Chapter 223: Karma
Pig-Tiger-Horse-...
"Contact Evolution."
Tonbo Tobitake wove the signs, activating his unique jutsu. If he hadn't died by that point in the future, then he certainly would have applied this jutsu to every single student graduating from the Academy—and even to Sasuke.
That was his philosophy. Ever since he created this jutsu, his plan was clear: gather all the world's knowledge to develop himself. Human biological information was, in essence, a form of proven knowledge; he couldn't afford to pass it up.
It wasn't just because of Naruto and Sasuke's unique lineages. As long as it didn't threaten his own safety, he didn't mind "helping out" every ninja he could reach by tagging them with this jutsu.
Thump-thump!
The moment his chakra was refined, two sensations—simultaneously familiar and alien—surfaced.
"As I thought..." Tonbo felt a surge of joy.
I'm definitely not dead in the future, and I seem to have made incredible progress. In his perception, the "Contact Evolution" neural filaments were indeed embedded in the bodies of both Boruto and Sasuke. They were incredibly well-hidden. Anyone who didn't know the specifics of this jutsu would find it impossible to detect them.
At that moment, a massive amount of information flooded through the neural link into his mind, rolling in like a tide.
"...This feels a bit unfamiliar!"
Comparing this data with the knowledge he had previously collected, Tonbo discovered a vast discrepancy. Within the bodies of Sasuke and Boruto, there was a wealth of alien information he had never encountered.
Reflecting on the plot he knew, he wondered: Is this the result of the Mangekyo and Rinnegan evolving, or Orochimaru's modifications to Sasuke? Within Sasuke's chakra, he sensed a trace of information similar to Orochimaru's. He didn't sense the legendary "Yin Power"; in his current perception, it didn't seem to be there.
As for Boruto, his data was far more complex than Sasuke's. Tonbo felt traits similar to Hinata and Naruto, but most of it was entirely foreign. At the genetic and cellular level, over 20% of the information he sensed didn't even belong to a standard human.
In genetics, a 1% to 2% difference can define a separate species. Over 20%? Is he a 'True' Otsutsuki Boruto?
"No... his body still adheres to normal human biological data, but it seems... some genes have been added. This is the protagonist of the next generation, the Child of Fate? How terrifying!" Tonbo couldn't analyze much more, but he knew the current Boruto was formidable.
As he delved deeper, a massive energy signature appeared in his consciousness. The moment he touched it—Bam!—his consciousness was repelled.
Tonbo quickly ceased the data collection. His head throbbed with a persistent hum.
Whoosh—
Boruto was in the middle of his duel with Naruto when his body suddenly stiffened. Naruto seized the opening and kicked him right in the face. Boruto went flying back but quickly regained his footing, looking at a gloating Naruto.
"What was that? It felt like something was peeking into my body just now." He rubbed his cheek, but when he tried to sense it again, the feeling had vanished.
"Haha! Now you've seen my true power!" Naruto stood there with an arrogant grin, despite looking much more battered than Boruto. He had finally landed a hit. How is this kid so strong? If it were someone like Kakashi-sensei, he'd understand, but a kid his own age? He felt Boruto was stronger than Lee or that guy from the Sand Village.
Are 'Scenery Shinobi' all this powerful? Naruto felt that if Boruto weren't acting as a sparring partner, the match would have been over in an instant.
"Mhm. Let's go again." Boruto was enjoying the chance to go all out against his dad. He dismissed the earlier sensation as a mere hallucination.
"Distracted at a time like this... it seems the Academy's battlefield simulation still needs improvement."
Sasuke frowned as he noticed Boruto's lapse. The simulation was specifically designed to train a ninja's focus during combat, co-developed by the Technical Development Bureau. He suspected Boruto might be slacking off.
Beside him, the Konohamaru Corps were wide-eyed. The exchange between Naruto and Boruto was a blur of high-level moves.
"So cool! This Boruto guy is even stronger than Tianyu and his team, right?" Moegi marveled.
Udon nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Those three probably couldn't beat him even if they fought together."
Konohamaru said proudly, "Of course! This guy is Boss Naruto's rival! Naturally, he's on a different level compared to Tianyu's bunch, who aren't even Genin yet." This is my idol! though it did look like Naruto was mostly getting beaten up, having only landed one punch. Just who was this Boruto kid?
"Was that... the legendary Otsutsuki Karma?"
After regaining his composure, Tonbo couldn't help but wonder. It couldn't be anything else. If it truly was Karma, did that mean in the future, Tonbo Tobitake didn't believe he had the strength to suppress Jura and the others? Did he have to rely on the Child of Fate?
Or perhaps something else had changed his perspective. After all, from the snippets he knew, Kashin Koji's Ten Directions technique predicted a future where Jura destroyed the world. Most of his other knowledge consisted of memes: the Uchiha elbow, the kunai stabbing the Rinnegan, or Sarada's effortless Mangekyo awakening...
"It's annoying... things being out of my control. But judging by the fact that Sasuke traveled back, everything before the fight with Kaguya should still be under my thumb."
Tonbo comforted himself. Furthermore, based on the jutsu he saw on Boruto, his future self was clearly still growing stronger. His current operation, compared to the refined jutsu of his future self, felt crude. If he were his future self, he'd likely be able to extract power to strengthen himself directly from Boruto's Karma.
Using the foreigner's techniques to control the foreigner—it fit his philosophy perfectly.
"I also can't rule out that they're from a parallel world. Maybe it's not even the same timeline," he thought optimistically. Sigh, why wasn't my 'cheat' a system? That would be so much simpler.
Still, constantly increasing his strength was never a mistake. But for now, he decided not to make contact. He would wait until he had collected enough information. He only had one chance to study a person from the future who was already tagged with his jutsu.
"Will the data I collect now form a closed loop with the future, or will it give me the power to defeat the enemies who would destroy the shinobi world?"
Tonbo felt that even with several more brains, he wouldn't be able to solve that temporal paradox. He continued to harvest biological data from Boruto and Sasuke—this time avoiding the depths of Boruto's body, focusing only on the surface data.
As for the Otsutsuki that came with them, he understood: if Sasuke was here, the enemy's goal was the Nine-Tails inside Naruto. He would wait and see.
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