After learning about the "enemy," Hii Kōri felt life hadn't changed much.
No matter how anxious, he couldn't send all of Kumogakure sky-high yet. In unity, Kumogakure and Iwagakure were indeed the ninja world's benchmarks.
That was the trouble of human nature—kill one, you must kill their whole family. If not thoroughly or cleanly handled, trouble would keep knocking.
Wasn't Hii Kōri himself such "trouble"?
With insufficient strength, no matter how unhappy that lingering sorrow, how much he wanted to resolve this Binding Vow's influence, he could only ignore it as best he could.
But though he believed the rhythm of his life remained unchanged, his attitude toward others was the same as ever, in others' eyes, Hii Kōri's restlessness was quite obvious.
Unconsciously tapping tables, tapping feet, clicking tongue—since that day, these little mannerisms increased dramatically. His brows were perpetually slightly furrowed.
Those close to him couldn't help worrying. But they had no good way, nor the right attitude to resolve this melancholy. Instead, Hii Kōri—annoyed by their inability to comfort—realized his own abnormal state.
Which logically made him more irritable.
Unable to vent dissatisfaction on others, he could only internal dissatisfaction. This actually yielded results in Fire Release, and generated a lot of cursed energy from these emotions—but under these circumstances, hard to call that "benefit."
Time passed.
"Spring blossoms, winter snows melting"—such words utterly unrelated to Sunagakure. The closest thing to green here were probably the breeders in the cultivation department.
And "cool" winter's departure naturally didn't improve Hii Kōri's mood—added more bipolar instead.
Everyone busy with early graduation matters, time with Pakura and Karura plummeted.
Currently, he is sitting idle in a Sunagakure drink shop.
"Idle"—his quadruple thoughts never stopped. Just didn't feel like writing.
Also pointless. From winter till now, his mental deductions were all repeated basic calculations. Emotional instability caused lack of inspiration.
Like the draft before him—a repeatedly revised design.
Octuple shuriken launcher. Prototype was part of last winter's device he'd planned to show Chiyo.
All-Purpose Multi-Role Logic Verification Composite Weapon System Prototype Model Thirteen·Revised—"Prototype Thirteen" for short. That fist claw was literally a composite armament for verifying various designs.
Equipped with floating gun-like functions based on Sand Manipulation, Wind-Fire dual nature conversion, and expansion module connection ports.
The former had been reverse-optimized into wired remote cannons—this device was too heavy compared to sand grains. Remote control via chakra alone? Sluggish, operable range drastically reduced.
The latter still underwent optimization—stabilizing Wind-Fire chakra ratios.
The original shuriken launcher, an external module, was removed and redesigned as a standalone device.
Integrated shell—sandproof, waterproof, fully detachable.
Multi-stage launch mechanism with Wind Release acceleration seals—rate of fire 300 rounds per minute, shuriken speed rivaling jōnin suppressive throws.
Obvious drawbacks: to increase speed, recoil considerable. Average chūnin first use would have trajectory deviation. Also, fired shuriken followed fixed trajectories—couldn't apply various techniques like hand-thrown.
But this was designed for mounting on puppets or fixed positions for suppressive fire. Those drawbacks negligible.
Core concept: Utilize Summoning Technique's mechanism—summoned objects repatriated after time—recycling fired shuriken for pseudo-infinite ammo.
Minimum recycling time: 3–5 minutes for auto-dismissal. Considering loss and redundancy, at least 1,000 shuriken reserve.
For individuals, financial costs prohibitively high. Some genin—even chūnin—wouldn't use that many their entire careers.
Though thrown in handfuls during wars, shuriken were recycled from battlefields—rarely disposable.
For an entire village, though—this expense was a drop in the bucket.
Biggest current problem: precisely summoning shuriken sequentially into the magazine. Shuriken weren't summoning beasts—couldn't cooperate with the summoner.
Technically achievable. But miniaturizing to fit in a launcher? Quite difficult.
"Ahaha, looking grumpy, Kōri-kun~"
At that moment, Sakaki Tatsuma—working here—wheeled his cart over with trademark laugh, placing ice cream before him. "Eat something sweet to ease the mood. My treat."
"Hm, thanks. But treat's unnecessary. Your wage probably isn't much."
Spooning sea buckthorn ice cream into his mouth, Hii Kōri's expression softened slightly. He had high sugar needs. Cold things currently ranked among his favorites.
He'd always wanted to say: instead of watching him with worried eyes, drowning him in ice cream would be more effective.
"Kōri-kun's been in a bad mood lately~"
Shop wasn't busy. Sakaki sat across from his junior, grinning and chatting.
"Ah... not bad mood exactly. Just irritated."
Speaking deeply with a shallow acquaintance was taboo. But he did feel like confiding to someone.
Sakaki—not close, but familiar—seemed a decent choice.
***
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