HGBW: Ch. 114

"Open your eyes. I told you to open your eyes!"

In a rare moment of losing her composure, the usually gentle and soft-spoken Mikoto finally unleashed a woman's ultimate skill: Being unreasonable.

She had no other choice. She simply wanted to witness the space-time ninjutsu of Tanaka.

Not only to understand the person who made her change her surname, but also to vent some of her emotions.

And the result?

He just operated blindly, completely negating her carefully prepared genjutsu.

Yet, Mikoto could do nothing about it.

After all, even the Sharingan's eye techniques couldn't force Tanaka to open his eyes against his will.

"Fine, consider this my return gift to you, Mikoto." Tanaka spread his hands, then slowly opened his eyes.

"Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!"

This was the moment Mikoto had been waiting for. Her Sharingan flashed as she immediately used the genjutsu and struck.

"Hmm?"

The instant Tanaka opened his eyes, he felt an icy, bone-chilling sensation flood his body, like frost and snow invading his chakra pathways.

Not only that, but a sharp pain shot through both his hands and feet.

When he looked down, he realized his limbs had already been pierced through by enormous stakes.

This must be the same move Itachi used to disable Orochimaru's arm.

Though his limbs were bound and the pain was excruciating, Tanaka quickly grasped the situation. He couldn't help but inwardly praise her. No wonder she gave birth to a son who would one day awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Even as a woman, she had awakened a three-tomoe Sharingan. Her strength was undeniable.

Because even he had to admit—if one wanted to deal with him, the best method was the Sharingan's eye techniques.

Especially instant-cast, unavoidable eye techniques.

"I've studied your abilities. In taijutsu, even though I'm a jonin and more than ten years older than you, I can't match someone with the Byakugan."

"In ninjutsu, since you have mastered space-time ninjutsu, I probably wouldn't even have time to form a single hand seal before your Kusanagi Sword is at my throat."

"But genjutsu, especially eye-based genjutsu, is your weakness."

Mikoto's crimson Sharingan spun rapidly, releasing a powerful and sinister ocular force:

"Indeed, the Byakugan can see through illusions, but it can only see through them—it doesn't prevent you from being affected by them. Unlike the Sharingan, which can not only see through genjutsu but also reflect it back onto the caster."

"My technique—even if you can see through it, you can't break free. You can only watch yourself lose."

As she spoke, she gripped a kunai in her right hand, stepped lightly, and dashed forward like a gust of wind toward Tanaka. However, just as Mikoto took off from the ground and initiated her attack, she was forced to stop abruptly within less than a second.

A cold, chilling sensation pressed against her neck, spreading through her entire body.

Her Sharingan slowly looked down. At first, she didn't think much of it. But the moment she saw it, the three rapidly spinning tomoe in her eyes came to an abrupt halt.

Her crimson Sharingan reflected visible shock.

Because, at some point, a blade was already pressed against her throat.

"When did this happen?"

Mikoto's pupils contracted, her heart pounding with waves of disbelief. She immediately recognized the weapon.

It was the Kusanagi Sword.

And yet, when she shifted her gaze forward, all she saw was an empty space.

"Impossible!"

She was completely certain that, under the effects of her own eye technique, Tanaka should have been unable to move.

And yet, he had not only disappeared without a trace. He had done so right under the watchful eye of her three-tomoe Sharingan.

First, she couldn't understand why Tanaka was still able to move.

Second, she was shocked that his space-time ninjutsu was so fast that even the insight of the Sharingan couldn't keep up.

"This is the space-time ninjutsu you wanted to witness."

Tanaka stood behind Mikoto, holding the Kusanagi Sword against her neck.

"My genjutsu should be the perfect counter to you. Even if you could still use space-time ninjutsu while trapped in genjutsu, your body should have remained completely immobile."

"After all, the Sharingan's illusions can only be broken by disrupting the target's chakra flow through an external force."

Mikoto clenched the kunai in her hand, gripping it tightly with her fingers.

Ever since she awakened the Sharingan, the influence of its cold and sinister ocular power made her feel like a different person—colder, prouder, and more obsessive than usual.

Especially when it came to the Sharingan's power, she had an almost blind reverence and faith in it.

At first, Tanaka had ignored her Sharingan techniques with his closed eyes, which was already unbelievable. But then, after she forced him to open them, he fell into her illusion.

Yet, not only did he break free, but she now found a blade resting against her throat.

How could she possibly accept this outcome so easily?

"A battle of illusions is a battle of spiritual energy."

Tanaka chuckled calmly and withdrew the Kusanagi Sword from Mikoto's neck.

The so-called ocular genjutsu could only be broken by disrupting chakra flow through an external source. In essence, it was because the victim's spiritual energy was too weak compared to the ocular power of the technique.

The more tomoe the Sharingan had, the stronger its eye power and, consequently, the user's spiritual energy. For an ordinary ninja to challenge an Uchiha in terms of spiritual energy was nothing more than a fool's dream.

But—was Tanaka an ordinary ninja?

No, he wasn't. He possessed the Byakugan.

As an ocular power inherited from Kaguya, one that could evolve into the Tenseigan, how could it possibly be weak?

The Hyūga clan had long believed in the supremacy of their Byakugan over everything else.

After extensively developing his Byakugan and supplementing his training with the flesh of Sea Kings, his ocular power had advanced tremendously. His spiritual energy had reached levels that needed no further explanation.

If it were a Mangekyō Sharingan, he might struggle against it. But a three-tomoe Sharingan?

With his understanding of countermeasures, it wasn't much of a challenge at all.

If it were Itachi with his Mangekyō Sharingan, then this method wouldn't work, at least not with Tanaka's current level of spiritual energy.

After all, even Orochimaru when facing Itachi.

The difference between a technique cast by a three-tomoe Sharingan and one cast by a Mangekyō Sharingan was like night and day.

Of course, that didn't mean he was powerless against it.

If his spiritual energy alone wasn't enough, then he had his Devil Fruit ability to compensate.

If he ever had to face Itachi, even if his spiritual energy wasn't as strong as a Mangekyō Sharingan, he could still break through the Shackling Stakes Technique with ease.

He only needed to activate ROOM and manipulate the chakra flow within his own chakra pathways.

The Op-Op Fruit granted him complete awareness of everything within a defined space, allowing him to freely cut, reassemble, swap, manipulate, or combine any target inside it.

Whether stopping chakra flow or disrupting it—these were things he could do with just a single thought.

Compared to relying on an external force or a tailed beast to break genjutsu, his method was ten times more efficient.