Chapter 198: Reports and Repercussions

The Akatsuki assembled in a dark cave.

Projected figures appeared one after another around the chamber. Kakuzu looked toward the prey he had been forced to leave and made no effort to hide his impatience.

"Why summon us again? My bounty is escaping."

Hidan laughed beside him. "Perhaps they decided to give us a rest. My fragile body is exhausted from following you through every miserable job."

"Be quiet before I kill you."

"Understood, Kakuzu. You are always such a pain."

"Enough," Pain said. "Itachi, report."

Kisame spoke first. "We encountered Konoha's Tonbo Tobitake. If Itachi had not been there, I might not have returned."

Zetsu turned toward them. "Both of you fought him and still nearly failed?"

"He can induce genjutsu through sight, sound, chakra contact, and physical touch," Itachi said. "His taijutsu is excellent, and he possesses an unusual puppet technique. Based on the battle and Kisame's experience, the destruction of one hundred prepared puppets completes its condition. Once complete, it allows him to control the target's soul and, through it, the body."

Kisame nodded. "He forced me to dispel my own Water Release and separate from Samehada. It was the most dangerous fight I have had. He always seemed to have another technique ready."

"Zetsu's earlier intelligence helped," Itachi added. "Without warning about the genjutsu channels, both of us might have died."

A short figure across the cave gave a low sound of interest.

"A skilled puppet user outside Sunagakure," Sasori said. "And from Konoha."

Deidara laughed. "I told you, Sasori. Explosions are art. At least his puppets achieve something when they are destroyed."

"Be silent, Deidara."

Pain stopped the argument before it grew. The meeting had one purpose: deciding how to survive another encounter with Tonbo. Itachi repeated every ability they had confirmed, including the genjutsu seeds, the speed of Tonbo's seals, his sword work, and the physical attack that cracked Susanoo. He did not mention the Konoha scene or the message about Sasuke.

By the time the report ended, every member understood that prior knowledge of one technique would not be enough. They would need to prevent the hundred-puppet condition, disrupt genjutsu through a partner, and deny Tonbo the contact he used to plant hidden effects.

The problem was that each response created another weakness. A partner could release genjutsu, but Tonbo had used that dependence to divide attention. Destroying the puppets had completed the soul technique, while leaving them intact would have allowed a sealing expert to position all one hundred. Avoiding contact was difficult against a man whose sensory illusions changed the apparent distance of every attack.

Pain ordered them to treat any encounter as a coordinated operation. Information about a new technique was to be shared before another member tried to test it alone. The rule did not guarantee victory, but it removed the carelessness Tonbo had exploited twice.

Pain dismissed them with orders to update their preparations.

Elsewhere, Orochimaru read the first reports from the Land of Hot Water and laughed softly.

"Capable as ever. He met Itachi and Kisame together, withdrew unharmed, and appears to have forced them to pay a price."

Tonbo resembled Orochimaru in one respect: neither accepted the boundaries of a single school of ninjutsu. Orochimaru did not believe Tonbo's genjutsu surpassed the Sharingan, especially when Itachi had prepared counters, but the result could not be dismissed. Strength remained strength.

Kabuto adjusted a row of reagents beside him.

"Captain Tonbo is a dangerous opponent."

"If you faced him, what would you do?"

Kabuto smiled. "Surrender, most likely."

"That answer suits you, but it is terribly dull."

"You taught me that only the living can discover the meaning of their existence. Surrender is useful when the alternative prevents every later choice."

Orochimaru licked his lips. "I will get no entertaining answer from you today."

The humor did not make Tonbo less troublesome. If he remained in Konoha during the coming operation, the plan would become far more difficult. Fortunately, Orochimaru knew someone whose desire for the Hokage's seat could place Tonbo elsewhere at the necessary moment.

In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen faced a different consequence of the battle.

"How should we answer the Land of Hot Water?" an administrative shinobi asked.

Officials there had accused a Konoha jōnin of using large-scale ninjutsu inside their country and destroying a commercial forest farm. The Fire Capital wanted the complaint resolved before it became a diplomatic quarrel.

Hiruzen set the message down.

"Tell them we will compensate the proven damage to the site. We will not pay for a forest farm invented after the fighting. They should not mistake restraint for stupidity."

The land had been undeveloped before the battle. Hot Water's nobles had seen an opportunity to attach a profitable history to ruined ground, but Hiruzen could not reject the entire claim. Tonbo had entered without notice, customs documents, or public authorization. The mission's secrecy now deprived Konoha of the easiest defense.

He would give Hot Water a way to retreat from the inflated demand while paying enough to close the real dispute. One careless response could turn a damaged tract of land into hostility between countries. Avoiding that progression was one of the Hokage's least visible and most exhausting duties.

Hiruzen hoped Tonbo returned with intelligence worth the trouble.

The thought led him to the question of succession. Tonbo possessed ability, seniority, and a record of service the village respected. He had a wife and children and showed no appetite for war. Those bonds might make him cautious with the lives a Hokage commanded.

The office demanded more than victory in combat. A Hokage had to weigh border incidents, intelligence sources, clan interests, and the ordinary families who paid for every misjudgment. Tonbo's reluctance to begin wars mattered as much as the strength that might deter them. His attachments could be burdens, but they also gave him reasons to preserve the village beyond ambition.

Perhaps Tonbo could become a candidate.

Tsunade and Jiraiya remained the most obvious choices among the Sannin, and both had far greater reputations. Yet neither had shown any desire to accept the office. Hiruzen could not wait forever for a successor who refused to return.

At the Fire Capital, Minister Arata presented Tonbo's record to the daimyō.

"Your Excellency, I believe Tonbo Tobitake is the proper shinobi for that matter. His abilities suit it better than anyone else's. The princess has come of age, and the plan prepared more than ten years ago can finally proceed."

The Fire Daimyō moved his fan slowly before his face. No emotion entered his voice.

"It is time. Speak with Konoha next. Make every preparation before the plan begins. A mistake after so many years would be unacceptable."

The matter concerned an arrangement left dormant while the princess was a child. Her adulthood gave the Fire Capital the opening it had been waiting for, and Tonbo's record made his selection easy to defend before Konoha. Nothing in the official proposal needed to mention the separate advantage his absence would offer Danzō.

"Understood. I will handle the discussion."

Arata left the council chamber with the other ministers.

One of them glanced at him. "You are unusually eager."

Arata smiled. "It concerns the development of the Land of Fire. Of course I will do everything possible."

Behind the polite answer, satisfaction rose. Danzō's request had been easier to complete than he expected. Tonbo would soon receive a legitimate reason to leave Konoha again.