Bona, pushed in a wheelchair, roamed the outskirts of Sumeru City. Lately, he felt his end nearing. He'd hoped to pass quietly, but age betrayed him, and per the physician's advice, someone accompanied him daily for a stroll. In a daze, Bona glimpsed a figure approaching. Knowing his time was short, he smiled, reached out, and followed her.
"Lord Rukkhadevata!" were Bona's final words.
…
As Reisen Riou stepped off Sumeru City's port, his brow twitched. A wave of grief hit him, and, clutching his forehead, he knew another old friend was gone.
Sure enough, word soon came: Bona, the former Great Sage "Far-Seeing Wisdom," had passed with a smile during a walk.
"Didn't make it in time," Reisen sighed, submitting a state letter to the Akademiya.
"My condolences, 'Bygone Wisdom,'" the current Amurta Sage said gravely. "Teacher's passing is Sumeru's loss. But his brilliance was too great—Greater Lord Rukkhadevata couldn't bear to see his sun-like wisdom trapped in a decaying body."
"Let's go see that guy Bona," Reisen said.
When they arrived, Bona was already in his coffin. His fifty-something grandson, the Chief Disciplinary Officer, and his twenty-something great-grandson were busy. Reisen nodded to the stern officer in greeting.
He attended Bona's funeral in a blur, unsure of his own emotions. Only when the current Great Sage recited Bona's lifetime achievements at the coffin's sealing did Reisen snap back.
"Sigh, time to go. Another wear and tear."
Reisen suppressed his presence, vanishing in a burst of lightning. Most didn't even notice his departure.
…
"I thought I'd see him one last time, but I felt him go the moment I set foot in Sumeru," Reisen said.
"Don't be too sad," Raiden Ei said, patting him.
"I'm not too sad. I'm thinking about how to use Zexi," Reisen replied. "His scientific talent's modest, but his stealth and presence research is deep. I want him on the Tsurumi hiding tech project. It's his field, and it'll speed up breakthroughs."
Ei patted his shoulder. "It's in your hands."
In the Chinju Forest, Reisen found Zexi discussing stealth tech with Final Watch ninjas.
"Zexi, about your father…"
Before Reisen could finish, Zexi collapsed to his knees, sobbing like a child. The ninja master saluted Reisen and left.
After a while, Zexi composed himself. "Sorry, Lord Reisen, for making a fool of myself."
"No, I understand your grief a bit," Reisen said. "I want to ask if you'd join a research project—on hiding things."
"I'm in," Zexi said with a self-deprecating smile. "The Akademiya calls my work a minor path, but their fear shows it's not worthless. My son's used it well."
"That's the spirit, Zexi," Reisen nodded, pleased. Zexi's outburst was brief—he, like Reisen, had long anticipated his father's death. Humans, unlike youkai, were mortal, their end inevitable, only a matter of time.
With Final Watch ninjas' approval, Reisen took them to a Serenitea Pot-like space in Final Watch territory, his Tsurumi hiding tech research site, maintained by the Yashiro Commission. Due to its taboo nature, Reisen placed memory locks on everyone, including himself, to prevent leaks.
Stored here were original Tsurumi hiding texts, Khaenri'ahn translations, Inazuman translations, and Tsurumi survivor interpretations. Yet results were meager—most researchers had only average talent for stealth studies. The earlier cloaking barrier relied on Reisen's past-life knowledge and required the Mistveil Technique, making it cumbersome.
Zexi, a trained Sumeru scholar, lacked deep ancient text expertise but still decoded much of Tsurumi's script. Reisen's role was computational support—since Resurrection couldn't handle it, he served as a human supercomputer, no strange task for him.
With Reisen's boost, Zexi decoded a minor hiding technique from the original Tsurumi texts on his first day. It could make existing objects temporarily vanish, though not create from nothing—hence Reisen's "minor" label. His job was to verify such techniques swiftly.
He couldn't stay often, visiting weekly amid daily duties, extra tasks, and other research, especially soul studies. Tsurumi's soul research was so peculiar that even Reisen found it profoundly enlightening.
"Everything's progressing steadily. How nice," Reisen mused atop Tenshukaku.
"Lord Reisen, I've taken a new adopted son. Please attend the ceremony," Kagei Tengu said.
"Oh? Whose prodigy?" Reisen asked, taking the invitation.
"A commoner's son. I saw his exceptional potential, so I'll adopt him," Tengu replied.
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