“At the same time as I awakened these eyes, I got a certain jutsu. A jutsu called ‘Kotoamatsukami.’”
“Kotoamatsukami.” Itachi felt an indescribable unearthliness in the word.
“It puts the person trapped in the genjutsu into a state of total unawareness; then, you can make them do what you want.”
Itachi understood that this was basically what visual jutsu was; whether or not the target was aware of what was happening was determined by the ninja applying the jutsu. The ninja incited an awareness in the target that they were caught in a jutsu, leading the target to doubt everything, and get caught up in the jutsu. Or else the target unconsciously sank bit by bit into the jutsu, so that by the time they realized what was going on, there was nothing they could do about it. This Kotoamatsukami fell into the latter category, which wasn’t particularly uncommon for a visual jutsu.
“The advantage of this technique is that the effect and the duration are both multiplied because of the power of the Mangekyo sharingan,” Shisui added.
As if urging him to explain, Itachi stayed silent, and continued to stare at his friend’s strange sharingan.
“For the visual jutsu of a normal sharingan, your gaze has to intersect with the gaze of your intended target to some degree. You need that direct action, and the flow of chakra. But the Mangekyo sharingan allows me to sidestep all that a bit. I just have to look at my target’s eyes, and I can pour my chakra in, even if our gazes aren’t intersecting. And the amount of chakra is several times more than with normal sharingan. So the target falls into the visual jutsu instantly. They have no idea anything’s even happened.”
“So you mean by the time the enemy sees you, they’re already in the jutsu?”
“That’s it exactly.”
“And you’re going to use that on my father?”
Shisui nodded forcefully. “If I can just get him in Kotoamatsukami, I can make Lord Fugaku tell everyone the coup is off. And I can make Fugaku himself believe from the bottom of his heart that it was his own idea.”