Chapter 395: Genjutsu Resistance
"In my understanding, there is nothing that cannot be changed. The only thing in the world that remains constant is change itself, and the future is no different."
"Using this as a baseline, the future itself possesses infinite variations."
"Every prophecy of the Great Toad Sage has been sufficiently accurate, which suggests that this 'change' itself can be perceived."
"Perhaps the members of the Otsutsuki clan can perceive it as well. What we need to target is their perception itself."
"Point one: we can become so strong that we don't need to 'prevent' the future. However, if the enemy can see the future, they might simply wait for those of us capable of stopping them to die before attacking the Shinobi world."
This was the simplest, most crude method. As long as the Shinobi world continued to produce people capable of defeating the enemy, there would be no problem.
"Point two—and this is the most important point: to foresee the future, one must observe a person. Since observation is required, it means there is a point of contact." Orochimaru smiled faintly.
"Of course, the opponent might use a divination-style precognition, which is different from the Great Toad Sage's prophetic dreams. That would remove the direct observation step. But it's unlikely they use object-based divination, which only yields partial information because of the medium involved. That would introduce even more variables into the 'future.' If they use that method, we simply need to follow our plan, hide our strength and intelligence well, and we can naturally create more variables in the future."
Tobitake Tonbo nodded; Orochimaru's logic was sound. If future sight was like the Great Toad Sage's, it definitely involved some form of observation. If there were ninjutsu to counter observation, they could start there.
Orochimaru continued: "The opponent might also elevate their consciousness to a certain dimension, entering future time to watch the development of events from a 'God's eye' perspective. If that's the case, we must act as if the opponent is constantly watching us—as if someone is staring at us right now."
Hearing this, Tonbo felt a chill run down his spine. He released his perception, wanting to see if it were true. It wasn't impossible; after all, time travel had already happened.
As Orochimaru laid out these ideas, Tonbo felt that if given enough time, he too could create a corresponding ninjutsu. His talent was decent, but in terms of sheer inspiration, he couldn't compare to Orochimaru or certain others. There was no helping it; nobody is perfect. Though he was a transmigrator, he didn't have a System. He had to rely entirely on his own brain.
This situation of not knowing the future plot was truly uncomfortable. He missed the feeling of knowing exactly what happened in Shippuden.
"But these guesses don't quite achieve the goal of 'preventing' future sight, do they?" Tonbo asked. His objective hadn't been met yet.
He knew Kashin Koji's ability was to see all timelines, though that all was subject to skepticism. According to existing basic theory, timelines are infinite. The opponent's ability likely allowed them to see the most probable segments among all timelines. If someone's power truly allowed them to see through everything, Shibai Otsutsuki wouldn't have died. Even if he did, he wouldn't have left his remains in the Shinobi world.
Perhaps the purpose of leaving his remains was because he saw future timelines where he would be resurrected. For instance, if the Otsutsuki themselves had some flaw that required this type of death to start anew. Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that Shibai Otsutsuki truly could see every timeline. After all, aren't Omniscient and Omnipotent Gods common enough?
But was it actually possible? If he could really do that, Tonbo didn't care anymore. He had done his best. That wouldn't be a problem solvable by human effort.
Orochimaru opened the database for Urashiki Otsutsuki and pulled up a long list of data.
"Heh, of course. I wouldn't be so superficial; you should have thought of such simple things long ago."
"What I want to discuss is the physical and genetic information of the Otsutsuki clan. We have cracked it to this extent. According to current data, their bodies are not fundamentally different from us ninja; their life level is simply higher. They haven't reached a point that defies theoretical traces."
"And this is my key point: the observation of the future. The first method of defense is to strengthen your Genjutsu abilities. Force anyone observing you to fall into your genjutsu, thereby defending against their observation. This ability would require you to keep it active at all times, without a moment's pause." Orochimaru chuckled.
"And to do this, we must use the Otsutsuki clan's data as a starting point to find relevant triggers. We must bypass their genjutsu defenses so they cannot crack your technique, thus creating a barrier against future sight. The difficulty lies in how different Urashiki's data is from other Otsutsuki. If the difference is too vast, the genjutsu might fail. However, I speculate the probability of that is low. Though Otsutsuki evolve by eating the fruit of the God Tree, which might create differences, it's a manageable risk. We can take that gamble."
Orochimaru had also researched the Ten-Tails and the God Tree. Combined with the intelligence from Naruto and Tonbo regarding Kaguya and Otsutsuki evolution, he could deduce certain patterns.
Tonbo was stunned. Damn. This guy's analysis seemed flawless.
Visual-based genjutsu works on the principle that if you observe, you're caught. It all depended on whether his own genjutsu could affect an Otsutsuki. If the genjutsu was strong enough, he could use it to block the opponent's future sight. At the very least, even if the genjutsu only controlled them for a few minutes or seconds, it would cause them to doubt themselves or introduce more variables. By then, the effectiveness of future sight would be greatly diminished.
But he also saw the difficulty. Their current research hadn't reached the point of fully deconstructing an Otsutsuki's physical data; they only had a partial understanding of genetic information. Furthermore, his own Five Senses Genjutsu didn't have a massive effect on Otsutsuki. Previously, against Kaguya, it had only bought a tiny amount of time.
Trying to control an omniscient being like Shibai Otsutsuki would likely be difficult. Kashin Koji was on the side of the Shinobi world, so he wasn't worried about him; he was worried about the "deceased" Shibai Otsutsuki. After all, everything in the future might be part of a resurrection process the opponent already foresaw. No one knew.
Or perhaps there were enemies even stronger than Shibai. Or perhaps Shibai's soul had ascended to become a four-dimensional being. There were many possibilities. The best-case scenario was that the Otsutsuki was truly dead, leaving only a husk behind. In that case, he could certainly handle the clones created by Amado Sanzu. He had confidence in that.
He just feared the worst-case scenario.
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