"As expected of the ultimate ocular technique, capable of controlling planetary trajectories in its final form. Even in its early stages, its Attraction can summon meteorites from space."
"Even without it being fully developed, this technique already serves as a formidable deterrent."
After flying for a while, Juuyabiru descended from the sky. While body flickering, he pondered in silence.
The power of the Reincarnation Eye far surpassed Juuyabiru's expectations.
Unlike the Rinnegan, which boasts unique ocular techniques and governs the profound laws of life and death, the Reincarnation Eye leans heavily toward pure destruction.
Attraction and Amenotejikara are already immensely powerful. Juuyabiru eagerly anticipated unlocking the Reincarnation Eye Chakra Mode.
Since Izayoi's shadow clone had no suitable excuse to depart just yet, Juuyabiru didn't rush to rejoin the team. Instead, once within a safe range, he took out a scroll gifted by a close friend and began to study it intently.
He had merely glanced at it earlier to confirm its authenticity and had then stored it away. Now, he finally had the chance to read it carefully.
Surprisingly, the scroll was not about conventional Puppet Techniques. To Juuyabiru—who could wirelessly control puppets—those techniques were utterly obsolete.
What he was examining was the method for crafting Human Puppets.
"So this is how Bloodline Limits and Ninjutsu can be preserved... This guy's a genius."
Juuyabiru couldn't help but exclaim aloud: "No wonder his system entry is Puppet Master (Purple). This Chakra Core design surpasses all its predecessors. Even the Ōtsutsuki Clan's puppet tech on the Moon doesn't compare."
With that, he flipped to another scroll detailing how to manufacture the Chakra Core of Human Puppets.
The Chakra Core was, without a doubt, the heart and soul of a puppet.
Simply manipulating a puppet with Chakra threads was akin to playing with a marionette.
More advanced puppets housed mechanisms, hidden weapons, and even Elemental Jutsu. These features couldn't be activated through Chakra threads alone.
To utilize such complex functions, a Chakra Core had to be embedded in the puppet. The user would then inject Chakra via threads, enabling the puppet to perform techniques freely.
The puppet's power was ultimately determined by what the creator had embedded within it.
Sasori of the Red Sand pioneered a unique approach—he didn't build puppets from materials, but instead transformed human corpses into puppets.
By altering their hearts—essentially the Chakra Cores—these Human Puppets retained the abilities, Bloodline Limits, and Ninjutsu they possessed in life.
This was a revolutionary form of puppetry.
Sasori's creation truly lived up to his system classification: Puppet Master (Purple).
In Juuyabiru's eyes, Sasori's Human Puppet design suited him far more than the Ōtsutsuki's Moon-based creations.
"Wait…"
A sudden thought struck Juuyabiru like lightning.
"Maybe I can take the Human Puppet concept even further."
He realized Sasori's Human Puppets bore some similarities to Nagato's Six Paths of Pain.
During the Fourth Ninja World War, Uchiha Obito transformed the deceased Jinchūriki into Six Paths clones. These clones retained their Tailed Beast powers and abilities from when they were alive.
This meant that both Six Paths clones and Human Puppets could preserve former-life abilities.
The only differences? Human Puppets required Chakra threads for control, while the Six Paths of Pain couldn't stray too far from the Outer Path, or they'd lose signal.
But both limitations could be solved—with the Reincarnation Eye.
With wireless puppet control, as long as the puppet was within Juuyabiru's farsight range and still had Chakra in its core, he could manipulate it effortlessly—even across the Moon-Earth channel.
If such puppets could maintain Bloodline Limits, cast Ninjutsu, and even receive remote Chakra infusion, wouldn't they be equivalent to an immortal Impure World Reincarnation army? Or a legion of Pain-style clones?
The more Juuyabiru considered it, the more practical the concept became.
He hadn't yet unlocked Yin-Yang Release, so a complete fusion was still out of reach. But he could begin manufacturing a large number of Human Puppets. Once he obtained Yin-Yang Release, he could implant Chakra Disruption Rods to upgrade them instantly.
That evening, Juuyabiru returned to the team.
Aside from Hinata, neither Team 8 nor the convoy suspected that the massive meteorite had been summoned by Juuyabiru.
To avoid the notorious Art Duo, they had taken a long detour, extending their travel time by three days.
During this extended journey, they deliberately avoided a certain mountain village due to sensing Chakra levels surpassing even Kurenai Yuhi's.
They finally arrived at Mr. Nishimura's remote mountain village, one of many scattered across the Land of Rivers.
However, this one stood out—it had discovered mineral resources and had the capability to mine and sell them. That made Mr. Nishimura quite valuable.
Due to the village's poor conditions and their midday arrival, Kurenai Yuhi declined the invitation to stay. Instead, she had Mr. Nishimura sign the mission scroll, secured a favorable review, and led Team 8 on the return journey.
Unlike their earlier pace, the return trip was made at full speed, with body flickers covering multiple meters in each leap—sometimes even ten meters at a time.
At that speed, it would take them at most two days to return to Konoha.
This starkly illustrated the difference between Shinobi and civilians.
In this abstract, tech-infused world, ninjas were versatile tools—the ultimate workhorses.
"This was your first C-rank mission," Kurenai Yuhi said as they took a break from body flickering. "Tell me how you feel."
"Exhausted," Juuyabiru replied honestly. "It started off novel, but quickly became mental and physical torture."
Hinata and Shino Aburame nodded silently.
"Escort missions are like that," Kurenai smiled. "They're boring, time-consuming, and the pay is terrible. But ours was quite special. The Land of Rivers is filled with forests and complicated terrain. We nearly ran into an S-rank rogue ninja and an unknown powerhouse. Most C-rank missions aren't this unlucky."
"Luckily, Hinata's Byakugan helped us avoid disaster."
She reached out to pat Hinata's head.
Hinata responded softly, "It was my duty."
"Good girl. Juuyabiru is benefiting from having you on the team." Kurenai smiled warmly.
Unbeknownst to her, both Hinata and Juuyabiru had plans of their own.
They simply smiled and said nothing, silently deflecting Kurenai's well-meaning gesture.
Two days later, in the afternoon, Team 8 finally arrived back in Konoha.
The mission had taken half a month in total.
Each of them received an impressively high payout—23,000 Ryo.
This was unusual for a C-rank mission, considering deductions by the village and their Jonin. If 23,000 was their share, then the total must have been over 100,000 Ryo.
Normally, C-rank missions offer between 30,000 and 100,000 Ryo. This amount was well above average—rightfully earned, given the dangers.
Still, if given the choice, none of them would opt for a repeat.
Seeing their weariness, Kurenai Yuhi offered with a smile, "You've earned three days off. Go home and rest well."
"Yes!" the team chorused and dispersed.
"Juuyabiru, see you tomorrow," said a fatigued Hinata. She didn't follow him home this time.
Having spent nearly two weeks with only basic hygiene in the wild, she desperately wanted to bathe, rest, and then appear refreshed in front of Juuyabiru.
Juuyabiru, knowing her condition, gently lowered his head and kissed Hinata on the forehead.
"Go sleep well. See you tomorrow," he said with a warm smile, then flickered away.
Hinata stood stunned for a few seconds, then glanced around—and locked eyes with a woman who smiled knowingly.
In an instant, Hinata's cheeks and neck flushed a deep red, steam practically rising from her head as she dashed off, embarrassed beyond words.
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