Broadly speaking, there are two general schools of genjutsu.
The first and most commonly adhered to school is one wherein the target is purposefully or carelessly made aware that they are under a genjutsu and, as a result, are made to doubt everything they experience. Ultimately getting caught up in the fact that they cannot discern reality.
The second and most commonly used method by those wielding doujutsu is one wherein the target is slowly but surely completely entrapped in a genjutsu so that by the time they realize it (if they ever do), there is nothing they can do.
Right now, Hikaru was practicing the latter school, despite its increased difficulty if one is without a doujutsu. This was because, in his eyes, the first school was nothing more than a failed attempt at genjutsu. While it caused confusion, it lacked all subtlety and finesse in deceiving its targets. Anyone who could effectively use the latter school could effortlessly use the former, whereas the opposite was not true, thus making it apparent which school is superior.
Most importantly, training in the genjutsu school which he would later use with his sharingan would establish a sturdy foundation ahead of time. It was also a good exercise in chakra control and well suited to his already superb handling of chakra.
How was he practicing this complicated jutsu discipline? In a life or death struggle, of course! Except, it was only such a struggle for the Uchiha boy's unfortunate opponent.
"Yo-you, how are you so fast?" Hikaru's opponent asked in wonder as sweat dripped from his face.
"Is it me that's fast or is it just you that's slow?" He responded lightly.
"Grr, I'll show you slow!" The enemy combatant roared as he rushed in for another attack.
Truthfully, Hikaru wasn't mocking the man; he was telling the truth. During their first clash, Hikaru managed to send a sliver of his chakra into the man's nervous system, slowing his reaction speed and how quickly he could move his body in general by delaying the signals sent throughout his body.
He managed to prevent his opponent from recognizing this fact by deceiving the man's senses into believing that the world he perceived was all slower than it actually was. As for Hikaru's method of casting this genjutsu to aid in his initial attack? His eyes. Over the past three months, he had increasingly prodded and poked at his eyes using chakra, eliciting many different reactions.
One thing that the Uchiha had learned through his genjutsu study and eye experiments was that he could project chakra from his own eyes into another person's eyes and, by doing so, catch them in a genjutsu. It was the fundamental principle behind how sharingans operated in so far as genjutsu was concerned. However, when one did such a thing with a sharingan, they were given much more finesse, ease of use, and power. It was a tough act for Hikaru to pull off mid-battle, requiring great focus, and he strained his eyes doing so.
Given both his inefficiency with this method and his relatively weak chakra, he could barely even lull genin into a genjutsu using it.
"Tch. When are you going to stop toying with him? This is a mission, not your Uchiha playground." A voice that was deep for a girl sneered, interrupting his "fight."
Lazily turning his head from his opponent, Hikaru stared expressionlessly at the girl. His teammate.
Kimiko Sarutobi. A girl one year Hikaru's senior, with dark brown hair that flowed down to her shoulders in waves and eyes of the same colour. She bore a severe face, delicate nose and lips, yet pronounced chin and cheekbones. Clad in a deep blue haori with a brown nagagi beneath it and matching hakama, she exuded an imperious aura. Wearing such formal clothing during missions as a shinobi was unusual, to say the least.
After Team 5 recovered from their first mission, Anzu left the life of a shinobi behind her. Yet, that did not mean that she had entirely given up on her dreams; she still chose to grow as a doctor, devoting herself to developing her medical understanding and jutsu. From what she had told her two former teammates, she had taken a job at Konoha's hospital.
It didn't take more than a few days before another genin filled Anzu's place. Due to the ratio of female to male shinobi being roughly around 1/3, the Leaf authorities and most other shinobi villages attempted to balance teams based on that same ratio. As such, Anzu's replacement was another girl.
From the day that he had met Kimiko, she had been rude and dismissive of him. Her serious personality naturally meshed well with Ren's own, but even he found her attitude distasteful and, as a result, had a low personal opinion of her.
The girl's seemingly unfounded enmity toward Hikaru was later revealed by Kazuya when he lectured her on her behaviour. Most peculiarly, Kazuya had never again lectured her afterward.
Not only was she a member of the Sarutobi clan, which currently held the top position in the village, but she was also the daughter of someone belonging to the Senju clan, which had a turbulent history with Hikaru's own Uchiha clan, to say the least. As a result, she had both the arrogance and pride of a princess and shared her family's animosity toward the Uchiha clan.
๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐๐ฏ๐ป๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ. He inwardly grumbled. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด.
"Ah, so neither the Senju nor the Sarutobi clan places any value on working hard to improve one's abilities?" Retorting such, he then casually dodged a slow attack from his opponent. "That's strange. I had thought they got to their position based on hard work and effort, but if you say it is not so, then I will believe you." With that said, he struck his opponent in the face with his fist.
While one was a grown man in peak physical shape and the other was a young boy still developing his muscles, the former was sent flying by this small punch. Bouncing off of a tree, the man's body slumped to the floor, unconscious.
"That's not what I said and you know it!" Kimiko found herself shouting as she stomped towards the Uchiha, unable to accept such twisting of her words, to besmirch her great clans no less!
Grinning from ear to ear, Hikaru was almost gleeful as he stepped forward to meet her. "Listen, it's okay to tell me such sordid clan secrets. We are teammates, after all. You can be rest assured that no one in either of your clans will hear of how you view them as no-good lazy slackers."
The Sarutobi girl ground her teeth so hard that Hikaru could swear he heard cracking. "You really are asking for it. What gives you, a lowly Uchiha, the right to mock such great clans?"
Standing barely a breath away from one another, both genin were tense as their bodies prepared for a fight to break out at any moment.
However, despite the tenseness of the situation, Hikaru's smile only widened further before he feigned an astonished face. "Oh my, are you saying that both clans have fallen so low that even I, a lowly Uchiha, is able to mock them?"
"That's it!" She reached over and grabbed his shirt, pulling him toward her. Letting himself be yanked forward, the Uchiha wondered just what might happen next with a twinkle in his eyes.
Staring straight into his eager mocking eyes that she so detested, Kimiko spoke in a low tone trembling with fury.
"When we return to the village, I am invoking my right of Clan Honor." The boy's eyes immediately widened, losing their playful mirth. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆโฆ That was precisely the kind of reaction she wanted to see. ๐๐ฆ๐ต'๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ.
Shoving him away from her, the girl then stomped off without another word.
"Wait!" He called, stopping her dead in her tracks, yet she refused to turn and face him.
Happy to have her attention, the Uchiha continued speaking. "Doesn't a clan first require honor, for it to be attacked?"
Making no reply other than to emit a low growl, the girl stormed off with even more vigor than before.
A sigh came from a nearby tree branch. Moving his eyes from Kimiko's back, Hikaru turned his attention to the boy sitting on the branch to his left.
"Did you really have to antagonize her so?" Ren asked with a chiding tone. He had been waiting nearby, just in case he had to step in, but while things never rose to that level, they had in some ways gone beyond it this time.
Shrugging his shoulders, Ren placed his arms behind his head. "She was asking for it. She attacks me every chance she gets. If I just let her keep doing it, then it'll never end. More than that, she besmirched the honor of my clan first, repeatedly at that."
Ren could only nod in agreement. Although he had his own issues with the Uchiha clan, even he would never go to the lengths that Kimiko had and couldn't blame Hikaru for responding in kind. Additionally, he was more inclined to the boy's side since he had grown genuine respect for him and his abilities over the previous months. Both of them had developed a cordial, if not friendly, relationship.
On the other hand, Kimiko was far less effective of a shinobi than Hikaru, as one might gather from her still being a genin after a year, despite the village's current need for chunin. Most of all, her personality was trash. More than once, Ren had wondered why their instructor hadn't done something about the terrible state of their teamwork.
"Are you not worried about who you might face in the Clan Honor?" He asked, arcing an eyebrow in interest.
Although all clans involved in a Clan Honor could choose any willing member of the clan to fight, it was considered extraordinarily cowardly and dishonorable for the one who was initially called out in the Clan Honor to not participate. It was equally cowardly and dishonourable for the offended clan(s) to not send out opponents of around relative skill and age, such as a clan elder facing a genin.
"No, not really. I already have an idea of who it might be. It certainly won't be anyone from the Senju clan unless they've suddenly been growing some crouching dragons recently." Saying so, Hikaru strolled over to his fallen opponent and began dragging him off toward the direction Kimiko had left in by his leg.
Not long after, Ren dropped won and began walking beside him.
"Given how at ease you are, most would assume you're completely unconcerned."
"But not you?" Amusement was evident in Hikaru's voice.
"I can't recall a time when you don't act unconcerned." Replied Ren nonchalantly.
"Ah, trueโฆ" At this remark, Hikaru surprisingly felt a tad bit embarrassed. Kazuya had taken to calling him a battle maniac, and he had garnered a small reputation.
"I'm surprised you took him alive. You've been doing that a lot, more recently." Ren changed topics to the man currently leaving a trail of dirt across the leaves.
"I'm just trying something newโฆ." Hikaru answered.
However, the reasoning behind his seemingly benevolent actions ran deeper than that. He had realized something after snuffing out the lives of so many people. He had realized that such an act felt empty to him, carrying no weight at all. It was easy to do, both in practice and morally. In contrast, sparing the lives of his opponents was the difficult thing to do, carrying with it much more effort and weight. The exercise in restraint and added difficulty to his missions was another form of training for the young boy.
Following their first C-rank mission, Team 5 continued to be given assignments of a similar nature, especially the closer the war drew near. More and more rogue shinobi and bandits began buzzing around the border towns and villages, criminal activity was up, and laws were broken without a second thought. This mission had involved hunting down a group of men who had gone from town to town, shaking down businesses.
Leading up to and during a war, most villages involved would stop accepting a good portion of requests from lands outside their own. Thus, Team 5 had yet to once leave the borders of the Land of Fire.
Turning their prisoners into the local authorities, Team 5 returned to Konoha and parted ways after collecting their reward and having their mission designated as completed.
Knowing that news of the Clan Honor would spread soon enough, Hikaru decided to tell his parents as soon as he saw them.
"I'm homeee!" He called out as soon as he entered his house.
"Karu! Welcome back! How was your mission?" A feminine voice answered back.
"Easy. Just some hooligans, nothing difficult." He said as he put his sandals in their place. "What about you, when are you being deployed?" Asking this, he entered the living room and found his mother reading while seated on the sofa.
"Hmmโฆ Soon, I'm sure. I've already volunteered to be at the top of the list." Closing her book, she looked up at her son, "But never mind that. How are things going with that Sarutobi girl?"
"Ahโฆ" Hikaru's face betrayed a hint of embarrassment as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "About thatโฆ"
Ahma's eyes narrowed, immediately taking notice of her son's unusually awkward behaviour. "Tell me what happened." She patted the cushion beside her.
Obliging, Hikaru obediently sat down beside his mother as he quickly blurted out what had happened. "There will be a Clan Honor."
Shocked, Ahma had to process the information she had just received for several seconds. "A Clan Honorโฆ" She mumbled.
It was the traditional system the Second Hokage had established while acting as an advisor to the First Hokage, a means of handling disputes between clans over matters of honour and pride. It was designed to handle any remaining conflicts passed over from the days when Konoha didn't exist, as well as any friction that occurred because of these old grudges.
Naturally, the majority of the invocations of Clan Honor were between the Uchiha and Senju clans, followed far behind by those initiated between the Uchiha and Hyuga clans.
Such a right was granted to all those who belonged to the clans of Konoha but was so seldom used since the initial first two decades after Konoha's founding that most had forgotten about its existence. Since most clans got along rather well these days and with the dissolution of the Senju clan, there was no significant source of conflict between clans, certainly none severe enough to warrant such formal action. For any source of conflict that did occur between those hailing from different clans, the people involved usually settled it between themselves.
"Blasted Senju clan." Ahma eventually cursed. Although it was a great surprise to hear at first, it didn't worry her too much since the rules of a Clan Honor strictly prevented killing. Otherwise, all efforts to quash interclan conflict would only make things worse instead, with clans killing one another in a sanctioned environment and creating new grudges.
"I'm guessing things must have gotten pretty bad for you to have insulted the girl's clans so severely that she would invoke such an ancient rite?"
Although it was created anew for those within the village, its origins date back centuries. Used to resolve disputes between those from different clans without causing outright war.
Hikaru nodded. "She has repeatedly insulted and disparaged our Uchiha clan, but it seems she cannot accept them being thrown back in her face."
Sighing, Ahma then let out a short laugh. "What a stupid girl. It's likely that she was just used by others in order to instigate a situation of friction between the Sarutobi and Uchiha clans. More importantly, it will be perceived as between the Hokage and Uchiha clan, since Lord Hiruzen is the current Sarutobi patriarch."
Many people would think Ahma was being much too conspiratorial and even a bit crazy. However, Hikaru knew exactly why she would come to such a conclusion, and he had come to the same one himself.
The road to wiping out the Uchiha clan was a long one that Danzo had prepared for his entire life. It was only natural that he would cause friction wherever he could in order to shorten the long road. Kimiko was the perfect tool to create such tension, as both a Sarutobi and Senju, no one else better represented Konoha's establishment and the seat of power than her, sharing blood with both the founding two Hokage and the current one. Pitching her against an Uchiha was like a microcosm of the broader ongoing conflict between the establishment and Uchiha clan.
Additionally, Hikaru had taken notice of Kazuya's strange attitude towards Kimiko's constant picking of fights with him. ๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ซ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง.
Knowing all this, Hikaru still chose to fight back and play right into Danzo's hands. This was a result of his evolving plans. At first, he had wanted to lay low until he could slowly gather the strength necessary to overcome any obstacle. Yet now, he found himself wanting to acquire fame, as he believed garnering a reputation would allow him access to more resources in the future from both his clan and the village.
Perhaps, he might even draw the eye of Danzo and replace Itachi in his schemes to massacre the clan. If that were the case, then that would be advantageous for many reasons. Another possibility was catching the eye of Madara, who was still alive and searching for a suitable tool to stand in for him for the next two decades. All in all, he could see no significant downside to shining bright among his peers, even if he lacked the talent to shine as brightly as Kakashi.
There was, of course, the risk and likelihood of changing the timelines more than he would like, but as he grew and experienced newer and newer things, he found himself unwilling to just watch the story of Naruto play out before his eyes. He had already done that once before. Why do it now? No, with his knowledge, he was tantamount to a god; he just had to use it. Yet, that didn't mean he could act willy-nilly. He still didn't want to change things too much for the time being. ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐บ ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ด.
"Yes, mother. However, I could not allow our clan to be disparaged." Hikaru said, perhaps more defensively than he had intended.
"Sh, sh. I understand, my sunshine." She stroked her son's hair lovingly, proud of his refusal to back down and happy that he felt pride in his clan.
"I'm not upset, don't worry. Still, it is vexing that you were used as a mere political pawnโฆ." She sat in silence, pondering the ramifications and possible scenarios. "If my guess is right. You will be faced with the Lord Hokage's very own son, that Asuma Sarutobi. He was in your year at the academy, wasn't he?"
"Yes. He and I have a somewhat friendly relationship." ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฑ. ๐๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
"Yes. You've told me of that girl's capabilities, and she certainly isn't your match." Focusing her gaze, she stared into the eyes of her son. "Tell me. Can you win?"
A broad smile broke out on Hikaru's face as he let loose a slight chuckle. "I can win, mother."
"Good boy. I wouldn't expect anything else from you." She ruffled his hair. "Sir Yashiro speaks so highly of your skills, after all."
Pulling her hand back from her son's head, Ahma got to her feet, and her demeanor transformed entirely. Gone was the loving mother. The Lieutenant of the Military Police Force stood before Hikaru now.
"Now, let's go visit Lord Fugaku and inform him. The clan will need to make some preparations, and you will need to train, just to be safe."
"Okay." Nodding his head, Hikaru rose to his feet and followed his mother to Fugaku's house.
Usually, it would only take two or three days for a Clan Honor to actually be set in motion, following various attempts at reconciliation.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ... ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ.