What made the Aizen clone truly terrifying was not the raw strength of any single genjutsu, but his absolute control over genjutsu itself.
It was not as simple as casting illusions without hand seals.
When he truly used genjutsu, every movement he made could become a trigger.
Even a single sound could serve as the medium for an illusion.
In other words, you might only look at him and exchange a single sentence with him—
And already be trapped inside several layers of genjutsu.
Once wrapped in multiple illusions, breaking free from one was like stepping out of a single ring in a vast tree trunk.
Beyond that ring, there were still countless more.
A clone this terrifying was less a genjutsu expert and more genjutsu itself.
So long as he wished it, the moment you met him, you would no longer be able to tell whether you were in reality or in illusion.
That was exactly what had happened to Sarutobi Asuma.
The instant he kicked the Aizen clone, he was already caught in one illusion.
Then, the moment he looked at him again, he fell into Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique.
After that, the Aizen clone within the illusion used psychological suggestion on him, while the real Aizen clone maintained the exact same tone of voice outside the illusion and used sound to trigger yet another genjutsu.
But the most terrifying illusion of all was the one that came after Hell Viewing Technique.
Inside that illusion, Sarutobi Asuma believed he was locked in a deadly struggle with the Aizen clone and simply could not finish him off quickly.
This was a genjutsu the Aizen clone had created by borrowing concepts from other worlds.
Its effect was simple but horrifying:
Everything within the illusion would develop in the direction the victim wanted it to.
Because of that, someone caught in it would find it extremely difficult to realize they were trapped.
Take Sarutobi Asuma, for example.
Inside the illusion, he was on the verge of defeating the Aizen clone, yet he still noticed nothing strange.
On the contrary, he believed this was the real world and that the Aizen clone was simply such a terrifying genjutsu master that he had been pushed this far.
"Well then, it's over. Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique."
The Aizen clone used the same Wind Release technique they had clashed with at the very beginning to harvest Sarutobi Asuma's life.
When the wind blade sliced cleanly through Sarutobi Asuma's waist, the overwhelming pain finally jolted him awake from the illusion.
But by then, his life was already slipping away.
The look in his eyes before death was not one of hatred.
It was disbelief.
There really was such a terrifying genjutsu expert in the ninja world?
Even the Uchiha clan would not be able to compare to this person when it came to illusions, would they?
Sarutobi Asuma was not Hidan.
He was not Orochimaru, nor was he Tsunade.
He possessed no extraordinary means of survival.
Being cut in half meant certain death.
Against the Aizen clone, unless someone's spiritual power far exceeded his own, the battle was already decided the moment they met.
And that was with him not even using the Sharingan.
"Let's make a little use of this waste. Sarutobi Asuma's head is worth quite a bit. It hasn't reached thirty-five million yet, but it's definitely worth over ten million. And since he only just died, there should still be useful information left in his brain. I'll gladly take your ninjutsu and your training experience."
The Aizen clone quickly read Sarutobi Asuma's memories.
In truth, the training experience of a jonin was extremely valuable.
Every jonin had a different understanding of chakra nature transformation.
If those insights were refined—keeping the essence and discarding the waste—then one's development of chakra nature transformation could reach a completely unimaginable level.
Of course, that sort of work was not the Aizen clone's specialty.
That was the Kawakami Tomie clone's job.
The Aizen clone specialized in genjutsu.
The Mihawk clone specialized in swordsmanship.
The Hancock clone specialized in enchantment.
And another existed purely to survive.
As a result, the task of developing powerful ninjutsu had all fallen to the Kawakami Tomie clone.
The last time, she had developed the Secret Art Bomb.
After finishing her meal in town, she had originally wanted to enjoy herself and wander the ninja world.
Instead, all the other clones had unanimously decided that she should keep developing techniques.
Everything else could be handled by them.
"Damn it! I was the first one to come out. I'm the very first split body. I'm the true Kawakami Tomie. So why is the enchantment work handed over to the Hancock clone instead?"
The Kawakami Tomie clone was deeply dissatisfied.
Unfortunately, she could not disobey the original body.
In theory, every clone started with the same power and the same talent.
But in reality, that was not quite true.
It was similar to Naruto Uzumaki's Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
The Shadow Clones did not obey Naruto Uzumaki with perfect uniformity.
Uchiha Fujie's clones had the same upper limit of talent, but each of them leaned in a different direction.
Perhaps that was also related to the appearances they had chosen through the Transformation Technique.
For example, the Aizen clone's talent was focused mainly on genjutsu.
"I can't just hand Sarutobi Asuma's head in for the bounty like this. I'll need to change my appearance first. I'm not afraid of Konoha ninja, but dealing with them would still be troublesome. It would also interfere with my arrangements in the Land of Rice Fields."
Among Konoha's current ninja, the only one the Aizen clone truly feared was Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He was not afraid of the others.
Even Might Guy did not matter much.
At this point in time, Might Guy still could not open all Eight Gates.
Since he was going to alter his appearance anyway, the Aizen clone naturally had no intention of changing into just anyone.
Every possible opportunity had to be used.
Crack. Snap. Pop.
The clone's bones shifted, and even his internal structure subtly adjusted.
When the transformation was complete, he had taken on the appearance of the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Momochi Zabuza.
Speaking of which, the current Zabuza was no longer truly Zabuza.
He had already become a new Tomie.
Originally, the Mihawk clone had been on his way to Kumogakure when he happened to hear information about Zabuza.
He immediately judged that Zabuza would make an excellent target.
Zabuza's strength was a little lacking, but once assimilated into Tomie, his power could rise rapidly.
The Mihawk clone had done nothing complicated.
After finding Zabuza, he simply fought him and, during the battle, "accidentally" let a drop of his blood fall into Zabuza's wound.
Even a single drop of blood could grow into a new Tomie.
That was the terror of Infinite Proliferation.
In terms of overall ability, Zabuza was inferior to Uchiha Fujie.
Because of that, full assimilation had been completed in only a few days.
Danzo Shimura's assimilation was also accelerating.
As Uchiha Fujie grew stronger, the speed of the assimilation grew faster as well.
By now, Uchiha Fujie could briefly control Danzo Shimura directly.
He chose not to.
Exposure would only bring trouble.
Speaking of which, the reason the Mihawk clone had found Zabuza so quickly was because of the Kawakami Tomie clone.
She had developed a sensory ninjutsu with a detection range of three kilometers.
Compared to Sage Mode or Karin's later Kagura Mind's Eye, it was nothing special.
But the technique had only just been created, and the Kawakami Tomie clone who developed it was not strong to begin with.
That much was true.
In terms of raw power, the Kawakami Tomie clone ranked second from the bottom among the major clones.
If one counted those who had already been assimilated into Tomie as well, then she would not even be second from the bottom anymore.
Aside from the main clones, the current assimilated bodies were:
Danzo Shimura, whose assimilation was still in progress;
the son of the daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields, who had already been fully assimilated;
and Momochi Zabuza, who had also been completely assimilated.
Among them, the daimyo's son was by far the weakest.
After transforming into Zabuza's appearance, the Aizen clone went to a bounty station and exchanged Sarutobi Asuma's head for a twenty-million bounty.
The act caused an uproar throughout the bounty station.
After all, that had been the Hokage's son.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru had used Impure World Reincarnation to summon the Third Kazekage and Kakuzu to oppose the Six Paths of Pain.
After fighting for a long time, Orochimaru had finally grasped the abilities of the Six Paths.
But Kakuzu's soul had been extracted by Pain.
In the end, Orochimaru handed over his Akatsuki ring and promised not to reveal the Akatsuki's plans to anyone.
Only then did Pain let him go.
Although Orochimaru had been at a disadvantage and suffered injuries, he still had several powerful jonin in reserve whom he could summon with Impure World Reincarnation.
Defeating Pain was impossible.
Escaping, however, was more than feasible.
That was why both sides chose negotiation.
To Pain, Orochimaru was not especially important.
Once his plan was complete, it would not matter even if Orochimaru summoned more strong fighters through Impure World Reincarnation.
Besides, Orochimaru's technique was still imperfect.
Earlier, Kakuzu and the Third Kazekage had nearly broken free from his control.
Nagato, who controlled Pain, had no true understanding of the pinnacle of power in the ninja world.
The Six Paths of Pain were not remotely comparable to Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha.
There was one more reason Pain let Orochimaru leave.
That slippery snake's survival ability was simply too strong.
If it had been Kabuto Yakushi from the Fourth Great Ninja War instead, Pain probably could have killed him.
Then again, Kabuto Yakushi in the war had collected far more treasures than Orochimaru ever had.
Even Nagato himself had become one of Kabuto Yakushi's "collections."
In terms of raw power, Kabuto Yakushi was still inferior to the Six Paths of Pain.
But with Impure World Reincarnation, Pain would have stood no chance against him.