Chapter 29 – Not Even a Bit Illusory
"Uchiha…"
"As expected, it's Uchiha."
"No, it should be Uchiha."
The murmurs around them erupted like a spark in dry grass.
Oddly enough, rather than anger or suspicion, Tushi (the Earth Master) wore an expression of dawning realization, as though the fallen ninja stabbed by the earth spike was meant to be saved by someone from the Uchiha clan.
But did that ninja have anything to do with the Uchiha? Judging from his forehead protector, he clearly wasn't from that clan.
Besides, weren't the Uchiha the kind of people even dogs wouldn't bother to bark at?
Still, based on the reactions from the surrounding shinobi, it seemed Hajime's words hit the perfect nerve, whether by luck or instinct.
A well-timed misunderstanding.
Knowing full well that the more he spoke, the more likely he was to mess up, Hajime wisely stayed silent.
He casually tossed the ring of keys through the bars, landing them precisely in one prisoner's hands. Apparently too impatient to unlock them one by one, he simply pointed toward the waterlogged Tushi and said coldly:
"He's all yours."
…That forced, aloof attitude. It kind of fit with the famously awkward Uchiha demeanor, didn't it?
But Hajime wasn't in the mood to keep up the act any longer. He dropped Tushi unceremoniously onto the ground and turned to leave.
He'd achieved his goal—rescued a fellow clansman, and while he was at it, liberated the rest of the prisoners. What happened next in this place, or what those other shinobi planned to do, had nothing to do with him anymore.
Right now, something else weighed more heavily on his mind:
When exactly had he fallen under the genjutsu?
Once back on the surface, Hajime climbed to the top of the tallest building in town and scanned the layout below.
Unusual building placements. Suspiciously guiding signposts. Subtle machinery in motion. A faint rhythmic sound from some unknown source…
It all lined up. The entire village itself was a genjutsu trap. From the moment he stepped in, he'd already been caught.
There were hardly any living people in this town to begin with.
Using the environment itself as a medium for genjutsu—clever and efficient. It meant the caster didn't have the ability to cast large-scale illusions directly, but compensated for that with an intricate setup.
Hajime had to admit: the Earth Master had been more dangerous than he'd initially thought.
Though vast in scale, the illusion wasn't particularly deep. Any shinobi with a basic awareness of genjutsu should have been able to break free.
But by confusing a ninja's senses and gradually draining their chakra while they couldn't distinguish dream from reality—without ever engaging in open conflict—it was a cunning and elegant strategy to render even strong shinobi powerless.
Unfortunately for the Earth Master, Hajime simply wasn't a good fit for this kind of trick.
Once he understood how he'd fallen for it, the mystery vanished. With no more reason to linger, he turned and left the ghost town behind.
Not long after, just outside the village boundaries, Hajime suddenly looked back—
The entire town was in flames.
"…"
No doubt the freed prisoners had begun tearing the place apart in a frenzy.
——
Now, based on Hajime's background, it's fair to say he had no real defense against genjutsu.
His genjutsu resistance could generously be described as "rock-bottom." The moment someone cast it, he was the type to get caught without even realizing it.
Which explained why he walked straight into a genjutsu trap without the faintest suspicion.
In other words, falling victim to the illusion had been completely normal. The strange part was that he'd been able to break free at all.
And that only happened the moment he entered his White Zetsu state.
Meaning, he didn't escape using any technique of his own. He escaped because of something within White Zetsu.
There were two reasonable theories.
The first: after undergoing partial White Zetsu transformation, his altered body forcibly corrected the chaotic chakra flow caused by the genjutsu—one of the typical ways to break an illusion.
The second: a bit more complicated.
It's well-known that if a genjutsu fails to affect a shinobi, it's often because they're already under a stronger illusion.
In White Zetsu's case, they were created from humans caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. But when the Ten-Tails was sealed away, most people attached to the God Tree were freed—except for those who became White Zetsu.
So it's hard to say whether White Zetsu were merely once affected by the Infinite Tsukuyomi—or whether they've always remained within it, even now.
In a twisted way, genjutsu could be seen as a self-defense mechanism for White Zetsu.
Here's the logic: if White Zetsu could easily fall under another illusion, the Kaguya revival plan would've been exposed ages ago—something Kaguya and Black Zetsu would never tolerate. Think about it: they fooled Uchiha Madara, a guy notorious for being paranoid and suspicious. Doesn't that say something about their immunity to genjutsu?
Madara might have believed he created Zetsu, but who's to say he never once tried to test them with his Sharingan?
Whatever the case, Black and White Zetsu were practically leak-proof. Over thousands of years, no one had ever extracted any secrets from them.
So if Hajime's "White Zetsu Mode" grants him genjutsu immunity, that's a serious upgrade.
Genjutsu involving mental control or invasion simply wouldn't work on him—as long as he's partially transformed.
That kind of immunity would make "Zetsu-Man" a real problem on the battlefield.
The types of genjutsu Hajime would still need to watch out for, though, fall into two categories:
1. Sensory-deprivation genjutsu — illusions that block or strip away the five senses. These don't involve spiritual control, so White Zetsu physiology might not help.
2. Kotoamatsukami (Shisui's eye) — a totally unique and dangerous form of silent mental manipulation. Although it's also mind control, it's unclear whether it could override something like Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Still, Hajime wasn't worried about Kotoamatsukami.
Like he always said—by the time Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan actually appears in the world, his grave will already be overgrown with weeds.
If anything, he should be more worried about someone digging up his corpse for Edo Tensei than mind control.