Turning reality into illusion

"Yeah I could see the real world just slightly, but I don't think I would be able to break out of it just yet"

It was at this moment that Maku suggested that he try and recreate the convent that he grew up in. It was a easy request sure and Youka felt that he could do it and more than likely do it well. However that was not the problem, the problem was dealing with his past again which wasn't something he wanted to ever do. If his friend knew him like he thought he did he would see the quick change in Youka's demeanor from casual to purely serious as he formulated the idea and image in his head before letting it be manifest.

"Bare with me on this please...."

As he finished his statement he raised his head slowly from the bowing position, his left eye was closed and a small tear rolled down his right eye while his sharingan was activated. He propelled the genjutsu forward into Maku's mind to allow him to see what Youka's final day was like in the convent. What Maku would see was a homely sanctuary as a teen Youka sat kneeling under the virgin Mary statue praying before he was going to give his final prayer and enter into full priesthood. It was as he had said amen that a explosion would be shown and Maku would be able to see other priests dying in the background from the initial bang. There would be muscular men running into the convent with pure smiles on their faces as they cut down everyone that Youka held dear at that time.

It was at this time that Maku would get a glimpse of a faceless man whom Youka had purposly forgotten, so the face would no longer be visible. The man however wore the same sash and necklace that Youka always wore giving hints to Maku that this was the man that raised him. The picture would switch to Youka being locked away by the father figure and given the sash and necklace before one final kiss was put on his forehead and he was hidden away. The last thing that would be shown before the genjutsu faded was darkness coming as the door was closed and the screams of all of Youka's family died off into the distance.

Watching everything it was an interesting and enlightening visual. Youka had taken his simple request and showed him the truth behind his past. Maku witnessed everything and didn't miss a single detail. This must have been what pushed his friend to be what he was today. In the ninja world so often were youths scared with sins of blood. His friend was no different. Once the image had faded from view, Maku looked at his friend with new understanding, taking in the sash and necklace like never before. "Thank you for sharing that with me. Blood of the past often soaks our eyes in the present does it not?" He stood and placed a hand on his friend. "Let us continue to gave towards the future, and make those who sinned against us in the past pay dearly for it."

He retook his seat and continued with the lesson after Youka would say anything about what Maku had just said. "So to inflict pain into a person, it requires even greater focus into the genjutsu. The easiest way to do it, is to imagine pain you have felt and project it first in the same way you did the visual aspects. After you have done that, just like creating scenery you can mentally imagine the pain and transduce it into the victim. Now I can take it, try it one me."

(3446)

Youka wiped away a single tear again from his eye with his left hand. He hated bringing up his past but Maku was the only person that he trusted enough to show him how he became what he was. He had spent countless nights laying awake as he thought about all the things he had done because of that one moment in time. Luckily Maku had taken him for what he was and accepted it without trying to run away from him in fear. They would be friends forever and would more than likely die together as well as they both went on the battlefield and fought countless battles together.

His eye was becoming a little stressed and it was beginning to tax his body as well as it over flowed with chakra. He wondered if this was the power that his old friend Hikarishi had used, or a more advanced version of something else. Whatever it was it was an amazing ability and he would use it to it's full potential.

"Indeed friend we will always look forward, before we talk about this pain thing I do have one question. What do we tell Echo of this, if we tell him at all, I don't think this is something we should handle casually."

While Maku answered him, he would focus on making the pain thing a reality via his mental state.

Fuck, Maku had forgot about Echo being an Uchiha. The guy never talked about it after all, and most of the time kept his sharingan hidden. Now that Maku thought about it though, Echo's sharingan was different from theirs. Was there a level beyond 3rd tomoe? This was an interesting development. "Youka, you ever notice how Eco's sharingan is different from ours. I thought ours were fully developed, but now that I think about it, his is a more complex pattern, have you ever heard of such a thing?"

He would wait for a response while he considered what to say to Echo. "I don't know my friend. What if we just tell him the truth. Kiranomo acted out of turn and killed an Uchiha in a training exercise. To honor the memory of our fallen comrade we have borrowed his powers to he may live on for the glory of the village and further our goals and by extension Echo's. It is all about the phrasing." He would say. Lets see what Youka said to that. It was all about how you worded situations after all. "What do you think? I think it'd be worse if we lie and he finds out on accident is my only worry."

(2080)

"Yes, I have noticed, and this isn't my first time either, there used to be a friend of mine that you met when we traveled to Konoha together. His was different from what we both have as well, I think there might be something further beyond just this that we are missing. We should ask about it honestly if Echo is up for telling us about it we will either learn a lot or be punished."

Youka thought more on it while Maku talked about how they had achieved these eyes. He could feel the criticalness of this topic gripping him closely. They would have to approach this on a very close and guarded path.

"You know how I feel about playing with words, I always leave that style to you, which has saved our asses a lot of times. When we have the time and Echo is availible lets tell him and get it over with, after all he is our employer I would hate for him to find out any other way."

"no offense, but I agree I think I will do the talking. I seem to remember a time when you tried to intimidate him, and I thought he was gonna make the room explode before i finished my hot chocolate. So yes, next time he is avalable, we will tell him and see if he can teach us anything. Just have to take the good with the bad I suppose." He would say. Maku was a firm believe in that everything always worked out. They would just have to risk it. After all they had not killed anyone, they simply did not allow valuable resources to go to waste. Hell, that's practically commendable.

"Tell me more about this friend of your's eyes. Did they have any powers beyond what we have been able to achieve so far? I know very little of the Uchiha. They are not native to Takigakure, and even though I didn't think they lived in Yukigakure either, there does seem to be a lot of them up here lately. Even a member of the senju clan, practically history up here." He would wait however and see if Youka could say anything else about the eyes of his friend, Maku couldn't seem to recall his name at the moment.

All the while, he would be focusing chakra into his eye and gaining strength in it. He was going to attempt a solid genjutsu here in a moment, and was prepping his eye for it. Once they were done talking about all this, he would try to push this eye to its limits of visual prowess when it came to genjutsu. Though the talk of a further advancement was enticing. Greater abilities were always welcome, especially if it meant they could achieve their goals even easier in the future. How would Echo respond though. That was the real question of the day was it not. Time would tell

2,400

Youka laughed loudly as Maku agreed that he should be the one to do all the talking when it came to bringing up to Echo that they both had acquired a sharingan. Youka sat back and tried to think on all the bright ideas he always had for talking to people, it usually involved him trying to kill the person after talking, but talking was involved so that had to count for something right?

"Ah yes, his name was Hikarishi and he is a dear friend, he had the ability to produce a black flame from his eyes, which to me is a incredible feat if I do say so myself. If we could ask him maybe he would be able to tell us something as well, but the last time I saw him we had left him in Konoha."

Youka thought to think if there was anything else, but that's all he had or at least all that he could remember.

"What about this Senju you have in the village, do you think they actually know about their abilities? I've read a little about their powers from old times. They are pretty powerful once trained the right way. I could maybe perhaps convince him to share his abilities with us. It would be a very quick surgery as well, just a idea."

Youka was now back to focusing his new eye and pushing chakra to it. He would try his best to try and beat Maku at his own game and break a genjutsu that was placed on him. For some reason he felt he was more able to see through and get out of genjutsu easier than if it was just a few days ago.

"Try another genjutsu on me Maku, I would like to try and see through it myself and push my own mind back to reality. It might be hard and I don't fully expect to be able to break it, but I do need to try. We will also be going against others that can use genjutsu so I need to see where I stand."

"Ahh yes I remember hika he.  I never got to see him use any of those powers however, since my only interaction with him was when we had the three way brawl.". He said laughing at the memories.  Yea, now times were different if he could help it he would have no part of a close up brawl.  The opponent would be genjutsu'd long before such silliness.  "I have no plans or intentions to ever return to Konoha.  I didn't enjoy my first visit, then I didn't care for the second, so I'm not trying my luck on a third go.  It's a small world maybe be day our paths will cross again."

Looking for the wizard cat he noticed it had vanished.  Well there went the 100k Roy donation to the village that old rich family had left him.  Probably wasn't the best idea to spend all 100k on a wizard cat, but what was he supposed to do.  One does not simply turn down the chance to purchase a wizard cat.

"What are these abilities of the senju you speak?  I am not familiar with them to be honest.  I should probably study up on the skill of the clans of the world.  And about consent.  Let's just say that's not the most important thing anymore.  I developed a special implantation genjutsu.  I can place barriers in ones mind to block off memories.  I actually did it to Kira.  Notice how she wasn't as scared around you? Well she cannot access any memories of you ever hurting her.  So if we just take what we need it will be as if it never happened."

He would wait and see what his friends reaction to that would be.  It wasn't the most ethical plan but hell, when had they been all about ethics.  Maku was confident that they could do what needed done with this lad, fairly easy cover it up and the world would stay all giggles and rainbows.  Maku was intrigued about the senju however.  What could they be able to do.  It'd be sweet if somehow they would let him combine two elements he already had and like combine them to make something that would be super I sweet. Like maybe making trees, nah that'd be stupid.

"very well my friend, I'll give you a good one.  Just remember knowing its not real is not enough.  Anyone can discern something like that, and a genjutsu user who limits themselves to that being enough will never be considered a master.  What you have to do is imagine the genjutsu is a heavy chain wrapped around your body, and you need the muscle to shrug it off.  The weight is the illusion and the strength needed is your chakra." with that said he focused a large amount of chakra into his eye and shot forth an illusion into Youka's mind.

Instantly Youka would be taken to a beach.  Maku no where to be seen.  Youka was up to his chin in sand as hard as concrete.  The tide approached, every second getting closer threatening to drown him.  In addition there were little crabs everywhere, attempting to crawl onto his face and punch him.  They'd rend the flesh from his face, and tear gash after gash.  Not to make it easy, Maku made sure to weave into the illusion that any attempt to use a jutsu, or even access his threads would lead to a failed attempt and instead would electrocute him.  Well wouldn't want to make it to easy, right?


(3000)

Youka listened as Maku talked about never returning to Konoha, it was a ideal they both shared because the place was not the best of experiences for the both of them. If Youka would have things his way if they ever did go back, things would be different on many levels. The place was like that of a military compound, which meant it had information to be gleamed from it, information people would pay a lot of money for. Either way though the past was the past and he hadn't used the opportunity to his benefit while they were there and he wouldn't be risking his life to try it again.

"Ah yes the Senju, from what I've read in books and the few scrolls Yuki does have, they are naturalists in the purest form. Their abilities are linked with nature itself causing flowers and trees to grow just by influencing it with their chakra. This isn't anything we could learn on our own, and much like these eyes i think we would need to take something from the source of that power and make it our own."

Youka thought for a moment on Maku's other sentence, he had made an ability that pushed memories behind locked doors, which did explain why Kira was so ready to visit Youka and tell him of the things she had done. It was something that would be very useful but at the same time, his friend was a village leader now and his ninja trusted him. It couldn't get out that he was also wiping their minds and performing surgeries on them. It would have to be something that Youka did without his friends knowledge even if it costed Youka his friend, he was already in the capacity to do as he pleased being a Missing nin and no one would think twice about his evil nature, he couldn't let Maku be seen as the same.

"Let me handle things my way, so that it doesn't involve you. I promise to be gentle to your shinobi as well, I just don't want any of this coming back on you."

Of course Youka was lying, he didn't know the meaning of being subtle but he would ease his friends worries and begin using Yuki's nin as his medical experiments till he was caught. After they had finished their monolouge Maku formed another genjutsu and pushed it into Youka's mind by staring into his eyes. The sharingan in his right eye began to quickly work by trying to discern what was reality and what was imagination. Of course Youka knew he was in a genjutsu because he was sure he couldn't teleport, and wouldn't teleport his body under sand, close to the shore line, being attacked by crabs.....Maku was an asshole. Closing his eyes Youka began trying to weed out all of the falsities that his eye had pointed out and see through the illusion. Of course at first he had tried to use sheer force to break out of the genjutsu, but his strength was nothing inside this dream and he was electrocuted under the sand as the water hit his face making it increase the pain.....Maku was AN ASSHOLE.

Taking breaths to calm himself Youka began focusing his chakra into his new found sharingan attempting to break the genjutsu by over analyzing it and disrupting a portion of the genjutsu's power by implementing his own into the false world. If it was successful Youka would be back in the leaders chambers staring at Maku with  scowl on his face.

"You're an asshole"

Youka began looking for the wizard cat at this point, he knew he got three wishes from it...or was that a genie, it didn't matter. He would wish that Maku's women of the village were all turned into burly men with rugged beards and  whiskey breath.

Maku listened to his friends explanation of the powers of the Senju.  Maku was intrigued, guess he was wrong and they could make trees.  That power could offer a versatility that his own current techniques never could.  Thinking on it for a moment, he found that he did covet such a power and ability.  It would be so useful that how could they not attempt to gain such a thing.  Especially when people in the village had them.  Didn’t Maku and Youka deserve the powers more than some snot nose academy student.  After all, Maku and Youka could use the powers better than that boy ever could anyway.  Besides, he could make it so the boy never even remembered such an event.  As he continued to Listen Youka spoke about shouldering the full responsibility and not involve Maku.  He appreciated the context, and felt touched by the reasoning behind it.  However, it was a gesture that Maku would inevitably decline.  “No my friend.  Your shoulders are strong and you can shoulder much, but it is time for you to loosen the burden.  I will take some of the responsibilities and help you in this endeavor.  I have resources and ways to make this different.  Haven’t you wondered why no one is upset with Kira over the death of Yorice.  I have weaved a lie that has ensnared all enraptured by it.  TO make these holidays and hollow promotions mean nothing to me, so I can do them easly.”

After he spoke he initiated the genjtusu, and would watch Youka’s glazed over eyes as he attempted to break free from the illusion.  It lasted probably longer than Youka imagined.  After 5 minutes, the man’s eyes refocused and he arrived back into the real world, with a rather hurtful comment.  “Well I wouldn’t want to make it easy on you now would I?  Trial by fire, is always the purest way to learn.  Especially when it comes to genjutsu.  Many limit themselves by what is possible, this is something that I try to avoid if at all possible.  Therefore it is something I wish to instill to you.  I know you will never know the genjutsu that I do, however for what you will use, I will not see you be limited by the normal man.”  With that Maku leaned back and watched as his friend looked around the room presumably for the vanished wizard cat.  He would have to track that thing down at some point.

“Now as for out plan.  I am confident a situation will present itself in time, however we wil have to be cautious.  Echo will not appreciate what we are doing necessarily, but I still maintain we can make all of this work.  If you choose to take a life, ensure you weren’t seen and I will do the rest.  Our meeting place will be the morgue form here on, a fitting place for what we seek to accomplish.”  He would watch his friend and see what he would say about this.  Maku was done being seen as the savior of the group.  It was time to cast off his false shackles and reveal the true man the dwelt within his soul.

(3536)