Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sounds of shuriken and kunai flying across the battlefield echoed in the distance.
Behind the front lines, members of the Analysis Team were working urgently on their missions.
"Captain, this is the Genin with sensory talent, Tobitake Tonbo. He chose to join the Analysis Team immediately after graduation," Dokuraku Mawashi said, pointing to Tonbo standing behind him.
Yamanaka Inoichi looked toward him, raising an eyebrow at the boy who was clearly still very young.
Tonbo wore a Konoha forehead protector. However, his eyes, ears, and the back of his neck—essentially his entire head above the headband—were wrapped tightly in grayish-white bandages.
Observing the world without using his eyes? It seems his sensory talent is indeed impressive, Inoichi thought.
"Is... is that Inoichi-senpai? Hello! I am Tobitake Tonbo."
Seeing Inoichi look his way, Tonbo immediately straightened his posture, his voice laced with excitement.
"There's no time for small talk," Inoichi commanded. "Mawashi, you take him under your wing. Aim to have him learn the Psycho Mind Transmission (Reading Mind) technique in the shortest time possible. Can you do it?"
"On it, Captain," Mawashi replied, his eyes flashing with intensity.
"Ah..." Tonbo's face fell. He had hoped for direct guidance from a Jonin!
His senses lingered on Dokuraku Mawashi. This "Demon Instructor" of the Analysis Team was also young right now. Tonbo wondered when Kishimoto had even come up with the setting for this "Demon Instructor"—hopefully, it wasn't a personality trait he possessed yet.
Tonbo hadn't expected this. Watching the anime wasn't enough, so he had stayed up all night reading a Naruto fanfic, only to die of exhaustion and transmigrate.
Now, he was in the midst of the Third Shinobi World War. He had been forced to graduate at only the fifth-grade level. Terrified of dying, he had quickly identified the best place to stay safe: following the path of the original Tobitake Tonbo.
A member of the Analysis Team.
They had only one mission: read the intelligence inside the enemy's brain, organize it, and hand it over to superiors. In times of peace, they were like the two gatekeepers of Konoha—they stayed put where they were needed. It couldn't be better.
Mawashi led him to a side area of the encampment. Since it was wartime, the environment was naturally harsh.
"Here. This is the specific training method for the Psycho Mind Transmission. With your sensory talent, it shouldn't be difficult. If there's anything you don't understand, ask me after I finish my mission."
Mawashi tossed him a scroll and left.
Tonbo knew the battlefield was an emergency; every second counted. Even his classmates—Might Guy, Ebisu, and Shiranui Genma—had to join the battle immediately. As a logistics specialist, he didn't have the luxury of one-on-one or one-on-three specialized training.
He opened the scroll.
Peeling back the bandages on his face, he revealed his eyes. He thought learning the execution of the Mind Reading technique would be simple. He had underestimated it.
The scroll was filled with dense lines of text and figures; it was incredibly long. However, as he delved deeper into the reading, he realized that beyond the execution method, the scroll listed techniques on how to maximize intelligence retrieval once inside someone's mind. It also detailed methods to prevent the other person's thoughts from invading one's own mind during the process.
Essentially, this Jutsu was like an academic subject—the hand signs were the least important part. As long as one had sensory talent and decent Spiritual Energy, the execution was simple.
As he read, the characters seemed to come alive. Tonbo found it exceptionally easy to understand; it wasn't nearly as difficult as he had imagined.
Rat — Horse — Tiger—
Once he finished reading, he quickly formed the hand signs. The formula for the Psycho Mind Transmission was executed by him with total ease.
He scanned the camp, but finding nothing suitable to practice his mind-reading on, he released the jutsu.
"What should I do next?"
To prevent enemy attacks, the Analysis Team was located in a hidden spot. He couldn't practice any flashy, high-impact ninjutsu here.
I'll just practice my sensing then.
He was, after all, a sensory-type ninja—a rarity compared to those with basic Wind-style chakra.
He wrapped the bandages back over his eyes. In his perception, everything around him turned into lines. This was how he could keep his eyes covered without affecting his movement.
He formed the Tiger seal and refined his chakra.
Suddenly, his perception shifted. Within a one-kilometer radius, the chakra signatures of distant frogs, birds, and shinobi appeared in his mind. While not as visually direct as the Byakugan, it was top-tier talent for a commoner. No wonder sensory ninjas were so rare.
He then experimented with other basic ninjutsu: Transformation, Clone Jutsu, and more. He realized a pattern—since transmigrating, his talent seemed to have been boosted. No matter the knowledge, he could master it easily and even innovate upon it.
For example, with the Transformation Jutsu, the original Tonbo could only transform into things he had observed for a long time. Now, with just a glance at a nearby animal, its form and gait would manifest in his mind, allowing for an instant, perfect transformation.
The Clone Jutsu was the same. Before, it took him a full second; now, his hand seals were a third faster. In a real fight, that was the difference between life and death.
"What are you doing? Didn't I tell you to learn the Mind Reading technique?"
While Tonbo was practicing chakra control by climbing a tree, Dokuraku Mawashi reappeared. Seeing that Tonbo wasn't following his instructions, Mawashi felt a surge of irritation. It was wartime; a ninja who didn't follow orders died easily.
"I've learned it. I just didn't have a subject to test it on," Tonbo said as he dropped down in front of him.
Mawashi froze, his face full of disbelief. According to the records, while Tonbo was strong in sensory talent, his performance in Ninjutsu and theory at the Academy was only above average.
"Follow me."
Since the boy claimed success, Mawashi didn't argue. Besides, with Tonbo's face covered in bandages, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Curious, Tonbo followed.
They soon arrived at an underground secret room. A series of closed doors lined the corridor. Mawashi led him into one of the rooms.
"The ninja inside has already had his intelligence extracted. His mind is in a state of chaos. Give it a try. Remember: don't push yourself."
Tonbo stepped inside. The room was dim, lit only by a single flickering candle.
Inside sat a dazed Sunagakure ninja. It seemed that forced mind-reading had some nasty side effects! Mawashi didn't leave; he stayed by the side to watch, ensuring Tonbo didn't do anything reckless.
Tonbo skillfully formed the hand signs and placed both hands on the neural centers just above the ninja's temples.
He really did learn it! Mawashi thought, watching the boy's movements. He knew Tonbo wasn't lying. Back then, it had taken Mawashi three days to master this. Furthermore, Tonbo knew exactly where the nerves were most accessible from the outside. Starting from there saved a lot of effort during the mental intrusion.
As Tonbo's spirit invaded the man's brain, he felt as if he were traveling through a time tunnel. Within the tunnel, massive fragments of memory flashed by.
From entering the Academy as a child to graduating and being sent on missions—the man was just a minor Genin. However, his experience was quite rich, having survived the battlefields of the Third War for half a year before being captured by Konoha.
Most of the memories were non-linear and fragmented, likely due to the previous interrogations. However, Tonbo still absorbed a wealth of experience: combat tactics, scouting techniques, and more.
He was also surprised, as if all of the other party's experiences allowed him to infer many things from one.
It seems that in the Analysis Team, my combat experience won't fall behind anyone else's in the future.