Chapter 329: Amamiya Kenichi: Should I Have a Pokémon Battle?
Looking at the giant beast in front of him, Amamiya Kenichi froze for a moment. Then a string of numbers flashed through his mind.
The maximum load capacity of the airship he had built was 3.5 tons. It was not an especially huge number, but it was definitely not small either. The combined weight of Hikari and himself would be good if it even reached 130 kilograms.
Yet the moment this huge creature in front of him appeared, the entire airship dipped sharply.
According to Kenichi's own estimate, it had probably dropped more than ten meters, though he could not determine the exact amount. The airship was slowly climbing back up now, but that brief loss in altitude from the sudden increase in weight had definitely been real.
So if the airship's lift was X, and the weight of this Boss Cat in front of him was...
No, no.
Kenichi abruptly shook his head.
He was probably being stupid. Why was he trying to use a mathematical formula to calculate a cat's weight? He could just ask directly, or throw it on a scale. There was no need to make things this complicated.
"But isn't it way too big?" Kenichi looked up at the orange giant cat in front of him.
It was currently squatting on the floor of the airship, but even then, its body was hunched because its head was already brushing the ceiling. If it stood up straight, Kenichi felt his airship might just be crushed on the spot.
And its body was absurdly enormous, like a small hill sprawled sideways across the deck.
Most importantly, it had a ridiculous amount of fur. Not just a lot. A truly outrageous amount. The fur was so thick and luxuriant that every strand could be seen clearly.
At that moment, Kenichi finally understood where all the cat fur Hikari used to knit gloves had come from.
"Amamiya nii, this is my partner, Boss Cat!" Hikari had already thrown herself onto the giant cat, and her whole body instantly vanished into the thick fur. A second later, her head popped out from the fluff atop the cat's back as she waved happily at him.
Kenichi looked at Hikari, who now looked like she had dived straight into a mountain of fur, then at the giant cat's face.
The beast was staring at him with its vertical pupils.
And in those eyes, there seemed to be...
Doubt?
Kenichi raised a brow.
What kind of look was that supposed to be? Was it questioning him? But what exactly was it questioning? He was a little confused.
"I heard Hikari say you're a very powerful ninja?" a lazy, captivating voice said.
Just hearing it was enough to make one imagine a languid mature woman reclining on a couch and speaking to him with half-lidded eyes.
But Kenichi knew very well that the one speaking was the giant cat in front of him.
"More or less," Kenichi said with a smile, looking at the enormous cat before him. He already had a rough idea of what the beast was getting at.
"Boss Cat! How can you say that?!" Hikari looked at her summoning beast in complete disbelief.
She knew Boss Cat could speak. When she had first formed a contract with him, she had also told him a number of things about Amamiya Kenichi. But she had never expected him to say something like this out loud.
"It's fine, Hikari. Some summoning beasts are just arrogant when it comes to their own strength," Kenichi said calmly.
He was not angry. There were plenty of bad-tempered summoning beasts in the Ninja World. Orochimaru's Manda was no better, and that snake not only had a worse mouth, it also demanded sacrifices.
Boss Cat's tail flicked lazily.
Then, in the next moment, his eyes shifted to the markings at the corners of Kenichi's eyes.
A trace of surprise flashed through them.
That made Kenichi a little curious.
Did this cat know Sage Mode?
Otherwise, it would not have reacted like that.
"You are indeed a powerful ninja," Boss Cat said, and his tone turned noticeably more respectful.
Kenichi raised his brow.
"You've seen it before?" he asked with interest.
If it had been someone from one of the Three Great Sage Regions, recognizing Sage Mode would not have been strange. But this was a cat, not a sage beast from one of those places, and yet it had identified it at a glance. That was a bit unusual.
Hikari quickly jumped down from Boss Cat and sidled up to Kenichi, tugging at his clothes while lowering her head, not daring to speak.
She swore she had never meant to question her brother's strength.
Boss Cat had just...
"Well, I once had the honor of witnessing the battle between the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, and Uchiha Madara-sama..." Boss Cat nodded slowly.
His attitude was much more respectful now. That deep aura, combined with those strange markings, made him certain that the man before him had already mastered Sage Mode.
"Please don't blame Hikari. She didn't know. I was only worried for her safety. It's been a very long time since I've seen an Uchiha this exceptional."
"It's fine, it's fine. I'm not some petty lunatic who takes out his anger on other people over a single sentence." Kenichi waved a hand dismissively.
He knew Hikari's personality. He knew she had not meant anything by it. And really, could a single line about him being a strong ninja make him lose his temper?
If he could be shaken by something like that, then he had no business doing experiments.
When doing research, it was common to reach 99.9 percent completion, only for everything to fail with a single pop at the very last step. That kind of thing was far more likely to make a person cough up blood from anger.
Compared to that, his mental state was actually very stable. He rarely got mad.
"Hikari, honestly, I'm not that sort of person either." Kenichi sighed helplessly and rubbed Hikari's head.
Still, looking at Hikari's reaction, he hesitated a little.
From a psychological perspective, a child who had suffered a tragic past yet still tried to engage with the world would often become deeply attached to any kindness they received afterward, even to the point of being willing to give everything to the person who showed it.
It was somewhat similar to Stockholm syndrome.
Of course, the situation here was different, and so were the relationships involved. It was just that when someone was in such a fragile state after being hurt, even a small kindness could leave a deep mark on them.
Hikari was clearly showing some signs of that now.
From how she behaved, Kenichi could tell that after being sealed for so many years, she had become extremely dependent on him.
It was a bit troublesome, but he could teach her slowly.
At the same time, Kenichi also knew Hikari's personality well. Although she was cautious and easily flustered, she was also the type of person who would bravely express what she felt and who dared to love and hate with sincerity.
"I..." Hikari's face turned bright red.
Fortunately, with Kenichi deliberately steering the conversation away, that little awkward moment soon passed.
Only then did Kenichi learn that Hikari had contracted Boss Cat after learning the basics of Summoning Jutsu from Shiori in the Land of Snow.
And apparently, Boss Cat had not been around for a short time either.
He was an old monster who had survived from the Warring States era all the way to the present.
In a sense, the name Boss Cat really did suit him. Among all ninja cats, he was undoubtedly one of the truly terrifying ones.
"We've already reached the Land of Rice Fields, Hikari. It's probably time to get off. I need to meet someone this time, and I also have to pick up a few things." Kenichi wiped his hands and prepared to move.
He planned to retrieve some thermobaric bomb materials from the lab, and at the same time, check whether Orochimaru had returned yet.
Of course, the most important thing was still contacting Sasori to ask if he wanted to join the mission to Sunagakure.
"Mmm." Hikari stood up obediently.
She had already unsummoned Boss Cat. There was no need to keep him out when they were not fighting. She had only called him out in the first place because she wanted to show him to Kenichi.
She had not expected Boss Cat to say something like that.
Thankfully, Amamiya nii had not gotten angry.
After parking the airship, Kenichi brought Hikari to Sasori's laboratory.
He had no intention of taking her to his own lab for now. Some of the things in there might remind Hikari of her old trauma. Better to wait a while longer.
Sasori's lab, while still a laboratory, felt more like a weapons testing ground. It was much more open, unlike Kenichi's, which tended to give off an eerie, unsettling atmosphere.
"Kenichi? Why are you here?" Before they even reached the entrance, Kenichi ran into Sasori, who was moving a pile of equipment.
Kenichi's gaze slid past him and landed on the object behind him.
It was a robot.
A fairly tall robot, and it was moving things by itself. There were no puppet strings attached to it.
That instantly caught Kenichi's attention.
Had Sasori started cheating behind his back while he was away?
"Ah, the organization issued a mission to attack Sunagakure, and I wanted to ask whether you were going too. But... what exactly is this machine of yours?" Kenichi asked, eyeing the robot strangely.
How had Sasori managed this?
For a moment, Kenichi had even suspected Sasori might be controlling it with a Shadow Clone, but now that seemed unlikely.
"An attack on Sunagakure?" Sasori frowned.
He had no good feelings toward that place. Sunagakure...
"I'm going too," Sasori said directly with a nod.
Part of it was because he wanted to test his research. Another part was because he had some old scores to settle with his former village. He wanted those people to understand at least a fraction of what he had felt back then.
"These things are my newest inventions. I owe Mr. Amado Sanzu for helping me develop them." Sasori spoke enthusiastically, but then he noticed Hikari standing beside Kenichi.
Still, seeing his friend's expression, Sasori chose not to ask any questions.
Kenichi casually took one of the devices in his hand and examined it.
It looked strange, like a small iron box with several openings on its surface. He had no idea what it was supposed to do.
"How does this thing work?" Kenichi asked curiously.
He had originally thought Sasori might be using a clone or some hidden puppet strings to control those machines. But clearly, that was not the case.
"This is an instrument called [Puppet Automation] created by Mr. Amado. With this device, robots can follow simple commands through a computer. They can move objects and perform basic tasks. But they still can't really fight yet. At most, they can mechanically swing their weapons around." Sasori shrugged.
Kenichi was genuinely stunned.
Although he already knew Amado was a genius, he had not expected the man to be monstrous enough to figure out computer driven autonomous machines in the Ninja World.
No wonder he could create such bizarre weapons.
The potential of that technology was enormous.
Kenichi immediately began thinking in another direction.
If the same principles were expanded to make powered exoskeletons, could they resist ninjutsu?
And if the technology were pushed even further, to the point of energy shielding, then wouldn't that be stepping straight into interstellar age territory?
Even if it was a wildly specialized branch of technology, it would still be terrifyingly powerful.
"Amazing. The next step would be optimizing their autonomy. If you can eventually make puppets that don't need direct commands and can fight on their own, then that would be perfect," Kenichi said with a sigh of admiration.
He had to admit it. The people in the Ninja World might have an utterly crooked tech tree, but their talent could be ridiculous.
Then again, these were people with chakra. Chakra could stimulate both the body and the brain, so it was not that strange for certain monsters of talent to appear in a world like this.
It was just that almost nobody had chosen to develop in the direction of science before.
"I'm not too familiar with that side of it. My main focus is still Unit One," Sasori said, scratching his head. "Most of this was developed by Mr. Amado."
Then Sasori suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right. Kenichi, Mr. Amado told me earlier that if you came back, I should tell you to visit his lab. He said he has something he needs to discuss with you."
Kenichi nodded the moment he heard that.
He already had a pretty good idea what it was about.
It had to be related to Amado's daughter.
That had always been Amado's greatest obsession.
"Alright, I understand. Where's Deidara?" Kenichi asked while rubbing his temples.
It really did seem like quite a lot had happened while he was away. He needed to get the phone issue resolved as soon as possible. Communication would be much more convenient that way, and it would prevent delays like this.
"Deidara went to help Mr. Amado," Sasori replied.
Then he hurried off again. He still needed to prepare Unit One and gather several puppets he planned to bring. This trip to Sunagakure was not just any mission for him. Kenichi's mission had come at exactly the right time.
"Amado Sanzu, huh..." Kenichi sighed after watching Sasori leave.
That man really was a troublesome one.
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