Chapter 55: Forbidden Technique
Land of Fire.
The Border.
Screech—!
A messenger eagle circled in the sky twice before swooping down.
"Intelligence from Lord Third. The Land of Lightning has withdrawn its troops. Meanwhile, the ninja squad sent to relieve us is already on its way," Hayama Shirakumo announced, reading the scroll in his hand.
Tonbo Tobitake stretched his arms. "Finally. It's over."
Three months. Does anyone know how he spent these three months? Patrol, training, patrol, training...
Anko and Itachi were practically on the verge of psychological collapse because of him. Both were geniuses, yet when facing him, they were constantly broken by his sudden new Genjutsu variations.
As the eldest son of his clan, Itachi Uchiha finally Psycho Mind Transmission 2.0: Disgust. Previously, his least favorite food was roasted meat; now, his list had changed. Anko was the same; besides spicy food, she now had several new tastes she absolutely loathed.
In short, Tonbo's life was fulfilling. Even while working, he didn't forget to enjoy life. When he missed his wife, he would send a letter back reporting his safety. His Eye of the Creator technique could imbue illusory beasts with specific memories, allowing them to know exactly which path to take and even how to register at Konoha's main gate. Tonbo called these beasts imbued with his technique "Phantom Beasts." He felt having a unique title added a bit of flair.
Itachi Uchiha also let out a silent sigh of relief. I never want to fight Tonbo-nii-san again. That feeling of being toyed with to death without even a glimmer of a chance at victory was something he had now fully experienced.
I must study hard when I get back and strive to break his Genjutsu. This became Itachi's next minor goal. Tonbo had explained many of his illusions to him, giving him a lot of intelligence. Itachi believed that once he was prepared, he could make those illusions fail. He had learned much from Tonbo, especially regarding Genjutsu and combat.
However, there was one thing he would never learn: Tonbo's warped sense of humor. The man seemed to derive a strange sense of accomplishment from playing pranks on him and Anko. It was the kind of satisfaction a commoner might feel after successfully landing a punch on the face of a famous person. Itachi found it utterly bizarre—though he told himself it was probably just a delusion.
"Alright Tonbo! Once I get back to the village, I'm definitely going to learn a jutsu to deal with you! Just you wait!" Anko Mitarashi's eyes were practically spitting fire.
Tonbo was very supportive of her ambition. "You're welcome to challenge me anytime. I've recently had some new ideas for Genjutsu; I'll make sure you're the first to try them."
He was serious. After several months of research, he felt that visual-based Genjutsu was no longer enough to satisfy him. His Shape Manipulation was now highly proficient. The next step was auditory-based Genjutsu—the most difficult of the five senses to defend against.
Visual Genjutsu was a bit "out" when facing ninjas who, like him, didn't rely on their eyes. It was also the most commonly countered type of illusion. While he had plans to evolve Shape Manipulation into "Form Manipulation," that was a vertical power increase; right now, horizontal expansion would provide a bigger boost to his overall strength.
Anko froze, a look of terror crossing her face. She felt unwell just thinking about it. "Dammit! So we're just your test subjects? I'm going to complain to the Third Hokage!"
"Eh? Those are all minor illusions," Tonbo said nonchalantly. "The truly high-end stuff... Lord Third told me not to use it on comrades lightly. He won't care about these little tricks."
He was referring to Mind Reading: Depression, which was his true trump card. Because he had so many tools, he had actually forgotten to test it on the enemies. However, his eyes flickered toward Itachi; he wanted to keep a card hidden. Who knew if they would face off in the future? Right now, Itachi was young and lacked enough countermeasures. When he grew up, it would be a different story.
"What?! Those were only minor illusions?" Anko's mental state crumbled. The Genjutsu she and Itachi had struggled so desperately to break were mere "minor" techniques to Tonbo.
Itachi was also shaken. Recalling his clan's teachings and the various illusions recorded in their archives, he realized that compared to what Tonbo had shown, none of them were technically "forbidden techniques." He grew curious about what Tonbo's "unusable on comrades" technique actually was—something significant enough for the Third Hokage to personally issue a warning.
"Well, yeah. Did you think I'd need an ultimate move just to spar with you? Not just me, the Captain is the same," Tonbo laughed.
Anko and Itachi looked at Hayama.
Hayama Shirakumo nodded. "The arsenal of a Jonin is never limited to just one method. For instance, if you want to be promoted to Jonin, you must master the nature transformation of other elemental attributes besides your current specialty. This allows you to better handle different ninjas and prevents you from being neutralized by a single elemental weakness.
"Like the Cloud ninjas we fought—Tonbo and I were effective because we both know Wind Style. If those Cloud ninjas met ninjas from the Hidden Stone, the advantage would flip. It's the same for Itachi's Genjutsu or Anko's snake techniques. You only have the foundation for Jonin once your methods are recognized as being impossible to counter with a single simple jutsu."
"Agh! That's too hard!" Anko shouted at the sky. She had studied nature transformation under Orochimaru; it was anything but easy. If that was just the "foundation" for a Jonin, she felt she had no hope.
Tonbo patted her shoulder. "Don't lose heart. Look at me—I have so many methods and I'm still just a Special Jonin, not a full Jonin. It'll be even harder for you, so don't worry about it!"
"You bastard!" Anko swung a kick at him. He was basically saying she'd be lucky to even reach Special Jonin!
Tonbo hopped back, easily dodging her. "Alright, enough playing. Rest up. Once the hand-over is done, we're going back to the village," Hayama intervened.
"Understood!"
One day later.
Within Tonbo's sensory range, a team of ninjas appeared from the direction of Konoha. The leader's chakra was far more massive than that of an average ninja—certainly larger than his or Hayama's. It seemed the village wasn't taking any chances; the replacement was a true powerhouse.
As Tonbo stood up, the other three followed his gaze. Soon, a large man in a red flak jacket came into view. Once they were within range, Hayama exchanged a code signal to confirm their identities.
"It's Tonbo! We'll be taking over the guard duty from here," Choza Akimichi greeted him with a smile. Tonbo didn't recognize the other members of the squad; they were likely a newly formed team.
"It's been a while, Senior Choza. You look even more robust than before," Tonbo complimented politely. And Choza truly was robust; no wonder he could hold his own against the Gedo Mazo later on. His massive chakra reserves made sense now.
Choza scratched his head happily. "Haha, is that so?"
Hayama, as the captain, nodded in greeting. He gave Choza a real-time report on the patrol status and recent developments. After the briefing, he led Tonbo and the other two away.
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