Chapter 325: Kotoamatsukami
Tonbo Tobitake felt a sense of pride as he watched the Gedo Mazo successfully trapped.
However, can Naruto resolve things with Nagato? The plot has shifted quite a bit; surely Nagato won't go berserk. Events had already been set in motion, and for now, Tonbo had to focus on his own tasks—namely, collecting as much data on the Gedo Mazo as possible.
Hm?
Tonbo lunged forward, delivering a flying kick to a masked man, sending him tumbling backward.
"The Akatsuki really aren't pulling any punches," Tonbo remarked.
He hadn't expected Obito to show up. Shouldn't he be with Sasuke right now, keeping an eye on him? Did he come specifically to help Nagato?
Swish!
"As expected of Konoha's Captain Tonbo. I didn't think that jutsu could sustain itself without you maintaining it. But... do you have any chakra left?"
Tobi rolled across the ground and stood up, his tone shifting back to his playful, "Tobi" persona, yet carrying an air of absolute confidence.
Tonbo tilted his head from side to side, his neck emitting a series of sharp cracks. "Dealing with you shouldn't be a problem."
The surrounding ninjas turned their gaze toward Tobi. They all recognized him from the intel reports: the masked man capable of using space-time ninjutsu.
"Damn it, our chakra is depleted."
The expressions of the others soured. Between physical exhaustion and the massive chakra drain from the previous jutsu, they had almost nothing left.
Shikaku spoke up: "What exactly is the Akatsuki after? Are you trying to start a full-scale war?"
"I know you—Konoha's master strategist. Are you trying to buy time to recover chakra? We won't give you that satisfaction; this is too good an opportunity to pass up." Tobi dropped the act, his voice turning cold as a sneer played behind his mask.
Rumble!
Beneath them, countless wooden vines—each at least a meter in diameter—erupted in a wild dance, lunging toward the crowd.
Hah!
Two figures blurred into motion, swiftly smashing through the attacking vines. It was Sakura and Ino. Being medical ninjas, they had more chakra reserves remaining than the front-line combatants.
Swish! Boom!
However, two pairs of hands couldn't stop everything. The sheer volume of the Wood Style vines made it impossible to intercept them all.
Whiz!
Tonbo threw several ninja tools, severing a portion of the encroaching wood. "Your opponent is me."
Tobi responded by exhaling a massive fireball.
Whoosh!
Tonbo nimbly avoided the blast. He continued to feign weakness, yet he moved with lethal precision, closing the distance between himself and Tobi.
ROAR!
While the Konoha forces were locked in combat with Zetsu and Tobi, the Gedo Mazo let out a final, piercing shriek.
Poof!
It vanished from the range of the ninjutsu. Although the target was gone, the hurricane did not dissipate. The terrain was left utterly barren, with yellow dust blanketing the sky.
Until Tonbo manually dispelled the jutsu, they would have to wait for the calculated distribution points of natural energy to break down over time before the storm would clear on its own.
Fwoosh!
Following the disappearance of the Gedo Mazo, streaks of light descended from the sky, injecting themselves into the corpses scattered across the battlefield. One by one, eyes snapped open.
Tsunade, seeing the fallen being resurrected, was overcome with shock. Combined with her extreme exhaustion, she finally lost consciousness and collapsed.
"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune rushed forward to check her condition.
"Hmph. It seems luck is on your side today," Tobi remarked, eyeing the newly revived reinforcements. "But next time, you won't be so fortunate."
Zip—
A kunai passed through a swirling vortex, but the masked man had already vanished. Sakura and Ino, who had been struggling against the Wood Style, saw the attacks gradually cease. Both girls slumped to the ground simultaneously. After healing so many and fighting Zetsu, they were at their absolute limit.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Slowly, other ninjas began to appear from the distance. Team Guy had returned from their mission, as had Hiashi Hyuga, who had been taking Hanabi to visit the Kaguya clan.
"What happened here?"
Tonbo Tobitake sat atop the Hokage Rock, looking down at the bustling activity below.
The Pain invasion was over. Naruto, just like in the original story, had become a hero. The only major difference was that Nagato had summoned the Gedo Mazo, allowing Tonbo to gather a significant amount of data.
As for Tonbo himself, he was naturally hailed as a hero as well. This brought a tangible sense of prestige to his former title of Acting Hokage.
The area where the Gedo Mazo had stood was now a desolate wasteland, the ground scraped clean for several feet, leaving behind only piles of loose dirt and a giant crater where the hurricane had ceased.
The Konoha ninjas were currently busy, but they didn't stop discussing his latest move. Aside from Naruto, Tonbo was the most talked-about person in the village. Tonbo listened to the praises drifting up to his ears, humming a little tune to himself.
Who doesn't want to stand in the spotlight and show everyone how capable they are? Hearing their compliments felt quite good.
"Still, these craters in Konoha aren't going away easily."
Below the Hokage Rock, the village had effectively "sunk." Buildings were tilted and haphazard. While they hadn't been directly pulverized by the Deva Path, the side effects of the battle had caused immense structural damage. Tonbo hadn't anticipated this particular downside: when the barrier had ended, the village had "dropped" into the hollowed-out earth created by Pain's Massive Almighty Push.
Well, it'll be fine after some renovations.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Just as he was about to head back to begin his deep-dive research into Otsutsuki Urashiki, the sound of footsteps approached. He turned to find Danzo Shimura standing there, flanked by his two guards.
"Danzo. You need something?" Tonbo's tone was blunt, bordering on disrespectful.
This fit his current persona perfectly. When Konoha was in its darkest hour, Danzo was nowhere to be found. He didn't even bother with the title of "Lord Danzo" anymore.
Danzo's expression remained unchanged despite the disrespect. "It is nothing. I simply felt you did well. Hiruzen's trust in you was not misplaced. I hope you continue to maintain this standard in the future."
Without waiting for Tonbo to respond, he turned and walked away with his guards. This left Tonbo completely baffled.
"I'll obviously maintain it, but what's your deal, Lord Danzo?" Tonbo called out after him. But Danzo had already vanished.
Wait... you came all the way up here just to tell me that?
Buzz!
The moment that thought crossed his mind, a foreign memory surged into his consciousness.
"Release (Kai)!"
Tonbo instantly dispelled the chakra he had placed as a safeguard in his mind. His eyes narrowed instantly, and a surge of killing intent erupted from him, causing the nearby trees to rustle violently. However, as his gaze trailed toward the direction of the departing Danzo, he reined it back in.
"If your death wasn't already so close, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from killing you right now, you damned Danzo."
There were only a few days left until Sasuke would kill Danzo. Otherwise, Tonbo truly wouldn't have been able to hold back. Truth was already in his hands. It was one thing for Danzo to be verbally abrasive, but now he had dared to actually take action.
If Tsunade hadn't been unconscious, Tonbo would have moved immediately to kick Danzo out of Konoha. Now, he would simply let the original plot run its course and allow Danzo to die at Sasuke's hands.
Tonbo realized that Danzo's attempt to control him was likely because the old man was dead-set on making his move for the Hokage seat.
"Fine. I'll help you become Hokage. I can't be the only one stuck with a decimal title like '4.5th.' Let's make you the 5.5th."
Ultimately, for the sake of his long-term plans, Tonbo suppressed his murderous urge. Sometimes, he truly admired Orochimaru. To achieve a goal, killing a person was never about bloodlust—it was purely a means to an end.
Thinking of Orochimaru, his mind drifted back to the Otsutsuki Urashiki in his lab. He couldn't develop this "specimen" alone.
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
On Patreon, you can explore Extra Chapters in advance!