Wow, genjutsu is highly overrated because of part of one fight of an Edo Tensei Itachi who doesn't want to fight versus a perfect jinchuuriki with Samehada? How many of those are in the world, 1 of each right?
1a.) In my opinion, you need to be careful what conclusions you draw from Edo Tensei vs. elite ninja fights, and you have to pay very close attention to the match ups. Itachi is facing Bee a perfect jinchuuriki with Samehada, which provides him with the ideal match up to his regular genjutsu attacks as his Bijou and Samehada can disrupt Itachi controlling his chakra flow, and there is no one else in the entire Narutoverse like that.
1b.) As well, as an Edo Tensei, Itachi's genjutsu will be easier to break out of likely for two reasons. First, so far all Edo Tensei have performed sub par to their fighting when they where alive. Granted Itachi was sick with poor vision last time we saw him, but he still mopped the floor with a Sasuke who had the CS2 and defeated Deidara. Second, Kabuto can order the use of the jutsu, but I don't know how much Itachi is putting into it. So far, his body seems willing but the mind is definitely not.
2a.) I forget where I read this, apologies if I got this wrong, but I think it was the Itachi vs. Sasuke fight, and Zetsu mentioned that the point of Tsukiyomi was to break the spirit/will of the opponent, not kill them. Thus, that it doesn't kill the opponent is not a knock on the jutsu if that is not the jutsu's design. However, once you eat a Tsukiyomi from Itachi, you're as good as dead. This is exactly what was done to Kakashi when Itachi returned to the village for the first time after Hiruzen's death. During this story arc Tsukiyomi put both Sharingan users Sasuke and Kakashi (not Uchiha blood though) into comas for about a week or longer. Had powerful allies not been present for Kakashi (Gai mainly) and Sasuke (Jiraiya) they would be defenseless.
2b.) The jutsu may not kill
per se, but if you're lying on the ground defenseless, you're as a good as dead. Thus,
it's being petty saying you can't kill with genjutsu if after genjutsu you can follow up with a death blow to a defenseless opponent. It's like using a ninjutsu to cripple an opponent and then finishing them with another ninjutsu. Itachi was specifically brought back through IWR for his illusory powers, which is stated in his conversation with Nagato. Thus, while he's got other very powerful abilities, his genjutsu
alone was worth bringing him back.
2c.) As well, Itachi used a genjutsu such that made fire covered shuriken look like crows could've landed and killed the opponent (plenty of ninja would die from this attack, lower level of course), Bee was just able to break out of the non-MS crow genjutsu via Samehada/Hachibi. Granted that's a genjutsu disguising a ninjutsu/taijutsu attack, but the genjutsu causes you to not defend yourself, which directly leads to your death, so it's accurate to say that genjutsu would play a critical role in killing you.
3.) In Naruto, it's all about the match ups. Bee with Samehada is the perfect matchup for Itachi and his genjutsu (This goes back to my cautionary tale about Edo Tensei fights). However, even his Bijou and Samehada can't save him from Tsukiyomi because of the time control issue. Sure, the Bijuou can interrupt it in about 1-2s, but by then already Bee would've been through the ringer for 3 days as Itachi can control time to make 1s of real time 72 hours of genjutsu perceived time. As far as other forms of genjutsu go, they'll be invaluable.
4a.) Now, there are no other shinobi like Bee (perfect jinchuuriki and Samehada), not even Naruto at this point. To break genjutsu, he could swap out of Kyuubi mode and back in or something, but him and the fox are not friends or even allies yet), and any partner will not stop the genjutsu in time against Itachi.
I'm willing to say that many character's genjutsu is not enough to win a fight or lead to a kill, but there are certain characters like Itachi (granted he's dead, but Sasuke has his eye's now, and Madara is plenty powerful)
and certain jutsu like Tsukiyomi and the frog song genjutsu that are so powerful that they alone can easily win battles against the majority of the strongest ninja out there. What do I mean by majority 51%, 99%? I'm not sure where the cutoff is between those two values, but that it's over 50% against the top shinobi (By top shinobi, I suppose I mean elite jounin and above) is saying something about how powerful properly used powerful genjutsu is, and that the right user and technique can be decisive in leading to victory.
4b.) In
my opinion, that's a heavy statement, and
it's balanced in the manga by how rare those genjutsu artists (MS, some rare other like sage mode Jiraiya, maybe the dead 2nd or 3rd Mizukage (I forget, the one with the retarded genjutsu clam)
and how rare the ultimate genjutsu techniques are. I suppose it's also bounded by the few ninja type that are born as genjutsu user types as well.
5.) Genjutsu is like any ninja tool in the right hands (e.g. Itachi) and in the the right situation (MS Tsukiyomi, or regular genjutsu against a non-perfect 8-tailed Jinchuuriki with Samehada), it can be just as devastating as any ninjutsu or taijutsu. Granted, aside from sound genjutsu, the area of impact tends to be limited compared to those of ninjutsu and taijutsu attacks.
So I confine my argument to small quarters combat of 1 on 1, 1 on 2, 2 on 1, or 2 on 2, and above 3 it starts to lose its efficacy depending on the technique and the wielder.
Note: Apologies for any arguments replicated here. This thread grew so fast, I had no time to follow it beyond the first few 3-4 pages. Some will be obviously replicated such as the Tsukiyomi 1s=72hrs, but that due to it being a matter of fact from the manga. Thanks :hug:
Peace
