Chapter 206: The Closed Door

 

Danzō met Orochimaru beneath a storehouse marked for demolition.

The light from one lantern caught the edge of Danzō's bandaged arm and left the rest of the chamber in shadow.

"Tonbo remains in Konoha," Orochimaru said. "Have you decided to abandon our cooperation?"

"The joint examination lasts more than one day. He will leave when the appropriate mission requires it."

Orochimaru smiled. "Your new arm works well enough for patience, then."

The support he had given Danzō had made the implanted Sharingan easier to suppress. Neither man mistook the help for generosity. Orochimaru wanted Sasuke, and the invasion would display enough power to pull the boy toward him. Danzō wanted Hiruzen removed and Konoha preserved in a form he could control.

Orochimaru's work with Hashirama's cells had solved part of the strain in Danzō's arm. That technical advantage was also a leash: Danzō wanted the benefits without allowing Orochimaru to believe Konoha depended upon him. Orochimaru, for his part, supplied only enough knowledge to keep the alliance useful. Each expected the other to betray it once their immediate goals were met.

Tonbo complicated both plans.

"Do not rush me," Danzō said. "When he leaves, you will have your opening."

At the Hokage Tower, Tonbo placed an application upon Hiruzen's desk.

"You want the Spiritualization Technique?" Hiruzen asked.

"For reference. I am improving Heart Steel and need to understand techniques involving the soul."

He explained what Yakumo's disappearance had revealed. A weekly recovery was insufficient if an altered mind could make irreversible choices before the protected memory returned. Studying a proven technique that separated spirit from body might show whether Heart Steel needed an anchor beyond the brain.

Koharu and Homura entered before Hiruzen answered. Restricted techniques of that rank were not his to distribute without the other elders' agreement.

Koharu read the request and set it down. "No. This is not comparable to Bringer-of-Darkness. The Spiritualization Technique separates consciousness from the body. A mistake can kill the user."

"I am not asking to perform it today. I want to study its structure."

"The structure is the dangerous part," Homura said.

Hiruzen folded his hands. "You are too important to Konoha to risk yourself upon another forbidden technique. You may not inspect the scroll."

Tonbo frowned. "Do you believe I lack the talent to understand it?"

"Talent does not make every risk acceptable."

The refusal irritated him more than he expected. He had developed techniques none of them understood, survived experiments they would never have attempted, and asked before opening a scroll he might have found by less honest means.

"You trusted me to defend the village, train its children, and study enemies whose techniques were just as lethal," Tonbo said. "If the concern is that I cannot understand the scroll, then you have ignored everything I have done. If the concern is that you do not trust what I would do with it, say so plainly."

No one did. Hiruzen repeated the decision, and the two advisers allowed the warning about danger to stand in place of the answer.

"Very well," he said.

He disappeared from the office.

Koharu waited until his chakra vanished. "You know he could learn it."

"Yes," Hiruzen said.

"Then why tell him otherwise?"

Hiruzen looked at the closed application. "Because Orochimaru was also brilliant. Every restriction became a challenge to overcome, every forbidden art another proof of what he could accomplish. Tonbo has never followed the same path, but the resemblance is enough that I will not hand him a lethal soul technique during an international examination."

Homura nodded. Konoha could not afford another gifted shinobi who decided the village's caution was an obstacle to transcend.

Tonbo lay upon one of his living bamboo constructs beneath the afternoon sun.

The rejection still bothered him. Hiruzen's stated doubt about his ability had been transparent, which meant the real objection was trust. Tonbo could understand the Hokage's fear without enjoying it.

If they would not let him study the Spiritualization Technique, he would develop another route. Heart Steel had been his work from the beginning. Yakumo's disappearance proved it needed improvement; it did not prove a forbidden scroll was the only solution.

He could begin by separating the problem into layers. Medical methods and his control of nerves could test changes in the brain. Genjutsu could test how chakra carried false perception. The soul-binding array might reveal whether memory left traces outside either one. None offered the immediate clarity of Katō Dan's technique, but together they could lead him toward an answer the elders could not lock in an archive.

He set the problem aside for the day. Tenyu and Maki had been promised a trip to the cinema, and research did not excuse breaking that promise.

The first stage of the Chūnin Examination began soon afterward.

Candidates crowded the Academy corridor outside a door marked Room 301. Two apparent genin stood across the entrance, mocking anyone who tried to pass. Several challengers already lay upon the floor.

The room number was an illusion. The corridor was one floor too low.

Naruto saw only two people blocking his path.

"Move, or I'll make you move!"

He attacked before Sakura could finish telling him something was wrong. His Konoha taijutsu had improved: a high punch concealed a low sweep, followed by an abrupt strike from an angle the gatekeepers did not expect. One disguised proctor avoided the last blow by very little.

The joking expression left the man's face. Naruto's form remained rough, but his rhythm changed without warning and turned apparently foolish attacks into real threats. The second proctor moved in before Naruto could follow through, preserving the disguise of two boastful candidates while ending the exchange.

Then Naruto received a fist across the face and rolled along the corridor.

Rock Lee caught him before he struck the wall.

"Strong," Lee said, studying the two gatekeepers.

Sakura hauled Naruto upright. "How many times do you have to charge before looking?"

Lee turned toward her. Color rose in his face.

"My name is Rock Lee. Sakura, would you go out with me? I swear I will protect you with my life."

Sakura stared at the green suit, the bowl-cut hair, and the overwhelming sincerity. "No. Absolutely not."

Lee flinched. "I understand that my first approach failed. I will show you my strength and ask again someday."

"That was not the problem."

Naruto recovered in time to point at him. "Bushy Brows, Sakura is with me!"

"Is she your girlfriend?"

Naruto faltered. "Not yet."

"Then I still have hope."

Sasuke ignored all three and looked at the windows. "This isn't the third floor."

The illusion over the sign wavered.

Lee stepped toward the disguised proctors. Rejection had not cooled his desire to prove himself, and two strong taijutsu users stood directly in his path.

Unlike Naruto, he had already recognized the illusion and understood that the men before him were examiners. That knowledge only sharpened his interest. If they meant to measure whether candidates could see through a simple deception, Lee intended to show that perception was not the only strength he brought into the room.

 

"Before we continue," he said, settling into a stance, "I would like to test one thing."

The proctors exchanged a weary glance.

The examination had already begun.