Chapter 182: Preparing a Big Treasure for Obito
"You did not use puppet strings?" Kenichi stared at the tiny Nine Tailed Fox figure in Sasori's hand. There were no chakra threads attached to it at all, yet the little thing was still moving on its own.
"Yes." Sasori lifted it carefully. "I discovered this during research. It seems the Nine Tails chakra can give metal a faint sense of sentience. For now, it can only crawl. It cannot do anything else."
Up close, it looked like an ordinary piece of metalwork. Pale green, strangely textured, and completely out of place. And yet it moved, taking stiff little steps, crawling in a way that made Kenichi feel like it was trying to escape its own body.
"Why not make a bigger one and put more Nine Tails chakra into it?" Kenichi asked. He remembered Sasori had bought a lot of Nine Tails chakra from him.
"Because I do not know how this metal was made." Sasori sighed, then explained the whole process.
During one of his explosions, he accidentally found an unusually hard metal with a peculiar color fused onto some of his parts. He scraped it off and carved it into a miniature Nine Tailed Fox. Normally, that would have been the end of the story.
But when he used Nine Tails chakra, he did not realize a small amount seeped into the sculpture itself.
Then the thing started moving.
The problem was, Sasori could not reproduce the metal. He tried blowing things up again and again, but he could not find that pale green material a second time.
"This is probably some kind of alloy," Kenichi said, thinking aloud. "Two or more metals reacted and fused under the explosion, or fused with something else, and that is what caused this effect."
That was as far as his certainty went. There were countless possible alloys, and he could not even confirm whether the color came from a foreign substance mixing in during the blast.
Sasori's eyes held a rare hint of anticipation. "Kenichi, what do you think?"
Kenichi shook his head. "I have heard of methods that can analyze metal composition. If you know what it is made of, you can try to recreate it."
Then he paused, expression turning flat.
"But the ninja world does not have the instruments for that. Even if I know the idea, we cannot do it here. Our technology is behind."
"Then you have no solution?" Sasori asked, clearly unwilling to accept it.
"Not right now." Kenichi glanced at the little fox again. "Let me look through some materials. My teacher's library has plenty of books. Maybe there is something useful."
Sasori did not press further. He had already vented most of his frustration through explosions anyway.
Then, as if remembering something, Sasori asked, "Kenichi, has the leader contacted you?"
Kenichi blinked, then shook his head. "No. I have not received any telepathic message from Pain lately."
Sasori frowned, sinking into thought.
"Then be careful," Sasori said quietly. "I do not know why, but a newcomer in the organization seems to care about you."
"Oh?" Kenichi chuckled. "A newcomer who cares about me? What is this, fan mail?"
"He wears a swirl mask," Sasori said. "His code name is Three. He seems very interested in you. When the leader pulled me in earlier, it looked like Three had some connection to him."
Kenichi's smile did not change, but his mind moved faster.
There were not many masked figures in the Akatsuki. The most famous one was Tobi.
"Alright, I got it," Kenichi said lightly, waving a hand. "Probably just a newcomer trying to show off in front of a senior."
He laughed once, loud and casual, then left.
Back inside Orochimaru's base, the humor drained from Kenichi's face.
Tobi being interested in him meant one thing.
Obito was interested in him.
Kenichi stood in the bright laboratory, but his thoughts were already far away. Obito was a boss level threat. Kamui was ridiculously practical, and Obito could even enter Kaguya's dimension later. Someone like that taking interest was never a compliment.
"What is he after?" Kenichi muttered.
He did not have much direct connection to Obito. Even if Kenichi had shown strength, it should not have been enough to make Obito focus on him.
The Eye of the Moon Plan had not been disrupted by Kenichi either. By logic, Obito should not care.
So the most likely reason was Kakashi.
"Did he notice something wrong with Kakashi's eye?" Kenichi's gaze sharpened.
Only Kakashi's Sharingan would be worth Obito's attention.
Kenichi reached to his waist, touching the sealed container where he kept the Mangekyo Sharingan he had taken from Kakashi.
"It looks like this needs to stay hidden," he murmured.
He had not taken it out for study lately, and he had no intention of transplanting it. Kamui was powerful, but it already had an owner. Kenichi had no interest in using it until he got Obito's other eye.
Then another thought struck him, sudden and sharp.
"Right. I almost forgot what I planned before."
He had wanted to throw a thermobaric explosive into the Kamui dimension, a special "gift" for whoever lived there.
Before, he had been too busy, and too broke to waste expensive materials.
Now, he finally had the chance.
"The only issue is this thermobaric explosive…" Kenichi looked down at the block in his hand, swallowed, and walked out of the lab.
At that moment, the door opened from the other side.
Orochimaru stepped in.
He had sensed movement in the laboratory and assumed someone had entered. He did not expect his disciple to be leaving again, and definitely not with that in his hands.
Orochimaru's face darkened the moment he saw it. Only after Kenichi disappeared down the corridor did he let out a slow breath.
"This disciple is excellent in every way," Orochimaru muttered, "except he insists on doing experiments that could blow up the base at any moment."
He sighed, rubbing his temple.
"It is just like my old laboratories…"
Kenichi, of course, had no idea he had been promoted on Orochimaru's internal list of hazards.
He was already inside his bomb disposal lab, setting up the next test.
"Infusing Sage Art Fire Release chakra is not a problem," Kenichi said, jotting down notes, "but what about Lightning Release?"
He hesitated, conflicted, but after recording the particle density and rough distribution inside the thermobaric explosive, he tried again, feeding Lightning Release chakra into it.
As expected, it detonated.
The blast slammed Kenichi into the wall. The shockwave pressed against him so hard it felt like the room tried to throw him into the air and keep him there.
"This power…" Kenichi sucked in a breath, eyes bright with excitement. "It increased a lot."
The explosion was clearly stronger than before. Part of it might have been because the blast room was sealed. Thermobaric explosives were terrifying in enclosed spaces.
Still, he had not expected it to jump this much.
The explosive itself was not huge, only about three times larger than what he usually used. He had brought three sets of experimental charges with him, and this one was not meant to be anything insane.
"So this method only allows one type of Sage chakra?" Kenichi rubbed his lower back. The blast had been violent, but he had layered defensive ninjutsu before starting, so he was not injured.
He stared at the wrecked section of the lab and fell into thought.
"The change in particle density is what lets Fire Release chakra merge into it," he murmured. "Lightning Release triggers detonation. But is it because only Fire works… or because it can only accept one chakra nature, and the wrong one explodes?"
He narrowed his eyes.
"What if I compress the explosive after infusing chakra?" Kenichi's heartbeat sped up. "If I compress it until the spacing between particles matches the earlier successful state, then maybe…"
He was ready to continue.
Then a problem he had ignored finally surfaced.
If he threw thermobaric explosives into the Kamui dimension, would that expose him?
After all, only he could deliver that kind of "special attack" on command.
Kenichi's mouth curled slightly.
"Disguises are easy," he said. "I can make a puppet, draw a picture of Rin, stick it on, and toss it in."
Obito would absolutely notice a puppet with Nohara Rin's face.
He would get curious.
He would go over to look.
And then the big treasure beside it would explode.
Kenichi imagined the moment and nodded in satisfaction.
"That scene should be beautiful."
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