"Today's exercise will test everything you've learned so far," Nakamura-sensei announced as our Advanced Foundations group gathered in the Academy's main practice area.
I exchanged glances with Daisuke, Mei, Takeshi, and Rina. After months of training together, we'd developed a comfortable rhythm, but Nakamura-sensei's tone suggested today would be different.
"The scenario is simple," he continued, pointing to a marked training area that looked like a miniature village. Wooden buildings, stone walls, training posts, and scattered obstacles created a complex maze with multiple levels and hiding spots. "Each of you will wear a colored flag attached to your belt. Your goal is to collect flags from the others while protecting your own."
He held up five different colored strips of cloth. "Red, blue, green, yellow, and orange. You can use taijutsu, training weapons, and all three Academy techniques. But remember, this is about skill and strategy, not just brute force."
My stomach tightened with nervous excitement. This wasn't cooperative training, this was pure competition between all five of us.
"The rules are straightforward," Nakamura-sensei continued. "Protect your flag while trying to capture others. The exercise lasts twenty minutes, and whoever has collected the most flags at the end wins. If someone takes your flag, you can still participate and try to capture flags from others."
He gestured to a rack of blunted training weapons nearby. "Any flags you capture should be tied somewhere visible on your person. Wooden kunai, practice staffs, and wooden shuriken are available. Choose wisely, they're part of your strategy."
Mei immediately moved toward the weapons, selecting a pair of wooden kunai. "This is going to be interesting. Every person for themselves."
"The terrain gives us lots of options," Takeshi observed, picking up a training staff while studying the mock village layout. "Plenty of places to hide and plan ambushes."
Daisuke chose a single wooden kunai and tested its balance. "My earth techniques should help with defense, but I'll need to stay mobile in that maze."
"Speed will be key," Rina said, selecting wooden shuriken and a wooden kunai. "My medical training taught me about pressure points and movement patterns."
I considered the weapon rack carefully, finally choosing a pair of wooden kunai.
Nakamura-sensei handed each of us our colored flags, securing them to our belts with clips designed to release under pressure but not fall off accidentally. I got the red flag, Mei blue, Takeshi green, Daisuke yellow, and Rina orange.
"Remember," he said as we moved to starting positions around the training area, "this tests everything. Physical conditioning, technique mastery, tactical thinking, and adaptability. Show me what months of training have accomplished."
When he gave the signal, we scattered.
I immediately used transformation technique, altering my appearance to look like one of the training posts. The material empathy from my blacksmithing experience helped me visualize the wood grain and weathered texture. Not perfect, but hopefully convincing enough from a distance.
From my disguised position, I watched the others move. Mei had climbed onto a raised platform, using her tactical mind to survey the area. Takeshi found cover behind actual training equipment, his staff ready for defense. Daisuke took a central position. Rina moved between obstacles with precision, each step calculated.
The first clash came when Mei spotted Rina moving between cover points. Mei dropped from her platform, using her wooden kunai, while Rina spun to face her with surprising speed.
"Found you!" Mei called out, but Rina was already moving.
Rina threw her wooden shuriken in a wide arc, forcing Mei to dodge, then closed the distance with her kunai. Their weapons clacked together as they sparred, both trying to get close enough to grab the other's flag without exposing their own.
Takeshi emerged from his hiding spot to help Rina, but Daisuke intercepted him. The staff and kunai exchange was brief but intense, with Daisuke using his superior strength while Takeshi relied on reach and technique.
That's when I made my move. While everyone was focused on the main fights, I dropped my transformation and sprinted toward Mei, who was still engaged with Rina.
Just as my fingers brushed the blue cloth, Mei suddenly wasn't there anymore. A wooden training dummy tumbled through the space where she'd been standing, and I caught a glimpse of her rolling behind a wooden barrier several meters away.
I rolled to avoid Rina's follow-up attack, coming up with both kunai ready. Now all five of us were in the same area, the tactical situation changing every second.
Suddenly there were two Rinas moving in different directions, the duplicate just solid enough to create confusion about which way the real one was going. By the time the clone flickered out of existence, she had slipped away from the main group.
Daisuke tried to use the distraction to grab Takeshi's flag, but Takeshi's staff work kept him at bay. Meanwhile, Mei had recovered from her substitution and was stalking toward my new position.
The exercise became a constantly shifting dance. Someone would gain an advantage, only to have another person interfere or escape using substitution. Transformation technique became crucial for brief moments of concealment, while clones provided split-second distractions.
When Daisuke cornered me near a training post, I managed to substitute with a loose stone from the mock village wall and roll away before he could grab my flag.
"Time!" Nakamura-sensei called out after what felt like both forever and no time at all.
We were all breathing hard, scattered around the training area with our flags still attached. Nobody had managed to capture anyone else's flag, though several attempts had come very close.
"Excellent," Nakamura-sensei said as we gathered around him. "Nobody succeeded in capturing a flag, but that's actually perfect for a first attempt. You demonstrated exactly what I hoped to see."
"What did we do right?" Mei asked, still catching her breath.
"All three Academy techniques under pressure," he replied. "Daisuke, your transformation as a rock was nearly perfect. Mei, that substitution timing saved you from elimination. Rina, your clone created exactly the confusion you needed to escape."
He gestured to Takeshi and me. "Takeshi, your staff work showed real tactical thinking. And Tetsuya, your movement between transformation and attack positions demonstrated good battlefield awareness."
"What did we do wrong?" I asked.
"You all fought individually instead of adapting to the changing situation," he observed. "This exercise rewards both individual skill and tactical flexibility. Sometimes forming temporary alliances makes sense. Sometimes it doesn't. Learning to read those moments is crucial."
"But weren't we supposed to compete?" Daisuke asked.
"You were supposed to achieve your objective," Nakamura-sensei corrected. "In real missions, objectives matter more than methods. If working together temporarily helped you succeed, that would have been the smart choice."
"Now that you've learned to utilize the three basic Academy techniques," Nakamura-sensei said, "it's time to introduce something new. Something that will challenge you in a completely different way."
He gestured to another instructor, a woman I hadn't seen before with sharp eyes and a serious expression.
"This is Instructor Yamada. She specializes in genjutsu, the art of illusion."
Several of us gasped. Genjutsu had always seemed mysterious and advanced, something for older students.
"Today, you'll learn the most important genjutsu skill," Instructor Yamada said, her voice calm but commanding. "Not how to create illusions, but how to recognize and escape them."
She had us all sit in a circle on the training ground. "Close your eyes and focus on your chakra, just like during meditation exercises."
I settled into the familiar meditative position, but something felt different. The sounds around me seemed to change, becoming muffled and distant.
"Open your eyes," Instructor Yamada said.
When I did, the training ground looked exactly the same, but something felt wrong. The shadows were too dark, and the sky seemed a slightly different shade of blue.
"Raise your hand if you notice anything unusual," she instructed.
Three of us raised our hands - me, Takeshi, and Rina. The feeling of wrongness was subtle but definitely there.
"Good. Now, form the release seal and channel chakra while saying 'Kai!'"
"Kai!" we all said together, making the proper hand sign.
Suddenly the world shifted back to normal. The shadows lightened, and the sky returned to its proper color.
"That was a very basic genjutsu," Instructor Yamada explained. "Most of you were caught in it without realizing. Those who noticed something wrong have natural resistance or good chakra awareness."
Mei raised her hand. "How did they notice while me and Daisuke didn't?"
"Several reasons. Natural mental discipline, chakra sensitivity, or sometimes just luck. But the important thing is that everyone can learn to recognize illusions with practice."
She looked at each of us who had raised our hands. "Takeshi, your family's genjutsu background gave you an advantage. Tetsuya, your meditation training helped you maintain awareness. And Rina, your medical studies require precise chakra sensing, which detected the foreign influence."
Mei looked frustrated. "I should have noticed something was wrong."
"Don't worry," Instructor Yamada said kindly. "Tactical analysis and genjutsu detection use different skills. You'll develop the sensitivity with practice."
She had us try several more exercises, each slightly different. Sometimes the illusion changed colors, sometimes it made sounds seem to come from the wrong direction, and once it made us all appear to be sitting in the wrong order.
Each time, more of us started noticing the wrongness faster.
"This is really hard," Daisuke said during a break. "How do you tell what's real?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "It's like trying to remember if you're remembering something correctly."
The most difficult part came when Instructor Yamada created an illusion that made our own clones look like they were moving independently.
"That's terrifying," Rina said when we broke free from that one. "Imagine if you couldn't trust your own techniques."
"Which is exactly why you need to learn this," Instructor Yamada said seriously. "Enemy ninja won't hesitate to use genjutsu to confuse and disorient you. The Kai technique and mental awareness could save your life someday."
By the end of the session, I felt mentally exhausted in a way that was completely different from physical training. My head ached slightly, and I found myself questioning whether things around me were real even after the lesson ended.
"That was intense," Daisuke said as we walked toward the Academy exit. "I thought I was good at focusing, but genjutsu is something else entirely."
"At least we all figured out the Kai technique," Mei pointed out. "Though I still don't trust that tree over there. It looks too green."
We all laughed, but I knew what she meant. Genjutsu training left you questioning everything, which was probably the point.
As we left the Academy grounds, I spotted Yuki, Kenji, and Masa heading home from their own classes. They waved cheerfully, and I could see they looked tired but satisfied from their standard track training. Their curriculum was focused on basic physical conditioning and chakra control, the foundation work they'd need before learning any actual techniques.
I waved back and was about to head toward the compound when I saw a familiar figure waiting nearby. Father stood in the shade of a large stone pillar, apparently having just finished a conversation with another parent.
"Perfect timing," he said with a smile as I approached. "I was in the village on an errand and thought I'd walk with you home. How was Academy today?"
"We did a combination exercise with all three techniques," I said, then paused. "And we started learning about genjutsu."
Father's eyebrows rose. "Genjutsu already? That's earlier than I expected."
"It was just recognizing illusions and dispelling them," I explained. "But it was really hard. Nothing looked obviously wrong, it just felt wrong."
"That's normal," Father said. "Genjutsu attacks the mind rather than the body. It requires different kinds of awareness and discipline."
"Am I going to be bad at it?" I asked, thinking about how some illusions had fooled me completely.
"Probably not," Father smiled. "Your meditation training and chakra sensitivity should help. But even if genjutsu doesn't come naturally, the most important skill is learning to break free from illusions, not creating them."
"Takeshi seemed really good at it," I said. "His family specializes in genjutsu."
"Then you have an excellent training partner," Father pointed out. "And you can help him with techniques that come more easily to you."
That evening during clan training, I told Genzou-jii about the genjutsu lesson.
"Ah, mental discipline training," he nodded approvingly. "Essential for any serious ninja. Your meditation practice has been preparing you for this, though you probably didn't realize it."
"How does meditation help with illusions?"
"Meditation teaches you to observe your own thoughts and feelings without being controlled by them," he explained. "Genjutsu works by making you believe something false. If you can step back and examine what you're experiencing, you can often spot the deception."
He had me practice a different kind of meditation that night, one where I focused on questioning whether each sensation was real. It was surprisingly difficult to doubt things I could clearly see and hear.
"Tomorrow, practice this same awareness during normal activities," Genzou-jii instructed. "Not because you expect illusions, but to strengthen your mental discipline."
As I prepared for bed, I found myself still occasionally wondering if things around me were real. The genjutsu training had left a lasting impression, making me more aware of how much I usually took my perceptions for granted.