Chapter 53: Discussion 

"Hokage-sama has already sent a team into the Land of Iron to gather intelligence," Hayama said. "Our orders are to patrol the border and prevent Kumogakure from entering the Land of Fire." 

Tonbo scratched his head, relieved. Infiltration was among the most dangerous forms of shinobi work, and avoiding it improved the mission considerably. 

The Land of Iron was neutral, so an unauthorized Konoha shinobi crossing its border would not automatically carry the same political meaning as entering one of the Five Great Nations. Neutrality did not mean tolerance, however. The samurai would not permit foreign agents to collect military intelligence, and anyone discovered could expect a swift response. 

Before living in this world, Tonbo had assumed countries outside the five great powers were almost defenseless. Experience corrected that impression. Their weakness existed only in comparison with the largest hidden villages; one shinobi still could not challenge an entire nation. 

Accounts of Sasori destroying a country, for example, usually referred to a small state centered on a handful of settlements. The Land of Iron contained hundreds of towns and maintained a disciplined military tradition. Even the disturbing faith that had somehow produced Hidan remained beyond Konoha's reach in the Land of Hot Springs. Investigations uncovered evidence of the cult, but never enough to eliminate it. 1

Tonbo had no desire to test Iron's defenses personally. 

"So all we need to do is hold the border until our rotation ends," Anko said, "and we complete an S-rank mission?" 

The prospect delighted her. This would be the first S-rank assignment she could claim without leaning on the reputation of her former teacher. 

Itachi allowed himself a faint smile. It would be his first as well, though he understood that Hayama and Tonbo had carried the most dangerous parts of the operation. 

That realization clarified Hiruzen's choice of personnel. Itachi and Anko were the weaker members, but his Sharingan and her snakes added reconnaissance capabilities. The two senior shinobi provided enough strength and judgment to keep those abilities from being wasted. The mission was real, yet it also served as advanced training. 

The Third Hokage had trusted an Uchiha genin with that opportunity. Whatever the clan's suspicions, Hiruzen had treated Itachi as a shinobi of Konoha. 

He hoped reconciliation remained possible. 

The alternative entered his thoughts without invitation. If talks failed, neither the village nor the clan would retreat easily. The Uchiha would see surrender as the end of their dignity, while Konoha's leaders would see rebellion as a threat to every civilian behind the walls. Itachi wanted a path that preserved both, yet each day seemed to narrow it. 

"The mission is not over," Hayama warned. "If the team inside Iron encounters trouble, we reinforce them. Until we understand Kumogakure's full intention, Konoha must remain prepared for escalation." 

"There are no small matters on a battlefield," Tonbo added, stretching his shoulders. "Stay ready until the formal end of the mission." 

Anko and Itachi nodded. 

Another half month passed without a major incident. Routine patrols occupied most days, leaving training to fill the quiet hours at the temporary base. 

They still treated every quiet day as potentially deceptive. Watches rotated through the night, radio checks continued at fixed intervals, and Tonbo swept the approaches before anyone began practice. The missing Cloud teams never appeared. Reports from merchants described fear and rumors, but no fresh attack could be verified. 

"Go, Itachi! Show the captain what the Uchiha can do!" 

Tonbo stood beside the practice ground waving a small red flag he had produced from somewhere. Anko watched him with disbelief. She considered herself impulsive—Tonbo preferred the word childish—but his enthusiasm made her look restrained. 

Hayama's katana met Itachi's short blade in a rapid series of strikes. Sparks flashed between them. The captain restricted himself to swordsmanship so the younger shinobi could practice reading genuine attacks without facing techniques his body could not survive. 

Itachi's skill was already considerable. The Sharingan followed Hayama's blade, and Uchiha forms flowed cleanly through his smaller frame. At the beginning of the rotation he could barely respond. Now he anticipated several combinations and occasionally forced Hayama to adjust. 

This had become the team's routine. Tonbo and Hayama alternated training the younger pair, ensuring one senior shinobi remained rested enough to respond to an emergency. Anko practiced against whichever instructor was available, and Itachi absorbed every correction with unnerving speed. 

Tonbo estimated that the boy learned swordsmanship at nearly half his own rate. The comparison sounded less impressive only because Tonbo judged himself very generously. 

"Stop shouting," Anko said. "I am trying to study the fight." 

Tonbo lowered the flag and regarded her with open doubt. "Study? You depend too heavily on Orochimaru's techniques. Yesterday proved that." 

The reminder brought color to her face. Anko had entered their spar convinced that Tonbo's advantage came from experience and an overrated talent for genjutsu. She used her strongest snake techniques, expecting to overwhelm a man only two years older than her. 

Tonbo made her taste something so foul that nausea lingered after the illusion broke. Then he criticized her release technique and her confidence in inherited methods. 

She hated that he was right. 

Anko was talented, but Itachi belonged to another category. At eight he possessed a two-tomoe Sharingan, refined swordsmanship, strong taijutsu, Fire Release, and genjutsu capable of creating openings against experienced enemies. She had analyzed him during their first battle together and still lost a later spar. 

Sometimes she wondered which of them was the chūnin. 

That question irritated her enough to keep her watching. Itachi favored efficient movements and rarely committed his weight without a route of recovery. When Hayama increased the pressure, however, the difference in reach and muscle became impossible to hide. The boy could see attacks that his body remained too slow to answer. 

Tonbo watched Itachi and thought about the future he remembered. If illness, divided loyalties, and constant conflict had not consumed the boy's life, his eventual strength might have rivaled the greatest shinobi of the next era. Talent was not Itachi's only problem. Years of pressure had already driven his beliefs deep enough that argument alone was unlikely to change them. 

Perhaps Insert History could one day rebuild those memories and conclusions from within. The technique did not exist yet, and Itachi would never consent to having his identity rewritten. Tonbo could not rely on a hypothetical violation to prevent the Uchiha tragedy. 

In the practice ground, Itachi tracked Hayama's shoulders and hips. He recognized the captain's intention before each strike, but his young body could not always execute the correct response in time. 

Tonbo's lesson returned to him: information mattered only when a shinobi possessed methods capable of exploiting it. The principle applied to ninjutsu, taijutsu, and swordsmanship alike. 

Itachi changed his footing, searching for an answer that required less speed. 

Hayama's blade stopped against his neck. 

"Enough for today," the captain said.