It had to have been some filler content, but by volume, the original Naruto anime was mostly filler. There were like, six or seven plot relevant arcs to the series as a whole, while the rest of it was made to pad out the episode count. Not recognizing a random, two-bit character wasn't that big of a deal, unless their content has some truly outsized threats.
Standing taller than any other Genin, though not quite as tall Tekuno-sensei. He was attractive, at least if Tobio was reading his features right. Long, windswept dark hair, big, brooding eyes, and a solid chin that made him look a little older than he might have otherwise.
Shibuki greeted them with a moderate, polite smile, bowing ever so slightly at the three Genin. "My name is Shibuki, leader of Takigakure. I'll be in your care for this mission, so I hope we can all get along well."
"Same here!" Ami chirped, eyes shining. "Ah, while we're traveling, can I ask questions about Takigakure? I'm not the most familiar with your village, admittedly…"
"As long as they're within reason, I can't see the harm," he shrugged, smiling at Ami.
Rolling his eyes at her questions, Tekuno clapped his hands, getting the group's attention. "We'll have plenty of time for talk on the road. For now, we should get a move on."
True enough. After all, they had a long way to go to Takigakure.
Once he'd settled into Tobio's body, the world's size had especially confounded him. Maybe it was his overall familiarity with Western fantasy, or the fact that the show and manga didn't go into it much, but the shinobi world was big. Like, bigger than would have made sense for the characters to travel, if it wasn't for the fact that Shinobi could travel at positively ludicrous speeds.
And they would have been truly insurmountable distances if it weren't for one crucial fact: anyone chakra-trained could completely and utterly do without the conveniences of modern transportation. Trains, planes, and automobiles? As long as you knew how to stick yourself to a given surface with chakra, you could go just about anywhere, running at speeds that no normal human could ever hope to match.
The journey to Takigakure involved around 2400 kilometers of road, most of it unpaved and made of packed dirt. Why? In wars between countries, why would you continually invest in modern, concrete roads that were inevitably destroyed by enemy action? This added to the sense of weird, Taisho-era stasis of technology and development, or even more regressive, the moment someone went outside Konohagakure's direct outlying areas. Or the extant reaches of major cities and towns in the Land of Fire.
For the three Genin, it was around 46 hours of travel, not counting rest times, stops, and whatever other dangers might have been in the way. Tekuno-sensei said it'd only have taken him a few days if he wasn't bodyguarding someone and had a pretty solid reason to beat feet that quickly. And even then, that was limited mainly by our stamina. Tobio was pretty sure that when it came to overall endurance, he outclassed Ami and Hibachi by a country mile. Probably even Shibuki too.
The only one he wasn't comfortably overpowering physically was Tekuno-sensei. And that was only a matter of time.
Regarding their given companion, over the next couple of days, Team Eleven got to see bits and pieces of Shibuki's character. He was the given leader of Takigakure, and the Genin had been expecting a certain amount of stately demeanor, or capability from the older boy. Which made it all the more disappointing when one thing became painfully evident.
…He was kind of a coward, which immediately took the shine off the older boy for Ami.
Not that it was in and of itself a bad thing for a shinobi to be cowardly, within limits. They were paid killers, saboteurs, and infiltrators, first and foremost. Ninjas who could destroy entire armies by themselves were more rare than not, and earned their S-rank appellations accordingly. No, the fact that he was so easy to spook and scare took them all aback.
A deer came running out of the underbrush, scared by their presence? Shibuki took cover behind Ami. When a bird flew out of the foliage, he was halfway to bolting. He even looked nervously at some caravan guards, when the group had passed a merchant convoy moving on one of their long, winding routes. He was either legitimately an outstanding actor or one of those rare shinobi who seemed completely unsuited for the lifestyle.
Every Hidden Village had them, those individuals who washed out from the training, for all sorts of reasons. From Tobio's point of view, he suspected that in a kinder world, it would have been pretty evident that Shibuki may not have had the mindset to take a life. Or, for the hard, hard choices that being a ninja entailed.
He didn't think he would have, either, if it weren't for the fact that a sizable part of his bloodline now consisted of alcoholic, berserker monsters. Tobio was willing to admit that perhaps his tolerance for danger and mayhem was out of sync with the average person nowadays.
What was unanimously a plus, at least from his team's perspective, was dinner after a long day on the road. After effortlessly hunting some game, or picking up edible herbs and wild vegetables, it was more than enough for him to combine that with their existing rations, and put a meal together on the road.
It went without saying that the various options for how to let Beniemiya benefit his group were staggering. Low-level regeneration, more robust levels of stamina, a slight boost to chakra levels…the sky was the limit, and his stores of chakra that he could spare to infuse into the food. So in the end, Tobio had some choices about what he would focus on with the food he could craft.
Ultimately, the options he had at his disposal for temporary buffs came in a few different flavors.
Something that could improve people's physical strength was possible. Though it might not have been the most ideal, since outside of Tobio, nobody else could leverage the benefits as much. He had nothing against Ami, Hibachi, or even Shibuki, the three who'd get the most out of the dish, but…
Well, if they were who the group relied on for feats of strength, something had gone wrong. Better to turn their attention toward one of the other options. At a baseline, they were all swift and fast enough by his assumption, even if they could always be better.
So, he was torn between the final two options at the end of his deliberations and meal prep. Some regenerative effect to improve their healing if they got hurt. Or something to boost their chakra reserves, if only fractionally. With all of that considered, Tobio was torn between those two options.
In the end, he chose the sentimental choice. Anything that could save Ami and Hibachi if they got hurt was worth the time investment. And…Shibuki, if only because they'd fail the mission if they didn't correctly complete it. Tobio was slavering after that potential C-rank payout, and anything that risked it courted death.
The first camp they made, exposed the group to his cooking. And frankly, Tobio was immeasurably satisfied with the results.
"Oh my Kami…" Tekuno looked down at the grilled and seasoned trout, skewered for his pleasure. There was a genuine shock in his eyes, as he glanced at the bite-mark in his fish. "Tobio…could you always cook like this?"
Hibachi and Shibuki weren't even speaking. They were ravenously digging into the skewers of grilled fish and wild vegetables, that had been tastefully toasted to perfection. All of them had doubted his cooking skills in the beginning, right up until they began to smell what he was cooking. The delicious, tasty scent of impossibly well-made food that began to fill the air, and make stomachs rumble.
Now? No one was doubting him.
No one.
Ami glanced at him as she bit into her fish, shooting him an expression simultaneously angry and delighted. Was she jealous? Angry he'd hidden this talent from her? What went on in the mind of a twelve-year-old girl was arcane, at the best of times.
But, alas, when Tobio took a bite of his own meal, he shuddered in absolute delight. Flesh, crispy on the outside but deliciously tender on the inside. Seasoned with salt and pepper, simple, but applied judiciously to bring out the natural flavors of the trout he'd captured. It was, to put it succinctly, a perfectly roasted freshwater fish.
The following days saw just about everyone with more energy than ever before. Then again, the low levels of regeneration they were all packing might have had something to do with that. It wouldn't be enough to visibly improve their capabilities in combat, beyond helping wounds close a little quicker. But, it was better than nothing.
Eventually though, all good things had to come to an end. On the fifth day of travel, they came upon their destination. And all three Genin just had to do nothing but boggle at the sheer scale of what lay before them.
More than the scale of the world, or the insane tree sizes, this was the first vista that Tobio had seen which was just hard to believe. The waterfall before them stretched up, easily twenty stories, if not far more. Coming out of the side of a cliff, it was the first natural wonder he'd seen that seemed truly larger than life.
If this was the entrance, or marker for their Hidden Village, it was easy to see why Takigakure had earned their given moniker.
"Cool, right?" Tekuno asked, a grin of his own on his face, as he pointed to the waterfall. "Most villages tend to have their own natural barriers of some kind, and this is Takigakure's."
"It's the pride and joy of our village," Shibuki stated, beaming brightly. "Among other things."
Hibachi scrutinized it, and Tobio could already tell he was practically trying to find the entrance somewhere in that rush of water. "Most Hidden Villages tend to have some element that makes it hard to invade them in earnest," he explained, more for his teammates than Tekuno or Shibuki. "Suna has its deserts, Iwa is naturally rocky and hilly, Kiri is somewhat diffuse amongst its islands, and Kumo has its mountains."
Tobio frowned. "What about Konoha?"
"Konoha shinobi are undisputed masters of forest and jungle tactics," their sensei happily explained. "Besides Kiri, we possess the most bloodlines and Clans with hiden jutsu in the known nations."
No wonder people tried to gang up on Konohagakure all the time. It was incredibly self-evident that they had so many advantages that made it hard to compete. The sheer existence of Clans like the Hyūga or the Uchiha, with incredible bloodlines, made them a pain to fight against. That was before you got into Yamanaka who could twist your mind, Nara who could twist your body, Inuzuka capable of sniffing you out, and Akmimichi who would and could turn into a kaiju at the drop of a hat.
For a moment, he almost felt sorry for all of their enemies.
As the group walked around the edge of the water, the cloying, familiar sound of laughing children rang out. Glancing toward the origin of the sound, they found two kids running their way. A boy, and a girl.
"Lord Shibuki! You're back!" The boy chirped, already about to run up to him.
He lifted up a hand, motioning for them to stop. "Now, now, keep your distance. Show a little respect for your village leader. I'm sorry I don't have time to play with you right now."
"But that's not why we're here," the boy defended. "We're supposed to clean up trash by the shore."
"Mother's making us pick up every piece," the girl added.
Shibuki nodded sagely, as if their words were heavy with intent. "I see… Well look, I've brought you some help. These ninja have come from the Hidden Leaf Village."
Gesturing toward us, Tobio could practically feel the building resentment that was simmering inside of Ami at the presumption. "What."
"Just think of it as part of the mission," Shibuki smiled good-naturedly, completely and utterly failing to read the Genin he'd been traveling with for the last few days.
If he was being honest, Tobio didn't mind being volunteered to help. But after weeks of D-rank missions, he was pretty sure that Ami saw such scutwork to be singularly beneath her. And Hibachi was just a little flat out disinclined to volunteer for strangers out of the goodness of his heart.
"Do we look like garbage men to you?" Ami asked, scowling over at the leader of Takigakure without hesitation.
"But we could really use your help!" The boy asked, fixing her with an innocent, doe-eyed look. "The current's really strong near the edge, and it can be pretty scary."
Tobio shot her a smirk, seeing the twitching edges of her mouth, as her scowl lessened in intensity. "Well, they said it's scary, Ami-san. Are you so heartless to refuse children?"
"B-But…!" She balked at those words before glancing over at their amused sensei. "Kanden-sensei? Back me up, please?"
He shrugged. "I don't see the harm in helping out. Of course, this will be in addition to our escort fee."
"More money?" Hibachi perked up, his demeanor changing. "I won't say no to an easy D-rank payout while we're here."
"You took the words right out of my mouth," Tobio grinned, as Hibachi and the dark-haired Mixed-Blood shared commiserating looks.
"I'm home safe and sound, so I'll be willing to call your bodyguarding mission a success," Shibuki confirmed, shooting smiles. "Thanks for safekeeping me to my village."
That was nice, and the money would be nicer once they returned to Konohagakure. But even better than the satisfaction of a waiting payday or a job well done? The pop-up in his vision heralded a new quest completed.
[QUEST COMPLETE: COMPLETE YOUR FIRST C-RANK MISSION.]
[REWARD: 1x MODERATE DOMINION PERK ROLL.]
It was all he could do not to roll the perk on the spot immediately. This was the first time he'd earned a moderate perk, and given the power of everything else the System had handed him…who could blame Tobio for being excited for even more boons? The problem was if he even wanted to risk taking something right then and there, especially if it could be an overt change.
"Let's begin phase two of the mission, team," Tekuno commanded, if good-naturedly. "Clean-up, go!"
Ami closed her eyes and groaned, her shoulders slumping as she gave up. "Alright…"
The resulting clean-up was going alright, if meandering a little. Hibachi and Tobio rolled up their pants, and Ami bunched up her dress, as the three of them readily waded through the water to pick up the random objects floating there. Of which there was a lot more detritus than he would have thought.
Tekuno wasn't immune from getting involved, too, as he helped to pick up objects and put them into a waiting sack for disposal. "S'for the best, anyway," he admitted, as the group worked together. "There's been some rumors of nuke-nin lingering around the outlying areas of Takigakure, from our scouts, but I wouldn't put much stock into them."
"Nuke-nin?" Shibuki seemed genuinely surprised by the news. "I haven't heard tell of any sniffing around our borders."
"To be fair, Takigakure is something of an insular community at the best of times," Tekuno pointed out. "In my understanding, there have been assaults on your village of that nature some years ago, haven't there?"
Shibuki's face firmed up at that news, frowning ever so softly. Opening his mouth to respond, he flinched at the ducking, feathered body that came rushing down, crying out in surprise. "Gah! We're under attack!"
Everyone tensed, before Tekuno's snort broke whatever combat readiness had been building up in the group. "Hardly. It's just a messenger hawk from Konoha." He held out his arm, and a large, brown hawk landed, with a message attached to the leg.
All of his Genin continued working, yet curiously looked at their sensei as he read his message. More than anything else, they saw his settle into a more flat affect, as he sighed softly.
"Bad news?" Tobio asked.
"More like just annoying news. We've got an emergency Jōnin meeting, so I'll be leaving a little earlier than you lot," he explained.
Ami blinked, obviously surprised. "You want us to stay?"
"Three Konoha Genin in the land of one of our closer allies is not an enticing target," Tekuno assured them. "And I'm very confident that if you guys do run into any trouble on the way back, you can escape it."
That was nothing if not a glowing recommendation of their ability to escape danger. Tobio admittedly more than the other two, but he wasn't going to leave Ami and Hibachi in the lurch if he could help it. Could he carry the two of them, if it came down to it…?
Probably.
"For now, I'm heading out for that emergency meeting," Tekuno sighed. "Stay smart, stay polite, and don't do anything stupid. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" the three Genin parroted.
Giving them a nod back, he stood up and picked up his scant belongings, beginning to run off in a blur of motion out of view. They were left alone with Shibuki, the kids, and the trash. Somehow, it felt like a bad omen, but he wasn't entirely sure why.
This was one of those times when he wished he'd paid more attention to the filler in Naruto. The problem was that there was just so much of it. How was he supposed to tell what was important and what was just noise?
If Tobio was being honest with himself, it wasn't even a question. Things in Naruto had a bad habit of going off the rails, especially with 'simple' C-rank missions that spiraled into something else. Most of it seemed like it was thankfully limited to the titular character's adventures, but they were on a mission he was supposed to originally be on…
None of them were the 'main characters'. Dying on some random mission gone awry was within the range of possibilities for any of them. If one of his teammates got hurt because he refused to stack the deck out of paranoia, he'd never forgive himself.
With that in mind, he reached out and let the roll expand within that space inside of himself. Slowly but surely, the choices and infinite potential filled Tobio. And the options presented weren't half bad either.
Drab Warbreaker Someone who gives away their Breath is called a Drab, or a bunch of other things. Their sense of color is muted, their instinctive awareness of other people absent, and they often live shorter lives thanks to a weakened immune system. Compensating for this somewhat, they are invisible to the life-sense of Awakeners. You may or may not have given away your Breath, but you cannot be detected with mystic or exotic senses.
Sworn Brotherhood Generic Exalted You may at any time form a brotherhood between sworn companions. Normally this would be limited to five individuals, but you can create a bond between up to nine (8 companions and yourself). This bond is magically reinforced, and so long as it remains intact you will all be considerably empowered when working alongside one another, far more than you ever would be alone. Charms become cheaper, skills become more refined, disputes and even hard feelings are suppressed. Over time your bond will deepen, able to finish each other's sentences, divine each other's thoughts, and eventually reaching the point where you don't even need to speak to each other, as everyone involved has such a deep connection that they have transcended the need for mere speech.
If any member of the brotherhood is in danger all of the rest will instantly know of it, and will have a perfect understanding of the members location, relative to their own, that is in danger. If you truly desire to do so, you and your sworn companions may dissolve this bond. You may reform another in the future, however, when and if you desire. Additionally this bond, unlike the one that exists in canon, is not restricted to only the Dragon-blooded.You may at any time form a brotherhood between sworn companions. Normally this would be limited to five individuals, but you can create a bond between up to nine (8 companions and yourself). This bond is magically reinforced, and so long as it remains intact you will all be considerably empowered when working alongside one another, far more than you ever would be alone. Charms become cheaper, skills become more refined, disputes and even hard feelings are suppressed. Over time your bond will deepen, able to finish each other's sentences, divine each other's thoughts, and eventually reaching the point where you don't even need to speak to each other, as everyone involved has such a deep connection that they have transcended the need for mere speech.
If any member of the brotherhood is in danger all of the rest will instantly know of it, and will have a perfect understanding of the members location, relative to their own, that is in danger. If you truly desire to do so, you and your sworn companions may dissolve this bond. You may reform another in the future, however, when and if you desire. Additionally this bond, unlike the one that exists in canon, is not restricted to only the Dragon-blooded.
Original User Kara no Kyokai If the Origin is the very core of someone's character, wouldn't seeing the Origin be like understanding the person fully? Past all the lies, misdirection and facades, people can't change what they truly are. Being able to see that Origin becomes like playing with a full deck of cards while everyone else is left with scraps. You can visualise the Origin of any being you see, gaining an intimate understanding of their true character and nature from that experience. It makes it fairly easy to manipulate others, to cause them fear or lead them along into your plans, because you know what it is that drives them. Should you have their consent, you can even Awaken their origin by force. It draws out their potential, especially in magical terms, and can even result in gaining strange new abilities. But their Origin will affect them more and more, depending on how deeply you awakened them. Perhaps they might even be consumed by their own selves, a self-eating snake that demonstrates to all others the folly of living for one thing alone. In future jumps, you'll remain able to see and awaken Origins and potentially even similar enough traits to Origins.
As always, it was rare that there were any options he'd be quick to call better than others. All of them were useful; just some were more immediately useful than others. The real decision was sorting between the chaff to see what he needed, more than anything else.
Drab was good, if he just wanted to be totally immune to things like the Byakugan, and other mystical senses. That sort of imperceptibility would ironically make him a terrifying assassin if sensors couldn't even pick him up. Everything past that was where things got a little more weird.
Sworn Brotherhood was from Exalted, which meant that right off the bat it was bullshit. Dragon-blooded were able to do some actual chicanery and nonsense, when given the time and ability. Even if it wouldn't put his teammates on the same level as a Prince of the Earth, the promise of being able to fight more efficiently as a team was enticing.
Then there was arguably the most bullshit, esoteric perk of them all. Original User allowed him to look at someone's Origin, and potentially awaken it if they permitted him. That was a special kind of insanity, provided he was careful with how he did it. Or, who he did it to. Awakening the right Origin could enable someone who should have absolutely no talent in a given field to dominate it, or unlock strange mystical abilities surrounding their Origin. It could turn them into monsters, as they burnt the candle at both ends, living for a single aspect of existence.
There was no wrong choice here. Just tough ones.
As good as Drab was, it wasn't something he thought would be worth missing out of the other perks. There were other means of dodging mystical senses, and frankly, he'd just bet on rolling something similar to it later. Which meant that the choice was down to the other two options. Tobio just wished they both weren't so good.
Both of the perks were fundamentally incredible. Right off the rip, Original User would be terrifying in a social sense. Glancing at someone to rip apart their worldview, because you knew them better than you knew yourself? Or, the fact that Tobio could grant someone abilities based off their Origin…was tempting.
But at the end of the day, he had to turn his eyes away from it. If only because Tobio wasn't sure if he wanted to live like that. To him, it sounded like a special kind of hell if he could look at someone and break anyone down to their base components. One or two words that made up the entirety of their being, laid bare at a glance.
Would his friends even be the same people after he awakened their Origin? There were a few examples of individuals with awakened Origins, or altered ones, in the Nasuverse that Tobio could remember. All of them were strong, but he wouldn't dare call a single one of them happy or well-adjusted.
It was for that reason that he slowly but surely turned away from Original User. Instead, he glanced over to Sworn Brotherhood and made his choice. Nothing really changed on the spot, though, as he selected it. There was that familiar pressure inside of him, but nothing as overt as his skeleton hardening, or his body changing to a hybrid's.
Maybe he could test it out…
"Ami, Hibachi," Tobio spoke, as the three of them continued their trash collection. "Are we friends?"
The two of them looked at each other, before glancing back at Tobio. "Of course we're friends, idiot," Hibachi smirked. "Even if you weren't amazing at cooking."
"Ah, I see, you're in just for your stomachs," he nodded sagely, smirking over at the other Genin.
"Yes," Hibachi shamelessly agreed, nodding quickly. "My dad's a good cook, but your stuff…well, if you were a girl, you'd be a perfect housewife."
"Maybe a househusband," Ami spoke, stroking her chin as she squinted over at Tobio. "Y'know Tobio, I'd be good to you…"
That got a bark of laughter from the boy, as he chuckled softly, shaking his head at her words. "Not in your dreams."
"What? You don't think I could be a breadwinner?" She pouted, putting her hands on her hips. "That's awfully sexist of you, Tobio-kun. Kunoichi these days can do anything a male shinobi can do, don't you know?"
"Stop," he begged, sniffling a little at this point. Even the kids, Shibuki, and Hibachi were joining in on the amusement.
And somewhere, deep inside of Tobio, he felt something solidify. A little resonance that was linked between himself, Ami, and Hibachi. It wasn't a link that could be explained in words, so much as it was in feelings, the cool and earnest friendship that was being interwoven between the three Genin.
For a little bit, it felt like the world was light and airy, and there wasn't a challenge they couldn't take on.
And then, the calm was pierced by a single girl's scream. "Mother!"
By the shore, everyone could see the girl exclaim, glancing toward an approaching figure. A middle-aged woman, her posture slouched, and expression haggard, as she almost dragged herself toward them.
"L-Lord Shibuki…it was awful…"
"What is it?! What happened?" He questioned, approaching the woman and breaking off from the children. Team Eleven was following suit, stepping out of the water and from the thoroughly ignored job of finishing the trash collection.
They had bigger fish to fry now.
"They attacked without warning…" The woman spoke, before trailing off, and slumping to the dirt. Falling ungracefully, it made it all the easier to see the kunai sticking out of her back.
And Tobio had to do his best to hold in the massive amount of swears that wanted to spill out of him.
He just knew this mission was too good to be true.
"Mother!" The girl screamed again, as everyone ran up to the collapsed woman.
Crouched beside her, Ami inspected the wound, sweating bullets but trying to keep her trembling hands under control. "A-Ah, the wound doesn't look that bad, all things considered. If it was worse, she should be bleeding a lot more…"
"She's got a whole-ass kunai sticking out of her!" Hibachi shot back.
"And she's still breathing, so that's practically walking wounded!"
"Alright, alright!" Tobio barked, looking between the two of them. "Arguing about it isn't going to help anyone."
"You're right!" The boy spoke. "We've got to get her to the village right away!"
Hibachi scoffed. "Kid, where do you think she just came from?"
"Given that she just finished delivering a warning, I'm gonna agree with Hibachi there," Tobio nodded.
"But that's impossible…" Shibuki breathed, and it was clear he was on the verge of a panic attack. "How could anyone even find an entrance into the village?"
"How would we know? It's your village!" Ami exclaimed, throwing her arms up.
"Honestly, we need to take her somewhere safe, at least a little distance away from here," Tobio guessed, glancing down at the woman. "None of us have more than basic first aid training, so it won't be anything too pretty. But she'll live."
If she wasn't already bleeding out, which it didn't look like, Tobio was supposing that she'd make it. The sight of blood, violence, the threat of death…these were things that felt like they should have scared him on some level. He could tell that they scared Ami and Hibachi.
So why did it feel like a low, fiery rumble was beginning to build inside of his chest? Anticipation, excitement, the thrill of true, earnest battle, where he could test his skills against a worthy opponent…
Where he could ignite himself on the pyres of war.
It shouldn't have been so decidedly intoxicating as it was. "We should also get to your village so we can help out," Hibachi offered, glancing over at Shibuki.
All the while, he could feel his sense of danger begin to rise. There was something dangerous around them, but as usual, he couldn't tell what it was. He just knew that it was present, as annoying as that limitation was. Even so, that didn't stop him from keeping his head on a swivel.
Which was where the brunette seemed more reticent to accept their aid. "Oh you will, huh? Y-You're just three Genin! How could you help us out on an attack like this?"
"Because we're not just three Genin, we're-" Hibachi started, before his entire body twitched. Breaking off his words, his head whipped toward the waterfall, panic spreading over his features. "AMBUSH!"
Leaping out of the waterfall came four men, brandishing kunai, and sending a hail of metal in their direction. There wasn't much time for thought, plans, or organization—just pure, unrelenting action.
He was about to put his life on the line. Possibly even die. Yet even so...a half feral grin spread across his lips, as the world began the world blurred into action and violence.