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I'm improving the writing and editing starting from Chapter 45!
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The three-legged crow dropped its cackling grin. Its crimson eyes darkened, fixed intently on Manji as the genjutsu waves engulfed him.
The Yatagarasu's illusion was unlike any conventional technique—formless, uncontrollable. Even its caster couldn't peer into the victim's mindscape.
The genjutsu simply reached into the deepest recesses of the target's psyche, found whatever they feared most, and built from there.
"Shame I can't see what's happening inside… I'd love to know what the invincible Sage of Six Paths is actually afraid of."
The crow murmured, curiosity and unease mingling in its voice, its wingbeats slowing.
.....
Inside the ocean of illusion.
"Doesn't seem like much, honestly."
The words had barely left Manji's mouth when the world around him shattered and reformed.
!!!!!!
His eyes snapped open—and he was standing in that bamboo forest. The bamboo forest. The one where he and Kaguya had taken down Isshiki all those centuries ago.
A crushing pressure clamped around his throat.
Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's cold laughter brushed against his ear—those merciless eyes inches from his face.
"Hehehehe… pathetic human. You walked straight into an Ōtsutsuki-grade genjutsu and didn't even notice."
Manji's peripheral vision swept the scene—Kaguya, pinned to the earth with black rods. The White Monkey King, collapsed and lifeless.
"Genjutsu?? When did I—"
Manji's pupils contracted. A wave of genuine shock rippled through him.
Isshiki's grip tightened. The laughter grew colder.
A horrifying thought detonated in Manji's mind—
What if the past several centuries were all fake? What if there was no resurrection? No victory over Isshiki? No sealing of Kaguya? No teaching Hagoromo and Hamura? No title of "Sage of Six Paths"?
'What if the real Manji had been trapped in genjutsu since the moment of that first battle against Isshiki—and everything since had been nothing but a beautiful illusion?'
Was it possible?
…It was absolutely possible.
His life had gone suspiciously well. Almost too perfectly—like something straight out of the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
The ripple of doubt had barely formed before centuries of trained composure crushed it flat.
'Everything might be fake, but the discipline forged over hundreds of years is REAL.'
Illusions could conjure any nightmare they pleased. They couldn't touch a mind that had been tempered by actual centuries.
Almost simultaneously, the scene shattered like dropped glass.
.....
Outside, in the barrier of the Land of the Yatagarasu—
The three-legged crow stared at Manji, crimson eyes blown wide with shock.
It could clearly sense the genjutsu still wrapped around him—and yet his expression hadn't shifted once. His aura remained calm as a windless lake. Not a trace of madness. Not a flicker of doubt.
Any normal person would have been devoured by their deepest fears the instant the Yatagarasu illusion made contact—screaming, thrashing, losing their minds entirely.
There had been one human who'd stumbled in before. The poor soul had spent his final lucid moments repeating "I did it, I did it" over and over—then gone permanently insane.
But the Sage of Six Paths—hadn't moved a muscle.
.....
Back inside Manji's consciousness—
He stood on the edge of a sea cliff.
Sheer rock at his back. Roaring, towering waves crashing before him. Wind and spray lashing his body, biting cold.
Manji's expression didn't change.
Storms? He'd weathered more than he could count.
This genjutsu was nothing more than a gauntlet of psychological pressure—layer after layer designed to destabilize his mind and block him from learning the Yatagarasu Sage Arts.
And more importantly—his killing intent perception had been dead silent the entire time. Not a single ping.
When Kaguya had actually betrayed him, his danger sense had screamed... Right now? The world around him felt utterly peaceful. No real threat existed.
That was all the confirmation he needed.
Manji closed his eyes. Dismissed the crashing waves entirely.
And began actively drawing in the Sage energy of the Land of the Yatagarasu.
Threads of black Sage chakra—dark as crow feathers—flowed into his meridians like coiling serpents. Using the genjutsu's own pressure as a whetstone, he started training the Yatagarasu Sage Arts on the spot.
The next instant, the cliff and the ocean vanished. In their place: a vast, endless army of shinobi, stretching to every horizon.
Hundreds of All-Killing Ash Bones rained down like arrows in a monsoon.
Countless Tailed Beast Bombs condensed overhead, apocalyptic energy screaming earthward.
Ninjutsu of every element wove together into an inescapable net of death, converging on Manji from every direction.
He didn't move. Didn't open his eyes. Didn't flinch.
He knew—all of it was illusion.
And sure enough—the instant those "lethal" attacks made contact, they burst into a cascade of cherry blossom petals. Pink and soft, drifting down to rest on his shoulders.
.....
Outside—the three-legged crow was in full-blown panic.
It could feel it—unmistakably, irrefutably—a dense, potent concentration of Yatagarasu Sage chakra rising from Manji's body.
And on his face—black Sage markings were materializing. Dark lines spreading from the corners of his eyes, tracing along his cheekbones in patterns that resembled crow feathers—radiating an aura of absolute, crushing authority.
The energy was purer than the crow's own.
The Sage of Six Paths had essentially mastered the Yatagarasu Sage Arts.
"THE SAGE OF SIX PATHS IS THIS POWERFUL??"
The crow's voice trembled, its crimson eyes swimming with disbelief.
"This is IMPOSSIBLE! No matter how gifted someone is, there is NO way to learn the Yatagarasu Sage Arts in a single hour!"
What the crow didn't know—couldn't know—was that Manji had lived for centuries. He'd already mastered the Sage Arts of Mount Myōboku, the Ryūchi Cave, the Shikkotsu Forest, and the Monkey King Clan. His understanding of Sage energy had been refined to a level beyond anything this world had ever seen. The Yatagarasu tradition was unique, certainly—but it still operated within the fundamental framework of Sage Arts. For Manji, it was like picking up a new dialect of a language he'd spoken fluently for centuries.
And above all else—
Manji was never afraid of learning Sage Arts.
'Hit me with the next one. I've never been afraid.'
A violent surge of indignation swept through the three-legged crow. It stared at Manji—seated in meditation, Sage energy growing thicker by the second—and a thought so reckless it bordered on insanity seized its mind.
What if… while he's still mid-training… I catch him off guard and KILL him?
'If I slay the Sage of Six Paths—I become the strongest being in existence!'
Thought became action. A vicious gleam ignited in the crow's eyes.
One powerful wingbeat—and a sword materialized in its talons. The blade was dark crimson-black, its hilt shaped like a gourd, radiating ancient, terrible power.
The Sword of Totsuka.
The crow suppressed every trace of its presence, glided silently toward Manji—
And aimed the blade directly between his eyes.
At that precise moment, Manji's eyes opened.
Their gazes collided.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Manji's brow furrowed.
"OH SHIT—"
The crow's internal alarm blared at maximum volume.
But its brain was already spinning at full speed—and in a fraction of a second, it made the only rational decision available.
It dropped to its knees.
Then executed a textbook kneeling slide straight to Manji's feet.
"Great Sage of Six Paths! CONGRATULATIONS on mastering the Sage Arts!"
"This humble one—unworthy as I am—wishes to present the two greatest treasures of the Yatagarasu: the Sword of Totsuka and the Yata Mirror! As GIFTS for the Sage!"
"I was coming to offer you the sword! That's what I was doing! The sword! A gift! For YOU!"
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Drop Some Powerstones~~