Chapter 288: Battle at Tenchi Bridge
Time flowed on.
The future unfolded just as Tonbo had anticipated. Since Kakashi was bedridden, Yamato—who possessed the ability to suppress the Nine-Tails' power—took over as the captain of Team 7. Danzo, in turn, extended his influence into the team.
The two "old geezers" of Konoha, upon learning the intel regarding Orochimaru, would rather keep Tonbo Tobitake—an essential force for defending the village—within the gates than let Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, out on a mission. However, after Tsunade's fierce arguments, Naruto was ultimately dispatched.
Danzo's pawn, Sai, joined Naruto's squad.
All of this was within Tonbo Tobitake's expectations. Watching this world in reality was different from watching the original story. Although Danzo had been dismissed by the Third and the Root had been officially disbanded, he remained the patriarch of the Shimura clan and a high-ranking official of Konoha. When he kept his mouth shut, he was just a dismissed Jonin; when he spoke, he represented the will of the Shimura clan.
Seeing Danzo's maneuvers firsthand made Tonbo feel the sheer weight of that "old fox's" political power even more than the original series portrayed. It was likely that Danzo's shadow lingered in almost every department of Konoha.
If Tonbo didn't already know that Danzo was destined to die eventually, he would have rooted out Danzo's influence back when he was Acting Hokage. Though Mind Reading was a strain on the brain, Tonbo could plant "Emotional Perception Seeds" to determine if someone's emotions fluctuated. Or, if Danzo's training was so "impressive" that his subordinates had no emotions, Tonbo could perform a direct neural intrusion to check for the presence of a Cursed Tongue Seal.
Based on his current understanding of Danzo, the man wouldn't trust any subordinate who didn't carry a seal.
"This feeling of letting others blaze the trail while I lie back and win is truly great."
Tonbo had never intended to change everyone's regrets; he just wanted to live his own life. As long as he kept the plot within the general framework, he could cruise to victory. Why put in all that extra effort? Besides, the threat of the Otsutsuki loomed in the distance—now was the time to "farm" and develop.
Some say life should be grand and dramatic. Tonbo, however, believed life was best when it was peaceful and steady. If it weren't for the fact that the God Tree would eventually drain the world's natural energy and ruin his quality of life, he might have just slacked off completely, only practicing ninjutsu occasionally. After all, his current strength was already among the best in the ninja world.
"Dad, what are you thinking about? Come practice with me!"
In the distance, Tianyu shouted, seeing his father daydreaming again. Over these past months, he had finally witnessed the danger of being a ninja. Although their team was inexperienced, their foundation was solid. After Hayama led them through two weeks of D-rank missions, they moved on to C-rank and B-rank missions.
The trio had finally seen the cruelty of the ninja world. When he killed for the first time, Tianyu gained true resolve. In Tonbo's battlefield simulations, Tianyu had seen various combat techniques and traps, but Tonbo hadn't exposed him to the darker side of human nature due to his young age. After executing real missions, he truly felt the status of the "weak" in this world. Consequently, he demanded his father train him more. He didn't want to be a weakling at the mercy of others.
"Alright, let me see how your genjutsu is coming along," Tonbo snapped out of his thoughts and smiled.
"Naturally! I can already use Genjutsu to coordinate with my teammates in actual combat," Tianyu grinned.
Maki stood beside him, holding a flute. Tianyu was a visual-type Genjutsu ninja, while Maki specialized in auditory-types. It wasn't that they were strictly limited to one sense—they could do both—but they each had a specialty. Tonbo had trained them in Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu since childhood; naturally, his specialty—Genjutsu—was a priority for his children.
With their current strength, even Naruto might not be able to beat them unless he could already convince the Nine-Tails to break him out of illusions. The Kyoka Suigetsu that manipulated the five senses had evolved over many years; it was not easily dispelled.
"Visual Displacement."
"Mass Manipulation."
"Morphological Transformation."
"Decadent Sounds."
"The Eight Scents of Fire."
...
While Tonbo was enjoying his family time, over at Yamato's squad:
Boom!
The moment Naruto saw Orochimaru, he went berserk. He went from three tails to four. Naruto's tail slammed into Kabuto, sending him flying toward Sakura.
Based on the instinctive reactions she had honed under Tonbo's tutelage, Sakura threw a punch immediately, intending to pulverize Kabuto while he was mid-air. However, Kabuto's reactions were also lightning-fast. He adjusted his posture in time, narrowly dodging Sakura's impact. He maneuvered gracefully in the air to shed the force of Naruto's blow and landed on the ground. After sliding for several meters, he came to a halt.
"So this is the power of the Nine-Tails? Truly incredible. No wonder it left Konoha in such a shambles on that fateful night," Kabuto pushed up his glasses.
"And Sakura... we are old acquaintances, after all. Isn't this a bit too violent? Luckily, I have my latest research results; otherwise, if that hit had landed, I'd be heading to the Pure Land for sure." He smiled at Sakura, though he felt a secret chill of lingering fear.
He was extremely satisfied with his progress. Ever since he had stripped away the "neural threads" Tonbo had planted on Sasuke, he had become fascinated by them while helping maintain Orochimaru's body. He hadn't developed anything world-shattering, but he had developed a means to defend against raw physical power.
By replicating part of the operational mechanism of those neural threads, he had modified his own body, increasing his neural reaction speed by about a third. From the moment his eyes received information to the moment his brain controlled his body to move, he was significantly faster. Otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to dodge Sakura's strike.
"Where is Sasuke?" Sakura asked, shooting a worried glance at Naruto, who was chasing after Orochimaru, before turning her interrogation back to Kabuto.
"Sasuke is doing very well under Lord Orochimaru's tutelage. He isn't the same person he used to be," Kabuto chuckled. He didn't seem interested in a death match; he was merely stalling for time.
Screech!
In the sky, Sai's ink bird chased after the two departing figures, catching Kabuto's eye. "Is that your teammate? Rushing off like that... it's going to be very dangerous," Kabuto advised.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
At that moment, several Wood Style branches erupted from the ground, quickly surrounding Kabuto to bind him.
Whoosh!
Kabuto's reactions were superb. He leaped backward lightly, evading the binding and dodging Yamato's follow-up attacks.
"I have no desire to fight you. You still have your uses. Let's just wait for the showdown between Lord Orochimaru and the Nine-Tails," Kabuto said, evading every strike.
Zip!
Sakura launched a chakra thread, anchoring it to a tree trunk behind Kabuto, and yanked herself forward with force. Her face contorted with determination as she swung a vicious right hook.
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