ACSP: Chapter 211: Genjutsu within Genjutsu, this is the method of Sasuke Uchiha!
"This... how is this even possible?!" Zhao Xuansu was shocked to his very core.
The Sharingan came with an inherent, absolute insight effect specifically engineered to peel back the layers of all illusions. By all laws of combat, the Transformation Technique was merely a D-rank basic skill—belonging to the lowest, most elementary level of sensory deception. The two concepts were simply not in the same league.
Yet, at this exact moment, this most rudimentary trick had completely blocked the piercing insight of a high-level Sharingan. How could the world make so little sense?
"Impossible... this is absolutely impossible!"
Refusing to accept what his eyes were telling him, Zhao Xuansu pushed his limits, violently triggering his Mangekyo Sharingan to dissect the illusion once more. But the result was utterly identical. He still couldn't find a single flaw in the disguise wrapping around Jiang Chen.
What made him feel even more incredulous was the ambient energy signature; the Chakra aura radiating from Jiang Chen had actively shifted, mimicking Zhao Shui's exact frequency. It was as if the actual, living Zhao Shui were standing right in front of him.
Noticing the total breakdown of composure on Zhao Xuansu's face, Zhao Bin and Zhao Shui quickly followed suit, channeling their own Sharingan to scrutinize Jiang Chen. However, the moment their eyes adjusted, they were left just as frozen and stunned as the elder.
"Holy crap... what kind of freakish Transformation Technique is this? It actually leaves a Sharingan completely blind?!"
"How can this be happening?!"
The two younger men traded looks, their eyes wide with unmasked astonishment. It wasn't as if they had never encountered rogues or assassins trying to use basic disguises to infiltrate their ranks before. But under normal circumstances, those cheap tricks were exposed the exact millisecond a member of the Zhao clan blinked. Yet, the technique Jiang Chen was flaunting didn't just blind standard eyes—it completely fooled a Mangekyo Sharingan. It was too outrageous. Was the version of the technique he was using fundamentally different from the one they knew?
"While it's true the Transformation Technique is a low-level jutsu easily peeled away by certain visual prowess, what happens if I preemptively compromise those eyes using a Sharingan-based Genjutsu?"
Seeing the total bewilderment of the trio, Jiang Chen didn't bother hiding his tactical process, laying out the mechanism behind his trick.
In truth, Zhao Xuansu and the others weren't wrong in their fundamental understanding of mechanics—a standard Sharingan should see right through a basic disguise. However, the very instant the three of them had focused their gazes on him, Jiang Chen had subtly cast a layer of high-tier Genjutsu directly into their retinas using his own superior ocular power. Because they were already trapped within his localized mental loop, their minds failed to register the discrepancies in the transformation.
In the original lore, Sasuke Uchiha had deployed a variation of this exact sensory manipulation during his life-or-death duel against Danzo Shimura. Sasuke had utilized a subtle illusion to misdirect Danzo's perception regarding the remaining open eyes on his arm, tricking the old tyrant into thinking his ultimate defense was still active when it had already closed. But what Jiang Chen was executing right now was far more thorough and technically demanding—he was seamlessly encasing his entire physical existence within the optical blind spot.
Zhao Xuansu and the others didn't grasp what Jiang Chen meant at first. It wasn't until Jiang Chen smoothly withdrew his Dojutsu that the pieces finally fell into place.
"So I was trapped inside a Sharingan Genjutsu the entire time... no wonder..."
"What on earth just happened? When did I even fall under an illusion? Why didn't I sense a single disruption in my own energy flow?"
"It seems this kid's Ocular Power level is even more monstrous than we initially calculated..."
The trio was completely dumbfounded. They never dreamed they could be caught in an illusion cast by Jiang Chen without even registering the trap. However, as high-tier Contractors who had spent years mastering the Sharingan, they quickly reverse-engineered his logic after a moment of intense reflection.
"Little Brother Jiang Chen, while the tactical layer you just displayed is certainly brilliant, it is ultimately an opportunistic parlor trick that cannot be sustained over an extended period," Zhao Xuansu noted after a long silence. "Furthermore, when the grand Clan Head Competition commences, core members from all four ancestral branches of our Zhao family will be packed into the arena. How do you expect to ensnare an entire coliseum of specialized Contractors inside your illusion simultaneously?"
The elder's sharp interrogation caused Zhao Shui and Zhao Bin to hesitate once more. They had to admit that Jiang Chen's concept of layering a localized illusion over a basic transformation was a masterclass in misdirection—ordinary combatants wouldn't stand a chance of detecting it.
But the fatal flaw was resource management. Utilizing the [Sharingan] to cast and maintain a mass-scale illusion demanded an astronomical consumption of Ocular Power. When the succession trial began, easily one to two thousand elite members of the Zhao clan would be gathered in a single space. Even if one assumed Jiang Chen's Dojutsu was potent enough to subtly catch every single spectator in its web without alerting the high elders, the strain of sustaining a synchronized mind-wipe on thousands of specialized users was a mathematical impossibility. The sheer drain would turn an ordinary genius's brains to mush within minutes.
"You don't need to waste your energy worrying about that. Since I dared to propose this strategy, I naturally possess the absolute capital to execute it," Jiang Chen replied, a faint, detached smile playing on his lips.
He was perfectly aware of the logistical hurdles keeping Zhao Xuansu and the others hesitant. But to him, a bottleneck like resource depletion simply didn't exist.
As his character level consistently climbed, his legendary [Six Paths Physique] was gradually unlocking its true, god-like attributes. These passive enhancements didn't just scale his raw physical durability and skill output—they drastically amplified his passive recovery rates.
Within his system, this accelerated regeneration was categorized into three distinct, independent tracks: physical wound mending, stamina and Chakra replenishment, and most importantly, the near-instantaneous restoration of Ocular Power. At his current level, backed by the reality-bending architecture of the [Six Paths Physique], burning through a massive reservoir of ocular energy in a short burst wasn't a gamble—it was a resource he could recover almost as fast as he spent it.
Seeing his unshakeable confidence, Zhao Xuansu decided not to press the matter any further.
As things stood, the East Pavilion was undeniably the weakest link among the four major branches of the Zhao family, lacking both the numerical strength and the raw firepower of their rivals. If they didn't take a gamble on Jiang Chen and his team right now, they would be completely dead in the water before the Clan Head Competition even began. Wealth is sought in danger, and power is forged in crisis. To reclaim the immense inheritance left behind by the deceased patriarch and seize the absolute ownership rights to the coveted [Night of the Clan Annihilation] secret realm, he had to play this high-stakes card.
With the grand succession trial scheduled for two days later, and having no particular attachment to any other location in the Magic City, Jiang Chen and his companions accepted Zhao Xuansu's eager hospitality and settled into the East Pavilion estate.
However, Jiang Chen had absolutely no intention of letting those forty-eight hours go to waste.
The Magic City was a premier hub for world-class instances, boasting four or five high-level secret realms packed with elite encounters. He was determined to squeeze every drop of utility out of this brief window, pushing his character level further and refusing to leave any potential experience points on the table. After extracting detailed intelligence from Zhao Xuansu regarding the most dense high-yield zones, he immediately mobilized Ronan and Li Dala.
An hour later, high above a jagged canyon slicing through the eastern outskirts of the Magic City, a massive clay bird cut through the wind at extreme speeds.
According to Zhao Xuansu's coordinates, this canyon housed an advanced, high-tier secret realm that was practically tailor-made for rapid level grinding. Yet, the old man had coupled his directions with a grim warning: the difficulty threshold of this instance was punishingly steep, so much so that even veteran, high-level Contractors gave the perimeter a wide berth.
The reasons for its lethal reputation were twofold. Not only did catastrophic Tailed Beasts actively manifest within its depths, but the instance was anchored by a boss entity possessing an utterly perverse, logic-defying toolkit. That entity wasn't just a master of the devastating [Wood Release Kekkei Genkai]—he also wielded an extremely bizarre, specialized [Sharingan] capable of completely phasing through and negates any attack thrown his way.
---
📚 Want to read the next 130+ chapters RIGHT NOW?
✨ Patreon members get instant access!
👉 Join on -
🌟 patreon .com/Rogue_Reader