Chapter 42: Gossip and Itachi
Outside the Sushiro restaurant in Konoha.
"Bye-bye, Big Brother Tonbo!" Little Ino waved her tiny hand as she was led away by Inoichi.
Tonbo Tobitake waved back. "See ya! Once you start at the Ninja Academy, Big Brother will teach you that flower-changing jutsu, okay?"
"I know!" Ino shouted back happily in her sweet, high-pitched voice.
Ayame watched from the side with a smile. "Husband, you really do love children."
"That's why we have to work hard," Tonbo laughed. "Look how cute Ino is. We should try to have our kids a bit earlier; maybe our boy can grow up and marry her into the family."
"Stop it! How can you say that out in public? It's embarrassing!" Ayame's face turned bright red at the bustling crowd around them, and she gave his chest a playful punch with her small fist.
That night, Tonbo worked very hard on his mission to start a family.
A few days passed.
At the Analysis Team headquarters.
"Did you hear? Another genius has emerged from the Uchiha. They really do produce geniuses non-stop!" Shimon was chatting with several colleagues.
Tonbo was right there with them, soaking up the gossip. Aside from his daily studies and work, his favorite pastime was listening to Konoha's rumors. Hearing familiar and unfamiliar names or events allowed him to piece together many interesting things happening in the village.
Dokuraku Mawashi looked over. "What do you know this time?"
"Ever heard of Itachi Uchiha?" Shimon looked left and right, acting as if he were sharing a top-tier secret.
The crowd looked at him flatly.
"Who doesn't know him? He graduated from the Academy last year at age seven. I heard he used Shadow Clones to attend classes the whole time. Finally, during a fight with some upperclassmen, a teacher appeared suddenly, causing him to lose focus and revealing his incredible talent."
This was common knowledge by now. It had been quite a sensation—only a year behind Kakashi's graduation record.
"Well, word is that a few days ago, his teammates were killed. In his grief, he actually awakened the Sharingan," Shimon whispered with a sigh.
"And? Did he kill the enemies?" someone asked.
Shimon spread his hands. "No idea."
"Tsk! If you don't know that, what are you bragging for? It's just the Sharingan. As long as they're ninjas, those Uchiha kids awaken it sooner or later."
Tonbo nodded in agreement. Any Uchiha with genuine ninja talent would basically awaken their eyes at some point.
"How am I supposed to know the details? It's classified! I only heard it from my great-aunt's cousin's brother-in-law's grand-uncle. His daughter married into the Uchiha!"
"Boring..."
The colleagues lost interest, expecting some world-shaking revelation.
"Sergeant, I heard you've been teaching at the Academy lately. You must have seen Itachi. What's your take on him?" Tonbo asked curiously.
Just as Tonbo occasionally worked as a part-time squad leader for missions, other Chunin in the Analysis Team often held secondary roles. In times of peace, there wasn't enough work to go around, and ninjas needed to earn a living. Dokuraku Jone had started teaching at the Academy after the Nine-Tails incident.
The others perked up; this was gossip from one of the strongest clans in the village.
Dokuraku Jone pushed up his glasses. "A god given talent. He's equal to, if not better than, Kakashi."
"Also, please call me Team Leader, not 'Sergeant.'" He knew these guys gave him that nickname because of his strict training methods.
"Got it, Sergeant."
"Oh? To be on par with Kakashi... as expected of an Uchiha. Incredible!"
"I'm so jealous of those Bloodline clans."
The colleagues expressed their envy. If they had a Bloodline Limit, their potential ceiling would be much higher.
"I wonder if he could block Captain Tonbo's Psycho Mind Transmission: Disgust?"
Suddenly, a voice spoke up, and the room went silent as everyone gulped. They all remembered that "unpleasant taste."
"Impossible," someone declared. "No human can block that thing. Not even a Sharingan. I'm calling it."
They had all sparred with Tonbo and had tasted that illusion. It was an experience more miserable than eating filth.
Tonbo was speechless. How did this turn back to him? I just let you taste the flavor of your most hated food... is it really that big of a deal?
"Then it seems Captain Tonbo is the strongest! Kakashi, Uchiha—they're all amateurs!" Shimon cheered loudly.
"Exactly! Tonbo is the best!"
"Hahaha! The Analysis Team is the ultimate force!"
In an instant, the group started hooting and hollering. It was rowdy and festive.
However, Tonbo was not pleased. This felt like they were setting him up for a fall. I just made you taste bad food... really?
"If you keep talking about me, I'll let you try my newly developed Psycho Mind Transmission 2.0: Disgust. I've added what I consider to be the most disgusting flavor personally, rather than just what you find gross," Tonbo grinned wickedly.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
In a split second:
"I just remembered I have unfinished paperwork."
"Me too."
"Inoichi said he'd treat me to lunch, gotta go!"
"Reporting for duty, see ya!"
The room cleared out instantly.
"Cowards. They're ninjas, yet they can't handle a little taste? How are they going to survive fire and torture from an enemy?" Tonbo scoffed. He had really wanted them to test his new illusion.
Ninjas were conditioned to endure physical pain—whippings, burns, you name it. That was the definition of a "ninja." Based on this, he had developed a better food-flavor version of Psycho Mind Transmission.
The difference from the first generation—which only evoked the victim's own feared flavors—was that the second generation allowed him to input a specific, horrific flavor he had collected. Having tried different foods in his previous life, he had incorporated a pungent, nauseating taste into the jutsu.
If the enemy was caught, the illusion would trigger their facial and glossopharyngeal nerves within 0.1 seconds, creating the sensation of having consumed massive amounts of Disgusting essences. Even if the enemy dispelled the chakra influence, the sensory memory was already there, etched directly into the brain through the nerves.
This was the power of medical knowledge. Unlike other illusions where "dispelled means gone," this one left a lingering psychological trauma that could only be slightly weakened, not erased.
"Sigh. It's a pity I don't want to taste rotten eggs myself, otherwise that would be even more effective."
Tonbo had one frustration: the weakness of this jutsu was that he had to have tasted the flavor himself to have a deep enough cognition to project it onto others. It required a high level of study into the gustatory nervous system, which meant reading thick medical books. Even with his current enhanced brain, those medical tomes gave him a headache.
Also, Itachi Uchiha... he's probably being watched by Obito right about now, Tonbo thought, recalling the conversation. Since Itachi had awakened his eyes, his fateful encounter with Shisui was likely beginning.
Once again, I'm glad I wasn't born an Uchiha, he mused. Otherwise, he wouldn't have time to train, work, marry a beautiful wife, and prepare for a family. He'd probably be crushed under the pressure of the impending massacre and forced into a desperate struggle for power.
"In the original series, hardly any of the notable characters from my generation got married, right? I'm the real winner here."
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