Chapter 400: Eight Extremities
The Ninja Academy.
The Administrative Office.
"Tonbo-sensei, long time no see!" Iruka's face lit up with joy the moment he saw Tobitake Tonbo. He rushed forward immediately to greet him.
It really had been a long time. Tonbo was busy, and ever since Iruka became the Dean of Students, he had been swamped as well. It wasn't just his teacher he hadn't seen; he hadn't even had time to chat with his former teammates and classmates like Togetake Tetusen and Shinobu Mibu.
"Long time no see, Iruka. You've become the Dean—not bad. Keep working hard," Tonbo said, patting his shoulder appreciatively. Of his three disciples, Iruka was the most outstanding.
Wait... second out of three is actually... Tonbo cleared his throat mentally.
"And Ebisu, long time no see. I heard you wanted to test for the Dean position too. Did you pass?" Tonbo turned to Ebisu, his tone teasing.
Ebisu's face turned bright red. "Hmph! I'm only giving Iruka face for your sake. I'll take the position later."
"Haha, I get it," Tonbo laughed.
Ebisu shifted the subject: "I heard you came to inspect the Academy. Weren't you supposed to be retired? Why are you still doing so much work?"
He kept hearing about this retirement, but it never felt like Tonbo was actually retired. Whether intentionally or not, Tonbo was still deeply involved in the construction of Konoha. It was almost ridiculous.
"Retirement just means not doing a 'job' so you can do the things you actually enjoy. I am an inheritor of the Will of Fire; passing that will down to the next generation is something I enjoy," Tonbo replied.
Right now, he wanted to use these small tasks to alleviate his mental stress. Developing the Ninja Academy was a perfect outlet.
Iruka asked, "Sensei, what brings you here specifically this time?" He knew about the inspection, but not the specific objective.
"I want to see if the Academy has any other needs. I'd like to get some input from you all." Tonbo knew he couldn't micromanage everything.
As soon as the topic was raised, the room buzzed with energy. This was a legendary ninja they were talking to. Teachers other than Iruka vied to voice their opinions, hoping to leave a good impression.
"I believe the analyzers used for trajectory calculations in the Shurikenjutsu curriculum still have room for improvement."
"The Ninja Trap course has become outdated; we need to design a new syllabus."
"Regarding the Chakra courses—due to Tonbo-senpai's new training methods, the students' chakra control is much stronger than before. Many existing lessons are now lagging behind and need a comprehensive adjustment."
The issues were numerous across all sectors. Kakashi hadn't managed to finalize the adjustments for the Academy yet because Konoha was simply too busy.
Tonbo was startled by what he saw. Even with Shikamaru and Shizune helping, Kakashi had a mountain of documents to process every day, and he still wasn't finishing them. The rapid development of the village had created so much work it nearly turned Kakashi into a literal "ninja dog" from exhaustion. This was despite the assistance of various support ninja and his use of Shadow Clones.
Fortunately, Kakashi's IQ was far beyond Naruto's, so he handled things beautifully. He even managed to find small windows of time to read Make-Out Paradise. If it had been Naruto, even with Shikamaru's help, he would have been worked to the bone.
"Mm-hmm, you've all made very good points." Tonbo committed everything to memory.
Indeed, his own chakra control methods had rendered the old Taijutsu training incompatible. It wasn't that the quality had dropped, but rather that the curriculum couldn't keep up. With improved chakra control, the difficulty of all other courses naturally decreased. If they didn't raise the bar, the efficiency of the training would stagnate.
After a while, Tonbo finished gathering their suggestions and prepared to start working.
"Sensei, an autograph first, please." Iruka was not at all shy as he handed over a photograph. It was a particularly handsome shot of Tonbo.
Following his lead, the other teachers swarmed forward. Their children were fans of Tonbo, and the teachers didn't stop them—mostly because they were fans themselves. Even Ebisu handed one over, but it wasn't one or two; it was a whole stack.
Tonbo looked at him, speechless. "Ebisu, what's the deal? You think I'm a signature machine?"
"Please sign them. I have a use for them," Ebisu said, thick-skinned despite his blushing face. The next Dean is definitely going to be me.
Several pens flew out, controlled by chakra threads, signing the photos for everyone. This display of skill stunned them; the pens were writing all by themselves.
The meeting at the Academy ended, but Tonbo's work didn't. He visited various classrooms to observe the students' lessons. Time passed quickly.
However, things were changing elsewhere—specifically, Kaguya's dimensions. Tonbo began his renovation of the various spaces.
His first goal was to transform them into ideal training grounds for Taijutsu ninja. Kaguya's dimensions were perfect for this. There was ice, desert, water, and various vacuum-like spaces. He perfectly constructed specialized training zones.
Additionally, a large valley was designated as a training site. He began modifying these environments: extreme cold, scorching heat, swamps, lightning, gravity, unknown biological threats, soil-less zones, and lifeless voids. Various concepts flourished around Tonbo's ideas.
He didn't just limit himself to Kaguya's dimensions; he looked at terrains found in the Shinobi world as well, such as the Flaming Mountains, the Valley of Sighing Breezes, and various islands where summoned beasts resided. These were all his canvases. He wanted to use his power to develop these places into "Super Training Grounds" for ninja.
However, he didn't spend all his time on this. These tasks served as a change of pace while he pursued his primary goal: developing his own abilities. His Genjutsu needed an upgrade, specifically targeted at the Otsutsuki. He also needed to become more familiar with the Otsutsuki physiology.
Development of the Infinite Void upgrade was also underway. This technique had been his early trump card, though it was technically a type of sealing jutsu. Now, he wanted to turn it into a persistent field or, as Orochimaru suggested, a fixed-location defense to counter potential Future Sight. Fixing it to one location was relatively easy; ensuring it remained effective against the enemy was the challenge.
Tonbo didn't want a simple solution. He needed to develop the technique to be even more powerful without it disrupting his daily life.
"The Eight Extremities technique... there's a chance I can develop it. Shira from the Hidden Sand is now a Jonin, and his Taijutsu is excellent. Maybe I can find him to gather some training data."
Shira's Seven Heavenls Breathing Method and Guy's Eight Inner Gates were both formidable Taijutsu styles. Both could be used for experimentation. His ultimate goal was to recreate the Taijutsu he thought was the coolest when he was a kid. It was his way of paying homage to a classic.
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