"My beloved Kazuko and Rantaro were killed in that massacre," Gumbuo said, his voice rising with emotion until he broke into a fit of coughing.
"It seems Gumbuo was seriously injured," Tom muttered to himself, noticing the man's flushed face and labored breathing. "Gumbuo, your wife and children died in that rebellion. I sympathize with you. But do you know how many people the bandits you trained have killed? How many families have been destroyed? How many relatives grieve just like you now?"
Tom's voice was firm, his expression angry. "People like you cry out for justice, yet you only want revenge. You never look for a real solution. You've been consumed by hatred. Gumbuo, today, you must die."
"Don't preach to me, brat! What do you know?!" Gumbuo roared, charging forward. His sword, like a black dragon, slashed toward Tom with murderous intent.
"This world has always belonged to the strong. The weak only exist to be trampled!"
Gumbuo's blade split the air, creating shadows that overwhelmed Tom. But Tom reacted swiftly. His arm shot out like a striking serpent, meeting the blade. He twisted his wrist skillfully, redirecting the weapon's force, and spun around. With a loud bang, Tom's elbow slammed into Gumbuo's waist like a battering ram.
Gumbuo flew back like a rag doll, crashing through a wooden wall and collapsing a building in his wake.
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Spear!" Gumbuo roared from the rubble. The ground beneath Tom quaked, jagged stalagmites shooting up.
Tom leapt back, but one of the rocky spears grazed his arm. He gritted his teeth and smashed through the formation with a bloodied punch.
Poof! With a flicker of chakra, Tom vanished.
In the next second, he reappeared behind the ruins. "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu!"
Flames erupted from Tom's mouth, engulfing the building in a storm of fire. The inferno turned the entire structure into molten ash.
From the center of the blaze, a boulder-like shell cracked open. Gumbuo emerged, riding a large rock shard like a missile, his glowing sword raised.
Tom somersaulted into the air and hurled six shuriken, quickly weaving hand signs. "Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
The six weapons multiplied into a hailstorm of spinning steel.
Gumbuo swung his sword in wide arcs, generating a powerful wind barrier. For a moment, the wall held—but the relentless barrage of shuriken eventually pierced through, peppering the ground and Gumbuo's armor.
Tom, now upside-down midair, summoned a shadow clone that gave him a downward push. Accelerating, he descended like a missile.
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
Four shadow clones emerged from the fallen weapons, encircling Gumbuo. All five Tom figures struck simultaneously with kunai.
One stabbed Gumbuo's right hand, forcing his sword to clatter to the ground. The others drove their weapons into his limbs and torso—his left shoulder, forearm, ribs, and chest.
The Takumi ninja dropped to the ground, his body finally succumbing to the damage. His fierce expression softened into weariness.
"Ahem... Kid, you were right," he rasped. "I really didn't know anything. Please... take good care of Iron Broken Tooth. A ninja's tool... is to assist, not destroy."
With those words, Gumbuo took his last breath.
Tom stood there, stunned. His arms trembled, and his breath came in sharp bursts. He slowly knelt, laying the body down with care.
"Even gravely wounded, a jonin can still fight this hard," he whispered. Looking down at his bloodied right arm, he muttered, "I need a better cover. I can't rely on my healing alone. I should learn medical ninjutsu... or, better yet, if I had Wood Release like the First Hokage..."
He clenched his fist and turned his gaze to the fallen weapon.
It was the famed sword—Iron Broken Tooth.
Tom examined it closely. The blade resembled the one from the anime Inuyasha—but instead of the signature dog-demon motif, its guard bore a reversed swastika design.
Without chakra, the blade looked like a dull, oversized scrap of metal. But when chakra flowed through it, the weapon transformed.
With fire chakra, it burned with destructive heat.
With lightning chakra, it became sharp and electrified.
Tom recalled his own chakra nature—fire and lightning—discovered using test papers from the police force archives.
Gumbuo's earth chakra had made Iron Broken Tooth heavy and strong. Tom nodded with approval.
"From now on, your name is Broken Tooth," Tom declared. "One day, together, we'll become legends in this world."