Gossip, Itachi

Outside Sushiro Restaurant, Konoha.

"Bye-bye, Big Brother Tonbo." Little Ino held Yamanaka Inoichi's hand and waved her tiny hand at him.

Tobitake Tonbo waved back. "See you. Once you start at the Ninja Academy, I'll teach you that flower-transforming ninjutsu from earlier."

"Okay."

Little Ino shouted happily in her sugary voice.

Ayame watched with a smile. "Husband, you really do like children!"

"Then we need to work hard. Look how adorable Ino is. Let's try to have ours early, and then our baby can marry her and bring her home." Tobitake Tonbo laughed.

"You're awful. How can you say that out here? It's so embarrassing." Ayame looked at the bustling crowd around them, her face flushing as she lightly punched his chest with her little fist.

That night.

Tobitake Tonbo worked hard at making a baby.

A few more days passed.

Analysis Division.

"Have you heard? The Uchiha have produced another genius. They really are churning out talents!" Sheng Shimon chatted with the other coworkers.

Tobitake Tonbo was gossiping there as well.

Besides studying and working every day, what he enjoyed most was listening to Konoha gossip. Hearing familiar and unfamiliar names, familiar and unfamiliar events, let him learn about all sorts of interesting things.

Dokuro Kei said, "What have you found out this time?"

"Do you know about Itachi Uchiha?" Sheng Shimon darted his eyes around, as though it were some secret.

Everyone present was speechless.

"Who doesn't know? He graduated from the academy at seven last year. I heard he used Shadow Clones to attend classes the whole time. In the end, he got into a fight with upperclassmen, and when a teacher suddenly appeared, he got distracted and exposed his astonishing talent to the academy."

Everyone already knew that.

It had caused quite a stir back then. He was only a little behind Kakashi, who had graduated at six.

"Him? A few days ago, it seemed like one of his teammates was killed, and he got so anxious that he activated his Sharingan." Sheng Shimon sighed with great emotion.

"And then? Did he kill the opponent in return?" someone asked.

Sheng Shimon spread his hands. "I don't know."

"Tch! What the hell are you bragging about if you don't know? It's just the Sharingan. As long as an Uchiha becomes a ninja, they'll activate it sooner or later!"

Tobitake Tonbo nodded in agreement. Uchiha with ninja talent could basically all awaken their eyes.

"How would I know? I heard it's classified. I only heard it from my grandaunt's cousin's brother-in-law's grandaunt's husband. His daughter married into the Uchiha."

"Boring..."

The coworkers were uninterested. They had thought it would be some earth-shattering gossip.

"Sergeant, I heard you teach at the Ninja Academy. You should have met Itachi, right? What do you think of him?" Tobitake Tonbo asked curiously.

Just as he occasionally worked part-time as a squad captain on missions, the other Chunin in the Analysis Division generally had side jobs too.

There was no other reason. It wasn't wartime, so they were idle.

Ninjas had to make money too.

Dokuro Kei had begun working at the Ninja Academy after the Nine-Tails' Attack.

The others were interested too. This was gossip about one of Konoha's strongest clans.

Dokuro Kei adjusted his glasses. "A heaven-sent genius. Compared to Kakashi, he is no less capable—in fact, he surpasses him!"

"And please call me Captain Kei, not some damned sergeant."

He knew those guys under him often called him by nicknames because of his strict training.

"Got it, Sergeant."

"Oh, he can stand shoulder to shoulder with Kakashi? As expected of the Uchiha. That's amazing!"

"I'm so jealous of bloodline clans."

The coworkers were envious of Kekkei Genkai. If they had them too, their upper limits would definitely be higher.

"I wonder if he could withstand a hit from Captain Tonbo's modified Hell Viewing Technique."

A voice suddenly rang out. What was said made everyone swallow hard as they recalled that unbearable taste.

"Impossible. That thing isn't something a human can withstand. Not even the Sharingan can handle it. I said so."

They had all sparred with Tobitake Tonbo, and every one of them had tasted it. It was even worse than eating shit.

Tobitake Tonbo was speechless. How had this gotten dragged back to him?

I only let you taste the food you hate most. Was it really that serious?

"Then Captain Tonbo is clearly stronger. Kakashi? The Uchiha? They're all trash." Sheng Shimon loudly flattered him.

"Yeah, that's right. Kakashi, the Uchiha—Captain Tonbo is the most badass."

"Hahaha, the Analysis Division is the strongest!"

In an instant, everyone began clamoring.

It was incredibly lively.

But Tobitake Tonbo was very unhappy. Wasn't this just setting him up to be hated? He had only let them taste the worst food imaginable. Was it really necessary?

"If you keep talking about me, I'll let you taste the newly developed Hell Viewing Technique 2.0: Beijing fermented mung bean juice. This time, it has the flavor I think tastes worst, not what you think tastes worst." Tobitake Tonbo grinned savagely.

Whoosh, whoosh!

In an instant.

"I just remembered I still have work to do."

"Me too."

"Minister Inoichi said he wanted to treat me to a meal, so I'm leaving first."

"I need to report on my work too, so I'm slipping out."

Whoosh!

They all vanished without a trace.

"Cowards. You're ninjas, yet you can't even endure a little food flavor. How are you supposed to withstand an enemy's torture by wind and fire?"

Tobitake Tonbo snorted disdainfully.

He had wanted them to try his newly developed Genjutsu.

Ninjas all had bodies trained to endure every kind of torture. Whether it was whipping or various painful pressure points, they could endure it.

That was why they were called ninjas.

Based on that, he had developed a food-flavor version of Genjutsu.

That was Hell Viewing Technique 2.0.

Unlike the first generation, which only drew out the flavor the target feared.

The second generation could add flavors he had collected and considered unpleasant. He happened to have stubbornly tried Beijing fermented mung bean juice in his previous life, so he had incorporated that loathsome taste into the Genjutsu.

As long as an enemy was hit, within 0.1 seconds, the Genjutsu would trigger their facial and glossopharyngeal nerves, making them feel as if they had drunk a huge amount of Beijing fermented mung bean juice. Even if the enemy dispelled the chakra's influence, the taste had already formed and would travel directly into their mind through those two nerves.

That was the power of knowledge. Unlike other Genjutsu, where dispelling it meant it was gone and failing to dispel it meant it remained, this Genjutsu still left an effect even after being dispelled, though it would be weakened somewhat.

"Ah, too bad I don't want to taste rotten eggs often. Otherwise, they would definitely work even better than Beijing fermented mung bean juice."

Tobitake Tonbo had his troubles too.

The advantage and disadvantage of this technique were the same: he had to personally taste the flavor and gain a deep understanding of it before he could make enemies experience it as well.

The training difficulty was also rather high. He needed a sufficient understanding of the gustatory nervous system, which meant reading medical texts.

Even with his current brain, reading those massive medical tomes gave him a headache.

"Also, Itachi Uchiha is already being watched by Obito!"

He recalled the conversation from earlier. Itachi Uchiha had already awakened his eyes, which meant his connection with Shisui Uchiha was about to begin.

Fortunately, he had not been born an Uchiha. Once again, he felt thankful.

Otherwise, he would not have had so much time now to train, study, work, find a wife, and prepare to have children.

Maybe the moment he had transmigrated, the clan massacre would have pressured him into desperately becoming stronger.

In the original story, there weren't many notable people from my class who got married, right? I'm the real winner.