Rika (67.9%)
Sukuna (52.6%)
Land God (59.7%)
Hanami (20%)
Guilt (13%)
Jogo (30%)
Kenjaku (30%)
Judging by their rank, Rika, Sukuna, and Land God, all above fifty percent, already possess power equivalent to a Jonin in the Ninja World.
However, there is no doubt that Rika and Sukuna are even stronger than a Jonin.
This is because they are Cursed Spirits born from extreme emotions, making them far more powerful than Cursed Spirits born from ordinary emotions.
[Ding!]
[Copyable Cursed Technique: Masamichi Yaga – Cursed Corpse (Activated)]
'...How many days has it been? The system alert just sounded? Your delay is a bit severe, isn't it? You didn't forget to remind me until now, did you?'
Haruki always assumed the worst intentions from the system. Of course, his assumptions were always quite accurate.
[Host, that's not the case. The system only played the alert because it detected you are currently in a relaxed state.]
Haruki looked at himself, sprawled out on the bed.
'Making excuses.'
How could he be easily deceived by this annoying system?
Haruki immediately focused on the newly awakened Copyable Cursed Technique.
Masamichi Yaga's Cursed Corpse?
He had just copied Akasuna's puppet Manipulation, and now Yaga's technique had activated.
What a coincidence!
The puppet manipulation of the Ninja World and Yaga's Cursed Corpse each have their own advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage of puppet manipulation is that the puppets it controls are powerful and fully functional, while its disadvantage is that they lack autonomous consciousness and require Chakra threads for connection.
The advantage of Cursed Corpse is that the cursed corpses have independent mobility. The more Cursed Energy and stronger emotions injected, the stronger the cursed corpse. The disadvantage is that the strength of the cursed corpse depends on the upper limit of injected Cursed Energy.
If these two techniques are combined...
Perfect!
With a flash of inspiration in his mind, Haruki leaped up from his bed.
Three seconds later, he lied back down.
[Host, aren't you going to get up and burn the midnight oil?]
'No midnight oil for me, I have to wake up at 4:30 AM tomorrow.'
Haruki seemed to have his essence instantly drained. He immediately closed his eyes, cherishing every second of closed-eye time.
'Don't talk to me, I'm going to sleep.'
The next day.
After finishing his daily training, Haruki went to the only place in Amegakure that had trees.
He clasped his hands together and bowed three times to the tree. "Forgive me."
Crack—
The tree let out a cry of agony as Haruki chopped it in half.
Haruki carried the tree all the way to Yuma's blacksmith shop. Along the way, he attracted the attention of many ninjas, who enthusiastically offered to help Haruki.
To avoid dampening their enthusiasm, Haruki let them feel the weight of the tree trunk. After feeling the weight, they all forced smiles and bid Haruki farewell.
Haruki knocked on the door. With a creak, Yuma opened the door. He saw a large tree... and Haruki, who was not even as tall as the tree branches.
It took him a while to find Haruki. It wasn't because Haruki was too short, but because the tree was simply too big.
"Haruki?"
Looking at the contrast between Haruki's small frame and the large tree, Yuma was afraid Haruki would be crushed. He quickly hugged the tree trunk, intending to lift it off Haruki's shoulders.
His desire to help was so eager, and he so quick, that Haruki didn't even have time to warn him.
Just as Haruki had expected, Yuma overestimated himself and underestimated Haruki.
Yuma's body suddenly stumbled under the weight of the tree trunk, almost falling to the ground in a face-plant.
The tree trunk, which had fallen back from his hands, was caught by Haruki.
Haruki: "..."
Maybe we shouldn't try to help?
Luckily, he reacted quickly, otherwise, he would have suffered internal injuries.
Yuma steadied himself, not mentioning helping again. He opened the door as wide as possible and led Haruki to place the tree trunk in the warehouse where he usually stored materials.
Looking at the tree trunk that occupied half of the warehouse, Yuma asked curiously, "Haruki, why did you bring back such a big tree?"
Haruki knocked on the tree trunk, and it emitted a dull thud. It was clear that the quality of the tree trunk was excellent.
With good raw materials, half of his puppet making was already successful.
"I'm going to make a puppet out of it."
Haruki would need to borrow Yuma's blacksmith shop in the future, so this matter certainly couldn't be hidden from Yuma. It was better to tell him directly.
Yuma's pupils slightly widened, staring at Haruki in shock, unable to utter a single word.
A puppet?
When did Haruki learn to make puppets?
Although Yuma's tongue seemed to have been snatched away, his face and eyes thoroughly exposed what he wanted to say.
"The last time I left the village for the border, I fought against a puppeteer from Sunagakure. I also want to become a puppeteer." Haruki said to Yuma.
"But... but there's no one in the village who can teach you..."
The matter of Haruki secretly leaving the village for the border had already spread among the ninjas of Amegakure, and Yuma had also heard about it. But he didn't expect it to be so dangerous.
Haruki even fought a puppeteer. However, Haruki wanting to learn puppet jutsu made Yuma a bit troubled.
Throughout the entire Ninja World, only the ninjas of Sunagakure knew puppet jutsu.
If Haruki wanted to learn, he couldn't find a way.
"No need for teaching, I already learned it when I fought him last time." Haruki told Yuma.
As Haruki was conceptualizing in his mind, he didn't hear Yuma's voice for a long time. He turned his head and saw that Yuma's mouth was wide enough to fit a whole egg.
"So... so amazing!"
It took Yuma a while to find his voice again.
"Brother Yuma, I want you to help me."
As soon as Haruki finished speaking, Yuma blurted out without hesitation. "Okay."
Haruki smiled at Yuma. "I want to make puppets here at your blacksmith shop in the future, is that okay?"
Yuma nodded as firmly and powerfully as if he were striking iron. "Of course, you can."
Having received Yuma's affirmative reply, Haruki, after finishing his training every day, would unhesitatingly run to Yuma's blacksmith shop and, using the various tools there, begin to craft puppets.
The puppets he wanted to create were neither lifeless objects like Akasuna's that required Chakra threads for control, nor were they furry dolls like Yaga's.
He wanted to combine the strengths of both to create a high-combat-power puppet that didn't require control.