Taste the Flavor of My Genjutsu

Two and a half days later.

The four of them hurried on and finally reached the border.

They completed the handover with the ninjas stationed in the Land of Fire.

There were no bunkers or anything like that here—only dense forests and towering trees, with places for ninjas to rest every so often.

Because they had to patrol, they would not remain in one place permanently.

The area they were stationed in bordered the Land of Iron. Other ninjas guarded the rest of the border.

"Senior Tonbo,

could I ask you a question?"

After the handover was complete, Tobitake Tonbo, who was resting, saw Itachi Uchiha approach him.

Tobitake Tonbo paused. "Go ahead?"

He was curious too. What question could this genius, whom he had met only once, possibly have?

"What do you think the Will of Fire is?"

Itachi asked a question that was both unexpected and expected.

He wanted to know what other people thought of the village.

Especially since he had heard that the senior before him was an outstanding inheritor of Konoha's Will of Fire.

Ever since graduation, he had been a firm practitioner of the Will of Fire.

Tobitake Tonbo gave him a surprised look. The Third Hokage had been right—despite his young age, this boy already possessed a mature will.

Rather than directly asking about the village and the clan, he had probed indirectly.

With his memories of reading the original work, along with the ninja training he had received over the past few years, Tonbo saw through this much easily enough.

"The Will of Fire? It's protecting the village and protecting your family!"

Tobitake Tonbo's answer was simple and true to himself.

He had no ambitions of changing the world, and what he said was merely an old cliché anyway.

"What if you had to choose between the village and your family?" Itachi continued.

Tobitake Tonbo raised a brow. He had just praised the kid, and he was already unable to hold back.

His thinking might have matured, but he was still young in the end.

"You're so young. Why think about so much? You'll only wear yourself down.

You'd be better off using that time to make yourself stronger."

Tobitake Tonbo did not answer directly. Besides, he truly believed that this kind of internal struggle at such a young age was terrifying.

Itachi's illness later on was probably caused by all that childhood overthinking.

And Tonbo had no intention of making Itachi's choices for him.

Itachi said nothing. He simply stared quietly at Tobitake Tonbo.

As if he were determined to pry something out of him.

Tobitake Tonbo felt his skin crawl under that gaze. Raising his brows, he said, "Kid, keep staring at me like that and I'll let you taste some pain.

You probably don't know that back when I was in the Analysis Division,

those guys were terrified of me. Even the captain known as the Demon Drill Sergeant

would tremble before my special treatment."

Did he think he was the later Itachi? Right now, beating him up would be like beating up a child.

"We're companions." Itachi remained unmoved by his words.

He did not believe Tonbo would attack a companion.

"Yeah, yeah, I want to know too."

Mitaraishi Anko sat on a tree branch with her long, slender legs crossed, blowing a bubble of gum as she asked curiously.

Tobitake Tonbo picked up his binoculars and periodically swept his gaze over the surroundings.

"I'll let you taste some pain first,

then answer your questions, so you won't keep asking such boring things later."

As he spoke, he formed hand seals with one hand under their startled gazes.

The two of them were just about to move.

Illusion.

The world spun.

Before Itachi appeared an endless spread of grilled meat. Though he tried to control himself, his body still involuntarily wolfed it down.

On Mitaraishi Anko's side were bright red, strikingly vivid devil's horn peppers. Under her horrified gaze, the peppers grew arms and legs and jumped into her mouth.

Outside the mental world.

Both their bodies began twitching in unison, while Anko's entire body turned red.

Itachi kept frowning.

"Huh? His most hated food is only unpleasant to the point of tasting bad?"

Tobitake Tonbo watched Itachi's physical reaction and murmured in surprise.

Looks like he had lived a healthy life. He had never eaten anything truly disgusting!

He then looked at Mitaraishi Anko. Her flushed body rose and fell, while her mouth was even showing signs of swelling into sausage lips.

This was a classic case of the mind affecting the body. It seemed her most hated food had left a deep impression on her!

The corner of his mouth lifted. That was what they got for asking such sensitive questions.

And they had even kept pressing him?

To prevent them from asking more questions unrelated to the mission in the future, Tobitake Tonbo decided to teach them a lesson.

Of course, before they had fully enjoyed the flavor, Tobitake Tonbo did not forget his duty.

He also kept watch over the surroundings.

While waiting for the two to break free of the Genjutsu, he used his sensory ability to scan an area dozens of li around them.

After years of cultivation, neither his physical energy nor his spiritual energy could be compared to what they once were.

The chakra in his body was now even more abundant than Kakashi's.

His sensing range had grown stronger as well.

From one li at the beginning to more than a dozen li now.

He could not compare with the later Naruto, but he was not bad either.

Occasionally, ninja beasts passed through his senses.

If he had not obtained Eye-Painting Hand, he really would have wanted to catch a few as summoning beasts.

Hayama Shirakumo, the captain who had gone out on patrol right after the handover, also entered his sensory range at this moment.

He was exceptionally dedicated.

He seemed even more dedicated than Tonbo, who had sworn to be a mere working man.

He was practically born to be a workhorse.

Still, Tonbo did not dare underestimate this classmate. He had been the fastest of their generation to become a Jōnin after Kakashi.

That was, among their graduating class.

"Genjutsu?"

The instant Itachi entered the mental space, he realized that it was Genjutsu.

But before he could dispel it, grilled meat had already been stuffed into his mouth.

It was too late. He had still eaten the grilled meat.

It was the food he considered most disgusting, though he could still endure it.

His young mind raced at high speed.

He had actually attacked a companion. Could his Will of Fire be fake?

Had he deceived the Third Hokage?

No, impossible.

From what he had said, he already had a wife and would soon have a child.

How could a ninja without the Will of Fire possess such an obvious weakness?

As far as Itachi knew, none of Konoha's missing-nin currently had children.

Then was he trying to tell him that the Will of Fire belonged to oneself?

That one had to make one's own decisions about everything?

"And grilled meat really is awful."

"Damn it, what kind of Genjutsu is this?"

In Mitaraishi Anko's mental space, she kept eating fiery red peppers until she could no longer endure it.

Finally, with sheer willpower, she suppressed the pain the peppers inflicted.

She erupted with chakra and dispelled the Genjutsu.

Her vision returned to her body. Feeling the burning sensation throughout herself and seeing Tobitake Tonbo sensing the surroundings, her anger immediately flared.

She shouted, "Hey, I was only curious! Why did you drag me into this too?"

Tobitake Tonbo lowered his binoculars and said apologetically, "Nothing much. I was just showing you two

what I'm good at. And after answering that question,

if you dare ask such boring questions again, I'll let you taste my ultimate Genjutsu.

Heh heh!"

Only then did he look at Itachi, who had already broken free of the Genjutsu.