Chapter 185: Cooperation
Whiz! Whiz!
Clang! Clang!
"Choji!"
Shikamaru wove his hand seals, and black shadows extended from beneath his feet, snaring the shadows of three approaching enemies. Anxiety flickered across his face. He stared at the black-clad ninjas—who bore no identifying marks—and began to analyze everything that had just happened.
"Here I come! Multi-Size Technique: Double Pushing Palm!"
Choji's arms expanded, growing long and massive. He slammed his palms together.
Splat!
The three ninjas were instantly crushed into a pulp, blood spraying out from between his fingers.
Drip, drop.
The blood fell onto the grass below with a soft pattering sound.
"Choji, watch out! Above you!" Ino's voice rang out from behind Shikamaru. She aimed her hands at the space above Choji's head. "Mind Transfer!"
Hearing the warning, Choji's right hand quickly shrunk by half while his other massive hand remained braced over his head like a shield.
Clang!
The gauntlet on his arm deflected the strike of one enemy. The other was successfully caught and neutralized by Ino's jutsu.
Shikamaru let out a sigh, looking annoyed. He used his remaining chakra to bind the enemy that was still capable of movement. Choji, recovering his footing, hurled a shuriken into the enemy's chest.
Thwack! Thwack!
The two enemies collapsed.
Huff... huff...
Sensing that the threats were gone, Ino signaled the others, and all three began to pant. Though the battle was brief, it was heart-pounding.
"What exactly is going on?" Choji asked, staring at the wide-eyed, dead enemies on the ground.
Ino speculated, "This must be Tonbo-ojisan's genjutsu. Genjutsu is his specialty, after all."
"Genjutsu?" Choji looked around at the eerie environment. He pulled a bag of snacks from his waist and started eating. Crunch! "The flavor in my mouth... doesn't feel like an illusion."
"Hey! You can still eat in a situation like this?" Ino was speechless. And why were the three of them grouped together anyway? She was supposed to be with Sasuke! Damn it.
Shikamaru spoke up: "We're almost certainly in a genjutsu, and a very powerful one at that. Judging by what the teachers said, the 'reward' for the graduates is likely this genjutsu designed for combat training. For students who just graduated, gaining actual combat experience like this is indeed a great reward."
"I don't like it, though," he continued, looking at a cut on his arm where blood was seeping out. He pulled a bandage from his pouch and wrapped it loosely. "Going straight into life-and-death combat before we've even started basic mission training is a total drag. And the pain feels way too real."
Choji said admiringly, "Tonbo-ojisan is amazing!"
Crunch!
"Wait, you guys both know him?" Shikamaru rubbed his head.
Choji nodded. "He often brings people to the BBQ restaurant. I run into him occasionally. He told me he used to feed me meat when I was a baby."
"He sends me a gift every year for my birthday," Ino added. "Though those gifts are... a bit hard to describe. Totally bizarre." She thought of a certain figurine and other strange, novel gifts he'd given her.
Rumble!
"Look out!"
Shikamaru barely got the warning out before the ground on either side of them rose up like massive plates, crushing the three of them together like a sandwich.
Space warps and twists—
The three of them reappeared in a completely different environment.
"Ouch... what the hell!" Ino groaned, her body still feeling numb from the sensation of being crushed.
"My chips..." Choji looked at his empty hands, tears welling in his eyes. "Wait! There's another bag here! Are the chips infinite?" He reached for his waist, pulled out a fresh bag, and his eyes lit up.
Shikamaru looked utterly drained. "This training is going to be a nightmare. Unless we go through a specific amount of combat, we'll probably keep getting killed until we break. Everyone, stay sharp. Since this is a mental space, there won't be actual physical damage, which means this isn't going to end easily."
The thought of being "killed" countless more times made him feel like it was the ultimate drag.
"That mean Tonbo-ojisan... I'm definitely reporting him to Ayame-nee when we get out," Ino said spitefully. How dare he not put her with Sasuke!
Shikamaru's eyes flashed with a hint of mischief. "Reporting him to his wife? Now that is an excellent plan." He thought of his own father. Even as a top official in the Intelligence Division, his dad was completely whipped by his mom. This idea might actually have legs.
"Shikamaru, you've become wicked," Choji noted.
"Wicked? He's the one making things this troublesome for me."
"Then I'll support you."
"Good! Since you're both with me, we'll make sure Tonbo-ojisan is shaking when we get out. Ayame-nee can be terrifying." Ino remembered the "commotion" she'd heard once when she went with her dad to Ichiraku Ramen. This was going to be perfect.
Tonbo Tobitake was aware of the general movements within the simulation. However, he was currently busy and didn't pay attention to Ino's group.
A massive amount of Naruto's biological data was streaming into his technique, HeartSteel 2.0. After being filtered, it entered his mind. This was a golden, public opportunity. It was precisely because of this event that he hadn't gone looking for Naruto privately.
Naruto's genetic information was indeed vastly different from others. His talent was entirely skewed toward cellular activation; his genetic chain regarding physical chakra was unique. After years of research, Tonbo had finally identified the specific chromosomal differences—he could now distinguish which information was the key to generating physical energy.
Soon, he absorbed this aspect of Naruto's biological data and began engraving it into his own body, adding it to his sequence of evolution.
In just a few moments, Tonbo felt his body changing.
Naruto truly is the Child of Prophecy. His talent in this area is top-tier even in the shinobi world. Combined with the data I've gathered from others, my chakra capacity won't be less than Naruto's in the future—it might even be significantly higher. I'll just be missing a Tailed Beast.
Tonbo was highly satisfied. With a powerful physical foundation and the mental energy he had converted from years of accumulated experience, the chakra he could refine would far surpass Naruto's base. Of course, the physical evolution required time to settle.
As his body evolved, his endurance would increase, which in turn would speed up the rate of further evolution. By the time the Fourth Great Ninja War arrived, his targets would be the data of the Ten-Tails, Hashirama, Madara, and Obito. If the chance arose, he would even secure Kaguya's biological data.
Then, even facing the future threat of Isshiki Otsutsuki and his ilk, he would have the power to fight back.
He still felt a bit pessimistic, though. Even with partial knowledge of the plot, the story hadn't finished when he transmigrated. Lacking full intel, who knew what abilities the later villains possessed? He didn't have a "System" to help him. That was why he never stopped working hard—it wasn't just about the "destined-to-be-defeated" villains like Madara and Kaguya.
He was, after all, just a very talented "ordinary" man.
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