"Ugh, what was I planning just now?"
Link was groggy and confused. Then he opened his eyes and absentmindedly sat up in bed.
(Oh, I just woke up. The plan for today is… hmm…)
He rubbed his cheek, failing to recall exactly what he was supposed to do today—probably continue training, he guessed.
(Right, I learned the Flying Thunder God Technique, so now I should use it.)
Leaping over to the Training Ground Seven, he rubbed his face while standing there, faintly aware something felt off—why wasn't a shadow carrying him, why wasn't he in the Hokage's office, why was the sky so grayish…
(I need to cast Flying Thunder God right away, then go taste the new desserts at Dango shop with Sasuke!)
At the thought of desserts, his mood brightened, and he set about gathering chakra and forming seals in high spirits.
(Wait, what's the process for using the Flying Thunder God?)
He suddenly blanked, his hands frozen in mid-seal.
(Do I… actually know it?)
And then Link noticed there was a height-scale mirror in front of him.
1 meter 95!
He reached out to check, lips curving in delight. He re-formed the seals, releasing them.
(So it was all just genjutsu.)
He felt a twinge of disappointment at discovering the entire scenario was an illusion. He looked up:
Main World Sasuke was pressing both hands against his eyes, blood streaming between his fingers. Link reflexively cast Delicate Illness Extraction Technique on him—startled by how serious the injuries looked, somewhat like how Naruto would hurt himself with the Nine-Tails' chakra.
He repeated the fine-point extraction twice more, popped a specially modified high-grade soldier pill, and was about to cast a third time.
"No need." Main World Sasuke caught Link's wrist, wiping the blood from his face with the other. "The genjutsu experiment failed. And…"
He hesitated, then said,
"I don't think it's likely to succeed in the first place."
"Most illusions interfere with the five senses, manipulating the chakra in the brain. It's easy to disrupt your five senses or use other methods to immerse you in a genjutsu…"
"…But the moment you try casting ninjutsu inside the illusion, your mental energy gets involved. That force—" He paused for several seconds, concluding grimly, "…is so strong I can't even see where it ends."
"Not only is your own spiritual energy involved, it also connects, through the Net, to everyone else's spiritual energy. Even that future version of 'me' couldn't possibly control you under those conditions with mere illusions."
Even the future Sasuke, who had defeated Kaguya and seized the Nine Tailed Beasts at a glance, couldn't do it?
So that plan—using genjutsu shortcuts—was gone.
Link's feelings were complex. Learning he was essentially immune to illusions was good news, but failing to harness illusions as a shortcut to fully manipulate that power was a letdown.
(Why was I so wary of genjutsu all this time!)
Recalling the lengths he'd gone to avoid illusions, he found it almost comical. It was as if someone tried "training" a certain body part to endure prison… only to land in the women's ward by accident.
"No worries." Main World Sasuke, sensing Link's inner conflict, spoke in reassurance. "We'll be your strength."
Not just him and Utakata—the entire Uchiha clan would serve as Link's strength. So said the new young head of the Uchiha family, including even someone as legendary in the old timeline (and now obscure) as Uchiha Shisui.
(But in terms of sheer power, maybe the Uchiha aren't that big a deal these days…?)
Link's instincts sized them up. Knowing that if he activated his mutated ninjutsu, illusions couldn't touch him, it meant the Uchiha basically posed no threat. Even Sasuke's Eternal Mangekyō, best known for its Perfect Susanoo, had been neutralized with ease by Hashirama's demonstrations before.
An "Eight Gates" shadow plus Link's scalpel-like chakra technique might smash Susanoo like it was nothing.
(So I'm really that strong now…?)
He finally realized that compared to when he first started, only "First" Hashirama clearly surpassed him. Even Tobirama's stance had shifted. In fact, the Third Hokage's younger self had essentially surrendered the Hokage position to him.
He gently smiled, murmuring, "Yeah… you'll all be my strength."
Some strength wasn't purely about raw firepower but also mental support.
Though the shortcuts had failed, simply knowing he was immune to illusions was a victory in itself. Feeling more at ease, Link asked:
"What about your side, then?"
"Tomorrow, we're heading to that Third Parallel World to attack Kaguya," Main World Sasuke replied—pleased Link wasn't beating himself up. "Better get it over with than stand guard forever."
After all, you can't guard against thieves day in, day out. The ninja alliance's grand dream of peace wouldn't progress if they kept cowering from Kaguya.
"But aren't they supposed to wait until that natural-energy technology yields more results?" Link frowned. He was worried for his friend.
"Tobirama's going, too," Sasuke explained. "The nature-energy research has already come up with a decent prototype. They tested it on some remote isles in the Second World twice, got a pretty formidable result. Plus, Hashirama got the Sage's Yin-Yang power for sealing Kaguya."
"Wait, Yin-Yang? I thought he only got the yang half!" Link was confused.
He recalled that night, after the explosion, Hashirama had shown only a sun-like mark on his palm.
"Dunno. I just heard from those two from the 'future' timeline," Main World Sasuke shrugged.
(Must've been the old Sage visiting in a dream again, giving away the yin power. That miser…)
Link clenched his fist. He wasn't jealous—no way. Right. No envy at all.
He definitely wasn't bothered that the old man claimed to "trust" him yet gave Hashirama the freebies. Next time that old geezer turned up as a toddler, Link might just…
He let go of the thought. He did recall Kaguya's skill with space-time jutsu.
"Anyway, best to end it fast," Sasuke said. "Then those 'future' versions can leave."
He understood Tobirama's sneaky strategy—he'd given them "copies" of the technique but not Link's special chakra. So the "scroll" was basically worthless. Clever.
"Let's hope things go smoothly…" both of them said in unison.
~~~
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