no change in your chakra signature," Hiashi said, frowning. "And I'm not seeing any change in the chakra around me. Everything is as it should be. Unlike the Sharingan, you cannot trick the Byakugan with such feeble tricks."

Seijuro smiled.

"Try it."

Kai!

The sound of glass shattering echoed.

Hiashi looked at himself—something had changed.

He was standing outside the battle ring's drawn lines, while Seijuro looked perfectly fine... and the blade was unsheathed, lying on the floor beside him.

When...?

The kunai... Seijuro had used Transformation Jutsu in order to make him lower his guard. Some sneaky shit like that...

He lost.

How tricky was Seijuro?

Winner: Seijuro Kurama.

After making the sign of reconciliation, they both left the arena.

Minato Namikaze vs. Mikoto Uchiha

Hm. Seijuro wanted to see this fight. It should be fun.

Mikoto was agile, while Minato was just... fast. Though she didn't have a Sharingan yet, so it shouldn't matter.

Taking out a small notebook, Seijuro began making some notes:

{Dōjutsu – Sharingan}

The Sharingan grants the wielder two broad abilities: the Eye of Insight (洞察眼, Dōsatsugan) and the Eye of Hypnotism (催眠眼, Saimingan). Although the abilities are not literally restricted to certain eyes, both eyes could utilize them.

Eye of Insight:

The user can see chakra, giving it color to distinguish it by composition and source. Though not as capable in this regard as the Byakugan, it can see chakra through some (but not all) obstructions and detect irregularities in a person's chakra flow, such as those caused by influence.

The user is granted incredible clarity of perception, enabling them to read lips or mimic small details like pencil movements. Maybe the Sharingan could even see on a cellular level. In combat, this allows them to see fast-moving objects, and once fully developed, it offers some amount of predictive capability—they can anticipate an opponent's next move based on the slightest muscle tension in their body and react accordingly to dodge or intercept. Could trick them with some minor Genjutsu.

They can also read enemy hand seals, giving them insight into the nature of the technique performed—regardless of speed—so long as the hands are not physically hidden. Although a Sharingan user can see these things, they also need the physical ability to act on the visual information.

The user can copy almost any jutsu they see, memorizing Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu with near-perfect accuracy. They can then perform that jutsu or modify it to suit their needs. Again, Sharingan users need the prerequisite abilities before they can mimic a jutsu they've seen, so they cannot, for example, reproduce Kekkei Genkai abilities they do not have or haven't learned to perform.

Hm. That was good info, really. So while the Uchiha were Genjutsu thieves, they weren't as big of thieves as he thought.

The second ability was:

Eye of Hypnotism:

The user can perform what is generically called Genjutsu: Sharingan. While there are various manifestations and purposes, the better-known one is to, through eye contact, suggest thoughts and actions to a target—coercing them to divulge information or act in a particular way, potentially without the target's awareness.

This could potentially be used to tame Tailed Beasts—possibly how Madara got the Nine-Tails. The Uchiha Clan may have an evolution to their eyes...

Hm. Back to Mikoto vs. Minato.