Chapter 100: Iron Body
The Hidden Rain Village.
A pitcher-plant-shaped head emerged from the ground, standing beside Pain.
"I have good news."
Pain: "Speak."
"In ten days, the Land of Fire will send a delegation to Konoha for advanced training in dispelling Genjutsu. Last time, you almost tripped up at the hands of Konoha's Tonbo Tobitake. This time, I will infiltrate the Land of Fire's Near-Guard Agency and learn Konoha's Genjutsu countermeasures for you."
Zetsu's eyes were like small green beans, a smirk playing on his face. Last time had truly stunned him; for Nagato—a genius bolstered by the Rinnegan—to have all six of his puppets sealed by Genjutsu was simply incredible. He couldn't think of anyone capable of such a feat unless they used a forbidden Mangekyo Sharingan technique. In the thousand years since the Sage of the Six Paths, only a handful of people in each era possessed such Genjutsu prowess. He wouldn't miss this chance to gather intel.
Since Pain was the nominal leader of Akatsuki, Zetsu naturally had to report.
Pain paused. "Do not get discovered."
After much research since the encounter, Pain had already found ways to deal with that Genjutsu. However, if there was a more convenient method of dispelling it, it would be advantageous for future battles. Though he considered himself a god, he did not underestimate the power of the Five Great Nations. Only through caution could he end the world's conflict and rebuild order.
"Rest easy. Do you not trust my information-gathering skills?" Zetsu chuckled, slowly merging back into the ground and vanishing.
Pain looked down at the Hidden Rain Village from his height, lost in thought.
Training Ground 98.
A three-meter-high earthen wall stood tall.
"Genjutsu: Iron Body."
As the technique was cast, chakra surged through the meridian system in Tonbo Tobitake's right arm while a separate pulse shot into his brain. A specific neural signal issued a command from his mind to his hand. Combining with the chakra, a unique nature transformation occurred.
His right hand gradually turned black. Chakra transformed into a special substance, flooding the muscles, cells, bone marrow, joints, skin, and meridians. Tonbo clenched his fist. He felt as if the world was within his grasp. He looked at the Earth Style: Mud Wall before him and swung.
BOOM!
CRACK!
THUD!
The sound of breaking air... the sound of snapping bone... the explosive sound of the wall shattering...
The air three inches ahead of his fist compressed before even touching the wall. The wall buckled in a conical shape from the pressure, then the compressed air exploded, obliterating the mud wall inch by inch. The airburst even tore up the ground in a fan-shaped wake, leaving only the base of the wall intact.
"Hmph!" Tonbo groaned.
He felt the connection between his arm and shoulder—bones were fractured, and muscles and ligaments were torn. As the technique deactivated, his arm went limp and hung at his side. He immediately used his left hand to cast Mystical Palm Technique, using the medical knowledge he'd acquired for emergency first aid.
"Still not right. Even though the 'Touch of Life' Genjutsu allows me to use Yin Release to create a second, independent-yet-linked musculoskeletal system on my arm to push power to the limit, the recoil is too much for the physical body to handle!"
After roughly patching up his arm, Tonbo headed toward the Konoha Hospital.
The "second musculoskeletal system" was a concept he'd adapted from various animals—the 100x weight-lifting structure of an ant, the strike of a peacock mantis shrimp, and the leg power of a frog. By using Yin Release to add a second, mathematically calculated structure over his original anatomy, he could achieve explosive physical strength and iron-like hardness.
But just like the Eight Inner Gates, there was a price. His price was the temporary loss of his arm's function. If not treated properly, it would leave permanent internal damage, much like Naruto's Wind Style: Rasenshuriken. At this stage, it was effectively a forbidden technique. Its power was already comparable to—if not greater than—Tsunade's Chakra Enhanced Strength. Once fully developed, punching through a Susanoo wouldn't be a dream.
At the hospital, he received treatment from medical ninjas who seemed quite used to seeing him. This was his tenth time in five days. Since he started studying, he had been rapidly absorbing medical knowledge regarding muscles, bones, and nerves, and immediately applying it to his experiments. Even for someone as smart as Tonbo, medical science was a massive subject, so he focused specifically on what he needed.
"I heard he's a Jonin. Why is he always getting hurt inside the village? Is there an infiltrator?"
"He's so handsome. I want his contact info."
"Give it up, he's married and has two kids."
"So what? Even in a profession as agile as a ninja, you can still get poked to death by a kunai."
A group of female medical ninjas gossiped, their eyes frequently drifting toward Tonbo.
After shooing away the flirtatious doctors, Tonbo scratched his head, thinking it was time to hurry up and finish those bandages to hide his face and avoid the hassle. He lay on the hospital bed and picked up a medical book.
Creak!
He hadn't been reading long when the door opened, and a massive body was carried in by doctors and placed on the bed next to him.
"Eh? Senior Choza?" Tonbo looked at the heavily injured Akimichi Choza in surprise. Who could wound him like this?
Choza turned his head and smiled. "Eh, Tonbo? Why are you injured too?"
"Me? I was developing a new jutsu and got hit by the backlash. What about you, Senior?"
Tonbo was curious. Choza was an elite Jonin who hadn't even flinched when facing the Nine-Tails.
"I ran into the Three-Tails. Had a bit of a scrap with it," Choza laughed sheepishly.
"The Three-Tails?"
"Yeah. For some reason, it ended up in a lake deep within the Land of Fire. We were tasked with guarding it to make sure it didn't disappear or cause destruction. We were spotted, so we fought."
"That's incredible. That's a Tailed Beast! When I saw the Nine-Tails back then, I was paralyzed by its pressure."
"Well, I had to use the clan's secret pills and still ended up like this. Luckily, the Three-Tails decided we were too much trouble and dove back into the lake." Choza paused, looking serious. "Don't tell anyone else. Tailed Beast movements are classified."
He told Tonbo because Tonbo was a trusted ally and a capable ninja. Now that Tonbo had taken over for Inoichi as the Analysis Captain, he was part of the village's upper leadership. A ninja who rose through the ranks and had a family was someone to be trusted.
"You should probably talk less, then. What if I have a slip of the tongue?" Tonbo joked.
Choza smiled. "I trust you. Anyway, what kind of jutsu are you developing? Maybe I can give you some inspiration. Since we're both stuck here, we might as well chat."
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