Drill Instructor:

Shinako walked once again to the muddy training grounds outside of the village gates. Today, she wore a rather ornate kimono of blue trimmed in green. She lifted the hem above the muddy ground, attracting the attentions of the soldiers. It was not everyday that they saw someone in such fashion out amongst their tents and running paths. Her hair fell in a cascade down past her shoulders, and she had applied her make-up expertly. She looked almost nothing like the Shinako who had delivered a lecture about Taijutsu. In fact, noting the disturbance, the unit commander had approached her to ask if she was lost. Now she sat properly before her usual crowd plus a few others who had heard that a high-born lady was visiting the camp.

Today's lesson was genjutsu, and her task was to impress upon the soldiers the utility and subtlety of such techniques. To Shinako, the art of genjutsu embodied the role of the shinobi in many ways. She smoke in her normal smoky voice, but the soldiers leaned in just a bit closer.

"Alright...You all seem a little bit startled to see me like this. You've become accustomed to seeing a mixture of practical garments when you look at me, characterizing me firmly in your minds as a shinobi. In fact, simply by changing my style of dress, I threw some of you so far off that you failed to recognize me."

She smiled softly, making an open gesture with her left hand as though she were serving tea at a fancy party.

"Today's lesson is genjutsu, deception and illusion techniques."

Shinako could see that the soldiers were not quite following her. She worried that she would have the same problem explaining genjutsu as she had with ninjutsu.

"Ask yourselves...what if, during the course of a battle, you were forced to constantly question everything that you see? As with all of the other shinobi arts that I have described to you, genjutsu is not as it appears to be, but unlike the others, its effects are not always readily apparent. These illusions can be nearly indistinguishable from reality, used to reinforce preconceived notions even as the world changes around you, or they can be used to completely subvert reality through manipulation of your senses."

As she had predicted, she was getting the same uncomfortable silence from her audience as she had with Ninjutsu. Fortunately, she had come prepared. She called for a volunteer, and a bald, muscular man approached the front.

"Genjutsu does not attack the body, but the mind. Are you prepared?"

The man nodded, holding his shield in front of him as she raised three senbon needles for the audience to see. Using a chakra string, she attached a bell to one of the needles, throwing two at the same time. The man easily blocked the one with the bell, but found that the second one landed in the exposed flesh of his thigh. It was not particularly painful even, but the soldiers nodded at what they saw. Shinako pulled on the string, and the bell jingled. Soon after, the man was staggering back and forth and muttering confusedly.

"This is a special genjutsu that affects the opponent's sense of equilibrium."

The man fell over briefly and swore loudly. At this, Shinako allowed the jutsu to end. She asked the man to describe what he had experienced, and he recounted the story to the other soldiers as Shinako expertly removed the senbon needle from his leg, applying a sterile cloth to stop what little bleeding was present. Once he was finished explaining, Shinako took over once more.

"I could achieve the same result by concussing him, or by puncturing his ear-drums. However, through use of genjutsu I achieve all of the sensory and psychological effects without any actual force being applied. I could use such a technique to easily subdue an opponent, or to create a distraction without putting myself in harm's way. Think of how easy it would be to overcome a bigger stronger foe while they wrestled with specters that existed only in their own minds."

Now Shinako was getting the full-on understanding from her audience. An almost visible shift indicated that the soldiers were no longer tense with misunderstanding. They understood, in principle, what genjutsu was, unlike the vague category of ninjutsu.

"In many ways, genjutsu embodies the life of a shinobi. We are not truly as you picture us. You see the animal faces that are the masks of the ANBU Black Ops, the most secretive shinobi in all the land, and you recognize them for what they are, if not what they can do...however..."

Shinako had them now, leaning in, ready for whatever knowledge she could impart. Often the lives of shinobi mirrored the illusions that they used against each other, even if they themselves did not realize it.

"What about when they walk around you in plain clothes? Who on your everyday walk to the bank, or the florist is a trained killing machine? How could you tell even if you knew to look for them? I am a woman of the Hidden Leaf Village, and a shinobi. I have frequently visited with you. You know my face and my voice. Yet, a simple change of clothing was enough to confuse and distract you. We've discussed the transformative nature of chakra. What if I applied my energies to just this type of deception, or even something greater, to make you believe you were in a different place, or a different time? What could I make you believe? What could I make you do?"

Shinako let the silence wash over her, suddenly saddened by the underlying implications of her final point.

"I wish that I could prepare you for the struggles of recognizing and combating genjutsu. Take comfort in the fact that these techniques are not nearly as commonplace as ninjutsu and taijutsu, but when facing a shinobi, as has been my constant message to you, be sure to constantly question the validity of what you see. Check and double check your surroundings. Remain in constant communication with your teammates. Do not trust your senses. Alright. Class dismissed."

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