Chapter 170: Mental Energy Signal
"I'm so thirsty!"
Yuzu picked up a glass of juice from the ink table, took a few sips, then glanced back at Fanma Renza's bloodshot eyes and smiled at Li Yao. "I just want to stand there openly, letting him watch as his loved ones are whipped and humiliated. That expression would be amazing!"
She's gone!
Yuzu 's gone completely twisted!
"That's a great idea!" Li Yao's eyes lit up.
Fanma Renza had certainly had his share of lustful thoughts about Yuzu .
To make him watch her standing calmly while witnessing his mother and sisters being tortured—now that would break him even more.
Hearing the exchange between these two maniacs, Fanma Renza's eyes filled not only with rage but also deep humiliation.
He swore—
If he lived, he would kill them both!
He'd kill these freaks no matter what!
Too bad... it was all in vain.
Fanma Renza was already experiencing what it truly meant to suffer indescribable torment.
Five hours later, he was completely numb.
And in the depths of his eyes… even a trace of disgust had begun to show.
Fitting for someone who "cared most about himself"—his mindset shifted quickly.
"Uncle, should we kill him?" Yuzu asked. She had mostly vented her hatred. Killing him was fine now—unless Li Yao still had use for him.
Li Yao, straightening his clothes, replied while dressing, "No rush. I still need him for a ninjutsu experiment."
"What kind of ninjutsu?" Yuzu asked curiously.
"You'll know when it's complete." Li Yao chuckled.
Half an hour later, under genjutsu control, Fanma Renza's mother and sisters were bathed. Then, Li Yao and Yuzu set off again with the whole group.
On the way, Li Yao focused on observing how his genjutsu chakra was influencing Renza's mother's brain.
The essence of genjutsu is using chakra to interfere with a person's brain and create illusions—inducing hallucinations and trapping them within.
It mainly affects the mind—it doesn't directly implant illusions into someone's brain.
This kind of "influence"-based genjutsu is relatively easy to detect.
It might fool civilians, but more experienced shinobi would immediately realize when caught in a genjutsu.
Naturally, they'd then try to break it.
Some use overwhelmingly strong genjutsu to make it hard to break free.
But brute-forcing genjutsu doesn't match its true nature.
The ideal genjutsu is one that ensnares someone without them realizing it.
So—how could one cast genjutsu so subtly that the target doesn't even notice?
Li Yao's answer: a blend of illusion and sensory deprivation.
Combine genjutsu with the Perception Deprivation Technique.
If he could strip someone's senses, then inject false signals to simulate sensations in their brain—he could fully control their five senses. Like Aizen's Kyōka Suigetsu in Bleach, complete sensory domination.
If he could pull that off—and layer genjutsu chakra to influence thoughts—he'd be able to develop an illusion so strong that the victim couldn't tell reality from fantasy.
Currently, Li Yao was still developing the five-sense simulation aspect.
It's easy to take away perception—simulating it with false signals was the hard part.
But that was fine. He had a clear idea now.
Soon after, night fell.
Li Yao and Yuzu arrived at a remote valley where they intended to lay low for a while.
After dinner, Li Yao brought Fanma Renza's mother aside and formed a reclining chair with ink chakra, lying down as he continued his experiments.
While controlling the voluptuous woman, he cast genjutsu on her.
His genjutsu chakra made her believe that Li Yao was her son, Fanma Renza.
"Ah… you're… my son?"
"Son… what are you doing here?"
The genjutsu succeeded. In her eyes, Li Yao had become her son.
Li Yao took this chance, channeling all focus into his chakra sensing, trying to capture the moment when her brain formed the image of "her son."
Illusions originate in the mind.
When the brain imagines someone, it emits a specific kind of signal containing that person's mental "signature."
On Earth, this kind of signal might be imperceptible.
But in the ninja world, imagination was a tangible form of mental energy—it could be sensed as an actual signal.
Li Yao's idea was simple: simulate that mental energy signal. Then, using Perception Deprivation, remove the target's real sensory input and inject the simulated signal into their brain—fully taking control of their perception.
Once he could fully dominate all five senses, it meant he could simulate another person's mental energy.
And mental energy... is the essence of the soul.
If he could simulate someone's mental energy, he could replicate their soul.
At that point, the Perfect Transformation Technique would be complete.
Transform into someone else with the same body, same soul, and naturally—same chakra.
Soul perception wouldn't detect a fake. Chakra sensing would see no difference.
But… there was still a long road ahead.
His soul perception wasn't strong enough yet. It needed refinement.
In the days that followed, Li Yao trained in joy and leisure while focusing on strengthening his spirit chakra.
Just like he had cultivated Wood Release chakra, he now sought to enhance the nature and strength of his spirit chakra—to boost his soul perception.
At the same time, he pondered how to simulate mental energy.
He already had complete control over his own mental energy—but making it match someone else's was another matter. He had no reference.
He couldn't perceive any difference between others' mental energy and his own. They all felt the same to him.
But Li Yao knew they weren't. If mental energy were the same for everyone, then people's chakra properties wouldn't differ either.
So ultimately, it came down to one thing—his soul chakra wasn't strong enough yet.
Bottom line: he needed more time.
…
In the western plains of the Land of Lightning—
While Li Yao trained in blissful secrecy, the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki was leading Iwagakure's demolition corps in retreat, trying to evade Kumogakure's pursuit.
"What's going on?"
Ōnoki looked utterly baffled.
He had thought most of Kumogakure's forces were deployed to the Land of Earth and the Bull Horn Peninsula. He figured now would be the perfect time to launch an airborne attack on the Dharma Clan's Thunder Eagle Gorge, wiping out Kumogakure's aerial surveillance.
Without aerial support, their forces in the Land of Earth would collapse and retreat.
But the moment he crossed from the western coast into the Land of Lightning, Kumogakure's defense and surveillance ramped up dramatically—especially their anti-air measures.
Before they even reached central territory, they were spotted.
And as if that weren't enough, the Kumogakure shinobi attacked them as if they had already destroyed Thunder Eagle Gorge—going all out, sacrificing themselves to stop Ōnoki's forces.
He was left completely confused. Fearing encirclement from the Kumogakure frontline, he could only order a full-force breakout.
At the same time—
Somewhere in the Land of Rain, Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan had just met the Legendary Sannin. After a heartfelt conversation, Jiraiya decided to abandon the war for now and raise the three orphans—giving them the strength to survive this cruel world.
Thus, the wheel of fate began to turn.
In a hidden cave chamber, White Zetsu informed Madara that Jiraiya intended to stay long-term with Nagato.
"Lord Madara, should we call Li Yao back?" White Zetsu asked. Even Black Zetsu, hiding within him, sounded anxious.
The legend of the Rinnegan might be unknown to many—but Jiraiya, a contract sage of Mount Myōboku, certainly knew.
(END CHAPTER)
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