Konoha's Nanga River.
Ding ding, zheng zheng, cong cong, peng peng, dang dang, ding dong, ying ying, ling ling, ding ding dong dong, weng weng.
By the babbling river, clear and enticing high notes, soft and lingering melodies, and deep, resonant bass notes flowed with the water.
Sometimes high, sometimes low…
Notes danced out from the harmonica in Satoru's right hand, carried by his long, sustained breath.
From a hesitant, note-by-note beginning, gradually, the notes connected, and a cheerful tune slowly emerged from Satoru's mouth.
Despite starting with air leaks and sharp sounds, after only a few attempts at scales and notes, Satoru found accurate and stable intonation.
As the cheerful tune soared through the air, small birds from the trees by the river flew and circled above his head.
Chirp! Chirp~
Satoru extended his left hand, and several small birds landed on his arm.
The birds' eyes were filled with enchantment, and they bobbed their heads on his arm.
"Flatterers," he thought, sensing the birds' expressions.
He had just finished reading about the various ways to use a harmonica; even with great talent, being able to play a tune in a short time wouldn't be enough to enchant birds.
"Huh? Uncle Satoru?" Just as he was about to continue practising, a childish, sweet voice sounded behind him.
Satoru sensed the several figures around him, put down the harmonica, and slowly turned around.
Naruto had a fishing rod slung over his shoulder and was holding a tattered bucket.
"Yo, Naruto, you still remember me!" He said, taking out some rice grains from his bag and feeding them to the birds in his hand.
As a reward for their flattery.
He was quite skilled.
At the same time, he hadn't expected Naruto's memory to be so good; he had met him when he was one, and now at over three years old, almost four, he could still remember him.
Naruto's face lit up with a big smile when he heard Uncle Satoru still remembered his name.
It seemed like the most beautiful language he had ever heard.
"Uncle still remembers me?"
"I'm a Ninja, and information is paramount, so how could I forget a little guy like you?" Satoru pointed to his forehead protector.
Little Naruto looked up, his adorable blue eyes blinking: "Ninja? Are they the people who fly around on tall buildings?"
Grrrrumble!
Suddenly, Naruto's stomach rumbled.
"Ah, never mind, I'm going fishing." Little Naruto rubbed his belly, feeling that something was amiss. Although he still wanted to chat with Uncle, he rolled up his pants and went to the riverbank.
From his tattered bag, he took out some scraps he'd found somewhere and put them on the hook.
With a flick of his small hand, the hook dropped into the river.
Satoru smiled faintly, picked up his harmonica, and continued to practice his music.
Sound Genjutsu could be released without understanding music theory, but its effectiveness would be greatly reduced; this was experience gained by many senior Ninja.
Different music could bring different enhancements to Genjutsu.
At the same time, he infused a small amount of Chakra into the frequency of his playing, which diffused through the air with the music.
Naruto, who was fishing, and the Anbu hidden around him, felt nothing.
But when the sound waves merged into the river and spread deep into the water, some fish that were sleeping, or still, or gently swaying, with only their gill covers gently opening and closing, suddenly felt an urge to feed the moment the sound waves entered the river.
…
"Anbu Captain, this guy is a Ninja; he wouldn't be plotting something against the Nine-Tailed, would he?" In the shadows, an Anbu with a dog mask said to the silver-haired, cat-masked Anbu Captain.
Another Anbu also said, "Should we stop him?" They watched Satoru chatting with the Nine-Tailed, their professional instincts stirring.
They were afraid the other party was after the Nine-Tailed.
If anything happened, it would be their dereliction of duty.
The Anbu Captain looked at little Naruto, his small body holding a fishing rod, and felt a pang of sympathy: "I know that person; he wouldn't do such a thing, rest assured."
The other Anbu, hearing this, also suppressed the urge to drive the person away.
But they were also ready for battle at any moment.
And the Anbu Captain, watching Satoru play, not continuing to interact with Naruto, also breathed a sigh of relief.
Although this friend, based on his past impression, had no interest in the Nine-Tailed, they couldn't be unprepared; it was their duty to carry out their mission.
He also didn't want to confront this friend.
…
Splash!
A palm-sized fish was pulled out by the three-year-old Naruto.
He happily pressed the fish onto the grass, then carefully threw it into the bucket as if it were a treasure.
"Huh, what's going on today? Why are the fish so easy to catch?" His small heart was filled with confusion as he looked at the bucket full of fish.
At this moment, the sound of Uncle playing reached his ears again, and he felt it sounded better and better.
Then he looked at the fish in the bucket, held one up, and looked at Uncle: "Uncle Satoru, I caught so many fish today! I'll give you one."
Satoru was surprised, a smile appearing on his lips: "That's your catch, you eat it yourself. I'm going home now."
With that, he put away his harmonica, waved, and walked away.
"Ah!" Little Naruto was a little disappointed, but Satoru had already disappeared from his sight.
However, thinking that Uncle actually remembered his name and even called him Naruto, and with his abundant harvest today, he regained his sunny smile.
"I'm lucky today, I'll catch a few more to eat back home." Naruto looked at the full bucket, then at his clothes.
He decided to take the opportunity to catch a few more.
"Huh, why can't I catch any more?" "Let's try another spot." "Darn it, did Uncle's music attract the fish?" "Next time I see Uncle, I have to learn from him."
…
"Little conch, toot-toot-toot…" Walking on his way home, Satoru hummed a familiar song.
Meeting Naruto was an accident, helping Naruto was his kindness, but not helping too much was to avoid affecting himself.
As long as it didn't affect himself or his family, he was willing to do many things.
Like good deeds.
Of course, he had a sense of proportion with good deeds; he didn't do great good, only small good.
Small good wins hearts, great good earns enmity.
"Hmm, with a foundation in visual Genjutsu, the learning difficulty for sound-based Genjutsu has indeed decreased." From his recent operation, sound-based Genjutsu seemed quite simple.
But why was there so little information on this in Konoha's archives? Perhaps their musical talent was too poor.
Only a genius like him could call it simple.
Like visual Genjutsu, the system for sound-based Genjutsu is the same: to make the enemy experience Genjutsu, the transmitted content is the same, only the transmission method differs.
Visual Genjutsu can prevent enemies' eyes from wandering, effectively disabling a major weapon for them.
In the original work, Asuma and Kakashi, facing Itachi's Genjutsu, didn't know what to do other than endure it, and even the Genjutsu master Kurenai Yuhi was struggling, showing the advantage of visual Genjutsu.
The advantage of sound-based Genjutsu is its range and ease of hitting.
The disadvantage is that it can't catch people off guard; perhaps at the very first moment the sound begins, the enemy will realise there's a problem and quickly think of a way to break it.
Just like when he fought that Kumogakure Jonin, the visual displacement allowed him to be caught unaware.
"Hmm, it seems I haven't seen Iruka and the others in a while. They've all become Chunin, so their strength must have improved a lot.
After I get familiar with sound-based Genjutsu, I'll find them in a couple of days to practice, hehe!" Another thought flashed through his mind from time to time.