Chapter 309: Time for the Snake's Molting Rebirth
Hidden Cloud Village.
Bang!
Ay looked at the intelligence from Konoha, a sneer curling his lip. "Has Konoha lost its backbone as a Great Nation? Scared to this extent by a tiny underground organization?"
Cooperation? The Cloud didn't need cooperation. If the Akatsuki dared to show their faces, he would personally slaughter them.
Darui sighed helplessly. "Raikage-sama, the Akatsuki's strength shouldn't be underestimated. According to Konoha's intel, every core member possesses significant abilities."
They were an organization that had already captured several Tailed Beasts. Even the Hidden Cloud had to make sacrifices when dealing with such entities. They couldn't afford to be careless.
"Hmph. Send word to watch over Bee, and dispatch assassins to eliminate any Akatsuki members who enter the Land of Lightning." Ay wasn't a fool; he knew the gravity of the situation. Yugito had already been taken, according to their reports.
"Understood."
A Dark Cave.
With two more members gone, the remaining few performing the sealing ritual required significantly more time.
"Konoha actually captured Hidan and Kakuzu. It seems they deployed a considerable force," Deidara noted.
"Ah-re? Konoha has powerful intelligence ninjas. I'm afraid their memories have been read clean!" Tobi said in his high-pitched, eccentric voice.
"It must be Tonbo Tobitake. Only he has the capability to extract memories from the likes of Hidan," Itachi Uchiha remarked calmly.
Kisame added, "Truly a formidable man. If we don't find a way to deal with him, our future operations might get difficult."
Only those who had experienced Tonbo's Genjutsu truly understood the feeling of powerlessness it induced. If you didn't guard against it from the start and allowed him an opening, there was almost no chance for a counterattack.
Zetsu chimed in: "Correct. Our bases in the Land of Fire have been largely dismantled by Konoha. Only a few insignificant outposts remain. Moreover, intel suggests Konoha has shared our data with the other hidden villages."
"Fortunately, one of them only cared about worshiping Jashin and the other only cared about money; neither paid much attention to the majority of our secret bases," Tobi chirped. "Otherwise, our presence across multiple countries would have been wiped out."
"Pain, given the current situation, Konoha likely knows our secrets and has already dispatched people to the Hidden Rain to gather more information," Konan pointed out.
Pain nodded with certainty. "Yes. I fought Tonbo Tobitake once; he knows part of my profile. There aren't many pairs of Rinnegan in this world to cause a coincidence."
"That's a real hassle. Luckily, the Great Villages still lack a foundation for real cooperation, or our next moves would be tough."
"Need some help? As a newcomer, I should pitch in! Senior Deidara finished his mission and seems to have nothing to do!"
"Shut up, Tobi! I have art to research; I don't have that much time."
"Speaking of which... Orochimaru should be nearing his time for rebirth, right?" Tobi turned his masked head toward Itachi, his tone playful. "Senior Itachi, you wouldn't mind, would you?"
Itachi Uchiha remained expressionless.
Konoha
"Do you really have to go? If not, I can send Tonbo. You know his abilities; he's likely not inferior to the Fourth Hokage now," Tsunade said, sitting on a bench next to Jiraiya.
Jiraiya smiled. "Compared to a wanderer like me, his temperament is better suited for guarding the home. Let him stay to protect Konoha. Besides, it's not like I'm definitely going to die, right?"
There was no heaviness in his voice regarding the perilous mission, only the relaxed tone of an old friend chatting.
"Stay. I need you," Tsunade's face looked like that of a young girl in the sunset.
"If I come back from this mission... give me a chance. And since your luck at gambling is so terrible, why not bet that I won't come back?"
Jiraiya stood up, walking toward the sunset. Tsunade was left behind him.
"I promise you... you must come back," Tsunade whispered to his departing silhouette. She seemed to lose all her energy, her hands resting limply on the bench.
A Dark Underground Cave.
Sasuke Uchiha opened his eyes, his Sharingan spinning slowly. He rose, grabbed his Kusanagi sword, and walked toward a specific section of the base.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The tunnel felt endless, but the boy showed no emotion.
"Who is it?"
A weakened Orochimaru lay on his bed, hearing the approach. "Is that you, Kabuto?"
Chirp!
Amidst his shock, a sudden bolt of lightning erupted. A blade of electricity pierced through his chest.
Creak!
The door swung open, and Sasuke walked in. "It's over, Orochimaru."
"Do you no longer want revenge? Only by letting me inhabit your body will you have the chance to defeat Itachi Uchiha," Orochimaru hissed hoarsely.
"Do you think the Uchiha are all that naive? You no longer have any value to me. My revenge will be completed with my own strength."
Sasuke looked at Orochimaru as if he were a fool. He couldn't understand how one of the Legendary Sannin could have such a childish thought. If Orochimaru were capable, Sasuke wouldn't have minded the help, but the problem was—he wasn't. "Go to the Pure Land with your delusions."
Crackle!
"You're the naive one, Sasuke!"
Orochimaru roared, his mouth widening as he literally spat himself out, revealing a long white snake body with a massive head that lunged at Sasuke.
Clang!
Sasuke's Kusanagi sword flashed.
Konoha.
"Move! Otherwise, I'll make you transcribe high-end mathematics several times! Hide your true objective and create multiple false targets for the enemy to force them into exposing a weakness..."
Within the Battlefield Simulation, Naruto's opponent was no longer the generic data Tonbo had collected, but Tonbo himself.
Tonbo wanted to solidify Naruto's combat patterns so he wouldn't have to rely entirely on flashes of inspiration during battle. Since he had been ordered to strengthen Naruto, he had no intention of slacking off. He wanted to take Naruto's combat skills to the next level.
As for whether this would derail the plot of the final battle, he had already used hundreds of clones to think it through. The "Great Trend" had already formed. As long as he didn't do something overly exaggerated or use his full power to intervene directly, the course wouldn't vanish.
Obito's plan, Madara's plan, Zetsu's plan, Orochimaru's plan—and Tonbo's own plan—would all proceed. Even with deviations, the momentum was irreversible.
Now was the best time to sharpen Naruto's experience. Once Naruto attained Sage Mode, Nine-Tails Mode, or Six Paths power, the Battlefield Simulation Genjutsu wouldn't be able to contain him.
By making Naruto stronger now, perhaps some of the future crises could be avoided. And Tonbo could remain hidden in the shadows, pulling strings against the villains. Well, not "pulling strings"—he was a ninja, and being "sneaky" was a fundamental trait of the profession.
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