Omni-Anime: I Stand at the Forefront of Popularity

Chapter 178: Chapter 179: Tornado Keeps Destroying the Parking Lot (Bonus Chapter for 50 Power Stones)

What on earth was this Mechanical Illusion, seriously?!

When Jiraiya first saw the Puppet Arms, he assumed the technique would be something to do with puppetry. There were Hidden Sand shinobi in this year’s Chūnin Exams, after all. Hyuga Hanabi’s control of the Puppet Arms was also quite solid—maybe, on a whim, she’d developed some interesting jutsu around them.

But the moment both arms began shifting, rotating, and pouring out a staggering amount of Chakra right in front of him—Jiraiya understood something had gone very wrong.

”Could this be... not Puppet Technique at all, but some jutsu that uses ninja tools as a medium?!”

”Nani?!”

A massive vortex erupted from the ground. Countless vacuum blades materialized in an instant.

”This feels a bit like Wind Release: Great Breakthrough?”

But unlike the Great Breakthrough, this force was drawing inward—not blowing outward.

”What incredible technique!”

The suction made escape impossible. And those enormous, razor-edged vacuum blades were shredding through the entire space.

”Wild Lion’s Mane Technique!”

He couldn’t see them—there was no way to defend against what he couldn’t see. Jiraiya extended his hair and let it grow long around him as a shield.

That was nearly a disaster.

But then, gradually, he realized something was wrong.

”Wait—why is this still going?!”

Surely it should have ended by now!

And yet the technique showed no sign of stopping.

”What is going on?”

This jutsu could sustain itself this long?!

”Nani?!”

He looked again. Hanabi had switched hands.

Yes.

Hanabi had six Puppet Arms in total.

One held up a wind-pressure shield. Another cast the technique itself. That still left an extra pair of arms.

So Hanabi had worked out a second solution: sustained casting.

The spare pair of arms relayed the technique, swapping in when the current casting arms faltered, effectively doubling the jutsu’s duration.

And with better materials or a more refined casting method, it could sustain even longer.

Jiraiya was caught on the back foot. He couldn’t go all-out on her, could he?

”Stop, stop, stop!!!”

In the end, the only thing he could do was yell for mercy.

The storm finally died down.

Jiraiya—now nothing like the confident figure he’d been at the start—looked absolutely wretched.

”Jiraiya-sama, how are you feeling?” Hanabi had appeared in front of him without him noticing.

Hanabi was, as ever, perfectly composed.

In fact, her hands hadn’t moved this entire time.

No. On closer inspection... they couldn’t move.

It was subtle, but Hanabi’s hands were pressed together in front of her and drawn down toward her waist—clearly bound together. Her ankles were, too, as were the soles of her feet.

”Most Jōnin would have trouble breaking free from that if it caught them off guard,” Jiraiya said, brushing dust and fallen leaves off himself.

[Dying of laughter—he was so confident a second ago]

[Going down in a peal of laughter, GG]

[That technique’s actually scary though]

[Divine Sandstorm! Divine Sandstorm!]

[What’s a Divine Sandstorm?]

[A technique from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 2: Battle Tendency. Pretty strong. Though this is obviously more powerful than that]

[Tornado Destroys Parking Lot]

[Precise. I’d add: Tornado Keeps Destroying the Parking Lot]

[2333 fair enough]

[What’s even the reference]

[Peak translation from Jackie Chan Adventures—that line has legs for at least another ten years]

”Your body... has it always been bound like that?” Jiraiya finally couldn’t hold back.

He was curious about the technique, certainly, but he was also concerned about Hanabi’s physical state.

At last—someone asked!

Time to show off the lore.

Hanabi mentally gave Jiraiya three likes.

”Indeed. This is a unique secret technique I developed—Curse Bind.”

”By imposing a certain limiting condition on myself, I can gain enhanced, specialized ability at critical moments or in particular areas.”

She explained.

”For example: by restricting my movement during ordinary times, I can release far greater power at the moment it matters. Or: by accepting the condition that I can never fully hide myself normally, I gain the ability to vanish completely when it counts. Losing my sight in exchange for extreme enhancement of my other senses—that also falls under Curse Bind.”

Hanabi let her explanation settle.

”The Hyuga Clan has a secret art this extraordinary?” Jiraiya was stunned. ”Using your own body as a battery—storing power during ordinary times and releasing it all at once when needed. Terrifying.”

”Actually, this isn’t a Hyuga Clan secret technique at all. I happened to discover it in a small country once.”

[Damn, ripping off Hunter again—isn’t this literally Kurapika’s Chain Jail?]

[Never watched Hunter, what even is it]

[Basically the main character Kurapika specializes his abilities against his enemies to get full power against them, but in exchange he deals zero damage to anyone else]

[Got it]

[It feels more like a Vow of Silence kind of thing]

[I searched ”Curse Bind” and it’s apparently an escape-room horror game]

(Yes, there really is a game like that)

(The art style is actually kind of cute)

[Wait, hasn’t anyone noticed the problem? What if Hanabi’s eyes can actually see just fine and she’s only using Curse Bind to pretend she’s blind?!]

[I think she found the technique during the OVA arc. She’s still hiding things—still hiding]

[True, Hanabi has had rope on her before, but her body wasn’t fully bound back then. Now she’s developing Puppet Arms—probably so her actual body can stay in Curse Bind]

”Well, I get it—so that’s why you keep yourself tied like that,” Jiraiya said, dropping the line of questioning.

It was her personal secret technique. Pushing for details would be rude.

Come to think of it, the Puppet Arms were probably a tool she’d built to maintain the Curse Bind state—and the new jutsu had come out of that development as a happy accident.

”By the way—why do you call this technique ’Mechanical Illusion’?”

Jiraiya had another question: the name.

”Because it’s cast using the Puppet Arms. But the technique itself isn’t Puppet Technique—it’s a compound jutsu channeled through the Puppet Arms as a medium. So not ’Puppet,’ but ’Mechanical.’ As for ’Illusion’—well, naturally, because this technique also incorporates something resembling Genjutsu.”

”Nani?! Genjutsu?!” Jiraiya blinked.

”Indeed. By distorting the visual field, people outside can’t see what’s happening within—useful for concealing a specific target when needed. From inside, it also bends the refraction of light and applies illusory effects directly to those within, making the vacuum blades invisible to the victims. All they can do is stand there and get cut.”

Originally, the illusory component had been purely visual distortion. But Hanabi’s Genjutsu aptitude was considerable, so she’d woven genuine Genjutsu into the mix—combined with light refraction, a double layer of illusion rendered the blades invisible to those trapped inside, leaving them helpless. Against an all-around defensive response like Jiraiya’s, it didn’t do much—but that was an edge case.

Channeled through Mechanical Arms. Mixed with Genjutsu. A Wind Release jutsu.

—Therefore: Mechanical Illusion.

(Sasuke kabedon-ing Naruko, 233)