Chapter 230: The Taketori Clan

A giant eagle swept across the sky above the road to the Fire Capital.

Saiji spread his arms and let the wind press against him.

"I had forgotten how good it feels to fly."

Riku smiled. "Complete this S-rank mission and perhaps you can ask one of the senior shinobi to catch you a flying summon."

"If it were that easy, I would have one already. I have searched for years without finding a trace of a suitable contract."

Shikun looked north. "Snow Country may offer an opportunity. Its environment is completely different from ours."

"Do not count on it," Tonbo said from the forward saddle. "Snow remains in winter throughout the year. Large and powerful flying beasts are exceptionally rare there. They may not exist at all."

He had encountered one such creature while taking Guy's team to train at sea. After studying it, he had slaughtered it. Finding an animal that could fly did not guarantee a useful summoning contract, and that dead specimen could offer Saiji nothing now.

Saiji sighed. "I will encounter one eventually."

"Until then, check your equipment," Tonbo said. "We should assign the mission roles before we need them."

The three chūnin obeyed without complaint. All were experienced enough to prepare their own packs, but that did not make a final inspection unnecessary. They checked wire, tags, medicine, storage scrolls, cold-weather clothing, and the signals they would use if the group separated.

Tonbo also made them repeat the division of responsibility. Shikun would secure routes with his guided weapons, Riku would mark safe ground and withdrawal paths, and Saiji would use Cat Spirit Possession for close reconnaissance. Tonbo would perform the deeper analysis and mind-reading work. If the team entered Snow without understanding those roles, the first surprise would waste time they could not recover.

The Fire Capital grew across the horizon while they worked.

It had been years since Tonbo last saw the city, and the change was striking. It was already the most prosperous settlement in Fire Country. Now tall buildings had begun to reshape its skyline, and an immense wall surrounded districts that had spread far beyond their older boundaries.

A barrier enclosed the entire capital. Tonbo felt its layered field as the eagle approached. Court officials had no intention of allowing unknown shinobi to fly directly over the daimyō's residence.

He landed outside the wall and dismissed the construct. Then he unrolled a contact scroll, formed the required seals, and pressed his hand to its center.

A chakra pulse traveled from the paper.

Shikun, Saiji, and Riku took guard positions while they waited. About fifteen minutes later, Tonbo detected a unit moving toward them under concealment.

Fifteen shinobi.

His first reaction was disbelief. Was this the army Fire Country intended to use against Snow? Even with internal rebels supporting Koyuki, a dozen guards and one Konoha team seemed absurdly small for the removal of a national ruler. The capital did not know Tonbo's full strength. Its officials regarded him as an unusually capable jōnin, not a man who could replace an army by himself.

Had this truly been their plan after more than ten years of preparation?

As the unit drew closer, Tonbo revised his judgment. More than five of its members possessed chakra reserves greater than Kakashi's. Raw chakra did not determine victory, but it gave a shinobi room to survive errors and fuel powerful secret techniques.

Fire Country had existed long enough to accumulate arts that never entered Konoha's public records. Some might threaten even a tailed beast. With the right clan techniques and Snow's internal resistance, fifteen elites could accomplish far more than their number suggested.

The realization reminded him how little of the shinobi world appeared in the conflicts remembered from his previous life. Konoha's famous clans were only part of Fire Country's strength. Temples, provincial families, court retainers, and isolated villages had preserved techniques for generations beyond the notice of the great hidden villages. A high position had shown Tonbo how deep those waters ran.

The brush shifted.

Tonbo's teammates turned toward the sound at once, ready to attack.

"Stand down," he told them. "The Imperial Guard has arrived."

The leading shinobi stopped at a safe distance. His brown hair was parted at the center, and his bearing was closer to a veteran field commander than a ceremonial palace guard.

He and Tonbo exchanged the two halves of the secret challenge. Only after both responses matched did the group approach.

"Tobitake Tonbo?"

"Yes."

"I am Taketori Tenma, formerly of the Guardian Twelve and now an instructor in the Imperial Guard. I command this mission's combat force."

The guards behind him waited in disciplined silence.

Tonbo recognized the clan name immediately. "A shinobi of the Taketori. I have heard a great deal about your family."

The Taketori were an old Fire Country clan, entirely separate from the Kaguya clan of the Land of Water. They had fought beside the Hyūga during the Warring States period, and the relationship between the families endured. Even now, the Hyūga patriarch visited their settlement to maintain those ties.

Unlike the clans incorporated into Konoha, the Taketori maintained a village of their own and served the daimyō's government directly. Their position resembled the Fire Temple's: part of Fire Country's military depth, but outside the Hokage's daily command.

Tenma nodded. "Let us move. You are responsible for intelligence and for establishing a workable relationship with Princess Koyuki. My unit handles the direct fighting. Is that acceptable?"

"It is. I look forward to working with you."

The dissolution of the Guardian Twelve had not ended Tenma's service. He remained close to the daimyō as an Imperial Guard instructor, and his presence confirmed how seriously the capital regarded the Snow operation.

The combined unit set out toward Koyuki's film company. With the Imperial Guard beside them, Tonbo no longer used the eagle. They moved as shinobi through woods and fields, leaving so little disturbance that nearby livestock never lifted their heads.

Saiji drew closer to Tonbo. "Sensei, are the Taketori really that powerful?"

"They survived from the Warring States era and once fought alongside the Hyūga. Their reserves are known to be large, though not as vast as the Uzumaki's. Do not assume that is the limit of their strength."

Saiji nodded, impressed despite never having heard the name before.

Tonbo considered Tenma again. Conflict had destroyed the Guardian Twelve. Kazuma's faction wanted to abolish the Hokage's independent authority and place all of Konoha beneath the daimyō. Asuma and Chiriku's faction opposed them. The resulting battle killed most of the order and sent Asuma back to Konoha.

Tenma had survived and returned to court service. For the present mission, that history made him a valuable ally. Tonbo hoped the Imperial Guard would handle Snow's organized resistance and leave his Konoha team to finish the intelligence assignment without entering the main battle.

Behind them, one of the guards spoke quietly to Tenma.

"Is that really the head of Konoha's Analysis Team? Is he as strong as the stories claim?"

"He pursued Uchiha Itachi and returned alive," Tenma said. "He has strength."

The guard touched the armguard hidden beneath his sleeve.

"I wonder whether he can handle our new Scientific Ninja Tools."

The name caught Tonbo's interest. The armguards were too uniform to be old clan artifacts, and the channels in them suggested stored or amplified chakra. If Fire Country had begun fielding technology of that kind already, then Snow's industrial advantages might be even more valuable than the mission papers admitted. He wanted to see what the devices could do before combat made the demonstration lethal.

 

Tonbo continued toward the film company's camp. The device had already entered his awareness.