Chapter 241: Controlling Resources
The Secret Chamber of the Scroll of Seals.
Taking advantage of his authority as Hokage, Tonbo Tobitake was reading the Scroll of Seals.
This time, the two elders didn't stop him; they only instructed him not to neglect his duties as Hokage. The person teaching the children was merely one of his clones.
As for whether the Reanimation Jutsu could revive the Third—it certainly couldn't, at least not without first releasing the Third's soul from the Shinigami. He was simply bluffing Konohamaru. If the boy ever truly demanded a resurrection, it wouldn't be difficult for a master of Genjutsu to stage one.
Ordinarily, Tonbo had principles; he wouldn't use Genjutsu on non-enemies without a baseline. But then again, his bottom line was "flexible"—he could always adjust it if necessary.
"Hah, finally looking through the Scroll of Seals without anyone stopping me."
Tonbo fixed his gaze on the complete version of the Scroll of Seals. Unlike learning the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, where he could only see one jutsu at a time, today he was feeling bold: he wanted them all.
First, he looked at the most famous ones: the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Reanimation Jutsu.
The Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu went without saying; Tonbo basically mastered it after a single glance. With Shadow Clones and his decade-plus of research into ninjutsu, if he were still worse than Naruto at this, he really might as well retire.
The key, however, was the Reanimation Jutsu (Edo Tensei).
"Good grief, it's just a framework!"
The complete formula of the Reanimation Jutsu appeared before his eyes, but it contained only basic theories and the method to summon souls from the Pure Land using the Summoning Jutsu. It couldn't guarantee the strength of the revived person. In other words, in its current state, it was merely a technique to summon a soul from the Pure Land for a chat—it couldn't create actual combat power.
"So, for the Reanimation Jutsu to become that overpowered in the future, it still relies on Orochimaru and Kabuto. They truly are the most talented commoners in the ninja world besides me. I have to give them a thumbs up!"
Tonbo was deeply impressed. To take a technique that merely summoned souls for conversation and develop it into a terrifying jutsu capable of starting a world war—that was truly impressive.
This wasn't to say Orochimaru and the others were "smarter" than the Second Hokage, as the method of how to even summon a soul from the Pure Land couldn't be summarized in a simple sentence. The knowledge involved truly lived up to its title as a Forbidden Jutsu. Using cells to summon a soul from the Pure Land was similar to a cultivator using a piece of flesh to summon a ghost from the underworld. No matter how you looked at it, the spatial knowledge involved was a feast for Tonbo's eyes.
The Summoning Jutsu is a Space-Time Ninjutsu, and summoning souls from the Pure Land is the very essence of that field. Tonbo hadn't forgotten that the Otsutsuki basically all possessed spatial abilities, so he had to be prepared. Summoning was a core capability he had to consider when dealing with the Otsutsuki.
"Let's see... the Flying Raijin..."
Tonbo turned to the Fourth Hokage's claim to fame. This was even more complex; one had to be proficient in sealing jutsu, have incredible neural reflexes, and possess a specific talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu to use it like the Second or Fourth. Otherwise, one would end up like Genma Shiranui's group, requiring three people to stand in a rigid formation just to activate it.
There were hundreds of forbidden techniques in the scroll, including the Dead Demon Consuming Seal and Orochimaru's Eight Branches Technique. Every single one had massive side effects. For any genius, learning just one would take a long time, and mastering it would be even harder.
Unless it was something like the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu—simple and crude. One only needed to be able to withstand the chakra cost and possess a brain capable of handling the mental backlash when the clones were released.
"Heh, being Hokage is truly great," Tonbo chuckled to himself. Being the Acting Hokage was perfect: he could learn so much, and he wouldn't have to stay in the position forever. The Spirit Transformation Jutsu he had wanted for a long time was also in there.
This was perfect. With more ninjutsu material—no, an endless supply of material—he lacked nothing now except experimental subjects.
Mhm... he felt like he had said that line once before. Regardless, Tonbo immersed himself in the scrolls.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Puff! Puff! Puff!
In a deserted area, dozens of Tonbo Tobitakes appeared out of thin air.
My chakra is still a bit lower than Naruto's. Just wait... once my body evolves to that stage, I'll be able to do the same. For now, I'll just research ninjutsu, the real Tonbo thought, looking at his dozens of copies.
"You, research the Summoning Jutsu."
"You, research Flying Raijin."
"You, research the 'HeartSteel'."
"You, research Spirit Transformation. The rest of you, research Ninjutsu Enforcement."
Quickly assigning tasks to his clones, Tonbo felt very satisfied. He had already tested it: his brain could withstand the negative effects of the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, thanks to his immense spiritual talent and high-functioning mind. With more chakra and shadow clones, he could finally use the "cheat mode" of the ninja world.
Meanwhile, the original body went back to play the role of Acting Hokage. It couldn't be more relaxing.
"Report! News from the Land of Wind. They have sent a letter seeking peace."
While Tonbo was processing various documents, a ninja from the Cryptanalysis Team entered and handed him a scroll. He took it and began to read.
It was indeed a peace proposal from the Hidden Sand Village. The general message was that due to an oversight, the rogue Konoha ninja Orochimaru had seized an opportunity, leading to a misjudgment by the Sand. They hoped Konoha would take steps toward reconciliation and wished to re-establish their alliance. Throughout the letter, they emphasized that the Sand was also a victim and focused heavily on the culpability of Orochimaru.
Now that Orochimaru's goals had been exposed, they naturally couldn't let a war break out.
"Who says the Sand is empty of talent? They still have capable people," Tonbo mused. "Shifting the blame entirely, framing themselves as victims—they practically told Konoha: 'It was all Orochimaru's fault, we're doing you a favor by not asking for compensation.' Plus, they stated an intent to cooperate and gave us a way out—even if that 'way out' is laughable."
Tonbo looked at the document and sighed. Their top-tier combat power was weak, but their political strength was quite high! Since Konoha was also currently fragile, they couldn't actually fight the Land of Wind. Since Orochimaru was the perfect scapegoat and a way out had been provided, the political maneuvering was solid.
However, Tonbo decided to remain firm. He couldn't let other nations think Konoha had turned soft. This was a critical moment; if handled poorly, a war could still ignite.
"Senior Shikaku, draft a reply. We will sign the alliance, but the Land of Wind must make concessions. They must open up trade rights for oil, and in exchange, Konoha will open trade for certain important resources."
Tonbo turned to Shikaku. Oil was a fundamental material for ninja tools like incendiary bombs and had always been a strictly controlled resource in the Land of Wind. Except in special circumstances, they would never trade it with other nations.
As Hokage, fighting for Konoha's interests was exactly what he was paid for. This was his principle: do the job required of the position you hold. As for the Land of Fire opening up its own controlled resources for trade, it was to lower the Sand's resistance.
Would they lose out? The Land of Fire was the most resource-rich nation in the world. As long as it was an equal exchange of controlled resources, they would definitely profit. The Sand would merely be filling a gap, while the Land of Fire would be raising its upper limit. The significance was entirely different.
It was like his past life—if those other nations ever dared to open up their restricted resources to China, they would quickly understand the meaning of "terror." This reflected the vital importance of a controlled resource policy.
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
On Patreon, you can explore Extra Chapters in advance!