Ruins and Rubble

"Impressive."

Tobitake Tonbo could not help but admire them. Those who had come out of the Warring States Era truly possessed different levels of combat power.

Whether it was the Third, the strongest Hokage, or his fellow disciples, they were all first-rate experts.

Although he had never seen them fight in the original story, judging by their presence alone, they truly were no weaker than Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Boom!

As the Nine-Tails was blasted out of Konoha—

A figure rushed out at high speed. When the Nine-Tails tried to return, the figure rapidly enlarged, grabbed its body with a massive hand, and forced it back down.

"Was that... Torifu Akimichi?"

Sensing the figure's chakra, thicker than anyone else's, along with that gigantic body, Tobitake Tonbo thought to himself.

Earlier, he had focused all his attention on those old geezers and had overlooked this person, who had barely appeared in the anime.

But he was clearly already old.

His strength no longer matched Choza's, though his combat experience was far richer.

Now that he had stepped in, he could even temporarily suppress the Nine-Tails, using all his strength to pin it beneath him.

The other ninja quickly moved in to assist.

Shaking his head, Tobitake Tonbo returned his attention to evacuating civilians. That battlefield was no longer one he could participate in.

At first, he had thought his newly developed secret technique would have some use, but now it seemed that even his support was not as significant as those old men's.

And Konoha had no shortage of people.

There were plenty of capable individuals, too.

It was just that Orochimaru seemed nowhere to be seen.

Now that the Third had blasted the Nine-Tails out, it also meant everything would soon be over.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Arriving beneath the buildings destroyed by the Nine-Tails, he occasionally pulled several residents from the rubble.

Looking at the ruined buildings and their dead family members—

The residents' eyes brimmed with tears. This scene would never fade from their memories.

There were many people like that.

The Nine-Tails was simply too large. Every movement it made brought devastating destruction to Konoha.

Tobitake Tonbo diligently pulled out everyone who still had breath left in them.

For the injured, he used the battlefield first aid he had studied in his spare time to stabilize their wounds.

For residents with severed limbs, he stopped the bleeding and used genjutsu to suppress the pain signals being sent to their brains.

That was all he could do. When it came to medical ninjutsu, he was still an amateur.

Sob, sob...

"Ah..."

As he continued rescuing people, the residents' anguished cries and the grief of losing family members never ceased.

"Thank you, ninja-sama."

"Thank you."

"Mom, Dad..."

Some thanked him, while others wept after being rescued.

The sight tore at Tobitake Tonbo's heart. If his father and Ayame had died, would he have been the same?

It only strengthened his resolve to become stronger.

Not to save the world, perhaps, but at the very least to save himself and his family.

Ruins and rubble.

That was the state of central Konoha.

There were many ninja like Tobitake Tonbo, returning to the battlefield where the Nine-Tails had rampaged.

They quickly rescued everyone who still clung to life.

And beyond Konoha in the distance, the battle continued.

Perhaps because Minato and Obito were too far away, Tobitake Tonbo never sensed their battlefield throughout the night.

He only knew that after the Nine-Tails had rampaged for a while, the commotion in the distance gradually began to subside.

Minato had probably returned.

At the same time, he saw Naruto's teacher, Umino Iruka.

When he saw him, Iruka was crying amid the ruins.

Judging by his age, he should have been two or three years younger than Tobitake Tonbo.

Tobitake Tonbo did not try to build a relationship with him at a time like this. Losing both parents was not something easy to bear.

"Tonbo, can you still sense anyone who hasn't been rescued?"

The three members of Team Guy came over and asked him.

Genma and Ebisu had only arrived later. Since Tobitake Tonbo was a sensory ninja, he had served as captain for once to make the rescue efforts more efficient.

"No. Everyone who could be saved has been saved. The others..."

Tobitake Tonbo shook his head. They were dead.

So many had died.

No wonder so many people in the future would hate Naruto. Public outrage was difficult to quell.

Too many people had been affected.

The three members of Team Guy also let out sighs of relief. A whole night of rescue work had left them panting.

"Good thing Tonbo was here. The rescue came in time and prevented even more casualties," Genma said, giving him a thumbs-up.

Guy and Ebisu also sat on the ground back-to-back to rest.

Tobitake Tonbo said, "Don't flatter me. It was everyone's effort. I wasn't the only sensory ninja."

It still was not over.

Dawn slowly rose in the distance.

Its light shone over Konoha in its current state, making it seem especially desolate.

Ayame's home.

"Tonbo, are you all right?"

When Ayame saw Tobitake Tonbo return safely, she immediately let out a sigh of relief.

Tobitake Tonbo hugged her. "I'm plenty capable, so of course I'm fine. Konoha just suffered some pretty serious losses!

I'll probably be busy after this!"

After a night of rescue work, followed by a morning spent writing reports—

He had finally finished his mission and returned.

As for everything else, Konoha had not yet finalized its plans.

But he would probably be very busy afterward, so he needed to rest while he could.

"As long as you're all right. You contributed to the village, and I'm proud of you."

Ayame stood on tiptoe and lightly pecked his cheek.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Hey, hey, don't act like this old man doesn't exist, you brat."

Without even opening his eyes, Teuchi tapped his left side repeatedly with his fingers as though he were rising from the dead.

Really, could they not keep a little distance?

Beside him, Tobitake Tosei smiled when he saw this scene.

Good boy. Looks like I won't have to worry about my son's marriage anymore.

Teuchi said, "But I'm proud of you too, Tonbo. Keep it up."

"Yes."

With the approval of the girl he loved and his future father-in-law, Tobitake Tonbo was filled with motivation.

The worker's spirit within him was back online.

After explaining the situation to his family, the next day—

Tobitake Tonbo arrived at the Analysis Division.

He could see that all his colleagues were in poor spirits, as though dark clouds hung over their heads.

When they saw him arrive, they merely nodded in greeting.

Sheng Shimon arrived late as well.

When he saw Tobitake Tonbo, he sighed. "So? Have you heard anything? What exactly happened yesterday?"

He knew Tobitake Tonbo's sensory abilities were exceptional, so perhaps he knew some intelligence.

All he knew was that the Nine-Tailed Fox had invaded the village and caused enormous losses. He knew nothing else.

"Mm. All the major experts mobilized. Judging from the commotion, Lord Hokage should have succeeded."

Tobitake Tonbo's answer made Sheng Shimon let out a sigh of relief.

It was good that it had been resolved.

"There should be an announcement soon."

Tobitake Tonbo did not say much more.

Information about the deaths of top combat forces could not be spread carelessly.

It might attract the attention of other villages.

Although they, too, had been severely weakened by the war.

Sure enough.

Not long after they began work, Yamanaka Inoichi's orders arrived.

Every member of the Analysis Division was to participate in village patrol duties.

Clearly, they had lost many important combat forces while fighting the Nine-Tails.

Even members of the Analysis Division had to patrol now.

As he and Sheng Shimon discreetly walked through Konoha, Tobitake Tonbo's sharp senses noticed that the Uchiha were absent from the streets.

"It seems the Third or the other higher-ups have already begun suspecting the Uchiha.

The Sharingan really is a troublesome bloodline limit."