Chapter Summaries

Tonbo reviewed his intelligence network’s reports, noticed signs that the Land of Lightning was developing Scientific Ninja Tools, and trained Tosei, Tenyu, and Maki. Jiraiya then asked Tonbo for intelligence about Amegakure, the Rinnegan, and a space-time ninja, and Tonbo agreed to help him assess the enemy.

• Tonbo reviewed reports from his personal intelligence network and concluded that the Land of Lightning had begun developing Scientific Ninja Tools.
• Tosei successfully used the Great Fireball Technique, and Tonbo moved him on to practicing the Eye-Painting Hand while Tenyu and Maki trained their concentration.
• Jiraiya summoned Tonbo above Kage Rock and asked him about Amegakure, the Rinnegan’s abilities, and an unknown ninja who used space-time ninjutsu.
• Jiraiya said he wanted to gauge the suspected Nagato’s strength, and Tonbo agreed to give him a basic understanding of the enemy.

Tobitake Tonbo sparred with Jiraiya, using Genjutsu and other techniques to overwhelm him until Jiraiya surrendered. Jiraiya wondered whether Tonbo’s methods could counter the Rinnegan, while Tonbo regretted not getting to test more of his techniques.

• Jiraiya introduced himself with an extravagant speech, and Tobitake Tonbo answered with his own dramatic persona and Conqueror’s Haki.
• Tobitake Tonbo used Genjutsu to create falling cherry blossoms, and Jiraiya dispelled it after admitting Tonbo had outdone him with his lines.
• Jiraiya summoned Iron-Arm Toad, and Tobitake Tonbo created a Genjutsu ape to fight it while he attacked Jiraiya with painful and itchy Genjutsu.
• Jiraiya broke free, dodged Tonbo’s punch and underground grab, then counterattacked with shuriken that Tonbo blocked with an Earth-Style Wall.
• Tobitake Tonbo trapped Jiraiya in the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, prompting Jiraiya to surrender before Tonbo revealed his trump card.

Tobitake Tonbo discussed Pain’s abilities with Jiraiya, then later teased Asuma during his date with Kurenai. At the Ninja Academy, Naruto failed his Three-Body Technique assessment while his classmates passed.

• Tobitake Tonbo explained his battle strategy and Unlimited Void to Jiraiya, who decided to avoid confronting Pain until he had more information and preparation.
• Jiraiya tried to trade ninjutsu for Tobitake Tonbo’s Genjutsu, but Tobitake Tonbo refused and vanished.
• Asuma returned to Konoha and went to a barbecue restaurant with Kurenai, where Tobitake Tonbo teased him before leaving with Tenyu and Maki to see a movie.
• Naruto failed the Three-Body Technique assessment again, while Sasuke, Kiba, and the other students passed.

Tobitake Tonbo brought Tenyu and Maki to enroll at the Ninja Academy, where they met Hiruzen Sarutobi and Konohamaru. Later, Tonbo completed the first phase of Contact Evolution and began planning its next phase.

• Tobitake Tonbo and Ayame brought Tenyu and Maki to the Ninja Academy for enrollment.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived with Konohamaru, who argued with Tenyu and Maki before Tonbo made them apologize.
• The children entered the academy as their parents watched, and Tonbo reflected that Naruto would graduate the following year and the Fourth World War was approaching.
• At the Analysis Division, Tobitake Tonbo used Contact Evolution on a Kumogakure ninja's corpse and absorbed useful bodily information through the Second-Generation Heart of Steel.
• Tobitake Tonbo declared the technique's first complete phase successful and prepared to develop its second phase as a way to evolve his physique and increase his chakra.

Tobitake Tonbo used his new Contact Evolution technique to strengthen his vitality, then told Ayame he would share the conditioning once he confirmed it was safe. Later, Might Guy asked him to teach Rock Lee, Hyuga Neji, and Tenten skills beyond Taijutsu.

• Tobitake Tonbo used Contact Evolution on a Kumogakure ninja corpse to absorb vitality-related information and accelerate his body's evolution.
• Tobitake Tonbo ate an expensive Special Soldier Pill to replenish the nutrients his evolving body consumed.
• Ayame noticed Tobitake Tonbo's improved appearance and increased appetite, and he promised to condition her after checking for side effects.
• Might Guy showed Tobitake Tonbo his newly formed Genin team—Rock Lee, Hyuga Neji, and Tenten—training together.
• Might Guy asked Tobitake Tonbo to teach his students something beyond Taijutsu so they could become more well-rounded.

Tobitake Tonbo offered to teach Guy’s disciples a new training technique, both to help develop their abilities and to test his latest Genjutsu. Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee returned to the training ground with extra clothes, where they found Guy and Tonbo waiting beside a house-sized flying eagle.

• Tobitake Tonbo told Guy he had developed a new technique and asked the disciples to bring extra clothes, claiming he wanted to protect them from overtraining.
• Guy interrupted Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee’s workout and told them Tonbo would teach them something new.
• Tenten, Rock Lee, and Neji each returned home to prepare clothes, wondering what kind of training Tonbo had planned.
• Neji noticed that Tonbo’s chakra had grown much stronger since they had last met, though he had little expectation of learning much from him.
• Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee returned to the training ground, where Guy and Tonbo waited beside a gigantic flying eagle.

Tobitake Tonbo took Guy and his students into the sky for training, then a strange bird attacked their flying eagle. The chapter left Neji dangling from Tobitake Tonbo’s grip as the attack disrupted the group.

• Tobitake Tonbo carried Guy, Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten aboard a giant eagle and flew them above Konoha.
• Rock Lee, Tenten, and Guy trembled at the height, while Neji remained calm.
• Tobitake Tonbo proposed dropping the students from the sky and catching them to train them to overcome fear, and all four agreed to continue.
• The eagle flew past forests, mountains, and rivers as Guy steadied Rock Lee and Tenten against the wind.
• A strange five-legged bird attacked with a sonic boom, unsteadying the group and knocking Neji off the eagle’s back.
• Tobitake Tonbo caught Neji by the ankle and remarked that flying higher frightened them while flying lower weakened their vigilance.

Tobitake Tonbo subdued a strange bird with Genjutsu and brought Team Guy to a dangerous stretch of sea for training. As the team practiced surfing through violent waves with a whale rescuing them, Tonbo began studying the bird’s sound-wave organs through Contact Evolution.

• Tobitake Tonbo trapped the strange bird in a Genjutsu and offered it as a possible summoning beast, but Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten declined.
• Tobitake Tonbo brought Team Guy over a dark, stormy sea and assigned them to surf across the waves to develop their control, stamina, focus, and courage.
• Guy tried the exercise first but was overturned by a wave, and a whale pushed him back to the surface.
• Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji took turns attempting the exercise as the whale repeatedly rescued them from the violent water.
• Tobitake Tonbo used Contact Evolution on the strange bird and began absorbing and examining its organs, especially the ones that emitted sound waves.

Tobitake Tonbo examined Team Guy and gathered data on their bodies, while Tenten, Neji, and Rock Lee reflected on his dangerous training. At home, Tonbo dealt with his children after they fought Konohamaru, and the team began considering tools to overcome their weaknesses.

• Tobitake Tonbo analyzed Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji, noting Tenten’s unusual talents and the Byakugan’s complex structure.
• At the Ninja Academy, Tenyu and Maki argued with Zhanbu Du about his bandages, while Konohamaru planned to humiliate them.
• Ayame confronted Tobitake Tonbo after Tenyu and Maki beat up Konohamaru, and Tonbo advised them to avoid being discovered when they pulled pranks or fought.
• Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji discussed the dangers of Tonbo’s deep-sea and high-altitude training, and Tenten proposed developing ninja tools to handle those environments.
• Guy encouraged Tenten’s idea, noting that tools made by one member could cover weaknesses for the whole team.

Tobitake Tonbo began Thousand Slashes Training for Team Guy, trapping the students in a realistic battlefield Genjutsu where they repeatedly fought simulated ninja. After collecting their physical data, he planned to use the training as a graduation gift for future Academy students.

• Tobitake Tonbo arrived at Training Ground 77 and told Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji that their new training would go beyond the ninja fundamentals they had practiced.
• Tobitake Tonbo placed six talisman-bound Kunai around the field and activated Genjutsu: Battlefield Simulation, causing the three students to collapse into the illusion.
• Neji awakened in a simulated forest, fought an Iwagakure ninja, and was killed by an Explosive Tag before the Genjutsu reset him.
• Neji realized that the battlefield was an illusion but could not detect it with his Byakugan, while Tobitake Tonbo explained that the simulation concealed itself from the eye.
• Tobitake Tonbo revealed that the training simulated repeated battles, including bodily memories, and planned to use it for future Academy graduates while collecting their physical data.

Tobitake Tonbo put Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji through a month of deadly battlefield simulations, while Guy observed and corrected their combat mistakes. After the training ended, the three felt greatly improved, though they owed Tonbo for the costly pills he supplied.

• Rock Lee repeatedly died in varied traps and ambushes, gradually learning to anticipate attacks and apply his academy training.
• Tenten fought through dangerous weapon and poison traps in the simulation and cursed Tonbo’s torturous training method.
• Tobitake Tonbo maintained the Genjutsu battlefield while giving the trainees Soldier Pills, and Guy watched their fights and pointed out mistakes.
• Tonbo warned Guy that mental fatigue limited how often they could train and told him the trainees would repay the cost of the pills through missions.
• After a month of weekly sessions, the battlefield simulation ended; Tenten paid her debt, Neji took on a debt to repay gradually, and Rock Lee sought more missions.

Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee continued developing their skills while the Barrier Team completed the Illusory Sealing Chains technique. Tonbo was freed from the task of improving the barrier, and Guy prepared to teach his team a powerful technique.

• Neji defeated Hinata in a spar, and Hiashi noticed how much Neji's strength and combat experience had improved.
• Tenten showed her father the Rapid Lasso, a ninja tool she had designed, and explained its limits and her plans to improve it.
• Rock Lee asked Guy if Team Guy could take the Chunin Exams, but Guy said they first needed to learn his ultimate technique.
• The Barrier Team tested the Illusory Sealing Chains inside the Reversed Golden Bell and completed the technique.
• Tonbo learned that the finished barrier could use the Barrier Team's remaining chakra to seal one enemy inside it.

Konohamaru was driven to study harder after the Tenyu Squad called him weak, while Hiruzen Sarutobi noticed Naruto's Chakra control problem. Zhanbu Du met his idol Tobitake Tonbo and received a sword signed with Tonbo's name.

• Konohamaru challenged Tenyu, Maki, and Zhanbu Du, but they dismissed him and his friends as weak and unworthy opponents.
• Konohamaru vowed to study hard and defeat the Tenyu Squad, then asked Ebisu to teach him shuriken throwing.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi watched Konohamaru's progress and saw that Naruto's failed Clone Technique came from poor Chakra control caused by the Nine-Tails.
• Zhanbu Du asked Tobitake Tonbo to sign his sword, and Tonbo engraved his name into its hilt.

Tobitake Tonbo brought Tenyu, Maki, and Zhanbu Du to visit Yakumo Kurama, then sensed that Ido was becoming more active as Yakumo’s disappearance drew near. He revealed to Yakumo that she was fictional and promised to record her memories and body information so he could try to bring her back, leaving her shaken but with a faint hope.

• Tobitake Tonbo brought Tenyu, Maki, and Zhanbu Du to Seeing Hill Manor, where Yakumo Kurama welcomed them and befriended Du.
• Tobitake Tonbo sensed Ido struggling against its seal and concluded that Yakumo’s heightened Genjutsu period meant her disappearance was approaching.
• After the children enjoyed a meal and an outing with Yakumo, Tobitake Tonbo sent them away with a clone and returned to speak with her.
• Tobitake Tonbo told Yakumo Kurama that she was a fictional character, and she wept as Ido surged against its seal.
• Tobitake Tonbo reassured Yakumo that her thoughts made her a real person and said he would record her memories and bodily information to try to bring her back.

Tobitake Tonbo extracted Yakumo Kurama’s memories and sealed part of her tissue before erasing her memories of what happened. As he continued growing stronger, he was appointed chief examiner for Konoha’s Chunin Ninja Exams, drawing the attention of Kabuto and the Academy students.

• Tobitake Tonbo bound Ido, extracted Yakumo Kurama’s memories, sealed away some of her tissue, and then sealed her memories of the incident.
• Tobitake Tonbo’s body, chakra, and research ability continued to improve as he grew stronger.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi appointed Tobitake Tonbo chief examiner for Konoha’s independent Chunin Ninja Exams and told him to set the rules without going easy on candidates.
• Genin discussed the exams, while Kabuto considered gathering intelligence on Tobitake Tonbo for Orochimaru’s plans.
• At the Ninja Academy, Ino and Sakura fought over Sasuke, Naruto resented his popularity, and Shikamaru reminded him that Kiba and Akamaru were popular too.

Iruka brought his class to watch the Chunin Ninja Exams, where the examinees waited for chief examiner Tobitake Tonbo to arrive. Tonbo made a dramatic entrance, explained the rules, and sent Kabuto out of the arena when he tried to withdraw.

• Iruka announced that his class would attend the final stage of the Chunin Ninja Exams, though the students groaned when he said it was on Sunday.
• Iruka led Naruto and the other students to the arena, where they watched the Genin gather for the individual matches.
• Konohamaru asked Hiruzen Sarutobi whether defeating the examinees would mean he could beat Tenyu and Maki, and Hiruzen said the experienced Genin were stronger than students.
• The examinees complained about the missing examiner until Tobitake Tonbo arrived with an overwhelming aura and introduced the unrestricted one-on-one matches.
• Kabuto asked to withdraw, and Tobitake blew him into the spectator stands with Wind Release before asking whether anyone else wanted to leave.

Tobitake Tonbo demonstrated his Genjutsu and Wind Release before starting the Chunin final exam matches. Fuma Zhikun won the first match, and Tonbo moved on to announce the next one.

• Tobitake Tonbo entered the arena under a Genjutsu that impressed the students, while Sasuke wondered how it had affected him.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi confirmed to Konohamaru that Tonbo was the chief examiner, and Konohamaru vowed to surpass him and become Hokage.
• Tobitake Tonbo sent the waiting competitors to the stands and announced Fuma Zhikun versus Damu as the first match.
• Fuma Zhikun used a smoke bomb, a Fuma Shuriken, and a wire-guided returning attack to defeat Damu, whose Earth-Style Wall failed to protect him.
• Tobitake Tonbo declared Fuma Zhikun the winner and announced Beilim versus Aoteteng as the next match.

The students watched the Chunin assessment and saw Izuno Caicai win with Cat God Possession. After the exams ended, Tobitake Tonbo took the contestants away on a giant eagle-like construct, while Iruka and Shino discussed its nature.

• Naruto, Shikamaru, Shino, and the other students watched the examinees' battles as Iruka explained the skills required for the final Chunin assessment.
• Izuno Caicai summoned a gigantic pink maneki-neko with Cat God Possession and defeated his opponent.
• Tobitake Tonbo completed the assessment, recorded candidates for promotion, and announced that he would give the examinees a reward while the Hokage reviewed their eligibility.
• Tobitake Tonbo used hand seals to carry all twenty-two examinees away on a colossal flying eagle-like construct.
• Iruka said the eagle was created with Genjutsu, while Shino reasoned that it involved Yin Release and Naruto resolved to train after watching the battles.

Nine months after the Chunin Ninja Exams, Tobitake Tonbo reflected on his growing abilities and intelligence about the other villages before learning Naruto Uzumaki had stolen the Book of Seals. Tonbo decided to head out, despite believing Hiruzen Sarutobi should simply give Naruto the book.

• Kabuto watched Tobitake Tonbo leave and decided to warn Orochimaru that Tonbo had grown stronger and might need to be lured out of Konoha.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi encouraged Konohamaru by claiming the Monkey Demon King was the strongest Summoning Technique in the Shinobi World.
• After the Chunin Ninja Exams, Naruto admired Tonbo, Kiba praised his teacher, and Sasuke resolved to surpass Tonbo before confronting Itachi.
• Nine months later, Tobitake Tonbo reviewed village intelligence and his progress in taijutsu, chakra, and genjutsu, including his completed Memory Insertion and Five Senses Manipulation techniques.
• A ninja reported that Naruto Uzumaki had stolen the Book of Seals, and Tonbo decided to go out after considering Hiruzen Sarutobi's plan to strengthen Naruto's bond with Konoha.

Tobitake Tonbo watched Iruka confront Mizuki over the stolen Book of Seals, but Mizuki overpowered Iruka and revealed his resentment and betrayal. Naruto arrived to protect Iruka and refused to hand Mizuki the scroll.

• Tobitake Tonbo sensed Naruto's location and followed Iruka and Mizuki to observe their confrontation.
• Iruka disguised himself as Naruto to draw Mizuki away, but Mizuki defeated him and exposed his identity.
• Mizuki confessed that he had killed two teammates, blamed his lack of promotion on unfairness, and planned to follow Orochimaru after taking the Book of Seals.
• Mizuki anticipated Iruka's techniques, wounded him, and threw a giant shuriken at him.
• Naruto arrived, stopped the giant shuriken, and refused Mizuki's demand for the scroll.