Chapter Summaries

Tobitake Tonbo was assigned to lead a team of new graduates and met Umino Iruka, Teksen Shiso, and Mibu Shinobu. After telling them to meet him at Training Ground No. 98, he discussed the assignment and Kakashi’s mission in the Land of Snow with Kakashi and Guy at Ichiraku Ramen.

• Hiruzen Sarutobi confirmed that Tobitake Tonbo would lead a team, and Tobitake accepted the responsibility.
• Tobitake introduced himself as captain to Umino Iruka, Teksen Shiso, and Mibu Shinobu, then ordered them to meet him at Training Ground No. 98 the next morning.
• Iruka recognized Tobitake’s technique as the Shadow Clone Technique, and the three graduates wondered about their young jōnin captain.
• Tobitake decided to assess his team’s abilities before choosing how to train them.
• At Ichiraku Ramen, Tobitake gave Ayame another woven rose and met Guy and Kakashi, who described Kakashi’s dangerous mission in the Land of Snow.

Tobitake Tonbo tested Iruka, Teksen Shiso, and Mibu Shinobu with his reality-altering illusion technique, then explained how it worked. After promising to teach them, he introduced himself and took a team photo before leading them to a feast.

• Iruka, Teksen Shiso, and Mibu Shinobu fought a giant dragonfly and then a pangolin, believing the creatures were real threats.
• Tobitake Tonbo watched from a giant eagle and ended the test after the three kids had been battered by the pangolin.
• Tobitake Tonbo revealed that the beasts were created by his reality-altering illusion technique and explained how the illusion became real to those who saw it.
• The three kids asked to learn the technique, and Tobitake Tonbo promised to teach them if they worked hard.
• Tobitake Tonbo and the three kids introduced themselves, shared their dreams and favorite foods, and took a photo before heading to a feast.

Tobitake Tonbo took his newly graduated Genin on a mission to plant rice, claiming the work served Konoha and its shinobi. The team embraced the task as a lesson in the Will of Fire, leaving Tonbo baffled by how easily the Third Hokage’s teachings convinced them.

• Tobitake Tonbo treated Iruka, Teksen Shiso, and Mibu Shinobu to barbecue and promised them a demanding mission tied to Konoha’s survival.
• Tobitake Tonbo met Choza and his family at the restaurant, fed little Choji grilled meat, and praised the boy’s future potential.
• Tobitake Tonbo led Iruka, Teksen Shiso, and Mibu Shinobu to plant rice seedlings in Konoha’s farmland district.
• When the Genin questioned the mission, Tobitake Tonbo argued that farming supported the village and could help shinobi endure, gather intelligence, and fit in with their comrades.
• Iruka recognized the rice-planting mission as training in the Will of Fire, and Mibu Shinobu and Teksen Shiso eagerly resumed planting while Tonbo was left speechless.

Tobitake Tonbo supervised Iruka, Mibu Shinobu, and Teksen Shiso as they searched for a noblewoman’s cat, then praised their teamwork and encouraged them with a dubious story about Kakashi. The rookies regained their confidence, while Tobitake left them admiring his claimed battlefield record.

• Tobitake Tonbo watched his team struggle to find the cat and wrote down notes on their strengths, weaknesses, and training needs.
• Iruka, Mibu Shinobu, and Teksen Shiso used the cat’s habits and information from its owner to track it down by afternoon.
• Tobitake praised the three for applying their Academy lessons, but they worried that their slow search showed they were poor ninja.
• Tobitake claimed Kakashi had once taken just as long to find a cat and had done it alone, telling the rookies their teamwork showed a stronger Will of Fire.
• After the rookies asked about Tobitake’s age and past, he claimed he had joined the Third Shinobi World War right after graduating and made great contributions within half a year.

After half a month of D-rank missions, Tobitake Tonbo reflected on his team’s progress and promised to create a customized training plan to improve their strength. He also raised marriage plans with Ayame, while his team continued to take his Will of Fire speeches seriously.

• At Ichiraku Ramen, Tobitake Tonbo told Teuchi that his Shadow Clone was supervising his team on their D-rank missions while he visited Ayame.
• Tobitake Tonbo asked Ayame when they should discuss getting married, and Teuchi agreed to help find an auspicious date but told them to talk at his house that night.
• At Training Ground No. 98, Tobitake Tonbo arrived and released his Shadow Clone while it was teaching Iruka, Teksen Shiso, and Mibu Shinobu three principles of the Will of Fire.
• Iruka and the others insisted they would remember the principles, and Tobitake Tonbo changed the subject and praised their progress in patience, intelligence gathering, and spiritual energy.
• Tobitake Tonbo announced that he had customized a step-by-step training program for the three, then told them they were not ready to learn his True Illusion Technique.

Tobitake Tonbo trained Iruka and the others to focus, testing a Soundless Barrier that improved their concentration. The Third Hokage then tasked Tonbo’s squad with finding Asuma Sarutobi, who had disappeared after leaving the village, and persuading him to return if possible.

• Tobitake Tonbo used the Will of Fire to motivate Iruka, Mibu Shinobu, and the others to practice focusing their chakra.
• Tobitake Tonbo created a Soundless Barrier around the training ground, helping the three boys concentrate without distractions.
• Over the next month, Iruka and the others improved their focus and combat skills, while Tobitake Tonbo set his wedding to Teuchi and Ayame’s daughter for two years later.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi summoned Tonbo’s squad and praised Iruka’s progress as a Genin.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered Tobitake Tonbo to locate Asuma Sarutobi, his rebellious son, and bring back intelligence, preferably persuading him to return.

Tobitake Tonbo led Iruka, Mibu Shinobu, and Teksen Shiso to Soul Street to investigate Asuma’s whereabouts. After the team returned with little information, Shiso reported that Asuma had visited a grilled sausage stall, and the others asked what Tonbo had learned.

• Tobitake Tonbo arrived late at Konoha Gate after saying goodbye to his fiancée, then reminded Iruka, Mibu Shinobu, and Teksen Shiso to balance alertness with rest.
• Tobitake Tonbo led the team to Soul Street, where they split up to search for information about Asuma, who had reportedly appeared there two days earlier.
• Tobitake Tonbo sensed Tsunade nearby, recorded the information, and returned to the inn to work on ideas for powerful Genjutsu techniques.
• Iruka and Mibu Shinobu returned without clues, while Teksen Shiso reported that Asuma had eaten many grilled sausages at a stall two days earlier.
• Tobitake Tonbo praised Shiso’s intelligence gathering, and the three asked what information their captain had found.

Tobitake Tonbo led Iruka and the others toward the Land of Fire Capital, using the search for Asuma to train their skills. In Tongzi City, Asuma met the monk Chiriku, whose advice led him to consider joining the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

• Tobitake Tonbo explained how he used psychology and intelligence to predict Asuma’s route toward the Land of Fire Capital, and Iruka and his teammates admired his reasoning.
• Tobitake Tonbo had Iruka, Teksen Shiso, and their teammate gather and analyze intelligence in each town, while he also trained their Taijutsu and chakra control.
• Asuma wondered what the piece in his heart was while drinking alone at an izakaya in Tongzi City.
• Chiriku intervened when several white-suited men threatened Asuma, then told him that he had to experience things to find what he was looking for.
• Chiriku invited Asuma to travel to the Capital and consider joining the Twelve Guardian Ninja to protect the Daimyō.

Asuma and Chiriku fought off an unknown faction’s attackers before Tobitake Tonbo arrived with three young shinobi to bring Asuma back to Konoha. Asuma challenged Tobitake Tonbo, who overwhelmed him with Taijutsu and countered his Fire Release, leaving the fight ongoing.

• Asuma and Chiriku defeated attackers targeting Chiriku, but found no clues to their identities.
• Tobitake Tonbo arrived with three young shinobi and told Asuma that the Third Hokage had sent them to check on him and possibly bring him home.
• Asuma refused to return and threatened to fight, while Chiriku joined him and Tobitake Tonbo mocked Asuma’s attitude.
• Asuma charged Tobitake Tonbo, who suppressed him with Konoha Taijutsu and sent the three young shinobi to move the bodies.
• Asuma used Fire Style: Ash Pile Burning, but Tobitake Tonbo blocked it with Water Release: Water Wall while instructing the young shinobi.

Tobitake Tonbo defeated Asuma with a secret technique and a modified Genjutsu, then explained that his mission was only to report Asuma’s information to the Third Hokage. After Asuma accepted that they need not fight, Tonbo used a technique on the fallen enemies while his students speculated about what he was doing.

• Asuma attacked Tobitake Tonbo with a mass of shuriken, but Tonbo avoided them using a secret technique and a pangolin figurine.
• Tonbo caught Asuma in the Modified Hell Viewing Technique, making him eat asparagus, and used the encounter to teach Iruka, Shiso, and Mibu Shinobu about judging opponents in battle.
• Asuma broke the Genjutsu’s hold but was left with the lingering taste and was dropped from Tonbo’s giant dragonfly.
• Tonbo told Asuma that he had only been ordered to report his information to the Third Hokage, and Asuma gave up on fighting him.
• Chiriku accepted that they did not need to fight, while Tonbo used a technique on the dead enemies and his students guessed that he was reading their minds.

Tobitake Tonbo reported on Asuma and took his team on a trip through the Land of Fire, where he assessed each student's talents. Hiruzen Sarutobi allowed the team to remain away from Konoha, while Tonbo admitted he could teach little beyond Genjutsu.

• Tobitake Tonbo warned Asuma about the dangers surrounding the Twelve Guardian Ninja, then left with Iruka and the others to travel through the Land of Fire.
• On the road, Tonbo sent an intelligence report to Konoha with a Genjutsu-created messenger hawk and told Mibu Shinobu he had Genjutsu talent.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi read Tonbo's report about Asuma and approved the team's sightseeing trip, deciding Konoha had mostly recovered and another mission would be inconvenient.
• At Linchuan Great Falls, Tonbo identified Mibu Shinobu's Genjutsu talent, Iruka's teaching potential, and Teksen Shiso's skill with concealed weapons and space-time techniques.
• Tobitake Tonbo said he was only proficient in a little of those fields and might not be able to teach the team much.

Tobitake Tonbo trained Iruka, Teksen Shiso, and Mibu Shinobu in ninjutsu and ninja fundamentals while pursuing intelligence about Asuma. As the team continued its routine of training and travel, Tobitake Tonbo found that teaching was rapidly improving his own skills as well.

• Iruka, Teksen Shiso, and Mibu Shinobu attacked Tobitake Tonbo with their newly learned ninjutsu, but he evaded them and countered with Earth Release.
• Tobitake Tonbo assessed the three students’ weaknesses and assigned them further practice in chakra shape transformation and nature transformation.
• Tobitake Tonbo took the team to a hot spring inn after training and spent money Ayame had given him for the mission.
• The team followed a daily routine of training, gathering intelligence on Asuma, and traveling at night while Tobitake Tonbo taught them foundational ninja skills.
• Tobitake Tonbo realized that teaching his students was strengthening his own ninjutsu and ninja fundamentals.

Tobitake Tonbo returned to Konoha with his team after confirming Asuma had joined the Twelve Guardian Ninja, then filed his report with Hiruzen Sarutobi. Back in the village, Teksen Shiso challenged his former classmate Kamano Hitoshi to test the skills he had gained under Tonbo’s guidance.

• Tobitake Tonbo and his team left the Land of Fire Capital and used the Body Flicker Technique to speed their return to Konoha.
• Tobitake Tonbo greeted Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki at the gate, then went to the Hokage Office and gave Hiruzen Sarutobi his report about Asuma.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi read the report and hoped Asuma would find his own jewel while working under the daimyo.
• Teksen Shiso challenged Kamano Hitoshi to a spar at Training Ground 45, and they began fighting with their weapons.
• Teksen Shiso recognized openings in Kamano Hitoshi’s scythe-based Taijutsu but chose to test himself in close combat rather than use ninjutsu.

Tobitake Tonbo’s students put their training to use while Iruka struggled with Water Release shape transformation and received encouragement from Hiruzen Sarutobi. After returning to Konoha, Tonbo reunited with Ayame and heard about a two-year-old blond child whom villagers feared as the Demon Fox’s reincarnation.

• Teksen Shiso defeated Kamano Hitoshi and credited Captain Tonbo’s intense combat training for his improved skill.
• Mibu Shinobu beat a classmate with the Modified Hell Viewing Technique but kept Tonbo’s abilities secret.
• Iruka practiced the Water Dragon Bullet Technique, and Hiruzen Sarutobi reassured him that his progress was appropriate for his level and offered to guide him.
• Tobitake Tonbo ate ramen with Ayame, then walked through Konoha with her and shared stories from the Land of Fire.
• Ayame told Tobitake Tonbo that villagers were spreading rumors about a two-year-old blond child they called the Demon Fox’s reincarnation.

Tobitake Tonbo and Ayame comforted a lonely Naruto Uzumaki on the streets of Konoha, while Hiruzen Sarutobi learned of their encounter and discussed Orochimaru and the Uchiha clan with Danzo. Naruto remained in Tobitake Tonbo’s care for the moment, and Hiruzen chose not to act against either Tobitake Tonbo or the Uchiha.

• Ayame and Tobitake Tonbo found Naruto Uzumaki alone and crying as villagers fled from him.
• Tobitake Tonbo picked Naruto up, dismissed the Demon Fox rumors, and let Ayame hold him while they introduced themselves.
• Villagers called Naruto the Demon Fox, upsetting him as he spent time with Tobitake Tonbo and Ayame.
• An ANBU reported Tobitake Tonbo’s encounter with Naruto to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who trusted Tobitake Tonbo and refused Danzo’s demand to investigate him.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo discussed Orochimaru’s disappearance and the Uchiha clan’s unusual activity, and Hiruzen chose to keep watching the Uchiha without taking immediate action.

Tobitake Tonbo befriended young Naruto and gave him a happy memory, while Sasuke and Itachi watched them from nearby. Two years later, Tobitake had married Ayame and returned to the Analysis Division, where Sheng Shimon questioned why he had left team leadership despite his former students’ success.

• Tobitake Tonbo played with Naruto in Konoha’s main street, and the ANBU watched nervously while Naruto enjoyed the attention.
• Itachi and Sasuke saw Tobitake toss Naruto into the air, and Sasuke asked Itachi to do the same for him at home.
• Tobitake let Naruto go home and encouraged him to become a ninja, giving Naruto a goal to pursue.
• Two years later, Tobitake and Ayame were married, Tobitake’s missions had increased, and he had returned to the Analysis Division after leading a team of Chunin.
• Sheng Shimon asked Tobitake why he had stopped leading a team, citing Teksen Shiso, Iruka, and Mibu Shinobu as successful former students.

Tobitake Tonbo completed the Reversed Golden Bell, a spatial barrier that hid Training Ground No. 98 from the outside. When Shisui Uchiha and two members of the Military Police Force investigated the vanished training ground, Ayame arrived and feared they had taken her husband.

• Tobitake Tonbo celebrated returning to the Analysis Division with Sheng Shimon, then Ayame took him home, where they continued their bloodline.
• Tobitake Tonbo tested the Reversed Golden Bell and concealed all of Training Ground No. 98 inside a spatial barrier.
• Shisui Uchiha and two Uchiha investigated the empty land, but Shisui's Sharingan could not reveal what had happened.
• Shisui decided to report the mysterious disturbance to the Hokage, despite one clan member arguing that the Uchiha should handle it.
• Ayame brought Tobitake Tonbo lunch, saw the Uchiha at the empty training ground, and tearfully asked where her husband was.

Tobitake Tonbo revealed himself to Ayame and the Uchiha Military Police after restoring the vanished training ground, explaining that he had been testing a new ninjutsu. When one Uchiha used Sharingan Genjutsu on him, Tonbo’s Reversal Mirror reflected it and immobilized the attacker.

• Shisui stopped the two Uchiha from casually arresting Ayame, who was desperately asking where her husband had gone.
• Tobitake Tonbo released his barrier, restored the training ground, and appeared before Ayame and the three Uchiha.
• Tonbo comforted Ayame, identified himself as an Analysis Division Special Jōnin, and said he had lost control while testing a new ninjutsu.
• A plump Uchiha rejected Tonbo’s identification and cast Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique on him.
• Tonbo’s Reversal Mirror disrupted and reflected the Genjutsu, leaving the Uchiha immobilized as Tonbo assessed his new technique.

Tobitake Tonbo fought Shisui Uchiha after reflecting a Uchiha's Genjutsu and refusing to go with Shisui to the Hokage. Tonbo trapped Shisui in a recurring Genjutsu, and Shisui began searching for the technique's weakness.

• Tobitake Tonbo reflected an Uchiha's Genjutsu, and Shisui Uchiha broke the effect on his teammate and warned the others about Tonbo.
• Shisui demanded that Tonbo come see the Hokage, but Tonbo blocked his attack and sent Ayame into the sky on a giant bird.
• Tobitake Tonbo and Shisui Uchiha clashed at high speed until Shisui used the Phantom Body Flicker Technique.
• Tobitake Tonbo cast the Modified Hell Viewing Technique, repeatedly showing Shisui Konoha in ruins whenever Shisui thought he had dispelled it.
• Shisui stopped attacking and examined his chakra, discovering that the Genjutsu used his own chakra to affect him again.

Tobitake Tonbo ended his clash with Shisui after Hiruzen Sarutobi intervened and explained that Tonbo was a trusted comrade. Tonbo demonstrated his new Barrier Technique, and Hiruzen assigned the Barrier Team to work with him weekly, leaving Tonbo facing regular overtime.

• Tobitake Tonbo broke Shisui's Genjutsu and prepared to continue fighting until Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived and stopped the clash.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi identified Tonbo as a trusted captain, and Shisui and the other Uchiha left after agreeing to submit a report.
• Tobitake Tonbo brought Ayame down from the hawk and explained that he had been testing a Barrier Technique inspired by the Nine-Tails Incident.
• Tobitake Tonbo showed Hiruzen Sarutobi and Ayame how the small-scale Barrier Technique made Training Ground No. 98 disappear.
• Hiruzen Sarutobi ordered a Barrier Team squad to study with Tonbo every week, and Tonbo and Ayame planned to celebrate with a feast.