Chapter 141: Orochimaru
Sizzle!
The Grass Ninja traitor unleashed a Fire Style jutsu, incinerating Aburame Shenra's insects. The remaining enemies immediately retreated to a safe distance, eyeing the Tonbo Tobitake squad with intense vigilance.
"They have high situational awareness," Shenra noted, raising his right hand.
From the spot where the enemies had just been standing, a dense swarm of insects erupted from the ground and returned to Shenra's body.
"That flare earlier was a signal, which means reinforcements are on the way. Captain, what's the plan?" Shenra asked.
"Do you even need to ask? Wipe them out," Tonbo replied calmly. His mission wasn't just to kill everyone in his path, but to get the clients back safely. He had no intention of wasting time.
The "Wind-Rest Period" in the Valley of the Resting Wind was limited. Time was of the essence; the sooner they finished, the better. If they waited until the gale became violent again, he wouldn't be able to study the wind's progression from weak to strong, which would significantly increase the difficulty of his research.
"I was waiting for you to say that."
Woof!
The two versions of Inuzuka Kairo moved in perfect sync.
Fang Over Fang!
Hyuga Ren and Aburame Shenra also sprang into action. Tonbo Tobitake tilted his head slightly toward a specific direction before forming hand seals to provide support.
Those without prior intelligence would find it nearly impossible to crack his genjutsu. The enemies, now facing Ren's trio, focused their chakra to counter the assault, but they all consciously averted their eyes from Tonbo's direction. Clearly, they had experience dealing with visual-type genjutsu.
However, at that exact moment, a "seed" took root within their own chakra. The genjutsu influence they thought they had just suppressed with a chakra flare began to sprout again, fueled by the very chakra they were using.
"Hmph. Just hold out for a bit, and you'll all die here," the leader gritted his teeth as he faced the twin tornadoes. He formed hand seals rapidly.
Water Style: Dual Water Dragon Bullet!
He wasn't afraid of this level of attack.
Splosh!
Two water dragons rose from the ground to meet Kairo's spinning assault. But the leader was struck with bewilderment. The water dragons had indeed been summoned, but why were they so small?
In front of him, two "majestic" water dragons—each only the size of a human palm—wiggled on the ground, seemingly trying to "bite" Kairo's massive drill-like attack. They didn't even reach the height of his ankles.
In that moment of hesitation, Kairo's attack hit. The leader tried to raise his sword to block, only to find to his horror that his two-meter blade was now only the size of a toothpick.
BAM!
Caught in a series of hallucinations and errors, the leader was cut clean in half as Kairo streaked past.
Confusion filled the leader's fading vision. He had been a Jonin of the Hidden Mist Village—how could he be taken down like this? His final gaze landed on the motionless Tonbo Tobitake.
I see... the genjutsu from earlier was never truly broken... That was his final thought before his consciousness vanished.
The others fared no better. Under the combined effects of Visual Displacement and Morphic Manipulation, the Chunin fell into a state of total illusion. Misjudging the range and power of the incoming attacks, they were slaughtered on the spot.
One of the enemy Jonin was highly experienced and possessed a secret technique; at the critical moment, he used an Earth Clone to dodge Hyuga Ren's "colossal" palm. However, he was greeted by a swarm of insects waiting at his landing spot.
"AAAAAGH!"
A blood-curdling scream rang out as his chakra was devoured instantly. He left the world with eyes wide in shock and resentment.
Rustle...
Aburame Shenra recalled his bugs. Hyuga Ren and Inuzuka Kairo returned to their Captain's side, smiles on their faces, though they all felt a secret sense of relief. The jutsu those enemies had unleashed were quite powerful; a single mistake could have cost them their lives. These were clearly rogue Jonin from other villages, and seeing them dead was a weight off their shoulders.
Truthfully, the trio had initially thought they would be lucky just to escape. After all, they only had one Jonin—Tonbo—and three Chunin. They shouldn't have been a match for the force that wiped out the Hagoromo clan. But their training told them that running blindly would only lead to a faster death, so they stuck to the formation most likely to ensure survival.
They hadn't expected their Captain's genjutsu to be this powerful. It was easy—too easy! With the Captain's support, facing a squad of over a dozen ninjas including Jonin was easier than facing a few mid-level Chunin on their own!
"Captain, you're incredible!"
"As expected of the Head of the Analysis Division. I think you're even stronger than Kakashi the Copy Ninja!"
"I feel like you're stronger than my uncle!"
Confirming the enemies were dead, they showered him with praise.
"Haha, I'm still far off. Compared to Senior Shibi or Kakashi, I have a long way to go, haha," Tonbo laughed it off, refusing to entertain the comparison. There was no benefit in accepting such high praise. In the ninja world, there is no such thing as a guaranteed win; it all comes down to who has more intelligence. Even his "win" against Kakashi in the past was because he had the right intel.
As for Aburame Shibi, the man had too little "screen time" in his memories for Tonbo to be certain. Shibi was a ninja who had mastered offense, defense, and support—the world-renowned insect user. During the Third War, his name struck terror into the hearts of enemies. Though not as famous as Minato Namikaze or the Sannin, he was a formidable veteran. Kakashi and Asuma were still "green" compared to a predecessor with that much combat experience!
Tonbo took a small scroll from his pouch, enlarged it with chakra, and performed a sealing formula to suck all the corpses from the battlefield into the scroll. These bodies were valuable to Konoha and could be exchanged for merit points. Accumulating merit was essential so that when he needed to learn a new jutsu, he wouldn't have to scramble at the last minute.
Boom!
"You guys go ahead. I'm going to set a trap," Tonbo said.
He released the Fish Head from the ground, and the Hagoromo survivors crawled out of its mouth. Seeing the carnage around them, they all breathed a sigh of relief. The enemies who had unleashed such terrifying attacks had actually been defeated, and the Konoha team looked like they hadn't even broken a sweat.
None of them dared to argue with Tonbo. Hyuga Ren and the others nodded. They understood that during a mission, you follow the Captain's orders, even if they didn't know why he wanted to stay behind. They began escorting the Hagoromo survivors toward Konoha.
After they had departed...
"Come out, Senior Orochimaru," Tonbo Tobitake said, facing the forest.
"Impressive. It's no wonder you're the man who made our leader suffer—Konoha's sensory ninja, Tonbo Tobitake."
On a large tree, a small green snake suddenly spoke. It opened its mouth wide, and a figure slithered out from within it. Orochimaru looked at Tonbo with eyes full of curiosity.
"A technique that even the Byakugan couldn't see through was discovered by you. How did you do it? Is your sensory talent already on par with the Byakugan?" Orochimaru laughed.
Tonbo replied, "Senior Orochimaru, isn't it a bit rude to ask for my intel the moment we meet?" He was under no obligation to answer.
"My apologies, Tonbo-kun. You seem to recognize me? We shouldn't have met before." Orochimaru offered a smiling apology.
"I saw you once in front of the Memorial Stone. Besides, Lord Orochimaru was the Commander-in-Chief of the Third War; how could I not recognize you?" Tonbo said.
He didn't understand what Orochimaru wanted. Based on the first sentence, Orochimaru knew about the "setback" Pain had suffered—perhaps Pain had told him personally. This meant that the intel from his battle with Pain, and any info he had leaked in Konoha, had likely reached the ears of the Akatsuki members.
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