Chapter Thirty-Eight: Reminders
Being on the lookout for Itachi and Kisame, strangely enough, didn't seem to amount to much of anything. Kisame's chakra reserves were massive enough that his approach should have been tipped off to Tobio from a long way away. So unless they had found a way to get inside the village without him noticing, things weren't progressing like how they were in canon.
And always, that made him nervous. It raised questions of the why, and how, and what would be happening instead. Frustrating as it was, though, there wasn't anything he could do about it for now but sit and wait.
Tsunade's arrival in the village came with relatively little fanfare, at least at first. He didn't notice much outside of a sizable chakra signature entering the village, with some other large ones with it. However, he recognized Naruto and Jiraiya upon focusing on them for a brief moment and figured they probably weren't hornswoggled into bringing in Akatsuki or something. It wasn't until the announcement went out to everyone that the investiture of the new hokage would come the very next day that Tobio took note of her existence.
He was genuinely interested in what talk-no-jutsu mind control Naruto had used on her to agree. After all, a lot of the active pressures that would have originally driven her here didn't exist. Orochimaru certainly didn't approach her, and maybe Kabuto did, but to what end he couldn't possibly know. Help with bringing Orochimaru back to life, his own ambitions…
Sometimes, not being up the protagonist's ass could backfire in Tobio not knowing precisely what the kid was up to and being blindsided in that regard. Though he'd rather see a competent blonde than another rendition of a fanon Konoha knucklehead, so maybe it was better this way.Regardless of how it happened, after the attack of the mixed Otogakure and Sungakure forces, the village needed to project strength. What better way to do so than having one of the original Sannin take up the hat?
"The first female Hokage," Ami muttered, standing next to him as the crowd of people gathered for the formal investiture ceremony. "Well, if it had to be anyone, it being the hime of the Senju makes sense."
"What, you didn't have any ambitions of being the Hokage yourself?" Tobio asked, glancing over at the purple-haired girl briefly.
"No," she bluntly stated, before pausing and shaking her head at the thought again. "Maybe a little when I was a kid, y'know?"
Tobio blinked at her, a little confused. "Ami, we are kids."
"You know what I mean, idiot," Ami scowled at him. "When we were small, and everyone ran around pretending to be the Hokage."
"It's a good dream," Fū added, making her presence known on the other side of him as the ceremony began to seemingly get started on the stage before them. "When I was younger all I wanted to do was be the kage of Takigakure."
The only one of his primary female friends who wasn't here was Karin, admittedly for reasons that made a good deal of sense. The redhead wasn't actually that great with crowds and didn't quite have a formal rank yet, though Tobio was pretty sure that was in the pipeline at the moment. It wasn't too surprising when she was a defected shinobi who technically was faking her own death at the moment. The only reason she was even allowed to walk around these days was the fact that there were no Kusagakure agents of note in the village.
Fū had no such limitations, and once he'd made the offer to hang out and watch at least part of the event, she didn't hesitate to leap for it. If anything, she still seemed a little shocked by the turnout, but maybe that was just from how many people lived in Konoha. Compared to the population of a minor village, the crowd of shinobi and civilians probably eclipsed Takigakure by an order of magnitude.
It was always little things like this that had the tendency to make her the most amazed. Another reminder for Tobio that for all of Konohagakure's faults, it was still the best Hidden Village in the world. Not just structurally, but culturally too. The idea of being somewhere like Kirigakure, which was actively in a civil war spurred on by bloodline purges and an entrenched caste system…
Well, that might have been a situation where he could have seen himself going missing-nin. Small blessings that things turned out a lot differently, then.
When the ceremony started in earnest, it was his first real glimpse at the next Hokage. Tsunade of the Sannin, from a distance, was about what he'd expected. A short, blonde woman with a mass of chakra, who was doing her due diligence to at the very least play into the traditions and framework of the village.
There was a lot of formality to the whole process. Shikamaru's dad was up there leading the speech, but there were others, like clan heads and the heads of other departments, who were also representing the myriad interests that made up the village as a whole. For as much as they might have their own priorities or functions, all of them were more or less there to show the flag and present a unified whole.
…That said, it was a bit dry.
A lot of things Tobio had gotten used to regarding his new world, like the child soldiers and haphazard technology, were just things he'd gotten used to. The proliferation and reliance on formality, procedures, and tradition would likely remain something he'd rail against privately.
"…It's a little boring, innit?" Fū commented quietly, leaning in to Tobio, as if sharing the same thought. She just was blunt enough to say it aloud.
A sigh rolled out of him as he clicked his tongue in agreement. "Yeah. It's a bit dry."
"You'd think they'd just give her the hat and be done with it."
"All the old fogies and clan heads need to be seen, y'know?" He pointed out, as they were going dreadfully slow, speaking about the Will of Fire, the unity of the village, the return of the Senju…
A faint whine escaped Fū at his words, as if acknowledging the logic was genuinely painful. "But does it have to take so long…?"
Ami shot them a little annoyed glance but didn't say anything to gainsay them. After all, his teammate was many things, yet a liar was not one of them. Someone who self-aggrandized, who was a little arrogant, and maybe a bit too fiery…
Okay, perhaps he could stop before they were diving too deep into her bad habits.
Even she wasn't scanning the stage that much, instead glancing through the crowd around them. Perking up, though, she turned back to the duo carefully. "Oh, I think I see Sakura," Ami murmured, glancing around elsewhere in the crowd. "I'm gonna…try to say hi and be civil."
"You? Being nice?" Tobio almost felt his eyes bulge out of his skull, while the adults droned on about all of the formal functions of giving a fancy hat to Tsunade.
"Shut up," she grumbled. "It's just, um, childish to maintain grudges and stuff."
"That's so nice of you," Fū praised. "You're a good friend, Ami."
The problem with Fū was the fact that she was always so genuine and enthusiastic that not even Ami's sour personality could deny her sweetness. It was something that made Ami's cheeks heat as she glanced away. "I-It's nothing! You wanna come with?"
"Me?" If Fū was prepared for anything, the invitation being extended to her wasn't one of them.
"Yeah," Ami nodded. "We have to introduce you to some of the other people in the village besides just our group of weirdos. And Karin."
As appropriate, the boy in question gave her a squinted stare. "You make it seem like it's a bad thing she knows me, and the rest of our team."
"Who knows what kind of dumbass ideas might rub off on her from you?" his teammate smirked at his affronted expression. "Besides, you're a boy. It's better she actually has some more female friends."
…Honestly, he probably couldn't deny that. As nice as it was to have such a tight network of friends, he would have preferred if Fū and Karin actually made substantive connections to other people in the village. For example, he was fairly sure Naruto regularly bothered his cousin for all sorts of reasons and dragged her to go eat ramen. Yet he'd rather their social networks reach far and wide if he could help it.
After the lives that Karin and Fū had lived, they deserved to have as many friends and close connections as they wanted.
To which they walked off, as he smiled at their bantering and bickering as Ami went to properly introduce her green-haired friend to the rest of their general age cohort. It left him alone as the ceremony wrapped up, Tsunade being given the hat and cheers spreading across the crowd of people. He even joined in, though, feeling the wave of hopeful emotion swell up and out, as people wanted to believe in the Will of Fire and the supremacy of the Hidden Leaf.
Whether that would actually happen was up to ninja like him to ensure. He only had secondhand knowledge from manga and anime about Tsunade. Who knew if that information would actually prove all that accurate? People weren't just the caricatures that media portrayed them to be. A lot of the time, much to his chagrin and delight, they could prove a lot better and worse than he'd have ever imagined.
Only time would tell where Tsunade fell.
With his hands shoved into his pockets as the gathering began to end in earnest, he stood there among the crowd that was breaking up, alone with his thoughts. While his dreams had started high as the boy gained more power, his actual desires for the world lowered. Ironic as it might have been, looking back on that desperate struggle to rise in strength and prowess.
The might he wielded was useful, sure, but chasing the status of Hokage seemed like an immense headache. As long as Tobio was strong enough to end any threat to his loved ones and his peace, he'd settle for someone good-natured at least taking the hat.
"Hmm. It's not quite the way I'd imagined this succession taking place, but it is functional for the purposes of village unity." An aged voice moved beside Tobio, but he didn't immediately turn to face it.
"Senju Tsunade is probably one of the top candidates that could have been pushed to the fore, let alone the fact that she's one of the remotely 'young' shinobi that could have taken it up." The defense of the woman was automatic though not very passionate, just going off facts and logic. "Jiraiya might have been better, but—" Tobio began before he glanced at the man at his side and froze on the spot.
Because it was a figure that he very much recognized, even if he'd never actually met him. A man who was singlehandedly responsible for quite possibly the vast majority of horrific events in the series.
"Oh? Do my injuries still inspire fright in the young?" A faint hint of amusement was in his voice as Shimura Danzo smiled down at Tobio.
He'd almost forgotten about Danzo, about his presence in the village.
Almost.
The thing was, it was silly to even have that thought when the reality was that so much of Naruto as a series was predicated on the man's villainy. So much death, havoc, mayhem, bloodshed, and grudges formed on behalf of his vision for the village as a whole. Yet it had always brought a singular question to Tobio's mind whenever he thought about the man.
If all you'd ever done was the evil thing for good reasons, were you ever really good to begin with? Because Danzo hadn't always been like this. He'd had a choice to do anything else than become what he was, and he'd chosen otherwise.
Standing next to Tobio, the man could have seemed like a kindly enough grandfather with the smile that he wore on his face. Polite, even, bandaged, and venerable in his elder years. Energy Sense could tell that there was something off, though. A raw potential that was still deep inside the man, though Tobio wasn't sure if he had the eyes on his arm yet. Did that come before or after Shippuden?
What gave him away as the monster that he was proved to be the emotions that radiated off of him. Just an inky blackness, a malaise that wasn't quite malevolence. Just the cold, cool existence of something that moved through the world, aped at positive emotions, but didn't really allow himself to feel them. Tobio's fingers twitched, eager to CUT this singular abomination of a man down on the spot.
And he couldn't.
Instead, he had to smile, to force his facial muscles to slide into a soft greeting, as he nodded toward the older man. "Lord Shimura," Tobio greeted.
"You know of me?" A faint amusement was in his tone, but Tobio didn't think it was real. Didn't allow himself to be pulled into the mire of sentiment that this man was trying to weave.
"It'd be foolish of me not to have at least some idea of who's on the clan council." After all, Tobio had the excuse of preparing to join it to some extent while also possessing no small amount of foresight.
A soft sound of understanding came from Danzo as he nodded. "Ah, yes, you're Nakamura Tobio, yes? Of Clan Nakamura…?"
"I'm unsure if I'll keep the last name," he freely admitted. "But yes, that's me."
The last name was literally a name that meant middle of the village or of the village. There was no small amount of other orphans that also had that last name. Realistically, it might be better to eventually change his last name to something else and have it match the name of his future clan properly.
Food for thought for later.
"You've had a rising star in recent days, young man," Danzo commented, his singular visible eye crinkling in a paternally fond way. "Perhaps you won't begrudge an old man his curiosity to see our newest prodigy?"
"Hardly," Tobio admitted, giving a soft snort of amusement. "I'd hardly call myself a prodigy, though. Feels a little narcissistic for me to claim it myself."
"It does tend to be the sort of thing that people give out, yes," he agreed readily. "Though it is also the sort of thing that isn't a sure bet, in and of itself."
Tobio cocked his head to the side slightly at the statement. "Hmm?"
"A prodigy that rests on their laurels is hardly one that has a long lifetime ahead of them," Danzo continued, his voice injecting just the faintest tone of something experienced and wistful into itself. "Speaking from my own experiences, I've seen no small number of prodigies come and go in Konoha."
Swallowing thickly, I did my best not to immediately point out how much his own actions objectively cut the lives of said prodigies short. Somehow I didn't feel as if he'd appreciate my own cutting observations on the matter. "I'll try to keep that in mind."
A satisfied hum came out of him at my agreement. "And as a senior shinobi, no matter how retired I may be these days, I'd be remiss if I didn't reach out to a novice clan head and younger man like yourself. In case you're ever in need of mentorship, the resources of the Shimura are extensive indeed."
Now all of the hair on his body felt raised as Tobio cast out his Five Poisons Sense immediately around him. Most of the emotions of the people around him were normal for the relative values of the word. Elated, happy, hopeful, the sorts of roiling tide one could expect from the aftermath of the investiture procession itself. But there were voids of low or muted emotion, like people who'd been trained and conditioned, more than maintaining thoughts and values of their own.
"...I think I'm happy with my current set of teachers," Tobio carefully and diplomatically stated, choking down what he wanted to really say. "But I thank you for the offer all the same."
"Mm. And are your teammates as satisfied?" Danzo gently probed in the guise of some genuine concern. "I understand it can be difficult when one person so far eclipses their peers. Young…Hibachi and Ami, was it? Or the diplomat from Takigakure. Perhaps your Uzumaki associate would appreciate some knowledge in fuinjutsu?"
Tobio deceptively clasped his hands behind his back, as casual as could be, to hide the way his fists balled to the point where his knuckles were about to pop. The skin was white, as he restrained his immediate and violent instinct to immediately and brutally slay any possible threats to his friends. It wasn't an overt innuendo or insinuation, yet just the idea of Ami, Hibachi, Karin, or Fu being left under the ministrations of Danzo…
He was sick to his stomach at the notion of it but still had to wear a smile on his face. Right then and there, Tobio understood that he had to kill this man. He didn't know when or where, yet the realization swept over him like a wave of cool water. When that resolution was made was the moment his violent instincts were pacified at the unspoken promise of excessive future violence.
A malicious, feminine voice rumbled in the back of his mind. Quite the familiar one, since it'd been the first time she'd spoken in quite a while. "They belong to us. No one else."
There was something darkly possessive about the way his zanpakutō spirit phrased it. The problem was that Tobio couldn't find it within himself to really care that she'd put it that way. Not that he might have viewed it in the same, toxic manner that she did, but the broad strokes were pretty much identical. Some dark, horrible beast was roused inside of him at the notion of his friends ending up the same deeply emotionally muted shadows that followed Danzo around.
"I'll be sure to pass that on to them," he responded, smiling back, lying with the casual ease that had come to him over the last few days. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Lord Shimura."
"You as well, young Tobio. Know that I'll be watching your career with great interest."
With that, he left, ambling off with an affected gait that didn't quite match the reality of his body. Those distant, muted shadows went with him, and the pounding of Tobio's heart began to settle, if only that. The public display of the new Hokage's investiture was coming to a close, too, not that it really mattered that much to him anymore.
His mood had quite thoroughly been spoiled by the older man's arrival. Something that he must not have been hiding as well as he'd thought once Danzo had left. Hibachi had been making his way through the crowd, probably by having spotted him, frowning at whatever expression was on his face.
"What's with the hangdog look?" The beanie-clad boy inquired. "You look like you're planning a murder."
"I probably am," Tobio freely admitted, running his tongue along his sharpened teeth and trying to push back the instinctual urges that still were threatening to rise up. "But it isn't something we need to worry about for now."
Hibachi hummed. "Well, lemme know if you need help burying a body."
Then, something lighted in the boy's eyes afterward. "Oh yeah, want to meet up with the rest of the team later tonight for dinner? I think everyone's celebrating the new Hokage at the usual restaurants and stuff."
"That…actually sounds nice," Tobio smiled, eager at the thought of it. "Am I being a bum if I don't want to pay for anything?"
"Yes," Hibachi immediately responded. "Especially because you probably got more hazard pay than anyone else on our team from the attack."
"Ugh." Facts and logic.
"I know you're a mendicant believer in the way of the brokie, but spending a little money to eat out with us isn't going to murder your wallet."
"But I feel like it will, y'know?"
The two of them sank into familiar banter, which was a balm on his soul after meeting Danzo. That spike of instinctive panic didn't seem so bad, not when he had his friends beside him.
Ultimately, though, the encounter's specifics didn't matter. He had a much different meeting ahead of him after this, as his sensei had informed him earlier in the day. Amongst all of the other Konoha rookies that had gone up for the exams, the Hokage wished to meet with him first and discuss the results. He'd be the first to hear whatever she had in mind.
Time to see if all of those expectations he'd had for the woman lived up to the reality.
It'd been a long time since Tobio felt as exposed as he did in that moment. Not nervous, no, it'd have to be some drastic social stimuli to break past whatever total lack of inhibitions he had toward social mores anymore. High Elder had seen to that, as the typical social pressure that had originally constrained some of his behaviors had just…vanished.
Standing on one side of the room were Ibiko Morino, Anko Mitarashi, Izumo Kamizuki, Kotetsu Hagane, Shizune, and Genma Shiranui, all of them looking his way with faces that gave little away and tightly controlled emotional states. Something seemed…off, with Anko, especially her cursed seal, but Tobio wasn't quite sure what it was.
Something to look into later, maybe.
Of course, the only one who dominated the room was the blonde woman sitting at the desk.
For perhaps the first time, Tobio lamented whether or not he was born in the wrong generation. Because despite the fact that the illusion of Tsunade was one of her in her prime, that didn't make his brain less pummeled by her appearance. Short, but still very much buxom, for all that it was an illusion that she maintained at all times to make herself seem younger. His developing brain didn't care about the truth, though, and the copious amount of questionable fanart he still remembered left an impact. While he couldn't remember the man he used to be, and even the vestiges of that personality were fading away bit by bit with each passing day, how that person felt about her from the outside looking in wasn't in question.
Or maybe it was the fact that while the blonde woman's demeanor was neutral, but she didn't manage to fool what his preternatural senses were picking up.
…She was strong.
If he just used that damnable fire inside of him, he could probably fight anyone to a standstill. At least until he ran out, limited as it was. Without it, though, his brain was unsure of whether or not he'd have been able to win a fight with her if she went all out from the beginning. If she struck him with all of her might, with a mountain-splitting punch, could he survive it? He'd survived worse, hadn't he?
Even so, Tobio still wanted to test himself against Tsunade of the Sannin. The last of the Senju, a medical practitioner of no small renown and skill. A woman who despite her age and stature was still probably mighty enough to give him pause.
"When it came to the others who were up for promotion, the exactly question of what to do was something that was hotly contested," she spoke, in the kind of rasp that gave away her age, despite the illusion she wore over her skin. "With the suspension of the final exam, it was the opinion of many that no one should have been promoted this year."
Letting the situation breathe, her eyes focused on him, and for the briefest moment Tobio felt like he was being picked apart. Having her gaze trail over his physique, but especially the more inhuman parts of his physiology. "With that said, it was under the advisement of many around me that letting you go unrewarded would be a poor choice."
He stared at her. "...Ma'am?"
"Given the fact that you were crucial to Lord Third's handling of the traitor Orochimaru," she continued, the faintest tremor in her jaw giving anything away about how she felt on the matter. "As well as the exemplary performance given throughout all stages of the exam and your efforts in the battle that followed, it was made evident that a normal promotion would not be appropriate."
"So I'm getting promoted to Chūnin after all," Tobio commented, nodding slightly at the idea of it. He wasn't sure if he entirely liked the idea of having to wear the vest all the time, but it could grow on him. Maybe he could modify it a little to really emphasize the aura of a mob character…
Yeah, yeah, he was coming around to the notion the more he thought about it.
A low, darkly amused chuckle rolled out from Tsunade, though, at that moment. "You're being promoted a bit higher than that, Nakamura."
"What?" He blinked owlishly at the correction, an eyebrow raised her way.
"You're going to be going straight toward Tokubetsu Jōnin."
And that was the point where his system deigned to make itself known once more, with some text appearing in his view.
[HIDDEN QUEST COMPLETED: GAIN TOKUBETSU JŌNIN RANK.]
[REWARD: 1x MODERATE ARTIFICE OR DOMINION PERK ROLL.]
Oh. Oh.
Okay, maybe he wasn't as nervous about the promotion anymore, if it meant that he was getting a nice reward like this.
"I don't know what to say," Tobio admitted and found himself being truthful with the admission. "It definitely feels like I'm not really a fit for it, though."
"Perhaps straining your qualifications for it in some capacities, but your bloodline and overwhelming firepower allow for a certain amount of…leeway, in this regard," Tsunade freely gave out, the complicated look on her face saying how she felt about it. "Younger prodigies have been promoted further, and outside of some naked bloodlust, there are few things I'd say would disqualify you from it."
That was about as much of a glowing recommendation as he could assume he'd get. "That makes sense."
"It does," she agreed, gesturing over to Shizune. The girl moved to a nearby stand, where a vest was resting, picking it up and bringing it over to Tobio. "Despite the political considerations at play, including your incoming clan head status, none of that should diminish from the accomplishments that you've made."
Taking the vest from Shizune, he could only give the Hokage a nervous smile. "I can't take all the credit. There were people for me to fight for, and frankly, that's the thing that's always driven me harder than anything else."
For the briefest second a flicker of naked vulnerability and understanding ran through her eyes before Tsunade reined in the impulse to say something. She didn't even seem to trust her words, as Tobio pulled on the vest and felt the solid weight against his chest. The blonde just gave him an understanding nod.
Adjusting the vest itself, he felt like the weight was heavier than he'd been expecting. Not enough to practically alter his speed in any real way, yet it was supposed to be theoretically protective…probably? At least tough enough to stand up to the standard wear and tear without fraying at the seams the first time he got into a fight.
"Was there anything else in regard to my promotion?"
"Not technically," the Hokage spoke, her eyes sharpening on his face once more. "Though I would very much like to schedule a personal medical examination, based off some of the preliminary reports I've read about you. I can promise that if there's anything relevant to your clan's specific capacities discovered, it will not be marked down. This is purely for my own selfish interest."
That seemed like a very fair request to agree to. It wasn't as if she were Orochimaru, after all, and he wasn't sure how much she could actually derive from anything she saw from him. If not because of the Mystery involved in being an Oni, then just because his biology was just plain weird by the standards of most humans in this setting. Even with all of the bullshit things kekkai genkai were able to get up to.
"I'm open to that," he confirmed with a smile. "Before Lord Third passed, I also believed that he said that you'd be highly interested in the medicine I have as well."
A flicker of something more excited entered her posture as she straightened up. "Yes! Yes, uh, that's less of something I suspect I'd be able to invest any real time into on my official duties," she emphasized as Shizune shot the woman a sidelong look. "But I would be interested in it if you're willing to share."
He was. It didn't really do much for him, sitting in his storage, so it'd be better off trading one a week for something productive if he didn't look forward to the possibility of using it in an emergency. "I'll trade it for a favor."
She shrugged, gesturing his way. "Name it."
"My friend, Karin, wants to learn some of the medical arts. Frankly, I might too, but I'm also not really the sort to struggle like she might, with her oversized reserves," he admitted, shrugging softly. "So if you would be willing to give her a private lesson or two, I'd exchange a whole bottle for you to use and study under supervision."
He didn't know if Tsunade would ever really learn anything from the Elixir, but it couldn't hurt to let her try. If it meant that Karin also get a bit of aid in exchange, well, that just meant that things would
"That's…workable," Tsunade spoke, her jaw clenching as she got the words out. "I'll say this. That she either has the gift for being a healer or she doesn't. If she's patently unsuitable, I won't feel bad about not offering more lessons."
"I think Karin will surprise you," Tobio responded, vouching for his friend as he stared over at Tsunade. "She's stronger than even she knows, and she's got the drive to learn. If she's given the chance, that is."
"Noted," the blonde nodded in understanding. "There's nothing else from me. I'll leave you to whatever celebrations you might have in mind for the day."
He took the dismissal for what it was. A woman in her shoes must have had a lot more to handle, and frankly, he had his own worries on his mind. Like the new perk that was sitting like a weight in his soul, waiting to be selected.
Walking out of the office, he was met with the familiar, smiling face of his sensei as well. The man was beaming at Tobio so hard that the boy suspected he might strain his facial muscles by how widely he was grinning. "Congratulations, kiddo!"
Before Tobio could react, he was being slapped on the shoulder and brought into a sideways hug. "Oh man, you know what bragging rights you've just earned for me?"
"Is that the extent of what my promotion means for you?" The boy asked, shooting him a raised eyebrow.
A small scoff escaped Tekuno-sensei. "Of course not. But the capacity to lord it over my peers is a part of every Jōnin-sensei's birthright. Not that I did much of the work…"
Tobio could only roll his eyes at those words. "I wouldn't be the shinobi I am today without you, so stow it."
"You would have been fine, even in the general forces. Quality like yours was just bound to shine through, one way or another."
The whole compliment was enough to make Tobio's face feel hot once more as he swallowed thickly at the praise. "Maybe, maybe."
"There's no maybe, bud, it's just the straight fact of the matter."
"It still feels like a mistake," Tobio admitted, looking down at the vest that he was wearing, as he rolled his shoulders back. "Tokubetsu Jōnin seems like too much."
To which Tekuno could only roll his eyes at the words from his student. "The rank is exactly where you should be," the older man explained, setting a hand on his shoulder while also fixing Tobio with a look so filled with pride it made him squirm underneath it. "Tokubetsu Jōnin is specifically made for people like you?"
"Freakish combat prodigies?"
"I wouldn't have put it like that," the older man stated, not quite denying the allegations either. "More so that you have a special capacity that puts you head and shoulders above everyone else. That isn't a bad thing, mind you. Your outstanding and outrageous capability to just fight and survive hasn't gone unnoticed."
That was enough to make Tobio hum in thought. "So why didn't I go straight to Jōnin?"
Tekuno shrugged. "Honestly? Probably because you just have a serious lack of leadership experience in practical, real-world scenarios. I'm not talking about high-stress missions, but the little things that you normally learn after years of fieldwork."
It didn't feel like it was untrue, no matter how Tobio might not wish to admit it. He was great in most fights and could wrangle his Brotherhood together in a pinch. However, that wasn't really a replacement for more practical sorts of leadership experience. Not every mission was going to go pear-shaped, and most of the time they went in rather routine and normal ways.
Those were the sorts of situations that he unsurprisingly lacked experience with. How to work within the bureaucracy and architecture of Konoha's military framework, how to do higher-level paperwork, and things of that nature. Once he'd gotten settled into that role and picked up enough merits, while also rounding out his general skills…
Well, he could see how they might revisit the thought of promoting him after that. Right now Tobio was a prodigy with ninjutsu and the sword and had no small amount of 'bloodline' traits that allowed him to punch well above his skill level. It was the type of package that allowed him to be far too powerful and prominent to languish at merely Chunin.
And if he was being honest, there was probably a morale and publicity angle to it too. Promoting attention to Konoha's newest, flashiest prodigy was always good for business. If it meant that he had more bounty hunters after his ass, so be it.
How else was he supposed to get better at fighting if there wasn't someone trying their best to kill him?
"So what's next for you?" Tekuno continued, hands on his hips. "You're promoted, and frankly, you don't need me the same anymore…"
"I'll always need my sensei."
A little bashful expression came over the man's face at those words. "You know what I mean. If you wanted to branch off or create a new team, that'd totally be your remit."
He wasn't incorrect. "Well," Tobio began, trying to give the situation some genuine thought and care. "I did have some thoughts…"
The two of them chatted about training before they broke off to go prepare or clean up for whatever dinner they'd be having later in the night. However, it did mean that Tobio had a few spare hours to actually spend on other affairs. Like the fact that he had a perk burning a hole in his soul.
Artifice or Dominion…which of the two was worth chasing? Things would probably be slowing down a bit, so if he got something related to crafting, it wouldn't be remiss. But he was also promoted now, and technically the Domain inside of him could go pretty nuts if he started applying it to lower-ranked shinobi. Who knew if he could get something else that would enhance his allies further?
The sky was the limit, as always, in regard to his potential. He just had to choose a direction to take it.
It wasn't as if Artifice had bad picks within it, so admittedly, Tobio didn't mind trying to see what he could pull from it. Who knew? Maybe it'd be something genuinely interesting. Tobio didn't really need overwhelming power at this rate, so broadening his horizons or deepening his foundations would be appreciated.
With an errant thought, he allowed the hollow inside of his soul to reach out and reel in a new array of options inside of him.
| Domain Master | Jujutsu Kaisen V2.5 | This isn't simply a you can now use a domain perk. Let's get that said straight off the bat. No, this perk is well worth the price. Usually for Jujutsu Sorcerers having more than one domain is thought to be impossible because Jujutsu Sorcerers can only have one cursed technique to base it off of due to the limits of the human brain. But not you. You can now create domains both the barrier type and the overlay type for any ability or power you possess with enough training. For example if you had an ability to create ice your domain would be a snowy landscape where ice will stab anybody inside. Better get to work. P.S. You can only have one domain activated at a time.
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| Singular Purpose | Library of Ruina: HamHamPangPang | Now, this is dangerous, you somehow managed to get your hands on not just a Singularity of a Wing, past or present, but also its full specifications in intricate detail. Whether this is something like F Corp's "Fairies", R Corp's Hatchery design, or however the hell T Corp's singularity works, the Singularity is fully revealed to you with the Wing and Beholders currently none the wiser but if you reveal that you know about it then chances are the Beholders will find out, and you really don't want the Head to know you have this if it's from an existing Wing. Regardless if they do find out then get ready to either run to the Outskirts or be constantly hounded by Arbiters, Claws, and legions of corporate security and Fixers. Though if you pick a fallen Wing's singularity then you probably won't be in as much danger, the Head still wants you to pay up for the right to have that, but you aren't worth sending Arbiters or Claws immediately. There's a list of Singularities in the Notes, each purchase lets you choose one of them, and you cannot pick any of the Head's Singularities(A, B, and C Corp).
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| Restoring Legends | Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap | As a Picori you bear the blood of the legendary smiths and craftsmen who forged legends like the Picori Blade. Your skill with craftsmanship is innately high and your growth is much faster than it usually would be, but where you truly shine is in the creation and restoration of magical arms and armor. If you were given the shards of the Picori Blade and a place to forge the legend you could restore it with a little time, though it would need to undergo the rites that magically empowered it once more, and this talent for magical craftsmanship extends to all of your abilities. If you have this ability as well as a way to tap into an element, such as a Mage's Magic, you could craft items that use that in element or combination of elements in unique ways, such as the Gust Jar, and if you somehow had access to the Light Force you may even be able to produce the fabled Light Arrows, which scorch away all evils in their passing and can be invested with energy from the Light Force readily. |
Okay, well, it felt like he might have been sleeping on Artifice a bit. Because there were a lot of pretty good options there.
Domain Master, if Tobio was reading this correctly, would allow him to effectively create Domain Expansion on any of his abilities with the right amount of effort. Could he create some sort of bastardous hybrid between Shikai, Domain Expansion, and Balance Breaker? Just the thought of that alone almost made him leap for it.
It could be genuinely interesting, too, on a research level since it'd be bending what he understood of the world on its head. Resource extensive, but…well, now that Tobio's chakra levels had settled, he was more comfortable saying that he was comfortably at the upper reaches of Jōnin. He wouldn't be able to use it for a long period of time, but most modern Domains in Jujutsu Kaisen were meant to be pretty lethal.
Unless he decided to do something weird with it. Could he do that…? Hmm. Something to think about later if he took it.
Singular Purpose was scary in a very different kind of way, because Project Moon and The City were nightmares made real. It was like the worst kind of manifestation of Korea's work culture, mixed with actual eldritch abominations and stranger things besides. Fates worse than death usually befell anyone who was trying to impugn the patents of a Wing, the corporations that ran massive swathes of The City.
There seemed to be a list he could even choose from too, which was probably limited in some respect. Yet even the least of them would make it so he, and his future clan, would have a very massive trump card in their pocket. Despite how fucked up it might be to use, too.
Restoring Legends by comparison to the other two was quite different, in that it gave him direct crafting skills and capacities. He wouldn't call it immediately useful, yet something that grew in capacity as his own abilities expanded. For example, technically he could create a Shadowfire Blade, and when combined with World Arts to implant the capacity for Balance Breaking in a magical item…
Tobio could see how this would spiral out of control if given enough time. He'd be able to outfit his friends in quite a few different ways.
Only one could be snagged, though, out of the three options before him.
While the technological benefits that were brought along by Singular Purpose might have been cool, Tobio just didn't feel that inclined toward it. The process as a whole would have required likely technologies that he just didn't have access to in the Elemental Nations. Furthermore, a lot of the Wing technological innovations were…
Immoral was being easy on them.
Whereas Domain Master truly appealed to him on a visceral level. Not just for the reality that, well, the aura farming potential for being able to invoke Domain Expansion would be immaculate. However, some things did stand out to him when it came to the possible downsides.
For example, the expenditures of chakra likely had to have been ludicrous. And Domain Expansion did end up being burned out in your brain whenever you used it. He could probably try and rely on catching someone with it, but if he didn't kill them or failed to catch them in the first place, the technique would remain burned out in his brain.
And depending on what he'd used it on, well, that could literally get him killed.
Outside of that was a much simpler reality. Tobio just didn't need another destructive, offensive capability. He had an entire toolkit of them he needed to improve upon. For someone who hadn't even achieved Shikai or Bankai yet, let alone some of the techniques of Royalty, this was just more noise distracting him.
Restoring Legends wasn't flashy or all that powerful at the outset, but it did allow him more capabilities to arm and properly empower people he trusted. Along with being able to create more Balance Breakers, the world would probably have an increasing tradition of magical items that would persist after him. After all, the talents of the Picori were in the blood.
With all of that consideration made, Tobio took the choice and allowed the hollow to be filled.
"…Huh."
There wasn't a headache as his brain was being poured full of knowledge, but it was something strange all the same. Skills he'd never once had a reason to try and train were now simply present all of a sudden. How to work in a forge and blacksmith immaculate swords, which could be developed even further. To work wood like a fletcher and a bowyer. And more things besides that crept into the grey matter of his brain.
It was…a dizzying amount of information, but he couldn't help but to grin at the new capacity at his disposal. There were a lot of worries on his mind and things that would be weighing on his time in the future. Yet as always, what else could Tobio do but go back to the grind and continue moving forward?