Chapter 215: Returning to Old Habits
Naruto was utterly humiliated.
He felt like he could barely show his face to anyone. However, he quickly recovered his previous state, acting as if that person just now wasn't him, and continued watching the matches. But the others didn't give him a warm look; they would simply have to let time bury this incident.
The matches continued.
Hinata Hyuga VS Neji Hyuga.
This was a Konoha civil war. Neji was currently stronger than in the original story because he had received more training from Tonbo Tobitake, making his combat experience much richer. However, Hinata's will was also much stronger; she wasn't as timid as before. She wanted to win; she wanted to change herself. After Tonbo's inhumane "killing training," where she died over a hundred times in just one day, Hinata had long since found her courage. Coupled with Naruto's occasional cheering, her resolve was unwavering.
Bam! Bam!
Thwack!
Thud!
But it was futile. No matter how tenacious Hinata was, in the face of absolute strength, she was quickly struck down. Neji even subjected her to a barrage of mockery. Watching this, even Tonbo felt a surge of anger. What a stubborn, narrow-minded guy. Bigots are truly difficult to deal with.
Hinata was carried out, while Neji returned to the team with an expressionless face. In Choji's match, he displayed his own strength, but Dosu of the Sound Ninja was indeed powerful, and Choji eventually lost.
The match between Rock Lee and Gaara was intense and very close to the original. Lee went all out, leaving a deep impression on everyone present, but he couldn't avoid being severely injured. The combat experience from Tonbo's training didn't provide much practical benefit here, as this was a visceral, head-on clash of raw power. Even Tonbo felt his blood boil watching it.
The preliminary rounds finally concluded. The proctor announced the upcoming exam procedures, officially ending this round of testing.
Two days passed.
Konoha Village became increasingly lively. The Daimyos of various countries and other factions with their own agendas infiltrated the village—some to watch the matches, others with ill intent. Due to the crowds, the Police Force began frequent patrols, and the shops made a fortune. Ichiraku Ramen, for instance, was incredibly busy. On Sunday, Tianyu and Maki even had to help out at the shop.
Whoosh!
Tonbo Tobitake landed on a high platform behind a fountain. Two people were already waiting for him.
"Tonbo-sensei, why are you starting to act like Kakashi-sensei and making a habit of being late?" Sakura grumbled as she watched Tonbo arrive, glancing at the position of the sun.
Tonbo laughed. "Haha, the shop at my father-in-law's house was too busy. I helped out with some work and accidentally lost track of time. For the next month, I'll be troubling you with Sakura's training."
Kakashi spoke up: "I'll leave Sakura's training to you then."
"Yeah, don't worry. It's rare to see you so concerned about your students," Tonbo teased. This time, Kakashi had asked him specifically to train Sakura, while he himself would focus on special training for Sasuke. As for Naruto, someone else had been hired.
In Kakashi's view, Sakura's talent was concentrated in chakra control and Genjutsu—fields where Tonbo was the perfect mentor. Naruto, lacking basic fundamentals, was sent to train with Ebisu.
"Then I'll be going."
"Mhm."
Whoosh! Kakashi vanished instantly.
Left behind, Tonbo and Sakura stared at each other.
"Well, to give you more motivation to learn, I've also invited my old boss's daughter. You can compete against each other and strive for results," Tonbo told Sakura. He wasn't just training Sakura; after receiving Kakashi's request, he had asked Ino about her schedule. Since there were no special missions during the Chunin Exams, Ino had agreed.
"Who is it?" Sakura wondered. Why did she need a "rival" just for training?
"Uncle Tonbo, I'm here! ...Huh? Sakura, why are you here?"
Ino came running from the distance. When she saw Sakura standing there with hands on her hips, she was confused. She had been quite happy to hear Tonbo wanted to give her special training and had rushed over.
"Ino-pig."
"Billboard Brow."
"Alright, alright. You're teammates now, so get along well," Tonbo said with a squinty-eyed smile. This was perfect; now he didn't have to worry about them slacking off.
In the ninja world, girls are often different from boys. Because many retire from the shinobi profession after getting married and having children, they don't always work as hard as the male ninjas. The original story made this quite obvious. Sakura spent her days fantasizing about dates with Sasuke, and Ino was often helping at the flower shop. Meanwhile, boys like Shino, Choji, and Shikamaru worked incredibly hard. With these two rivals together, Tonbo's training would be much easier.
"Who wants to get along with her?" The two turned their heads away simultaneously.
"Let's go. To the training area. Time waits for no one."
Zip!
"Aaaaah! Uncle Tonbo, why do we have to do this kind of training?!" Ino's wail echoed under the vast sky.
"This is terrifying!" Sakura was also screaming.
"These are basic training exercises. Overcome them!" Tonbo replied.
"Why do we have to train on the ocean again today? If we fall, we'll die, right?"
"It's fine, I'll save you."
"It's so dark... can this really train our concentration?"
"Guaranteed."
Standard Forest Training Ground.
"Alright, you've overcome the basic training. Now, we move on to chakra control. You both have a special talent for it. I want to develop this talent further so you can increase the power of your jutsu while reducing chakra consumption."
After finishing several "Fear Training" sessions, Tonbo brought them to the field to begin the rest of their lessons.
"Tonbo-sensei, our chakra control is already very good! Look!"
"Exactly! Shouldn't we be learning something else by now?"
Sakura and Ino demonstrated their mastery by walking up trees and standing on water with steady control.
"Hahaha! Big sisters, your chakra control is barely at the entry level! If people heard you brag, even Konohamaru would laugh himself to death!"
The voice of Tianyu rang out—dripping with mockery. He watched their demonstration and nearly died laughing. Beside him, Maki and Wataru felt the same. Since there was no school today, Tonbo had brought them along to train. With his growing chakra reserves, teaching via Shadow Clones was no longer difficult.
"What?! Barely entry level? This is clearly great! What do you kids know?" Sakura and Ino glared at the children.
"They're right. Your chakra control is indeed only at the introductory stage," Tonbo said.
"Then what counts as 'advanced'?" They didn't believe it for a second.
"You three, show them," Tonbo smiled.
"Haha, our turn! We're definitely going to make Dad look at us differently this time."
"That's right! Check out our new chakra control trick."
Tianyu and Wataru sat facing each other, with Maki at the side. Sakura and Ino were completely baffled. How do you show off chakra control while sitting down? Tonbo watched with anticipation.
"Don't underestimate them. Their talent for chakra control is no less than yours, and they started training much earlier." Tonbo had supervised their training strictly; two were his children, and the other was his admirer and their teammate.
"We're starting, Maki!"
"Here we go. Board expansion!"
To the shocked eyes of Sakura and Ino, Tonbo Maki didn't use any hand seals. Chakra flowed from her hands, and in front of Tianyu and Wataru, lines of chakra formed a Shogi board—vivid and three-dimensional.
Tianyu and Wataru used the same method. Their chakra formed individual Shogi pieces on the board, each looking incredibly lifelike. They were indistinguishable from real Shogi pieces, except for the fact that they weren't solid.
Sakura and Ino's jaws dropped. "How... how are they doing that?"
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