"As expected of the ultimate eye technique that can control the trajectory of planets in its final form. Even just the initial stirrings of it are enough to use Attraction to pull a meteorite from outer space."
"Even if that technique isn't fully unlocked, I still have a strategic deterrent in my back pocket."
After flying for a while, Izanami descended from the sky, his form flickering as he thought to himself.
The power of the Reincarnation Eye surpassed Izanami's expectations. Unlike the Rinnegan, which holds exclusive eye techniques that govern the powerful laws of life and death, the power of the Reincarnation Eye leans more towards destruction.
Attraction and Amenotejikara are already formidable. I can only imagine how much more potent the Reincarnation Eye's Chakra Mode will be when it's fully unlocked.
Since Izanami's shadow clone had no immediate reason to leave, he wasn't in any rush to return to his team. Instead, once he returned to a familiar range, he pulled out the scroll that had been given to him by his old friend and began to examine it.
He had only given it a quick glance before, confirming its authenticity, but now he was studying it more carefully.
The scroll wasn't related to the Puppet Technique—something Izanami found trivial, considering his ability to control puppets wirelessly. What he was reading now was the method for creating a Human Puppet.
"So this is how Bloodline Limits and Ninjutsu are preserved. This guy truly is a genius," Izanami muttered as he read on, impressed. "No wonder his entry is Puppet Master (Purple). This Chakra core has surpassed anything before it. Even the Puppet Techniques of the Ōtsutsuki Clan on the Moon pale in comparison."
After finishing that scroll, Izanami flipped to the next one, which detailed the method for constructing the Chakra Core used in the Human Puppet.
The Chakra Core is the most critical part of any puppet. Simply using Chakra threads to control puppets is like a child's play, a mere hand puppet show.
True, powerful puppets have a vast array of internal mechanisms and hidden weapons, some even harnessing the power of the five elements. These functions can't be activated by mere Chakra threads alone.
What truly makes a puppet powerful is the Chakra core inside it. By inputting Chakra into the core via Chakra threads, the puppet can wield various abilities at will.
Sasori of the Red Sand had embarked on a path unique to him. Rather than using simple materials to create his puppets, he injected those materials into human corpses, turning them into Human Puppets.
Then, by modifying the puppet's heart—the Chakra core—he allowed the Human Puppet to use the Bloodline Limit and Ninjutsu of its original host.
This was truly a new school of puppetry. As the pioneer, Sasori of the Red Sand had earned his title of Puppet Master (Purple).
In Izanami's eyes, Sasori's Human Puppet system was far superior to the Ōtsutsuki Clan's version of puppet techniques on the Moon.
"Wait…" Izanami suddenly had a flash of inspiration, his excitement growing. "Maybe I can upgrade the Human Puppet further."
Sasori's Human Puppets shared similarities with Nagato's Six Paths of Pain. In the original Fourth Ninja World War, Uchiha Obito had turned Jinchuriki into Six Paths clones, who could all use the Tailed Beast's Chakra and abilities from when they were alive.
This meant that, like the Human Puppet, the Six Paths clones retained the abilities of their former selves.
The difference was that the Human Puppet relied on Chakra threads for control, whereas the Six Paths clones couldn't stray too far from the Outer Path, or they would lose the signal.
But the Reincarnation Eye could solve these issues.
With the Reincarnation Eye's wireless control, as long as the puppet remained within the farthest range of the Eye and there was still Chakra in its core, Izanami could control it at will—even across the space channel between the Moon and Earth.
If such a puppet could still use Bloodline Limits and Ninjutsu and could even replenish Chakra remotely, it would essentially be a version of the Impure World Reincarnation army—an immortal army, or perhaps even a Pain-like legion.
The more Izanami thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
However, he hadn't unlocked Yin-Yang Release yet, so he couldn't fuse the three powers together. But he could manufacture a large number of puppets for now. Once he unlocked Yin-Yang Release, he could insert Yin-Yang Release · Chakra Disruption Rods to upgrade them.
Later in the evening, Izanami returned to the team without incident.
The only one who didn't realize it was Hinata. The rest of Team 8 and the convoy had no idea that it was actually Izanami who had summoned the enormous meteorite.
Team 8 and the convoy, having intentionally taken a detour to avoid the art duo, spent three more days on their journey. Along the way, they bypassed a mountain village, one that had a chakra signature even stronger than Kurenai Yuhi's.
Mr. Nishimura and his group lived in this remote mountain village, a type of settlement common in the Land of Rivers. However, it was rare to find a village that had discovered mineral resources and understood how to mine and sell them—this made Mr. Nishimura's village unusually valuable.
Because of the village's poor conditions, combined with their arrival around noon, Kurenai Yuhi declined Mr. Nishimura's invitation to stay. She handed over the mission scroll, had him sign it, provided a positive review, and led Team 8 back.
Unlike their slow journey there, the return trip was significantly faster. Team 8 moved with rapid body flickers, each leap covering several meters, sometimes even up to ten meters. At this pace, it would only take two days to get back to Konoha.
This was the distinct difference between ninjas and regular civilians in a world where technology is abstracted. Ninjas were like versatile tools, the best beasts of burden, capable of accomplishing tasks at lightning speed.
As they grew tired from their rapid travel, Kurenai Yuhi looked at her team and asked, "This is your first C-level mission. What are your thoughts?"
"Very tiring," Izanami replied honestly. "At first, it was a bit exciting, but it quickly turned into both a physical and mental ordeal."
Hinata and Shino Aburame nodded in agreement.
"Escort missions are like that," Kurenai Yuhi said with a smile. "They're boring, time-consuming, and the pay isn't great. Still, our mission was unusual. The Land of Rivers has dense forests and treacherous terrain. We almost ran into an S-class rogue ninja and a mysterious powerhouse. Not many C-level missions are as unlucky as ours."
"Fortunately, we had Hinata's Byakugan," she continued. "Without it, this trip would have been far more dangerous."
With that, Kurenai Yuhi reached out and patted Hinata's head.
Hinata smiled softly. "It's what I'm supposed to do."
"Good girl," Kurenai Yuhi said warmly. "Izanami is benefiting from your efforts, too."
Little did she know, both Hinata and Izanami had their own thoughts on the matter. They simply smiled, neither commenting on Kurenai Yuhi's praise.
Two days later, in the afternoon, Team 8 finally returned to Konoha.
The C-level mission had taken exactly half a month. For all the hard work, each member of Team 8 was rewarded with a generous sum—23,000 Ryo.
This was an unusually high reward for a C-level mission. Considering the usual deductions—portion taken by the village, the Jonin instructor's cut, and the remaining reward split among the team—23,000 Ryo indicated that the total reward was likely over 100,000 Ryo.
Typically, a C-level mission would pay between 30,000 and 100,000 Ryo, so a reward above 100,000 was definitely warranted for the unique challenges Team 8 faced.
However, if Team 8 had the choice, they probably wouldn't have wanted to take on this particular C-level mission.
Seeing their exhaustion, Kurenai Yuhi smiled kindly. "I'll give you all three days off. Go home and get some rest."
"Yes," Team 8 replied, immediately disbanding.
"Izanami, see you tomorrow," Hinata said quietly, her voice tinged with exhaustion. Normally, she would go straight to Izanami's house, but after several days without a proper rest, she just wanted to go home, take a bath, and sleep. Tomorrow, she would present herself to him in the best condition possible.
Izanami, who was also recovering physically, used special methods to heal Hinata. He suddenly lowered his head and kissed her forehead, then waved with a smile. "Go home, get a good night's sleep. See you tomorrow."
With that, Izanami body flickered away, vanishing into the distance.
Hinata stood there for a few moments, stunned by the sudden gesture. She quickly looked around, her gaze meeting a playful smile from a nearby woman. Her neck and cheeks flushed bright red, steam almost visibly rising from her head. Embarrassed, she turned and dashed away.
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