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Chapter 30 - Chapter 30: Shadow Secret Art = Genjutsu?

Chapter 30: Shadow Secret Art = Genjutsu?

These people are...

Nara Keisuke sized up the newcomers. The faces of these uninvited guests were filled with undisguised, overbearing arrogance. Although they were dressed as ninja, they wore no forehead protectors. Only the character-emblazoned cloth tied around their waists could reveal their true identity—

"You are ninja from the Twelve Guardian Ninja?"

Akimichi Chōza had also noticed the dark cloth embroidered with the character for "Fire" (火). His brow furrowed tightly, his tone displeased. No one likes having their good mood ruined by a group of tactless strangers.

"It seems you Konoha ninja aren't as ignorant as I thought!" the young ninja in the lead sneered. "I thought you bunch of lowly paupers from the mountains only knew how to beg the Daimyo for money!"

As soon as these words were out, Nara Keisuke and the others were fine. But Sarutobi Asuma, that proud and arrogant "second-generation official," couldn't stand it.

"What nonsense are you guys spouting!" Asuma glared at the newcomers angrily, pulling a kunai from the ninja tool pouch at his waist and gripping it in his palm. "Are you looking for a beating?"

"Genin Sarutobi!" Nara Shikano snapped coldly. "If a monkey from your family bites you, would you bite it back?"

Sarutobi Asuma was baffled by the old clan head's strange metaphor. "Wh-What do you mean?"

The little monkey from the Sarutobi clan didn't understand. But the Guardian Ninjas, who had been insulted as "monkeys," understood perfectly.

"You—Nani?"

The leading young ninja was just about to step forward to teach these mountain folk from Konoha a lesson. But as he tried to move his legs, he found he couldn't budge at all. It wasn't just him; the other Guardian Ninjas were the same.

The shadow beneath Nara Shikano bloomed like a black spider lily. Incredibly flexible shadow tendrils radiated out from him as the center, accurately capturing every single Guardian Ninja opposite him.

Shadow Paralysis Jutsu!

Before any of these Guardian Ninjas could even react, Nara Shikano had already used his shadow to pin them in place. Compared to the battle-hardened old clan head, these young Guardian Ninjas were as pure and naive as flowers in a greenhouse.

"There's no need to lower ourselves to their level," Nara Shikano said, his expression placid as he strode forward. The other Konoha ninja hurried to keep up. "We received so many war supplies from the Land of Fire's Daimyo. It's nothing to let the Daimyo vent a little dissatisfaction."

From beginning to end, Nara Shikano never engaged in a direct conversation with these Guardian Ninjas. The highest form of contempt is silence. And not even sparing them a glance.

Feeling his pride severely wounded, the young ninja's face flushed red, and he angrily tried to say something. "You—Mmph!"

Shadow Neck Binding Technique!

A lacquer-black shadow hand whipped upwards like a lash, cleanly slapping the young ninja across the face. While tightly covering his mouth, the shadow hand also produced a slap that wasn't very damaging, but was extremely humiliating.

Smack!

Feeling the slightly numb pain on his face, the young leader went completely berserk. But after struggling for a long time, he couldn't even shake the Shadow Paralysis Jutsu, only able to let out pitiful, muffled grunts of "Mmm, mmm."

Seeing their leader's fate, the other Guardian Ninjas were so stunned that they didn't dare say another harsh word.

Nara Shikano's group calmly left the Daimyo's Residence.

"Let's part ways here," Nara Shikano said. He and Keisuke stood together, gesturing to the others. "We still have an additional mission to attend to. Inoichi, Chōza, keep an eye on these kids. Don't let them cause any trouble."

"We're not kids! We're already official Genin!" Sarutobi Asuma said, very displeased. "We know what we should and shouldn't do!"

'You're the little one I'm most worried about.' Nara Shikano paid no mind to Asuma's words, merely nodding to Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Chōza. 'If the Third Hokage's own son really stirs up some trouble in Kyoto, that would be a real problem...'

The ever-cautious Yamanaka Inoichi gave his assurance. "I understand, Uncle Shikano."

The broad-minded and big-bodied Akimichi Chōza stretched languidly. "Alright kids, let's go get a big meal together!"

After separating from the main group, Nara Keisuke followed behind the old clan head, heading towards a certain location in Kyoto.

"Clan Head, were those ninja just now the so-called 'Guardian Ninja'?"

He had to admit, those nameless background ninja just now had made Nara Keisuke's already poor impression of the Twelve Guardian Ninja organization even worse.

"Yes, the cloth sash tied around their waists is the proof of identity for the 'Twelve Guardian Ninja'," Nara Shikano replied. "Although this organization was jointly established by Konoha, the Land of Fire, and the Fire Temple back in the day, because its objective is to 'protect the Daimyo,' many of the ninja in the Twelve Guardian Ninja today 'know only the Daimyo, not the Hokage.'"

"However, not everyone in the Twelve Guardian Ninja is like that."

That sounds... really boring. Nara Keisuke complained internally.

"Twelve Guardian Ninja"—from the name of the organization, it wasn't hard to see that it had only twelve official members in total. Just twelve ninja, and they were already divided into separate factions like "loyal to the Hokage" and "loyal to the Daimyo"... Was all this drama really necessary?

Moreover, as far as Keisuke knew, the "Twelve Guardian Ninja" later split into two separate factions because of these two different ideologies. The two factions fought and killed each other, and later, a few surviving ninja even went to attack Konoha, intending to destroy it completely.

Destroy Konoha... Nara Keisuke had no idea where they got the courage.

"What? A little disappointed in this ninja organization?" Nara Shikano glanced at Keisuke's face and said with a light laugh. "In the ninja world, there has never been a completely harmonious organization. As long as they exist for a long time, every ninja organization will develop internal conflicts to a greater or lesser extent. Including our Konoha... ahem, there's no need to go into detail about that with you for now."

In Nara Shikano's view, Keisuke's biggest task right now was to focus on improving his strength. He didn't need to face or deal with problems like politics, organizations, and conflicts yet.

"Clan Head, I don't think the 'Twelve Guardian Ninja' organization has much of a future," Nara Keisuke said, no longer hiding his thoughts and speaking frankly. "Few people, tedious work, and the members are all scheming against each other. I don't like this ninja organization, and I don't want to join it."

"Made your decision?" Nara Shikano looked at him.

"Yes." Nara Keisuke nodded and said with feigned regret, "It seems I'll have to miss out on this special reward the Clan Head prepared."

"That's nothing," Nara Shikano shook his head. He led Keisuke on a winding path, and they soon left the bounds of Kyoto. "Remember what I said before? The two 'special rewards' prepared for the family mission depend on your own fortune and needs. Since you don't want to become a Guardian Ninja, then don't!"

The old clan head's attitude was very gentle. "Why don't you listen to what the 'second special reward' is now."

Nara Keisuke perked up his ears. This whole way, he had been extremely curious about the mystery the old clan head was building up. Could it be that there was really some great treasure in the ninja world that he didn't know about?

Leaving Kyoto, the two entered a lush, dense forest. The Land of Fire might not have many other resources, but large trees were certainly a common sight.

"Before we talk about the second special reward, I want to test your understanding of our family's secret techniques," Nara Shikano said, slowing his pace and stroking his beard. "Keisuke, do you know what the greatest advantage of our Nara clan's Shadow Secret Techniques is?"

"The greatest advantage?" Nara Keisuke pondered for a moment. "I think it's the strength of the jutsu's mechanics. Perhaps others think the strength of the Shadow Secret Techniques lies in their versatility, their ease of control, and their extreme stealth. But in my opinion, the root of the Shadow Secret Techniques' power lies in their powerful control effects."

The conventional five elemental releases—whether it was an S-rank ninjutsu or a D-rank one; whether it was the Lightning Release: Kirin falling from the sky or the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken penetrating to the cellular level; whether the attack was a wave of water, a flame, or a chunk of earth... at their core, they were all frontal attack skills. The only difference was the type and intensity of the chakra nature transformation.

But the Nara clan's Shadow Secret Techniques were different. They were "control techniques," one could even say "battlefield control techniques."

In a sense, the Nara clan's Shadow Secret Techniques could be regarded as a special type of attack genjutsu that was physically visible and had physical effects!

What was the fundamental principle of genjutsu? It was a Yin Release ninjutsu that used chakra to interfere with the opponent's five senses, disrupt the normal flow of their chakra, and make them fall into an illusion. Aside from a few special types of genjutsu, the function of most genjutsu was to confuse the enemy's mind and make them lose normal control over their body!

And the Nara clan's most basic D-rank secret technique, the [Shadow Paralysis Jutsu], also had the effect of restricting the enemy's ability to move. It wasn't just the Nara clan. The Yamanaka clan, which also specialized in Yin Release secret techniques, could be viewed in the same way. It's just that compared to the Nara's shadow arts, the usage restrictions on the Yamanaka's spiritual arts were greater, basically falling into the category of "limit-one-per-customer" self-destruct attacks...

Listening to Nara Keisuke's eloquent explanation, Nara Shikano's expression was one of complete shock. The current situation was as if the old clan head had only wanted to test Keisuke on "what is 1+1," but Keisuke had replied by explaining "why 1+1 equals two."

'So... our Nara clan... is actually a genjutsu clan...?'

(End of Chapter)

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