Chapter 134: The Ninja's Essential Compendium
Konoha.
"Ugh, Dad's not here. I'm so bored!"
Tonbo Tianyu sat in the back of Ichiraku Ramen, muttering to himself as he watched his mother and grandfather busily working.
"Yeah, I want to grow up fast like Dad so I can fly everywhere and play!" Tonbo Maki sat beside him, licking a candied hawthorn stick and mumbling through her teeth.
Usually, when Tonbo Tobitake was free, he would take them flying all over the place to play in the surrounding regions. Now, they were confined to playing within the borders of Konoha. Since their mother had to help their grandfather and they were too young to roam freely, they felt utterly stifled.
"Dad said if we want to fly, we have to read a lot of books, otherwise we won't be able to learn ninjutsu. But we don't even know all our characters yet. Maybe we should find a teacher to teach us to read?" Tianyu suddenly came up with what he thought was a brilliant idea.
Maki looked at him with disdain. "That is not a good idea. Don't you remember how painful it was for Big Brother Kiba? He used to scratch his head till it hurt whenever he had to learn stuff."
Both children had excellent memories. Back when their father acted as a home tutor, he would look after them at the same time, so they vividly remembered the agony on the faces of Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru.
"But it's just so boring!" Tianyu propped his face up on his hands.
"What's so boring?"
As the two children were chatting, Naruto's head suddenly popped in.
"Hey, how did you get back here?" Tianyu said, though he didn't look surprised at all. He had sensed a "monster" walking in moments ago and knew it was Naruto.
"Well... you see... I'm here to gather intelligence." Naruto looked left and right, appearing to be searching for something.
"Intelligence? Are you playing a ninja game? Take us with you!" Tianyu's eyes lit up. This was perfect. Maki also stared at him intently.
"I'm not that childish. I'm tracking the traces of the teacher of the Ninja Academy's Great Demon King—Iruka-sensei's teacher," Naruto whispered mysteriously, his tone even turning a bit spooky. "A childish 'ninja game' can't even compare to this."
Upon hearing "Iruka-sensei's teacher," a specific figure simultaneously appeared in the minds of Tianyu and Maki. Iruka-sensei's teacher... isn't that just Dad?
"Why are you looking for him?" the two siblings asked in unison.
"To become Hokage, of course! If I find him, I'll finally get my classmates' recognition." Naruto thought of the person that even Kiba and Sasuke couldn't find at school. If he succeeded, everyone would have to look at him in a new light. He didn't know that Sasuke was simply too afraid of being pranked to say anything.
"Finding him makes you Hokage?"
The two children thought of the four heads carved into the Hokage Rock, then looked at the silly-looking Naruto. They felt his head wouldn't quite fit up there.
"Well... it's not that simple, but I'll work hard!" Naruto grinned.
The siblings shared a look and said at the same time, "We'll go with you."
"Huh? You two? Forget it... don't waste my time." Naruto looked at the two toddlers with a face of rejection. In his eyes, these two—who weren't even three years old—couldn't possibly help him. He wanted to find him on his own.
"Hmph, do you even know who our dad is?" Tianyu huffed.
"Isn't it Uncle Tonbo?" Naruto tilted his head and answered.
"Our dad is a Jonin! You're in school now, you should know what that means, right?"
Naruto counted on his fingers. "Genin, Chunin, Jonin... Eh? Uncle Tonbo is actually a Jonin?" He had never paid attention to that before. Recalling that face covered in bandages, he thought to himself: He doesn't look like one at all.
"That's right! And we know where Dad keeps his 'Ninja's Essential Compendium.' If you let us join, we might let you borrow it."
Tianyu didn't tell Naruto that their dad was the person he was looking for. Instead, he wanted Naruto to find the intelligence himself. Dad had told Big Brother Kiba that a ninja must learn to gather their own intel. Exactly—that was the reason, not because they were bored!
"Ninja's Essential Compendium?"
A book flashed through Naruto's mind. He imagined himself flipping through pages, putting on a headband, and instantly becoming a great ninja. Drool slowly began to leak from the corner of his mouth.
"In that case, I'll allow you to join my Ninja Intelligence Squad. But you have to listen to me!" Naruto's lips curled up as he agreed.
"Alright! Mission accepted, Captain Naruto!" Tianyu and Maki said solemnly, perfectly in sync.
"Captain Naruto?" Naruto's chest swelled with pride. Captain. I'm a Captain now. Captain Naruto. Having underlings felt great; no wonder Kiba was always trying to get people to call him "Big Brother Kiba."
"Wait, you guys want to go to home?" Ayame asked the two little ones.
The two nodded obediently. Naruto chimed in, "Don't worry, Ayame-neechan! Leave them to me, I'll definitely keep an eye on them." He even puffed out his chest like a little adult.
Ayame looked at him, a bead of sweat forming on her forehead. It's exactly because I'm leaving them to you that I'm worried! The thought of Naruto leading her children into mischief made her feel uneasy. But seeing the hopeful eyes of her kids and Naruto's determined gaze, her heart softened.
Just this once... just once... She remembered that her husband occasionally let the kids run back home on their own, so it should be fine. "Alright, just this once. Don't teach them any bad habits."
"Yay!" Naruto jumped for joy.
With Naruto leading the way with a swaggering, overconfident gait, the trio headed toward Tonbo Tobitake's house. The two little ones followed behind, marching with heads held high. Today wasn't boring anymore.
"That guy Tonbo... he's even corrupted you. How can you let two toddlers follow a slightly older kid like that?" Teuchi shook his head and sighed. This couple's way of raising kids really stressed the old man out. If Tonbo hadn't demonstrated to him that ninjutsu could be used for household miracles as well as protection, he would never have been so relaxed about his grandchildren.
Tonbo Tobitake's House.
Study.
The two little ones were flipping through books with Naruto. Although they couldn't recognize every word, they had learned many characters under their father's tutelage.
"Where is this Ninja's Essential Compendium?" Naruto felt his head beginning to ache looking at the rows of books. Is there really such a book? Is it just another one that makes you sleepy? Still, the words "Ninja's Essential" gripped him.
"Found it! This is the one Dad calls the Ninja's Essential Compendium: 'Intelligence Gathering: From Introduction to the Grave.'"
Tianyu quickly relied on his memory to find the book his father had once used to teach Kiba. It was a massive tome, ten centimeters thick and thirty centimeters long. Yet, with his two-year-old body, Tianyu picked it up with ease.
Naruto took the book and felt his hands sink. Cold sweat broke out.
"This is so heavy... and so big. It's thicker than all my first-grade books combined!" Naruto started to feel that coming here was a mistake. Even without this "Compendium," he surely could have found Iruka-sensei's teacher on his own...
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