Chapter 106: [Scorch Release Mask]!
Commissioning Oyakata En to construct the research base was a move made out of necessity for Nara Keisuke. As his research work continued to deepen, the need for a professional, high-performance research base became more and more urgent. But limited by the current situation, he had no way to personally design and build one himself. The work had to be entrusted to others.
And among the people he knew who were capable of building a professional research base, there were only three parties: the old clan head, Oyakata En, and Lady Cat.
For the Nara clan to build a professional research base sounded plausible. The problem was that it was currently wartime. The energy of everyone in Konoha, from top to bottom, was focused on dealing with the war. For the Nara clan to suddenly get involved in the construction industry at this time would be too abrupt and conspicuous. Therefore, after some thought, Keisuke gave up the idea of entrusting it to his family.
And between Oyakata En and Lady Cat, after some deliberation, he still chose the former, who was more professional. Lady Cat was, after all, just a black market merchant. Buying some scrolls and ninja tools from her was still reliable. But if he were to commission her to build a base, it was more likely that she would just outsource it again to another strange group he didn't even know... In that case, he might as well ask Oyakata En to do it! At least there was a certain "basis for cooperation" between them.
Of course, commissioning Oyakata En to build the research base was just a temporary emergency measure. He himself still needed a more secret and private research base, preferably one that only he knew about. But the time and energy required to build a private base of that level was far beyond what the current Keisuke could support. It was better to leave professional problems to the professionals...
Keisuke and Oyakata En smoothly finalized the commission for the construction of the research base.
At the end of their conversation, Oyakata En picked up his teacup and finally asked the question. "Chino... how has she been recently?"
"I was thinking you really didn't care about that question." Nara Keisuke smiled. After finalizing the commission, the relationship between him and En had also become a bit more familiar, not as wary as before. "Chino, well, she has learned to speak now," Keisuke said, recalling. "The first word she learned was 'mama'. When Sister Nono'o heard Chino call her that, she was so excited that she didn't stop smiling for a whole day..."
Oyakata En's expression darkened. If he really had a choice, who would be willing to abandon their own bloodline?
"At first, I was planning to return Chino to you as soon as possible, Oyakata En," Keisuke said calmly, noticing the other's gloomy expression. "But now... I still have a similar idea. However, if you want to take Chino away from the Kikyo Orphanage, you must agree—"
"Chino is living very well under Yakushi-san's care." Oyakata En took off his glasses and gently wiped the fogged tea-colored lenses. His blood-red, ferocious eyes were quietly revealed. "My thoughts are still the same as before. With what I have done, Chino absolutely cannot live with me. Once she knows her past, extremely strong feelings of hatred and darkness will surely well up in her heart..."
"Sorry, does your family's Ketsuryūgan awaken through negative emotions?" Keisuke asked, a little speechless. "Let me state first, I don't know what your real thoughts are. But Sister Nono'o and I have specifically discussed this issue. We will not reveal Chino's past to her for the time being, but we will also not prevent her from becoming a ninja. If at some point in the future, Chino proactively asks us about her past, we will not stop her in any way."
Oyakata En put his sunglasses back on and said with a smile, "Yakushi-san and Nara-kun are indeed very thoughtful."
Keisuke was silent for a moment. "Oyakata En, do you know a Konoha ninja named Orochimaru?"
Unexpectedly, Keisuke's casual, teasing question actually received a direct response. Oyakata En chuckled softly and said pointedly, "Of course. The great Sannin, Orochimaru, who protects the village from the darkness. How could I not know him?"
The brief meeting with Oyakata En ended. Nara Keisuke silently left the tea room. There were no missions for the next two days. Having nothing else to attend to in the village, he decided to return directly to Kikyo Castle.
In a secluded building within Kikyo Castle.
Keisuke's arrival did not cause any reaction from the few people in the room. Pakura, in the center of the group, looked at him with boredom and sighed. "Sigh, another useless clone..."
"I'm sorry, did my clone do something to you?" Keisuke's footsteps paused, and he walked to Pakura's side. "Or perhaps, Miss Pakura, did you do something to my clone?"
For the past few days, Pakura had been living in this secluded little villa. Nominally "living," in reality, it was "imprisonment." Her daily life was all under the surveillance of Keisuke's [Shadow Clones]. Of course, the regular daily feeding of medicine was also indispensable. Until now, Pakura had not regained the right to use her chakra. But at least her body was no longer accompanied by instruments like "ropes" and "shackles."
"Hm?" Pakura blinked her eyes and proactively moved closer. "Is it the real one this time?"
"Out of humanitarian considerations, I would not do anything to a helpless female captive to satisfy my own needs." Keisuke stood motionless, staring straight into Pakura's amber pupils. "But if the female captive strongly desires it... it's not impossible for me to satisfy her thoughts."
Keisuke's words successfully made Pakura retreat. "To be able to say such shameless and lewd words, it really is the real one." She took several steps back, maintaining a distance that was neither dangerous nor distant. "But Nara, the things the clone knows, you should also know. You have been asking me for the precise method of molding Scorch Release chakra, but you won't give me the right to use chakra. The progress has been stuck here, so..."
"So, I came." Keisuke symbolically formed a cross-shaped hand seal. "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Through the resonance of the [Chakra Crystal], one after another, [Shadow Clones] appeared in the room, completely squeezing into every corner.
'He really is a monster!' Pakura looked at the numerous shadow clones, her pupils contracting slightly. 'This amount of chakra is even more terrifying than that old monk...' 'It's just that the taste and feel of this chakra are not as evil as that monk's...'
Under Pakura's gaze, Keisuke rolled up his sleeves, revealing the numerous white talismans marked with the character for "mask" (面) wrapped around his wrist.
'What is he planning to do?' Pakura watched his every move, not missing a single detail.
Keisuke's fingertips lightly touched the surface of these summoning talismans, and one after another, masks fell from them. Among these masks, there were both Wind-nature and Fire-nature [Nature Masks]. But most were un-natured, initial masks that had not yet been completed.
"Summoning so many masks with the Summoning Technique." Hailing from Sunagakure, Pakura was quite familiar with the summoning techniques commonly used by puppeteers. "Are you planning to hold a mask party here?"
Without the enhancement of chakra, Pakura had no way of discovering the special nature of these [Nature Masks].
"No, I'm planning to start a new phase of research." Keisuke had no qualms about telling his research material his plan. "Miss Pakura, your active cooperation these past few days has made me very satisfied. You probably don't even know how valuable the things you've said are... but for me, the help has been immense."
Pakura's expression stiffened slightly. She really hadn't thought that the things she had said before were of much value; they were just the most basic things.
Keisuke's [Shadow Clones] stepped forward one by one. Half of them picked up a fire mask, and the other half picked up a wind mask. Two [Shadow Clones] would then group together and pick up one of the remaining blank initial masks.
Pakura watched everything that was happening, not understanding. Even without her chakra, she had already realized that these masks Keisuke had just summoned were definitely not ordinary decorations! Is this guy planning to rely on these few broken masks to research and crack my Scorch Release Kekkei Genkai? He's too naive!
Pakura watched the whole thing with a cold eye. Keisuke was also watching the scene.
The paired [Shadow Clones], one resonating with a Wind-nature mask, the other with a Fire-nature mask. They operated in concert, guiding the pre-molded, nature-transformed Wind and Fire chakra out from the masks. Then, with an extremely precise and subtle ratio, they simultaneously introduced these two different natures of chakra onto the blank mask placed between them.
Wind-nature chakra is heavy on cutting, and fire-nature chakra is heavy on burning. The nature transformations of these two types of chakra are both full of aggression. When they fuse, the slightest carelessness can lead to a violent reaction.
Under the joint attention of Keisuke and Pakura.
Crack—Crack—
A continuous cracking sound echoed through the room. It was the blank masks, unable to withstand the impact and destruction of the wind and fire-nature chakra, directly shattering, deforming, or even exploding.
A faint sneer appeared at the corner of Pakura's mouth. She didn't believe that her Kekkei Genkai ability could be so easily researched and cracked by the enemy. But what she didn't notice was that in the first round of experiments, although many of the blank masks had directly exploded, many others had only produced shallow cracks.
After a series of control experiments, the probability of the blank masks being damaged became smaller and smaller. Although in this continuous experiment, the consumption of both Keisuke's chakra and the [Nature Masks] was terrifying, he still continuously and stably provided the supply of research raw materials.
Until the large number of wind and fire-nature [Nature Masks] that Keisuke had prepared in advance were about to be completely exhausted, a hard-won success story finally appeared in a corner of the room.
Two [Shadow Clones] simultaneously resonated with the chakra in the [Nature Masks], guiding them into another blank mask. Wind and fire intertwined within this mask, gradually forming a brand new nature, which was then stored inside.
Keisuke walked to the front of these two [Shadow Clones] and picked up the mask between them. A stream of messages refreshed on the panel.
[B-rank Ninja Tool Detected: [Nature Mask: Scorch]!]
[B-rank Ninja Tool: Nature Mask: Scorch]
[Tool Description: A wooden mask made from a branch of the Divine Tree and imbued with special nature chakra.]
[Tool Effects: 1. The [Nature Mask: Scorch] contains a B-rank level of Scorch-nature chakra, which is not affected by the conventional principle of nature counters, and can be mutually transferred and used with the user; 2. The Scorch-nature chakra contained within the mask can be converted into the B-rank technique [Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder] for the user's consumption.]
[Tool Evaluation: Yay! It's a new mask!]
(End of Chapter)
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