Chapter 187: The Safeguard Holds

"This may be too dangerous for a jinchūriki," Hiruzen said. "Are you certain there won't be a problem?"

He looked from Naruto's projection to the students on the field. If the Nine-Tails broke free here, the scene within the illusion might become real. They were all gathered within reach of it.

"Stop his training," Kakashi said. "The risk to the village is too great."

Other shinobi nodded. They remembered the last attack. Even if they managed to seal the fox again, how many would die before they did?

"Minato's seal is strong," Tonbo said. "And even if Naruto erupts, I can suppress him immediately."

Hiruzen and Kakashi stared at him.

"Don't look so surprised. Some of us still have ambitions. I haven't stopped studying for a single day. The Hokage has a village's paperwork to deal with, but what about you two?"

He looked from Kakashi to Asuma.

"Can you honestly say you've been pushing yourselves? Or do you just train enough to maintain what you already have?"

Once a shinobi's body matured, the rapid growth of youth generally slowed. Chakra reserves settled, progress became harder to see, and too many people became content with their existing strength. Tonbo had no intention of joining them.

"That's unfair," Kakashi said. "I train every day."

Hiruzen said nothing. It had been a long time since he had trained as hard as he once did.

"So do I," Asuma protested. "Tell him, Kurenai."

Tonbo was already sorting the information left by Naruto's brief surge of Nine-Tails chakra.

"You're twenty-six, Kakashi. Minato never reached your age. You graduated younger than he did, yet the Nine-Tails still frightens you this much. If you've been working so hard, why haven't you caught up with him?"

"You can't compare my talent to my teacher's."

"Tonbo has a point," Hiruzen said. "Minato would have wanted you to surpass him."

Kakashi gave an uncomfortable laugh and returned to the immediate danger. "Even so, we shouldn't take a chance. If something goes wrong—"

"I wouldn't provoke a jinchūriki unless I could handle the result. Don't underestimate me."

No one looked entirely satisfied. Minato had given his life to deal with the Nine-Tails. Tonbo spoke as though its suppression were a difficulty he had already settled.

He offered no further explanation. The graduates' physical information required his attention, and he had preserved what he could of the fox's chakra for later study.

Why did tailed beasts possess such enormous reserves? They had physical forms as well as chakra. Perhaps some aspect of their nature could be incorporated into a human body to increase its capacity further. He had little foundation for the work yet, and success might require years of research. For now, collecting the information was enough.

Sasuke presented a different opportunity. His chakra was substantial for his age, but the Sharingan interested Tonbo more. He had no desire to tear out the boy's eyes; studying them where they were would serve his purpose.

In some respects, he considered the Sharingan even more extraordinary than the Rinnegan. Greater ocular power did not necessarily mean more useful abilities. The Sharingan offered possibilities that still defied easy explanation.

Tonbo's nerve filaments reached Sasuke's eyes and penetrated their internal structure. Information entered his mind slowly. It was his first close examination of these eyes. Before he could use what he learned, he would have to discover which differences mattered.

The sun climbed toward noon and then descended. Its last orange light lay across the training ground before the session ended.

Some students had dropped out earlier. Even with Tonbo's genjutsu guiding their bodies and the special medicine sustaining them, they could not continue indefinitely. When the mental strain became too much, they left the illusion and sank into deep sleep.

About a dozen remained active. Tonbo had expected the nine prominent students to endure, but the others surprised him. The village contained more promising children than the handful whose names he remembered from another life.

Naruto had suffered no further eruption. As the hours passed, the adults grew less apprehensive. Whatever the technique was doing to him, it had not broken the seal.

At last Hiruzen spoke.

"That's enough, Tonbo. They can't withstand much more."

Even on a battlefield, Hiruzen had never fought so many encounters in such rapid succession. Their minds needed rest, and their bodies had been running on medicine for hours. He did not want to discover what happened when that support was no longer enough.

Tonbo nodded and released the genjutsu.

Sakura collapsed at once, already asleep. Shikamaru, Chōji, and Ino followed. Kiba opened his eyes long enough to see the adults before he too fell.

Hinata's Byakugan was still active.

"I won't let you hurt Naruto!"

She turned toward the nearest figures with her hands ready for Gentle Fist.

"It's over, Hinata," Tonbo said.

"Over?"

She checked their chakra, then looked at Naruto. Remembering what she had just shouted, she flushed scarlet and fainted.

Naruto saw familiar faces around him and reached a different conclusion.

"You think I won't recognize the same trick? Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

The training ground filled with Narutos. They rushed Tonbo together, launching a mass of flying kicks.

"Still a small problem, then. Mind Reading Technique: Pain."

Tonbo formed a seal. Pain struck every Naruto looking at him. The clones burst almost together, and the original dropped to the ground under the accumulated shock.

"That technique again," Naruto groaned.

It was far too effective against his shadow clones.

"Idiot," Sasuke said. "We're out of the genjutsu."

He was looking at Tonbo with something close to awe. In a single day he had experienced hundreds of fierce battles. He felt as though he could fight ten versions of the boy he had been that morning. He would still have to test the feeling, but he could no longer dismiss it.

Tonbo smiled at the exhausted graduates.

"That's your reward finished. Return to the Academy tomorrow for your team assignments."

 

The session had been profitable beyond anything they knew.