Chapter 169: What the Body Reveals

Lee lay on the whale's broad back while Tonbo placed a hand between his shoulders. Branching marks spread over his body.

"Why does he have all those lines?" Guy asked.

"A special technique," Tonbo said gravely. "It lets me examine problems deep inside the body and work out how best to condition it."

Information poured into his mind. Lee had some natural aptitude for taijutsu, as Tonbo had expected, but not much more than an ordinary person. Nothing else in the examination particularly distinguished him.

Guy lay back, exhausted by the training. "It makes him look like he's covered in tattoos."

"Ugly ones," Tenten added.

Tonbo gave Lee a nutritional pill, then used genjutsu to make his body absorb it faster. "Next."

Tenten's information differed considerably. Tonbo found patterns he had not gathered from previous subjects, some of which might explain her aptitude for weapons and space-time techniques. He would have to sort the unfamiliar information and experiment before he could identify its functions with confidence. Her aptitude for taijutsu was good as well.

Neji received his closest attention. Tonbo had wanted to examine the Byakugan for a long time.

The branching marks spread as his projected nerves entered Neji's body. More complex information followed. When the technique reached the eyes, the volume increased sharply, and the structure of the Byakugan unfolded within his mind.

It was the most complicated human organ he had examined. Much of it formed a system of its own, with a relatively simple channel supplying chakra from the rest of the body. Tonbo wondered whether that arrangement helped explain how transplanted dōjutsu could function once connected to a new source of chakra.

Understanding the whole structure would take a long time. Fortunately, acquiring the Byakugan was not his present objective. He wanted greater chakra reserves, and the information relevant to increasing physical energy was less varied than the remarkable abilities built around it.

He had obtained enough to make the day's work worthwhile.

At the Academy, Tenyu regarded his deskmate with growing irritation.

"Jun, take the bandages off. They look terrible."

"No."

Kawabe Jun had arrived at school with his head wrapped in imitation of Tonbo. Learning that their father's admirer would sit beside them had not pleased either twin.

"You can like Dad without dressing like him," Maki said. "It's embarrassing."

"No."

"How many times have you fallen over?" Tenyu asked. "Aren't you afraid of hurting yourself?"

"No."

Tenyu reached for the cloth. Jun pulled away, refusing more loudly, and the children began to tussle over it.

Konohamaru watched from nearby. Childish. The bandages were ugly too. If Jun had to imitate someone, he ought to imitate the Hokage rather than that captain.

As for the twins, Konohamaru had not forgotten their constant mockery. An idea occurred to him. This time he would make them look foolish. He smiled to himself as he considered how to arrange it.

Tonbo came home pleased with the information he had gathered from Guy's team. Ayame's expression ended that mood at once.

"Look at the children you're raising. They bullied a classmate today. You're sleeping on the floor tonight."

Tenyu and Maki stood beside her, looking innocent. Tonbo produced the thin switch and regarded them with a sigh.

"Explain. If this was serious enough to be reported home, you'd better have a reason."

Both children watched the switch.

"Konohamaru attacked us first."

"He put a chalk eraser over the door to ambush us," Maki added. "So we beat him up."

Tenyu hurried to explain the reasoning. "You said if we hit back hard enough the first time, people would leave us alone."

Ayame turned her stare upon Tonbo.

"When did I say that?"

"We read it in a book in your study."

That left him with rather less to say. He lowered the switch.

"We'll let it go this time. But next time, try to behave like shinobi. Couldn't you manage it without being found out?"

"Tonbo."

Ayame pronounced his name slowly. He cleared his throat.

"I'm teaching them a necessary skill. A shinobi ought to know how to avoid being discovered. Admittedly, using it against a comrade is questionable."

Tenyu and Maki exchanged a glance. The lesson seemed simple enough to them: whether it was a prank or a beating, they should make certain nobody discovered who had done it.

Lee could not stop thinking about the sea.

"Guy sensei, that training was too much. I think I'm more frightened now."

The brief flight had been bad enough. The water was worse. With Tonbo there to catch them, they could survive it; if a mission left them in such a place without him, Lee saw no answer at all.

"That means there is still fear to overcome," Guy said. "You cannot let it defeat you. It also gives you experience you won't gain on ordinary missions."

Experience developed mental energy. A mission could provide it, but so could unfamiliar training that forced them beyond what they already knew. Guy saw value in both.

"I was going to ask for his autograph," Tenten said. "I'm not so sure now."

Then her expression changed. "I'll make a tool that lets us fly. And something for traveling on the sea."

Those environments exposed weaknesses she had never thought about so clearly. Ninja tools were how she intended to answer them.

Neji considered the same problem. If he were carried into the sky or plunged into deep water, what would he do? Flying techniques and space-time ninjutsu existed. An enemy need not fight where Gentle Fist worked best.

Guy approved immediately. "If you can make them, that closes a weakness in our team."

They did not all need to invent the solution. Shinobi worked in teams. One member's ability could give the others what they lacked.