"Good luck on your first day!" Kudo felt bubbly at the sound of his mother's shout. She had overcome her husband's death, and she was interacting more with other people in the village.
Kudo, 8 years old, was now in his fifth year at the academy. It was currently 991 AH. He was making steady progress in taijutsu, as Iruka opted to hold sparring sessions more frequently, his ninjutsu was also improving; he currently has 8 jutsu outside of the basic 3 ninjutsu. Water ball jutsu, water clone jutsu, water veil jutsu, Flickering illusion jutsu, Piercing shot jutsu, Chasing serpent, Electric shock, and Lightning net.
His shuriken throwing and taijutsu were at the chunin level; only more experience in sparring and in missions would help him refine his shortcomings.
By combining his kunai techniques with Electric shock(D), he could now have lightning flowing around his kunai; it was just a kunai wrapped in lightning, not a chakra blade. He planned to learn the chakra blade when he began his kenjutsu practice.
Getting to class, fifth years were on an upper floor, "Morning." Kudo immediately headed to his seat, and the bustle stopped for a bit and continued after. In their 4 years together, no one had been transferred out; in fact, their class had grown from 30 to 37.Several minutes later, "Alright, everyone, settle down. Welcome to your 5th year at the academy, and let's have a pleasant year again.This year, as I have told you, we will focus on your genjutsu skills, specializations, and team formations. As you know, the village uses the 4-man squad system; therefore, when you graduate, you will be put into a 4-man squad along with your jonin sensei.
To start off, I have invited Akiko Kurama from the Kurama clan, known for their genjutsu, Akiko-san, if you will." The classroom door opened as a tall kunoichi with short black neck-length hair; she stood at 5 feet 9 inches. She had a placid look on her, stopping beside Iruka, she turned to the class. She was beautiful, given how some of the boys were openly gawking at her, which brushed the girls the wrong way. "As your sensei mentioned, I will be teaching you about genjutsu for the next 5 weeks. How much you learn will depend on you, and I hope some of you will become excellent genjutsu users. Now, any questions?"
Kudo immediately raised his hand, "You can ask your question." Akiko turned to him, "Why not the Uchiha clan, given that their renowned for their genjutsu? Is it because of the Sharingan?"
"Yes, the reason is due to the sharingan. When the Uchiha have not yet awakened their sharingan, they show excellent talent in genjutsu. However, upon awakening their sharingan, they only depend on it. Relative to a person who has spent their entire life focusing on genjutsu, they are less knowledgeable to teach others." Kudo nodded, and Sasuke's face was conflicted. He knew it was the truth, but a hard one to swallow. "Let's begin, shinobi rely on their senses to accomplish most tasks, and that is why they hone their senses to the utmost physical limits so they execute and make judgments in various scenarios.
Compared to the normal person, shinobi have sharper hearing, sight, smell, taste, and awareness. When those senses are honed to the limit, shinobi develop a sharp instinct for danger. Most assassinations require a very powerful and skilled squad to kill a veteran shinobi.However, if you can mislead those sharp senses, then even veteran shinobi can be killed as easily as a genin. This is why genjutsu is a powerful tool in the hands of those who know how to use it." There was a silent gulp after her words. Kudo's notebook sat open with no notes; he was just processing her words. "Genjutsu is not sleight of hand; it takes skill to fool the senses of veteran shinobi. Most genjutsu require the release of subtle chakra to influence the synapse of the enemy. Visual queues take advantage of the tendency of humans to understand, to feed false information, and then it becomes easier to plant suggestions into the mind.
You can convince an enemy shinobi on the run that the distance to his base is half a mile when in fact it is 1 mile. The enemy becomes relaxed and is thus easier to kill. If I can paralyse your mind, I can kill you where you stand without much difficulty." The class was silent. Akiko talked about the usefulness of genjutsu. In Kudo's mind, it was the perfect killing art. There's no need to overpower or outsmart the enemy if you can get them to lower their guard." It takes a while to become proficient in genjutsu; that is why our focus for this short period will be breaking out of genjutsu. Before you know how to use genjutsu, you must know how not to fall into a genjutsu, because if you and your opponent both know genjutsu, but they hit you first, then you are dead. No discussion, the dead don't talk." Her words, opposite to her face, had a dark undertone of mercilessness.
Kudo could tell that this was a dangerous individual. 'It seems I will have a lot of work this year.' Between learning genjutsu, becoming a sensor, sharpening his ninjutsu and taijutsu, shuriken practice, and hanging out with friends and family, there was barely any time left.
Root headquarters;
"Lord Danzo, the Hokage has shut down all our means of communications with our allies.""Thank you, Torune. I expected backlash, but not this severe. I really underestimated you, Hiruzen. Allying with the Uchiha? What a fool you are, Hiruzen, but no matter, let's be patient." Danzo stood up from his desk, Torune and Fuu followed him as they went deeper into the building, opening a massive door of steel and covered in seals. Beyond it lay tubes filled with green fluid and wooden human-like figures frozen in despair.