Chapter 45: Taste the Flavor of My Genjutsu
Two and a half days.
The four of them pushed themselves hard and finally reached the border line. They completed the handover with the ninjas stationed on the Land of Fire side. There were no fortresses or bunkers here—just dense forests and towering trees, with small rest areas for ninjas scattered at intervals. Because their job was to patrol, they wouldn't stay fixed in one spot.
Their assigned sector was the area bordering the Land of Iron; other sections of the border were manned by different teams.
"Tonbo-senpai, may I ask you a question?"
After the handover, Tonbo was resting when he saw Itachi Uchiha approach him. Tonbo was taken aback. "Ask away."
He was curious. They had only just met; what kind of question would this genius have?
"What do you think the Will of Fire is?" Itachi asked—a question both unexpected and entirely predictable.
Itachi wanted to know how others perceived the village. He had heard that the senior before him was considered a paragon and successor of Konoha's Will of Fire—someone who, since graduation, had been a steadfast executor of that ideology.
Tonbo gave him an intrigued look. The Third Hokage was right; this boy possessed a mature will at a very young age. He didn't ask directly about the village versus the clan; he approached it sideways. With his memories of the original story and years of training as a ninja, Tonbo saw right through his thoughts.
"The Will of Fire? It's simply about protecting the village and protecting your family," Tonbo replied simply, following his own heart.
He had no grand ideas about changing the world, and what he said was a common refrain in the village.
"And if you had to choose between the village and your family?" Itachi pressed.
Tonbo's brow twitched. I was just praising you for being mature, but you couldn't help yourself, could you? It seemed while his thinking was mature, he was still young.
"You're so young... why think about such things? It only leads to internal strife. You'd be better off using that time to make yourself stronger," Tonbo didn't give a direct answer. He truly believed that mental exhaustion at this age was dangerous. He suspected Itachi's future illness was rooted in this kind of internal conflict starting from childhood.
Furthermore, Tonbo had no intention of making Itachi's choices for him.
Itachi didn't speak, but his eyes remained fixed on Tonbo, silent and unblinking. He seemed determined to pull an answer out of him.
Feeling a bit creeped out by the stare, Tonbo raised an eyebrow. "Kid, if you keep looking at me like that, I'm going to give you a taste of something bitter. You probably don't know how much the guys back at the Analysis Team fear me. Even the Captain they call 'Sergeant' trembles when I decide to make things difficult."
You think you're the late-stage Itachi? Right now, hitting you is like hitting a toddler, Tonbo thought.
"We are comrades," Itachi said, unmoved. He didn't believe Tonbo would actually strike a teammate.
"Yeah, yeah! I want to know too!" Anko Mitarashi sat on a tree branch, her long legs dangling as she blew a bubble, looking on with curiosity.
Tonbo picked up his binoculars and scanned the perimeter. "I think I'll let you both taste some bitterness first before answering. That way, you won't come at me with these boring questions later."
As he spoke, he wove a single-handed sign before their startled eyes. Before they could react:
Vanish.
The world spun.
In Itachi's vision, he was surrounded by endless piles of grilled meat. Despite his attempts to control himself, his body began to gorge on it uncontrollably. On Anko's side, she was faced with bright red, terrifying "Devil's Breath" chili peppers. To her horror, the peppers grew arms and legs and jumped into her mouth.
Outside the mental world:
Both of their bodies began to twitch in unison. Anko's skin turned a vivid red. Itachi's brow was furrowed in a deep, constant scowl.
"Wait... for him, the 'most hated food' is only 'bad tasting'?" Tonbo looked at Itachi's physical reaction with surprise. It seemed the boy lived a very healthy life and had never tasted anything truly revolting.
He turned to Anko. Her skin was flushing red in waves, and her lips were starting to look like sausages. This was a classic case of the mind influencing the body; it seemed her most hated food had left a deep impression on her!
His lips curled into a smirk. That's what you get for asking sensitive questions and being relentless. To prevent them from asking more non-mission-related questions, Tonbo had decided to give them a lesson.
Of course, while letting them "enjoy" the flavors, Tonbo didn't forget his duty. His observation of the surroundings never wavered. While waiting for them to break the Genjutsu, he used his sensory abilities to sweep the area for miles. After years of cultivation, both his physical and spiritual energy were on another level. His chakra reserves were now deeper than Kakashi's.
His sensory range had evolved from one mile at the start to over a dozen miles now. He wasn't at the level of the late-game Naruto, but he was formidable. Occasionally, ninja beasts would fly through his perception. If he hadn't already learned his own secret technique, he would have considered catching a few as summoning beasts.
Captain Hayama Shirakumo, who had gone out to patrol right after the handover, also entered his perception. He was incredibly diligent—even more so than Tonbo, who swore by his "worker bee" mentality. Hayama was practically born with a "workhorse" constitution. However, Tonbo didn't dare look down on his classmate; Hayama was the fastest to reach Jonin in their year after Kakashi.
"Genjutsu?"
The moment he entered the mental space, Itachi realized it was an illusion. But before he could dispel it, the meat was already being shoved into his mouth. It was too late; he tasted it.
It was a food he found unpleasant, but he could endure it. His young mind raced at high speeds. He actually attacked a comrade... is his Will of Fire fake? Did he deceive the Third? No, impossible. According to what he said, the man had a wife and was about to have a child. A ninja without the Will of Fire wouldn't have such obvious weaknesses. As far as Itachi knew, not a single rogue ninja from Konoha had offspring.
So, is he trying to tell me that the Will of Fire is something that belongs to the individual? That I must make my own decisions?
"Also... this meat is truly terrible."
"Dammit! What kind of Genjutsu is this?"
In her mental space, Anko was eating fiery red peppers, and she couldn't take it anymore. Finally, using her stubborn will, she suppressed the pain given by the peppers. She erupted her chakra and broke the illusion.
As her vision returned to her physical body, she felt a burning sensation all over. Seeing Tonbo calmly sensing the surroundings, she exploded in anger. "Hey! I was just curious! Why did you drag me into it too?"
Tonbo put down his binoculars and said unapologetically, "It was nothing. Just a demonstration of my specialties. Also, now that I've answered the question—if you dare ask boring questions like that again, I'll let you taste my 'Ultimate Genjutsu.' Heh heh!"
He then turned his gaze toward Itachi, who had also just broken through the illusion.
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