Chapter 226: The Meeting
As Sasuke and Boruto passed through a wooded path, Sasuke suddenly came to a halt. Seeing this, Boruto stopped as well.
"Yo, Sasuke. And the little guy from the future."
In front of them, in a spot that had been completely empty a second ago, Tonbo Tobitake appeared with a playful grin on his face.
Thud!
Sasuke and Boruto were simultaneously startled. They weren't surprised by his sudden appearance, but by his words.
"You're... Director Tonbo... mgh!" Before Boruto could finish, Sasuke clamped a hand over his mouth.
Sasuke looked at Tonbo Tobitake. "You've been watching us for a while, haven't you?"
The moment he saw Tonbo and heard those words, Sasuke deduced that the man had likely noticed them long ago and had been observing them for quite some time. Otherwise, it would be impossible for someone to guess they were from the future. Traveling through time was an unheard-of phenomenon.
Is the Tonbo Tobitake of this era already this strong? Sasuke wondered. He hadn't sensed him until the man was practically on top of them.
"Yeah. This is Boruto, right? A very impressive little guy. I imagine he's quite the genius in the future," Tonbo said, looking at Boruto, whose eyes were wide with shock.
"Since you know we are from the future," Sasuke addressed him, "you should know that people of the past shouldn't know too much about what's to come, or it might alter the course of history. So, your sudden appearance is for..."
Sasuke's eye shifted as the Mangekyo Sharingan appeared. He intended to use Genjutsu to seal Tonbo's memory to prevent any impact on the future. Boruto watched expectantly; Uncle Sasuke was about to make his move.
"Don't waste your chakra. Even though you're strong now, if you want to force a Genjutsu on me, you'd at least need both eyes. Who do you think you're looking down on with just one?"
Tonbo's eyes glazed over for less than a second before he spoke clearly, a smirk still playing on his lips.
"...As expected of Captain Tonbo. Then why have you revealed yourself?" Sasuke sighed and deactivated his Sharingan. There was nothing he could do—but he wondered how the man had resisted so easily.
"I know you don't want to reveal much, or anything at all, about the future," Tonbo said slowly. "However, I'm more interested in why you're here. My guess is that a powerful enemy wanted to return to the past—specifically, to the Konoha of now—to carry out some plan, and you're here to stop him."
Boruto was completely stunned. Is this Director Tonbo the same guy who occasionally visits the Academy to give moral education lectures? When did he notice them? How did he get so much information? And how was even Uncle Sasuke's Sharingan—the eyes of the savior who defeated Kaguya—not a match for him?
"But I've followed you for a long time," Tonbo continued, "and besides the two of you, I haven't sensed any other strange, powerful chakra. This means your enemy hasn't appeared here. So, give me the intelligence on this enemy."
"Since you can travel back to the past, it stands to reason the enemy can too. If the enemy hasn't appeared yet despite having a goal, they might have dropped into a different point in time—perhaps a few days or even years from now. I need the intel."
Tonbo stated his purpose clearly. In the original plot he remembered, Sasuke and Boruto defeated the Otsutsuki here. Since that hadn't happened, things had veered off course. He didn't want to fight an unprepared battle, especially against an Otsutsuki. Even if that Otsutsuki hadn't absorbed a Ten-Tails, they were still beyond the level of ordinary ninjas. Gathering intel from scratch would be a hassle.
He figured his future self had sent that message through Boruto precisely because he knew his past self would seek out Sasuke for answers, even at the risk of changing the future.
Boruto and Sasuke fell silent. Tonbo's reasoning was exactly what they were worried about. If they revealed the future, it might change; who knew what the consequences would be? But if they didn't, and Urashiki appeared later, that too would change the future.
As for whether Urashiki would appear in the more distant past, they doubted it. The current state of Konoha remained unchanged. Following that logic, the enemy could only appear later in the timeline or be lost in another dimension.
Between the two risks, who should they trust? The choice was obvious: the man standing before them. This was the man who would propose the Technical Development Bureau—the Deputy Director who would contribute immensely to Konoha even after retiring from the front lines.
Before they could speak, Tonbo smiled. "You don't need to worry about the future. I will only keep a 'file' that this enemy might exist. I'll use a seal to lock the memory and set specific activation conditions. If my future self is some kind of Director, he must be living a good life. I don't want to mess that up for myself, do I?"
Director... Tonbo thought. The title sounded high-end and authoritative—much cooler than "Hokage." That one word told him a lot. It meant that knowing the Boruto plot was coming, he had taken steps to change the status quo to face the Otsutsuki. After all, one man's strength is limited. Without a "system," gathering the collective strength of everyone was the best way to defeat beings stronger than Kaguya.
What kind of Bureau will I create? Tonbo wondered. If it's to deal with the Otsutsuki, it must involve researching Otsutsuki genes, the Ten-Tails, Hashirama cells, and Sage Mode. Since I'll live through the Fourth Ninja War, I'll definitely find a way to get biological data from Kaguya, Zetsu, and the Ten-Tails. I'll need a lab for that... It won't be called the Politburo or SHIELD. It'll probably be called the Technical Development Bureau.
While Tonbo was lost in thought, Sasuke's gaze sharpened, and he finally relented. "This enemy is a member of the Otsutsuki clan... his name is Otsutsuki Urashiki..."
Sasuke had realized that in all of Konoha, this man was one of the few who was consistently trustworthy. No matter what he did or what position he held, he never made a mistake. Besides, Sasuke had to trust him; he couldn't seal the man's memory, and he certainly couldn't kill him—that would truly rewrite the future.
Boruto could only watch in silence. Every word out of Tonbo's mouth was decisive; he had them completely figured out.
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