The world of genjutsu shattered like broken mirrors, piece by piece flaking away and dissolving. Those twisted colors and warped spaces all turned into nothingness.
Kurama Yakumo stared blankly at the ceiling. "We… won?"
Yūhi Kurenai was the first to rush forward, hurrying to Yakumo's side, her voice urgent. "Yakumo! Are you alright? How do you feel?"
"Kurenai-sensei… I…"
Yakumo's gaze slowly swept around. Her mother was helping her father up from the floor. The father who had struggled through life-and-death in the illusion—Kurama Murakumo—had in reality been lying right in front of her, not even two meters away.
And—
Standing quietly at the doorway was Hyuga Kiyonari.
Kiyonari had both hands in his pockets. There was a soft, indescribable gentleness in his eyes, and a faint smile on his face—yet the smile also carried a sense of "not quite satisfied," and even a hint of wild smugness.
After all, anyone who could play "Ultraman" once in an illusion and still hold back laughter would be truly inhuman.
Yakumo's nose stung. Tears instantly flooded her eyes.
"Kiyonari—you… you really came to save me…"
"It wasn't me who saved you," Kiyonari said, denying it.
Yakumo froze. Tears still clung to her cheeks, and confusion completely replaced her earlier excitement.
Not Kiyonari?
Then… who?
She clearly remembered it: Kiyonari appearing in the illusion, transforming into Ultraman, destroying the monster Ido had become.
Kiyonari glanced at Kurenai, who was checking Yakumo's condition, then began explaining what had happened from start to finish.
"I happened to go out for something, and I ran into Mrs. Kurama hurrying by. She said something had happened to you and she was going to ask Kurenai-senpai for help. So I came ahead—but I kept getting blocked outside the genjutsu."
"Why would that happen?" Yakumo couldn't understand. Wasn't Ido trying to harm them?
Kiyonari shook his head. "I don't know. All I know is—Ido refused to let us get close to this room. When Kurenai-senpai arrived, she tried to break through, but couldn't find an opening right away."
Kurenai nodded from the side, confirming it. Just recalling that troublesome illusion made her expression heavy.
"Then how did you get in later?" Yakumo asked.
Kiyonari's eyes softened. "Because of you."
"Me?"
"Yes. You." Kiyonari nodded firmly. "You wrested control of the genjutsu back from Ido. You reclaimed your own power—so the illusion stopped rejecting our entry."
"So… it wasn't me transforming into Ultraman to save you."
"It was you—using your own strength—to become the light."
Yakumo's eyes widened. "By myself…"
"Actually, I should be the one thanking you." Kiyonari scratched the back of his head, looking a bit embarrassed.
"You let me experience what it feels like to become Ultraman in a genjutsu. Honestly… it was pretty amazing. Especially when I fired the beam—hehe."
It really did satisfy a childhood fantasy.
Even if it was genjutsu, it was real enough. And everything in the illusion was decided by Kurama Yakumo's subconscious.
In other words, whether "the monster" or "Ultraman" was stronger, whether the battle would be evenly matched or completely one-sided—everything depended on Yakumo's subconscious.
And unfortunately for Ido, in the novel Kiyonari and Yakumo created together, that "Ultraman" was a one-shot boss killer.
The original text went:
Ultraman: I only have three minutes of activity time.
J: Three minutes?
Ultraman: Believe me—three minutes is enough to save the world.
So Ido died—without even lasting a second.
Kurenai suddenly took a deep breath, and in everyone's tense gaze, she said slowly, "After careful examination, I can confirm Ido has completely disappeared."
Just then, Murakumo, supported by his wife, walked over.
Seeing her father, Yakumo's shoulders began to shake. "Father… I'm sorry… I… I almost…"
Murakumo raised his hand and gently pressed it on his daughter's head. "Don't say that, Yakumo. And… this incident let me see your true strength. Your genjutsu talent is… extremely high—beyond what I imagined."
He deliberately changed the subject, not wanting her to drown in guilt.
"Yes." Kurenai sighed quietly. "The Kurama clan's 'Five Senses Manipulation' is terrifying. If you can fully control that power, you'll become one of Konoha's top genjutsu ninja."
Kiyonari couldn't help asking, "Kurenai-senpai, I have a question. Isn't genjutsu just tricking the senses? Then what's the difference between ordinary genjutsu and Five Senses Manipulation?"
Genjutsu was a strange thing—its ceiling and floor were worlds apart.
At the low end, it was just a few hallucinations, easily broken. At the high end, it reached "reviving the dead" or "making the false real."
Special mention: a certain someone who treats Izanagi like a revive token.
Kurenai was happy to explain. "You're not wrong. The essence of all genjutsu is deception."
"Most genjutsu creates hallucinations to disrupt judgment and gain an advantage in battle. But if the hallucination is too bizarre, too illogical, it's easy to see through."
"A higher-level genjutsu user—like Sharingan genjutsu, or me—can use genjutsu as a primary attack method. We can make it hard for you to tell real from false, and even invade your body by deceiving your senses, controlling your chakra. Even if you realize it's fake, without a companion, it's hard to break free alone."
Then Kurenai's gaze shifted to Yakumo. "The terrifying part of Five Senses Manipulation as a bloodline limit is that it focuses entirely on deceiving your body."
"Kiyonari, you're studying medical ninjutsu—you should know the human body has five basic senses. Our understanding of the world relies entirely on the information those senses send to the brain. And as the name suggests, Five Senses Manipulation can completely control your senses."
"Your sight tells you what you see is real. Your hearing tells you what you hear is real. Your smell, taste, touch—every sense sends the same message to your brain: this is real."
"In that case," Kurenai's tone grew grave, "no matter how absurd the illusion is, no matter how much your reason tells you it's fake, your body won't agree. Your body will react according to the sensory information."
She paused, then emphasized, "Suppose, in Yakumo's genjutsu, you're stabbed through the heart by a kunai. Your eyes see the blade go in. Your touch feels every detail of the point piercing flesh. Your ears hear the blade tearing muscle. You smell blood. Every sense tells your body—you are dead."
"So even if your mind knows it's genjutsu, your body will believe it has died. The heart may stop. The brain may shut down—leading to one result: you truly die."
Thinking back to his own experience in the illusion, Kiyonari nodded. "Yeah… in the genjutsu, it really felt like I became Ultraman—not like I was puppeteering something called Ultraman. There was no barrier."
Suddenly, he remembered a part of Itachi Shinden.
In that official novel, Uchiha Itachi used the Mangekyō technique Tsukuyomi to create a false world where Uchiha Izumi fell in love with him, married him, had children—then grew old and died.
She lived a happy lifetime inside the illusion, and when it ended, the real Izumi also truly "died of old age."
So the baseline level of "Five Senses Manipulation"… was already basically Tsukuyomi.
Think about Itachi's illnesses and near-blindness, then look at Yakumo—an almost no-cooldown, potentially AoE "Tsukuyomi," with the only cost being a weak body.
And if she grew older and her genjutsu mastery deepened further, she might even deceive reality—making the false become true.
The pinnacle of Yin Release: shaping form from nothing.
Like Izanagi—turning real death into an unreal dream. Or like Yakumo's original appearance in canon, when she flicked her brush and created a lightning strike under clear skies, hitting the Hokage Tower and starting a fire.
Kurenai stood there with a faint smile, watching the girl talk with her parents.
But deep in those jewel-like eyes, a complicated emotion flickered.
Yakumo… if only you could someday deceive yourself.
Ido.
Even if the monster gained self-awareness, even if it could think independently and try to control Yakumo, its essence had never changed.
It was always a part of Yakumo—a manifestation of her deepest denied, suppressed, fearful, and avoidant emotions, given form by her immense spiritual power.
Yakumo feared Ido, yet also relied on Ido.
When people are weak, they often fantasize about a "big brother" figure who will step forward and solve everything—so Ido was born.
Kurenai remembered the last time this happened. Back then, she planted a "seal" inside Yakumo's mental world and claimed Ido had been locked away so Yakumo didn't need to fear.
But in truth, that seal was fake.
She had only used genjutsu to trick Yakumo into believing Ido was bound by sealing arts and could never cause trouble again.
Once Yakumo truly believed it, her subconscious responded—and then Ido, as part of that consciousness, naturally couldn't stir trouble.
It was a carefully built self-hypnosis system.
Like the cage Ido created in the illusion just now, making Yakumo believe she was "imprisoned." If you're imprisoned, you can't do anything—so even if she wanted to save Murakumo, she couldn't act and could only pray.
From the very beginning, once Kurenai understood Ido's nature, she had wanted to use genjutsu to make Yakumo believe she could defeat—even destroy—Ido.
But she failed. All she could do was fall back to "sealing."
What shocked Kurenai—what felt unbelievable—was that Hyuga Kiyonari, with nothing but a fictional novel, achieved what she could not.
Perhaps… at the root of it, Kiyonari had already replaced Ido in Yakumo's subconscious, becoming her new object of reliance.
Ido may have sensed that too, which was why it tried to create a fake "Hyuga Kiyonari" to smear the real Kiyonari's position in Yakumo's heart. Not only did it backfire, it even voluntarily took on a more concrete monster form.
In a sense, Ido had committed suicide.
Kurenai sighed inwardly, and her gaze at Kiyonari held more approval.
What an outstanding child. No wonder Lady Tsunade favored him and took him as a disciple. If I saw him, I probably couldn't help—
Kiyonari, having untangled his thoughts, turned to the tired Yakumo and smiled gently.
"Get some good rest. I'll come again tomorrow and ask Katsuyu-sama to condition your body."
He was about to leave when Yakumo's voice called from behind.
"Kiyonari-kun!"
She stopped him, her voice full of expectation.
Kiyonari paused and looked back—asking silently: what is it?
A faint blush surfaced on Yakumo's face. A little embarrassed, she said, "Um… next time, should I use genjutsu to let you experience becoming Ultraman again?"
"I noticed when the illusion ended… you looked kind of reluctant, like you wanted more. I could create a genjutsu space just for you, so you can experience it as much as you want."
She wanted to repay him in her own way—using the genjutsu she was best at to give him a joyful experience.
But Kiyonari shook his head.
"Ultraman… that power doesn't exist to show off."
In the illusion, when he became Ultraman, he had truly felt that kind of strength—almost omnipotent.
It was wonderful, intoxicating. But if it was only for tasting power, only for enjoying the thrill of standing above everything, then it would completely betray the meaning of Ultraman's existence.
And that would mean betraying his childhood.
The most romantic thing about Ultraman was that moment—when disaster descends, and he pulls out the transformation device in front of everyone.
Kiyonari gave Yakumo a deep look, then turned and left.
Yakumo stood there in a daze, watching his back disappear. Her lips parted, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she said nothing.
After a long while, a relieved smile finally rose on her face.
She whispered, "Yeah… that really is something Kiyonari-kun would say…"
Then, even more softly, she spoke that name.
"Ido."
~~~
Patreon.com/Weze_
— You can read more Chapters in my Patreon Page! please vote, comment, share this, or visit my Patreon Page and join the Free Membership!