Chapter 115: The Hidden Organization

Tonbo stood with Kakashi and Guy upon a high roof overlooking Konoha.

"Your children returned home alone," Kakashi said. "Are you certain that is wise?"

"They are not alone." Tonbo could feel the woven watcher above the house, the barriers along the street, and every chakra signature inside. "They know the route and believe I cannot see what they do when I am absent. Both assumptions are educational."

Two years had taught him that Tenyu and Maki behaved like courteous children before adults and opportunists the moment attention appeared to move elsewhere. He knew about Sasuke's money. The twins did not yet know that he knew.

"That sounds expensive in chakra," Kakashi said.

"Less expensive than repairing whatever they would attempt without safeguards."

Guy grinned. "Children are the future of the village. Vigilance is a youthful expression of love, even if Tonbo's woven animals lack beauty."

"Do not criticize my craft while wearing that uniform."

Tonbo changed the subject. "Kakashi, you failed another graduating team this year."

"They failed themselves."

For two consecutive years, Kakashi had assessed new genin and sent every group back for further training. His private test valued teamwork above individual skill, but the students did not know the standard until after they violated it. The Academy taught formations and cooperation in classrooms; Kakashi demanded that frightened children choose comrades over orders while hungry, restrained, and threatened with failure.

"A genin who cannot protect teammates becomes another threat during a mission," Kakashi said. "Passing them would be irresponsible."

"So would discarding every group without teaching them how to improve."

"They return to the Academy with an explanation."

"They return knowing that an elite shinobi judged them unworthy. Explanation and instruction are not the same thing."

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed. "Lowering the standard will bury them."

"Keep the standard. Change what happens after they miss it."

Guy nodded. "My rival is right about comrades, but teamwork can be developed after graduation."

"You have not received a team," Kakashi observed.

Guy's expression collapsed. He had petitioned Hiruzen repeatedly and been told that something remained missing from his preparation. "I will prove my readiness with fifteen hundred kicks and five hundred push-ups before sunset."

"That may explain the Hokage's concern," Tonbo said.

Kakashi opened *Icha Icha Paradise* and pretended the conversation no longer involved him.

Tonbo had invited them for another reason. "Have either of you encountered a mercenary organization called Akatsuki?"

Kakashi lowered the book. Guy stopped planning repetitions.

"No," Kakashi said. "Why?"

"It operates mainly through smaller countries and underground contracts. Its missions succeed with unusual consistency, and its members are individually dangerous. Orochimaru is among them."

Guy's face sobered. Kakashi remembered an encounter in which Orochimaru's killing intent alone had frozen him. A group capable of treating one of the Sannin as an ordinary member required attention.

"What is their objective?" Kakashi asked.

"Unknown. Their present pattern draws work away from the great villages and builds influence among smaller nations. That may be the objective or only funding for another one."

Tonbo did not share everything he suspected. Hiruzen had restricted information about the Rinnegan and Pain; rooftop conversation did not override that decision. He wanted two active jōnin to recognize the name and return alive if a mission crossed Akatsuki.

Kakashi considered the pattern rather than the rumor. "A network taking contracts from several countries needs intermediaries, safe routes, and somewhere clients believe neutral. Rain would be useful, but so would half a dozen border states."

"Exactly. Do not let one plausible answer become certainty."

Guy folded his arms. "How many members?"

"Enough that I am warning you. Not enough that I can give you a reliable count."

"Do not investigate them independently," he said. "If you see their cloud-marked cloaks or identify Orochimaru working with unfamiliar partners, report before engaging whenever the mission allows."

"And if retreat is impossible?" Guy asked.

"Protect the mission, learn what you can, and survive. Their cloaks are identification, not proof of identical abilities. Do not plan for Orochimaru and assume his partner will obey the same limits."

Kakashi closed his book. "You expect us to meet them soon."

"I expect organizations that sell violence to follow profitable instability. The continent supplies enough of that."

They spent the next quarter hour establishing a simple report code for compromised missions. No names, no speculation, only the number of visible members, direction of travel, observed techniques, and whether a partner wore the same clouds. It would not defeat Akatsuki. It might prevent the first witness from dying while trying to explain too much.

Kakashi nodded. Guy promised the same with less restraint in his voice.

At an Inuzuka training ground, Kiba and Akamaru completed a rotation around a stone target.

"Four Legs Technique."

Kiba dropped into a low stance as chakra sharpened his movement. Akamaru transformed through Beast Human Clone, taking the boy's shape. They crossed paths, accelerated, and became two spinning drills.

"Fang Over Fang!"

The stone broke beneath the combined impact. Kiba bounced free, landed badly, and rolled across the dirt. Akamaru returned to puppy form beside him.

Dust settled over two parallel grooves in the ground. The first showed Kiba's rotation had drifted outward; the second ended closer to the target's center. He and Akamaru examined both before celebrating. Three months earlier, Kiba would have blamed the stone for standing incorrectly.

Hana and Tsume stared.

Kiba was only days from entering the Academy. His chakra reserves permitted no more than a few serious uses, yet he had already grasped three essential Inuzuka techniques. Guided Insight had not supplied the movements. It taught him to separate scent, balance, rotation, and partnership into problems he could practice one at a time.

His first attempt at Beast Human Clone had given Akamaru human ears and left Kiba unable to distinguish their scents. Tonbo made them repeat the preparation without transforming until both could match breath, direction, and timing. Fang Over Fang followed only after they learned to stop a rotation safely. Progress came faster because failure became information instead of insult.

"How did you learn that so quickly?" Hana asked.

Kiba put both hands on his hips. "Tonbo-sensei taught me."

The respectful name surprised her almost as much as the technique.

"Are you ill?" Tsume asked.

"No. I'm becoming Hokage."

He had stopped describing Tonbo's early exercises after his parents dismissed Open Sky as exaggeration. The later lessons sounded less dramatic but changed him more. He read assignments, completed observation drills with Akamaru, and used Guided Insight to understand why a movement failed instead of repeating it blindly.

"The Academy begins in a few days," Tsume said. "Are you ready?"

"I'll take first place."

"That was not the question."

Kiba glanced at Akamaru. "We know the basic texts, can follow orders, and can stop before hurting each other. So yes. We're ready."

Hana felt an unwelcome sting. Tonbo had trained her well, but he had never given her this method. She understood that Guided Insight did not exist then. Emotion remained less reasonable.

"He kept a secret from me," she muttered.

Kiba grinned. "Maybe he knew I was the talented one."

Hana lunged. Kiba and Akamaru fled together, their laughter carrying across the compound.

Tsume let them run. Pride showed in the angle of her smile despite every complaint she intended to deliver later. Kiba still mistook confidence for certainty and speed for mastery, but he had learned to return after failure. The Academy could work with that.