"Looks like you've already taken care of things, Shiki." Inori's exasperated voice sounded out.
Engaging an enemy alone when you just need to wait a bit for backup is an unnecessary risk but something the Violet Rose fully expected Shiki to do.
The months spent working together were far more than enough to allow a psychological expert like her to pick up on his habit and preferences along his general attitude towards most matters.
"They were preparing to ambush a squad returning to the town. It was a time sensitive matter and based on my sensory analysis, the enemy had no way of threatening me so long as I treated the matter with enough caution." Shiki explained his actions.
The others on the scene felt it was a reasonable explanation but the rest of Team 6 was fully aware of his bullshit.
'You just wanted to personally take them all out because they interrupted your training.' The three thought in concert.
*
The prisoner was taken back into town and along the way, as Shiki revealed the existence of the special puppets, it became clear that his initial assumptions were wrong.
"You intercepted a group of Shirogane clan shinobi, young Shiki. They have been targeting our clan for some time now." Kairi explained.
'Ugh. My initial assumption was wrong. That's why all my theories regarding the enemy felt off.' Shiki internally cringed at the basic mistake.
"I never heard about this!" Tenki interjected, worried that the place closest to what he could call a home, was in danger.
"It all began long after you departed with Tenma. A recent affair, relatively speaking" Kairi responded.
"Those savages from the Shirogane clan have been targeting our people for our kekkei genkai for months. Likely in an attempt to improve those Puppet Walkers as they call them." Kaiki, Kairi's son, spoke from the side.
'Puppet walkers?' Shiki remembered something.
'Another clan from a game . . . It's like the invisible hand of fate is guiding me towards opportunity in this mission.' The boy thought to himself.
"Shirogane, Kurogane . . . You don't happen to know them do you, Tomoe-dono?" Mei inquired with a curious tone.
Shirogane meant White Metal, sometimes referring to silver while Kurogane meant Black Metal, often referring to iron. They were thematically similar names so in a world where clan names often carried some kind of meaning, Mei couldn't really be faulted for asking.
Tomoe, who had accompanied the group to support Shiki however, was not very amused.
"It is an unfortunate coincidence, nothing more." The elegant woman replied with a polite but sharp and cold tone.
Mei nervously chuckled and wisely kept her mouth shut in response.
"You really took out all those people by yourself?" A young voice sounded out speaking to Shiki in a low tone.
The boy turned to find the young girl that came with the group, likely close to Mei in age, gazing at him with curiosity.
By her looks, she was Kaiki's daughter, both having smooth black hair and light yellow orange eyes, traits shared by most members of the clan.
Much like her aunt Maya, the girl sported a bob cut but her bangs were bigger, obscuring the right half of her face.
"With enough speed and stealth, fights usually end quickly, even if the difference in actual strength is not that big." Shiki replied to her question.
"So you're that strong?" The girl's left eyebrow raised in a teasing expression as her mouth curved into a slight smirk.
"I'll leave it to your imagination." The boy did not take her bait and vanished with flicker phantom, getting closer to Inori in order to discuss the situation at hand.
The Rinha girl pouted with a frustrated expression, compounded by the giggle coming from the side.
Looking to see, it was Mei.
"Sorry, I'm not trying to make fun of you but trying to get something out of Shiki like that will always result in you eating a loss." The bespectacled girl said.
"Is that so? I'm Rinha Marisu." The young Rinha introduced herself.
"Uchiha Mei." Mei responded in kind.
*
Back in town, Kairi's daughter Maya joined the group along with Ema and Tenma before the Rinha clan head explained a bit more about the Shirogane clan and the conflict between them and his clan.
"The Shirogane are a clan of puppeteers, pioneers that managed to create autonomous "Puppet Walkers" but, as young Shiki has attested too, their combat skill and raw power is quite low." Kairi began.
"They once lived in Sunagakure but their obsession with their Puppet Walkers got them kicked out." He continued.
"How so?" Inori interjected with a question.
"Cost effectiveness." Kaiki was the one to respond.
"Despite their low combat power, Puppet Walkers are more expensive than regular puppets, Suna did not want to waste further resources on the matter and the Shirogane clan could not accept it." He explained.
"It is as my son said but due to their unwavering commitment to their endeavour, the Puppet Walkers have become more dangerous. A skilled puppeteer can take advantage of the autonomy to control a much larger number of puppets than their skill level should allow." Kairi resumed.
"Under the direct command of a puppeteer, the Walkers are far more dangerous but still inferior in pure combat power to a skilled puppeteer with a regular puppet. Fodder basically, only helpful in large numbers which is extremely expensive." He concluded.
"So if they are targeting you, there must be something you have that they think can solve some or all of these issues. Kaiki-dono spoke of your clan's kekkei genkai . . ." Inori pressed.
After a small period of deliberation, considering it was not a big secret, Kairi and his son decided to reveal more details in the hopes they could receive some assistance.
Kaiki had already let slip information earlier in his frustration with yet another attack on their clan's people anyway.
"Our kekkei genkai, Spirit Reflection, allows us to absorb a target's chakra and copy their form, characteristics and abilities until the taken chakra runs out. The uses are many." The young man began to explain.
"We can remove the risk of rejection from transplants by shifting the donated organ to adopt the characteristics of the patient."
"Similarly, blood can be shifted to the patient's type and because these transformations rely on the patient's chakra, they are permanent once implanted in their bodies" Maya as one of the clan's best medical nin explained their kekkei genkai's medical applications.
"For more combative purposes, we can assume the form of our enemies in an undetectable transformation and even use their abilities, at least until the chakra we absorbed from them runs out." Kaki revealed.
"But, more to the interest of the Shirogane, we can implant absorbed chakra into puppets, making copies of our enemies under our control. These puppets can also copy tactics, mannerisms and personality so you can guess why they are interested." The core of the issue finally came to light.
In revealing all of this, the Rinha clan hoped to gather some help but . . .
"While the situation is unfortunate, we cannot be of much help in this matter." Inori declared, her tone firm and without doubt.
In such important matters, there was no room for wavering.
The Rinha folk seemed disappointed but not at all surprised, however . . .
"Why!?"
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
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Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -