Chapter 38: Meeting
Shisui's eyes sharpened at Ayame's words.
"Dragonfly? Who are you?"
"She's a villager," one of his companions said. "This Dragonfly may be responsible for the missing training ground. Arrest her, interrogate her, and we'll learn the truth."
The two officers moved toward Ayame.
"Stop." Shisui stepped between them. "You cannot arrest someone without cause. She is clearly not a shinobi; her chakra is barely developed."
His companions did not hide their displeasure. The Uchiha Police Force had the authority to detain suspects, and they regarded Shisui's caution as an unnecessary complication. He was their captain for this patrol, however, so they obeyed. They could report his conduct to the clan head later.
Neither man sheathed his sword. They watched Ayame as if an ordinary civilian carrying lunch might reveal herself as a trained infiltrator at any moment. Shisui found their behavior excessive, but the resentment behind it worried him more. Their first instinct had not been to protect a frightened villager. It had been to assert the clan's authority.
Ayame understood little of their dispute.
"Where did you take my husband?"
"Who is your husband?" Shisui asked.
If the man had caused the disappearance, he might be an enemy agent—or a Konoha shinobi conducting an unauthorized experiment. Either possibility demanded answers.
"That would be me."
The ground changed beneath their feet.
Trees, grass, the river, and the wooden training posts returned without transition. One instant, the officers stood on an empty plain; the next, all of Training Ground 98 surrounded them in perfect condition.
Shisui's Sharingan spun. He detected no transformation process and no warning. The landscape simply existed again, as though the vacant earth had been the illusion all along.
The river continued through the place where, seconds earlier, it had seemed to vanish. Leaves stirred in a breeze. Even the footprints beneath their sandals now rested on familiar training-ground soil. None of the returning details showed the distortion or delayed response Shisui expected from ordinary genjutsu.
A bandaged man stood before them.
All three Uchiha drew their swords. Someone had appeared within striking distance without alerting any of them. For members of the clan famed for its perception, the implications were alarming.
Tonbo had intended to wait until the patrol left before releasing the Sealed Horizon Barrier. He wanted as few people as possible to know about it. Ayame's arrival had ruined that plan.
The tears in her eyes mattered more than secrecy.
He had little interest in the Uchiha clan or its Sharingan beyond one question: how well would his genjutsu perform against their dōjutsu? But the purpose of all his preparation was to protect his family. He would not remain hidden while the Police Force threatened to interrogate his wife.
As soon as Ayame appeared, he had begun dismantling the formation. Reversing a spatial barrier safely could not be rushed; releasing the anchors out of order risked damaging the terrain or exposing its occupants between boundaries. He had restored the field as quickly as the technique permitted.
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"I'm fine," he said, embracing Ayame. He took the bento from her hands. "Didn't I tell you your husband is strong? Now, what did you bring me? Your best ramen?"
Relief replaced her tears with a brilliant smile.
"As long as you're safe."
"Nothing about this is safe," said the heavier of the two officers. "Who are you, and what happened here? Refuse to explain, and I'll charge you with espionage."
His two-tomoe Sharingan rotated above his drawn sword. The thinner officer mirrored his stance. Even Shisui kept one hand on his weapon.
Through the Sharingan, Tonbo's relaxed posture radiated concealed power. Shisui doubted he could subdue the man quickly if he proved hostile. Ayame appeared entirely genuine, and Tonbo's concern for her did not resemble an act, but Konoha's safety prevented Shisui from lowering his guard.
The other two officers saw only evasiveness. A training ground had vanished, a strange shinobi had emerged from nowhere, and now he attempted to leave with a joke. To them, deference to the Police Force was the minimum response they were owed.
"Dragonfly," Ayame whispered, "are they going to arrest you?"
Tonbo patted her shoulder, then faced the patrol.
"Tobitake Tonbo, special jōnin of the Analysis Team. And you must be Shisui of the Body Flicker. I've heard a great deal about you."
"Don't ingratiate yourself with us," the heavier officer snapped. "Explain what you did, or come to the Police Force headquarters."
Shisui frowned at his subordinate's tone but kept his focus on Tonbo. "How did this place disappear and return? You are not formally accused of anything, but as a Konoha shinobi, you understand why we must investigate."
Even Shisui, remembered for his moderation, carried some of the clan's habitual pride. Tonbo decided that no Uchiha escaped it entirely.
He also recognized that their central question was legitimate. A spatial disturbance inside Konoha could indicate sabotage. The problem was their readiness to threaten Ayame and treat his guilt as settled before confirming even his identity.
He wanted to calm Ayame, not prolong the argument.
"I was testing a new technique and briefly lost control of it. I didn't expect routine training to trouble the distinguished Police Force."
Under three tense gazes, he reached slowly into his clothing and produced his Konoha identification. It bore his photograph, registration number, rank, graduation record, and assignment.
"There. May my wife and I leave now?"
"Documents can be forged," the heavier Uchiha said. "They prove little between shinobi. You will accompany us while we verify everything."
Encouraged by Tonbo's restraint, he met the special jōnin's eyes.
His Sharingan released a genjutsu.
There was no warning, no request for surrender, and no evidence that Tonbo had lied. The officer simply decided that force would produce a faster answer.
Shisui realized what he had done and moved to stop him, but the technique had already connected.
Damn it. Has the clan become this arrogant?
An unprepared opponent caught by Sharingan genjutsu would find escape extremely difficult. Shisui could only hope his subordinate had not provoked a disaster.
Tonbo sensed the chakra gathering before the technique struck. He chose not to resist directly. This was an opportunity to test the countermeasure constructed within his own body.
His awareness entered a dark mental space. Stone restraints pinned him to a colossal pillar.
Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes.
The technique was expertly executed. An ordinary jōnin caught without preparation would have been helpless.
A point of light flared inside Tonbo.
His chakra disrupted itself, and a strange pulse traveled back along the illusion's connection.
The world returned in a blink.
The Uchiha who had attacked him gave a muffled grunt. His eyes went vacant and his body froze, upright and unresponsive. Shisui and the third officer stared in confusion.
Tonbo remained entirely unharmed.
The Return Mirror worked.
It was a genjutsu construct designed to counter other illusions. Against ordinary techniques, it could reflect the effect onto the caster. Against something too powerful to return, it would still disrupt Tonbo's chakra automatically, allowing him to escape visual genjutsu without relying on a teammate.
The principle resembled the way a tailed beast could free its jinchūriki by disturbing the host's chakra, but Tonbo had reproduced the function through fūinjutsu, barrier techniques, and genjutsu.
Creating it had required more than learning a release method. Tonbo had built a sealed trigger capable of recognizing foreign interference, distinguishing it from his own mental activity, and responding before the illusion established complete control. A false activation could disrupt his chakra in the middle of battle; a slow one would be useless.
Reflection added another layer. The Return Mirror used the invader's connection as a route back to its source, returning the structure of the illusion instead of merely destroying it. The Uchiha had effectively caught himself in his own technique.
Return Mirror was his first true S-rank genjutsu, and its difficulty had justified that rank.
What had seemed like a prolonged struggle inside his mind had lasted less than a heartbeat.
Tonbo looked across at the remaining Uchiha.