Might Duy

"Looks like they're companions from the village. What happened?"

Seeing that Tobitake Tonbo knew them, the ANBU captain halted just as he was about to make a move.

"Lord ANBU, please save my dad! He's fighting the Seven Ninja Swordsmen!"

The moment Guy saw the mask, he felt as though a savior had finally arrived.

Everyone was shocked by his words. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen?

Why were they here?

"Enough talking. Lead the way."

After carefully sensing them and confirming they were not enemies in disguise, Tobitake Tonbo came over to the three of them. He formed hand seals and slapped each of them once.

Guy and the other two only felt a light slap, then their physical strength gradually returned, as though their earlier exhaustion had been an illusion.

Hearing Tobitake Tonbo's words, they nodded at the ANBU members and turned to lead the way.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

"Wu, send the intelligence to Lord Hokage and request reinforcements."

With enemies on the level of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen involved, even the ANBU captain had no choice but to take this seriously.

They were Kirigakure's most elite force.

Tobitake Tonbo secretly gave him a thumbs-up. This was the sort of approach that reassured one's teammates.

"Yes."

Wu summoned a flying eagle, tied the intelligence beneath its talon, and had it carry the message back to Konoha.

Screech!

"We're here, but it looks like the battle has already ended."

They finally reached the battlefield and saw the devastated terrain, with everything within a hundred-meter radius ravaged.

"Dad!"

Guy immediately spotted Might Duy lying on the ground and rushed over.

Tobitake Tonbo also stepped forward. That familiar green jumpsuit had been reduced to a scrap barely covering his private parts, while his entire body was charred black and his eyes were rolled back, wide open.

One look was enough to tell that he had fought with everything he had.

"Let the senior rest in peace." Tobitake Tonbo patted Guy on the shoulder.

He deeply admired Duy's actions, so he had no intention of reading his memories to obtain the Eight Gates.

Besides, the village would never allow it.

"Kushimaru Kuriarare, wielder of the Longsword Nuibari; Jinin Akebino, wielder of the Blunt Blade Kabutowari; Munashi Jinpachi, wielder of the Exploding Blade Shibuki; and Augustus, wielder of the Twin Blades Hiramekarei."

Meanwhile, the ANBU captain and the others stared at the other four corpses and the ninja tools beside them, their faces filled with disbelief.

"Who exactly was he?"

They looked at Might Duy, shock written in their eyes.

"Stay alert. The other three haven't been found. They may still be alive."

The battle-hardened ANBU captain recovered and issued his order.

Hearing this, the others vigilantly scanned their surroundings and began searching for any enemies who might still be present.

At the ANBU captain's words, Tobitake Tonbo also put aside his emotions and extended his senses to their limit.

A minute later, after confirming that his sensory technique had not detected any enemies, he finally stopped searching.

"Captain, no enemies found," he said.

"We didn't find any either."

"There are no traces of the other three nearby. They've probably already fled."

The other sensory ninja and searchers gathered their information.

The ANBU captain nodded. "Clean up the battlefield. Don't let this information leak."

"Yes."

"Just so happens we're from the Intelligence Division, and we came prepared. Leave the bodies to us."

Dokuro Kei spoke up.

The ANBU captain nodded.

Tobitake Tonbo then took out a scroll and slowly unfurled it. A series of jutsu formulae were drawn across it, with the character for corpse written in the center.

Xu—Yin—Tiger...

As he completed the hand seals, the formulae on the scroll spread over Might Duy's body. Once they had covered him, his body was slowly drawn into the scroll.

He tied up the scroll and handed it to the ANBU captain.

The others soon finished as well.

The ANBU, meanwhile, took the four ninja swords, processed them, and strapped them to their backs.

Guy and his two companions could only watch helplessly.

Guy looked at the ANBU members with bright eyes. He walked up to the ANBU captain, gathered his courage, and asked, "Lord ANBU, can I join the ANBU?"

"Hm? If you want to join the ANBU, you'll need to become a Chunin first, then apply to Lord Hokage. That's not my decision to make." The ANBU captain smiled.

Guy's father had single-handedly killed four elite Kirigakure Jōnin. In his view, Guy definitely had that same potential. If he were the Hokage, he would have taken Guy in.

Tobitake Tonbo was speechless.

Ebisu and Shiranui Genma were speechless too.

Tobitake Tonbo said, "Guy, don't take up the ANBU's time. The most important thing now is getting these bodies and ninja tools back. We can discuss everything else after we return to the village. This place isn't safe."

"Yes."

"Let's go. Return to the village, and stay alert."

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Though Guy was grieving, he still knew what needed to be done. He followed along with his teammates.

"Oh, right. About the jutsu I used on you earlier—after we get back, rest properly for a day and let your bodies recover. Don't exercise, okay?"

Tobitake Tonbo remembered something and told Guy and the others.

"What kind of jutsu was that? Does it have side effects?" Ebisu became nervous at once.

Just moments ago, his stamina had seemed inexhaustible. Now that Tobitake Tonbo mentioned it, could there be severe side effects?

Shiranui Genma also frowned, analyzing the jutsu from earlier. "It wasn't an elemental ninjutsu, and it wasn't Medical Ninjutsu either. There are no negative effects on our bodies so far, so was it Genjutsu?"

"Oh my, oh my. As expected of Genma—so calm, and your analysis is sharp.

"That's right. It was Genjutsu: Self-Inflation.

"This Genjutsu causes your brain to send false signals to your body, making it believe it's in peak condition.

"In that state, your body unconsciously squeezes energy out of its cells. It's a form of overexertion.

"So it needs some time to recover!" Tobitake Tonbo said with a smile.

The two had been top students at the academy, so they immediately understood the general principle.

Only Guy had no idea what they were talking about.

Knowing Guy's personality, his two teammates put in every effort to make him understand that he needed a full day of rest to mourn Might Duy, finally stopping him from wanting to unleash his youth and continue training.

"Might Guy really is a sunny, big-hearted man, but he's also very attentive—more attentive than Kakashi."

Tobitake Tonbo glanced at Might Guy from the corner of his eye.

At that moment, Might Guy had already accepted the reality of his father's death. Rather than brushing off his teammates' words, he responded positively.

It was as if he were telling them not to worry about him.

From the many details in the original story, Tobitake Tonbo had always felt that Guy was very sensitive, especially when it came to emotions.

He was a man full of passion, yet never lacking in thoughtfulness.

Only then did Tobitake Tonbo think of the jutsu from earlier. Self-Inflation was a hastily developed Genjutsu, something like self-hypnosis. It seemed to work rather well when used on others too.

But it would not work on enemies. It only worked on people who trusted him.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

While the students chatted, another squad of ANBU ninja appeared ahead. After speaking with them, they learned that these were the reinforcements they had requested earlier.

Before long, they returned to Konoha.

After everyone wrote and submitted their mission reports, they returned home to rest.

Wasn't the Analysis Division supposed to work?

No.

Tobitake Tonbo had thought he might get the chance to analyze a Jōnin's corpse and absorb some Jōnin experience, but it seemed there was no hope of that.

So after completing the mission, he went to Ichiraku Ramen and ordered an extra-large bowl.

And while he was at it, he spent some time deepening his relationship with Ayame.