Chapter 59: Head of the Intelligence Analysis Division
For a few days, Tonbo stayed home with his family. From time to time, he helped his father weave cute little animals out of bamboo and reeds for him to sell.
Because of her pregnancy, Ayame didn't dare do any heavy labor besides her daily walks. Seeing what her father-in-law was doing, she helped out with the lighter tasks.
Tonbo didn't have the mindset of forcing his father to stop working just to sit at home and "enjoy life." On the contrary, he felt gratified that his father had something to do every day. He remembered his father from his previous life—when he had nothing to do, he'd just lie in bed staring at his phone, refusing to even step out for a drink unless forced. Tonbo had hated seeing him like that and didn't want his current father to turn into a shut-in.
"Tonbo, don't you have any missions lately?" Tosei Tobitake asked curiously.
For the past few days, Tonbo had been fiddling with a harmonica, trying to learn music. Tosei was skeptical—was his son even the musical type? He was getting anxious. Even if there were no missions, shouldn't he be training? Back in his day, Tosei was incredibly diligent, never missing a day of training. If his arm hadn't been cut off, he might be as world-renowned as his classmate, the White Fang.
Tonbo replied: "No missions. Ninjas need rest too. Guarding the border is exhausting work; even a man of iron can't do missions non-stop!"
"If you don't train, you'll get rusty. If you face an enemy then, you'll end up like me," Tosei said, waving the remaining third of his arm. "Look at this. I can't even weave signs. My path as a ninja is ruined."
Ayame chuckled as she listened, but her face showed concern when she heard that Tonbo might end up with a severed limb if he didn't train.
Tonbo was speechless. You really haven't given up, have you? You still want to be a ninja? Are you even cut out for it?
"I can weave signs with one hand," he said calmly.
As he spoke, he wove a sign with a single hand. The bamboo butterfly he had just finished weaving slowly became lifelike, then transformed into a vibrant, multi-colored phantom butterfly. It fluttered around Ayame, causing her worries to vanish in the magical atmosphere. Finally, it landed on her hair, its wings gently flapping.
Tosei Tobitake felt as if he had a lump in his throat.
"And I haven't neglected my training. I spend time every day on taijutsu and shurikenjutsu. It's just that lately, I've been practicing sound-based Genjutsu. Get it? Genjutsu," Tonbo continued.
"Alright, alright, I know you're amazing!" Tosei muttered dejectedly. He had wanted to use his authority as a father to lecture his son, but who knew the kid's abilities had reached such a level?
Ayame then smiled towards Tonbo's direction.
Suddenly, Tonbo's brow twitched. He sensed a figure rapidly approaching his house.
"I have something to take care of. I'm going out for a moment."
Swoosh!
He used a Body Flicker Technique and vanished instantly, reappearing in front of his gate. Seeing the familiar cat-faced mask, he was puzzled. Is there another emergency mission?
In an instant, he wrapped the bandages around his head and adjusted his forehead protector. He didn't wear the bandages at home, but he was used to having them on in public.
"Eh? Another mission already?" Tosei muttered, watching his son vanish. He had just complained about it, but he didn't expect it to happen so fast.
Ayame's face was filled with worry as she prayed it wasn't a dangerous task.
"Daughter-in-law, don't worry about that brat. He's incredibly capable," Tosei comforted her. He truly believed it; after all, one-handed signs weren't something an average ninja could pull off. To stay a ninja, he had practiced that for years after his injury before finally giving up. He believed in his son's strength more than anyone.
Ayame stroked her belly and thought the same. Her husband was very strong.
"Orders from Lord Hokage. If you have no urgent business, please come to the Hokage building immediately." The cat-faced ANBU landed in front of Tonbo and presented a verified command scroll. This was a security measure to prevent anyone from bypassing the Hokage to issue orders to the village's Jonin.
Tonbo checked the seal and nodded. "Understood."
It didn't seem like an emergency mission, but it wasn't a small matter either.
Whoosh! The ANBU left.
Tonbo went back inside to give a brief explanation, then hurried toward the Hokage building.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
"I almost forgot, I made an appointment with Iruka for today. I hope this doesn't make me late!"
Tonbo suddenly remembered he had promised to test his student's abilities today. It definitely wasn't because he wanted to test his new sound Genjutsu on him. It was for Iruka's growth.
At the same time, he wondered what Hiruzen wanted. Did the Cloud ninjas double back for a surprise attack? If that were the case, it would be an emergency order.
"Could it be that the Third agreed to my application to learn Bringer-of-Darkness?"
A few days ago, although he decided to develop sound-based Genjutsu, he hadn't planned on abandoning other techniques. He had set his sights on the Genjutsu created by the Second Hokage specifically to counter the Uchiha's Sharingan. Given the difficulty of the request, he figured the higher-ups wouldn't let him learn such a forbidden technique so easily. He expected them to agree only after he had basically finished his sound Genjutsu development.
"Ah, if I could get a forbidden technique that easily, that would be nice," Tonbo thought, though he doubted that was the reason.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
The scenery of Konoha blurred past. Soon, Tonbo arrived at the foot of the Hokage Rock, entering the building that sat beneath the four giant stone heads.
Knock, knock!
He approached the office with practiced familiarity and knocked.
"Come in."
When Tonbo stepped inside, he froze for a moment.
"Lord Hokage. Advisors."
Standing before him were two of the "Old Guard" trio: Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane. They were seated on either side of the Third.
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke: "Tonbo, you're here."
"Yes. Does Lord Hokage have instructions?" Tonbo asked.
Hiruzen smiled and pulled out a document, handing it to him.
"Congratulations. You have been promoted to a full Jonin. At the same time, Inoichi has been promoted to the Head of the Intelligence Department. We all recognize your ability and your will to protect Konoha. You are hereby appointed as the Head of the Intelligence Analysis Division."
Koharu Utatane nodded. "That's right. You are now a full Jonin receiving a stipend from the Land of Fire. Make sure you do your job well."
Homura Mitokado added: "We leave the heavy responsibility of protecting Konoha to you."
Tonbo took the document. Listening to the three of them, he opened it to find official papers from the Land of Fire regarding a Jonin's duties and benefits. It was mostly the same as being a Special Jonin, with one major addition: a fixed monthly salary of 500,000 Ryo.
"Thank you, Lord Hokage. Thank you, Advisors. I will fulfill my duties to the best of my ability and take full responsibility for everything within my jurisdiction." Tonbo tucked the document away happily.
A promotion and a raise!
A fixed salary of 500,000 Ryo wasn't much—it was roughly the value of 500 explosive tags. But five hundred! That's enough to blow up Hidan several times over.
Considering Teuchi's current business only made about 100,000 Ryo a day in revenue, one month of Tonbo's salary was worth four or five days of his father-in-law's total sales... wait, actually, it really wasn't that much.
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