Chapter 205: Collision
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Tonbo Tobitake moved rapidly toward the Kurama Mountain Villa. In his sensory range, the villa was virtually empty; only a few servants appeared in his perception.
"So thorough. What an incredible Genjutsu," Tonbo marveled inwardly.
Soon, he landed on the grounds of the mountain villa. Before he had broken this illusion, his memory told him that the Kurama Mountain Villa was simply a pleasant resort in Konoha where he occasionally took his children to play.
It was as if a person's entire existence had been erased from the history of the shinobi world.
He began searching for traces of Yakumo Kurama. He found that physical traces did exist; her paintings were still there, but the memories of others regarding them had changed. In the current collective consciousness, these paintings were left behind by the previous owner of the villa, who had supposedly moved out of Konoha to the Land of Fire and sold the property to the village for public recreation.
As for who that previous owner was, their presence was incredibly faint—much like when Tonbo used his Invisibility Genjutsu. If one didn't pay special attention, they lacked any sense of existence.
Had he not prepared a countermeasure beforehand, Tonbo truly would have been fooled by this technique. It altered cognition; it altered existence itself.
He entered Yakumo's former room. It was still decorated exactly as it was when she was there. This meant the Genjutsu could only change perception; it could not alter physical objects or reality, except for things that happened specifically because she existed.
Tonbo went to the back of the mountain. The marks from their previous painting and ninjutsu practice remained. However, in his altered cognition, he believed he had come here alone to research ninjutsu, and that painting was merely a personal hobby of his.
"Good thing I was prepared. Otherwise, I wouldn't even know my perception had been compromised. But I need to keep improving the Heartsteel technique. If I were to do something regrettable during those days when my cognition is altered, that wouldn't do at all."
Tonbo felt that the Heartsteel—his specialized counter-cognition jutsu—still had flaws. The reason he didn't design it to trigger once a day was because repetitive memory overwrites would put too much pressure on the brain. Seven days was the interval he had calculated for safe "digestion" of information.
He needed to eliminate these drawbacks. "But how?"
This part stumped him. If it were easy, he would have developed it long ago. It seemed he needed "stones from other mountains to polish his own jade"—he needed outside inspiration.
He thought of the Hundred Puppet Soul-Binding Jutsu he obtained in the Land of Hot Springs, Dan Kato's Spirit Transformation Jutsu, and the Reaper Death Seal. Perhaps he could spend some time learning these other "ninjutsu he wasn't particularly good at." These soul-related techniques might hold the key. Since altering cognition involved the soul or at least the deep brain, they were the best place to start.
For now, he continued investigating the scope of Yakumo's Genjutsu, finding the similarities between what was affected and what wasn't. After finishing at the villa, he went to the Konoha Archives to look up the Kurama clan's history.
By cross-referencing files and speaking with people who had supposedly interacted with Yakumo, he found the flaw. The records showed that the genius of this generation, a girl named Yakumo Kurama, had indeed existed—but she had supposedly died in a fire with her parents years ago. Because it was a tragic accident from years past, no one had very deep memories of it. Any physical traces she left behind were either ignored or reinterpreted by the minds of others.
If someone as smart as Shikamaru had been in constant contact with her, he might have found the inconsistencies through tiny clues.
I'll set a small goal, Tonbo thought. The next step is to develop a high-efficiency jutsu to counter this kind of illusion, the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and even Divine Power: Omnipotence.
He decided that besides Forced Execution, he would focus on "stacking armor" for his mind. But with the Chunin Exams imminent, he had to deal with that first. He hadn't expected Yakumo to disappear at this specific timing; it was likely caused by his "butterfly effect."
In the Village.
Bang!
Sakura threw a shuriken, intercepting the hand reaching for Konohamaru. She then used a Body Flicker to appear in front of the boy, pulling him back to safety.
Kankuro frowned, his hand moving toward the bandage-wrapped object on his back. Such a fast reaction. It seems Konoha ninjas aren't that easy to deal with.
Zip! Zip!
Two pebbles flew toward Kankuro, but a wall of sand rose to block the attack. Gaara, the boy with the gourd on his back, looked toward a nearby tree.
"In Konoha, you'd better follow Konoha's rules. Don't cause us trouble, or we'll be the ones to solve the 'trouble' that is you."
Sasuke tossed a pebble in his hand, speaking coldly. However, his eyes were full of vigilance. Just now, he had felt a massive surge of killing intent; the moment Gaara looked at him, he felt a chill run through his entire body.
"Forget it, Kankuro. Stop. Do what you want during the exams." Gaara gave them a cold look, turned, and began to walk away.
Beside him, Temari looked at Sasuke, her eyes momentarily lighting up. "Hey handsome, see you at the exams."
"Hmph, I'm not afraid of them. If they dare make a move, I'll show them what I'm made of. These 'trash' ninjas born in times of peace..." Kankuro boasted arrogantly.
"Kankuro, do you want to die?" Gaara looked at him coldly, his killing intent overflowing.
"Hmph... I'll let you off this time. But in the exam arena, I won't hold back." Kankuro broke into a cold sweat and put away his weapon.
Stomp, stomp, stomp!
"You jerks! Do you know who you're messing with? I'm the Hokage's grandson! I'm gonna beat you up!" Konohamaru yelled in rage. He had been scared earlier, and if Tianyu and the others found out, he'd be teased to death.
Boom!
He was met with Gaara's murderous gaze. Konohamaru broke into a cold sweat, but his eyes remained defiant as he gritted his teeth. Dammit, why is this so similar to Tianyu's move? He felt like he couldn't move. It was just like Tianyu's Genjutsu, but without the biting, icy coldness.
"Konohamaru!" Udon and Moegi also watched the gourd-bearing boy with sweat beading on their brows.
Sakura stood in front of Konohamaru, looking at Gaara as if facing a great enemy. This guy is a veteran who has killed countless enemies... how is it possible? Sakura had encountered this type of enemy in Captain Tonbo's battlefield simulations. She had even researched it specifically. This kind of killing intent usually only belonged to ninjas who had survived a hundred battles and killed a mountain of people. Or, it was a Genjutsu.
She was certain this wasn't a Genjutsu.
Shink!
A kunai appeared in her hand, ready for combat at any second.
"You jerk! How dare you bully Konohamaru! Watch out or I'll give you a thrashing!" Naruto yelled, pointing at Gaara.
"Hmph. Let's go." Gaara turned away. Kankuro and Temari sneered and followed.
"Dammit! You jerk! What's your name?! I'm gonna flatten you!" Naruto was fuming.
Sasuke also took a serious look at the boy with the gourd.
"Gaara. Also... you're strong. Name?" Gaara looked at Sasuke.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Sasuke Uchiha."
"I look forward to fighting you. We're leaving."
"AAAAAGH! Dammit! I'm the one who said I'd beat you, so why are you asking Sasuke for his name?!" Naruto shouted, jumping in frustration. He had been upstaged again.
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