Chapter 58: Sound-Based Genjutsu
Konoha, Tone River.
Ding-ding... Zheng-zheng...
Cong-cong... Beng-beng... Dang-dang... Ding-dong... Ying-ying... Ling-ling...
Ding-ding dong-dong... Weng-weng...
By the side of the trickling river, crisp and enticing high notes, soft and lingering melodies, and deep, heavy bass flowed along with the water. Rising and falling...
The notes leapt from the harmonica in Tonbo Tobitake's right hand, carried by his long, steady breaths. From the initial staccato of one note at a time, gradually, the notes began to bridge and flow. A cheerful melody slowly emerged from Tonbo's lips.
Starting from airy leaks and sharp tones, Tonbo found accurate and stable pitch after only a few trials of scales and notes. As the cheerful tune took flight in the air, small birds from the trees by the river flew down to circle around his head.
Chirp-chirp!
Twitter-twitter!
Tonbo extended his left hand, and several birds landed on his arm. Their eyes were filled with intoxication, swaying their heads back and forth as they perched.
"Flatterers," he thought, sensing the birds' expressions. He had only just finished reading through various ways to use a harmonica. No matter how great his talent was, being able to play a tune in a short time shouldn't have been enough to actually intoxicate birds.
"Eh? Uncle Tonbo?"
Just as he was about to continue practicing, a childish and milky voice sounded from behind him. Tonbo sensed several figures in the vicinity, put down his harmonica, and slowly turned around.
Naruto stood there with a fishing rod over his shoulder and a battered bucket in his hand.
"Yo, Naruto-kun. You still remember me!"
As he spoke, he took some grains from his pouch and fed them to the birds on his arm as a reward for their "flattery." He was very practiced at this. At the same time, he didn't expect Naruto to have such a good memory; they had met once when he was one, and now at nearly four years old, the boy could still recall him.
Hearing that the "Uncle" still remembered his name, Naruto beamed with a wide smile. It was as if he had just heard the most beautiful words in the world.
"Uncle still remembers me?"
"I'm a ninja, and intelligence is our top priority. How could I forget a little guy like you?" Tonbo pointed to his forehead protector.
Naruto tilted his small head, his cute blue eyes blinking. "A ninja? Are you the kind of people who fly around on tall buildings?"
Gurgle, gurgle!
Suddenly, Naruto's stomach let out a loud growl.
"Ah, never mind. I have to fish now."
Little Naruto rubbed his stomach, sensing a crisis. Although he wanted to keep chatting with the Uncle, he rolled up his pant legs and went to the riverbank. He took some scraps he had found somewhere out of his tattered bag and hooked them on the line. With a flick of his small hand, the hook splashed into the river.
Tonbo smiled faintly and picked up the harmonica to continue his musical practice. Sound-based Genjutsu could be released without knowing music theory, but the effect would be greatly diminished; this was experience gathered by many ninja predecessors. Different music could provide different amplifications to Genjutsu.
As he played, he infused a small amount of chakra into the sound frequencies, allowing them to spread through the air with the music. Neither the fishing Naruto nor the ANBU hidden in the surroundings felt anything unusual.
However, when the sound waves merged into the river and seeped into the depths, the effect changed. Some fish that were sleeping—either stationary or swaying slightly with gills opening and closing—suddenly felt a surge of appetite the moment the sound waves reached them.
"Captain, that guy is a ninja. Could he have designs on the Nine-Tails?"
In the shadows, an ANBU with a dog mask spoke to the silver-haired leader wearing a cat mask.
Another ANBU added, "Should we stop him?"
They watched Tonbo chatting with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, their professional paranoia kicking in. They were terrified the man was targeting the Nine-Tails. If anything happened, it would be a severe dereliction of duty.
The ANBU Captain looked at little Naruto, watching his small frame hold the fishing rod, and felt a pang of pity. "I know that man. He wouldn't do such a thing. Don't worry."
Hearing this, the other ANBU suppressed their urge to drive him away, though they remained ready for combat at a moment's notice.
The ANBU Captain breathed a sigh of relief seeing that Tonbo only played his music and didn't continue interacting with Naruto. Although his long-standing impression of this friend was that he had no interest in the Nine-Tails, they still had to be on guard. It was their duty. He didn't want to have to face off against this friend.
Swoosh!
A palm-sized fish was dragged out of the water by three-year-old Naruto. He happily pinned the fish to the grass and threw it into his bucket like it was a precious treasure.
"Eh? What's going on today? Why are the fish so easy to catch?"
Looking at the bucket filling with fish, his little heart was full of confusion. Then, the sound of the Uncle playing reached his ears again, and he felt it sounded better and better.
He looked at the fish in his bucket, picked one up, and looked toward Tonbo. "Uncle Tonbo, I caught so many fish today! I'll give you one."
Tonbo was stunned for a moment, then a smile touched his lips. "That's the result of your own hard work. Eat it yourself. I'm heading home now."
He put away the harmonica, waved his hand, and walked away.
"Ah!"
Little Naruto felt a bit disappointed as Tonbo disappeared from sight. However, remembering that the Uncle remembered his name and called him "Naruto-kun"—and with his bucket full of fish—his sunny smile returned.
"I'm lucky today. I'll catch a few more to take back."
Naruto looked at the full bucket and then at his clothes, deciding to take advantage of the luck.
"Eh? Why can't I catch any more?"
"Let me try another spot."
"Darn it, was it really Uncle's song that attracted the fish?"
"Next time I see him, I have to learn from him."
"Little brass horn, toot-toot-toot..."
Walking home, Tonbo hummed a familiar tune.
Meeting Naruto was an accident; helping him was an act of kindness. He didn't help too much simply to avoid affecting his own life. As long as it didn't negatively impact him or his family, he was happy to do good deeds.
Of course, he had limits to his charity. He didn't do "Great Good," only "Small Good." Small favors win hearts; great favors breed resentment.
"Mm, with a foundation in visual Genjutsu, the difficulty of learning sound-based Genjutsu has indeed dropped."
From the test just now, sound Genjutsu seemed quite simple. As for why Konoha had so little data on it, he guessed it was because most ninjas lacked musical talent. Only a genius like him could call it "simple."
Just like visual Genjutsu, the system for sound-based illusions was the same: making the enemy perceive an illusion. The information transmitted was the same; only the medium of transmission differed.
Visual Genjutsu can force an enemy to keep their eyes from wandering, effectively neutralizing one of their greatest tools. In the original story, when facing Itachi's Genjutsu, Asuma and Kakashi had no idea what to do except endure it, and even a master like Kurenai was stretched thin. That showed the advantage of the visual type.
The advantage of sound Genjutsu was its range and ease of hitting. The disadvantage was that it wasn't as stealthy; the moment the music starts, the enemy realizes there's a problem and immediately thinks of a way to break it.
"It's not like the visual-range displacement I used on that Kumo Jonin, which catches them completely off guard."
"Speaking of which, I haven't seen Iruka and the others in a while. Now that they're Chunin, their strength must have improved significantly. Once I get used to sound Genjutsu, I'll find them for a 'sparring' session in a few days. Hehe!"
Another mischievous thought flashed through his mind.
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