Now, both Kusagakure shinobi could finally get some much deserved closure.
Theur talk though, was far too sappy for Shiki to pay attention to though, especially since it had nothing too do with him.
It was basically the two childhood friend apologizing profusely to each other and then not accepting the other's apologies and some inspirational stuff the Muku said to Ryuzetsu to renew her resolve and will to keep going, bla, bla, bla. It was all very moving or whatever.
"Reaper right?" Muku called to Shiki who snapped out of his trance.
"That's me." He replied.
"Take care of Ryuzetsu for me will you? She tough but not nearly as much as she thinks." He said.
"No problem. Ever since she joined my merry band, she became part of the family. She will be well taken care of." Shiki assured.
"Does my opinion matter here?" Ryuzetsu asked with exasperation.
"Nope!"
"Not really no."
Muku and Shiki replied, smirking to each other.
'I may have zoned out of the conversation but Muku seems like a nice guy, might've gotten along with him.' SHiki though as the man in question returned to the Box of his own free will.
"Well Reaper-sama. I am yours now." Ryuzetsu swore allegiance.
'I will spend the rest of my life paying you back for this miraculous grace . . .' She declared in her mind.
"Whoa there! Your moving a bit to fast!" Shiki said with (fake) shock.
"What?" The kunoichi was confused.
"I mean, we barely met and you're already offering yourself for me to eat? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to. But don't you think you're going a little fast." Shiki continued.
"What!? No! It wasn't like that!" Ryuzetsu shouted flusteredly with a furious blush gracing her cheeks and ears.
*pfft* "Hahahahahahaha!" Shiki broke down in laughter.
"You should have seen your face!" He said, not resisting the chance to tease his new subordinate.
"Hahahahahaha!" He continued laughing.
In the end, even the usually stoic Ryuzetsu joined in and they both laughed at his poor joke.
'It really feels good to laugh again.' Ryuzetsu though, her mind free of the burden that weighed on her for what seemed like forever now.
With that business taken care of, Shiki fully introduced himself to Ryuzetsu and took her to the Desert Fortress guiding her through the entry process into the Core of Mugetsu much like he had recently done with Kahyo.
Ryuzetsu would be mostly stationed in Mugetsu's official "embassy" in Kusagakure in order to fulfill her role as liaison properly but she would have access to a portal for her exclusive use so that she could return to the fortress whenever she pleased or required.
That though, Shiki went back to his various endeavours both to expand his influence and resources. Countries to influence, treasures to unearth, plots to hatch and research to do.
First of all, he transferred control over the Box of Ultimate Bliss over to Aion so that it could perform various tests with their prisoners. Part of Aion was based on a soul clone of Shiki so transference was seamless, only after these tests were done would Shiki decided what to do with the Box.
They were mainly for testing the usefulness and extent of control of the flesh puppets created by the Box from living people.
Until that was done, Shiki had other things to do, namely, evaluate four different situations across the world and determine if and how to interfere with them.
Before he could get started however, a notification appeared on his pad. Tsunade had requested his presence in the R&D Labs as they had apparently made a significant breakthrough with their research of Zetsu.
As such, Shiki merely arranged for the closer surveillance of all four situations of interest before making his visit to the labs.
"Ah, you came already! Great!" Shizune greeted Shiki.
"So, what is this this about then?" Shiki asked.
"Follow me please, I'll lead you to the others in order to present our results." Shizune dutifully said.
"Lead the way then." Shiki acquiesced.
"Shiki, you're here! Excellent, we've succeeded in developing quite a few things from our research into the so called Zetsus you brought us." Tsunade excitedly said.
"Do share." Shiki said.
"There are three items, a medicinal paste, a healing stimulant and an enhancement serum." Tsunade explained.
"Give me the details then." Shiki hurried her.
"Hehehe. So impatient." Tsunade teased.
"The paste was developed by Shizune while the stim was co developed by her and Kabuto, Orochimaru and I worked on the serum." She further explained.
Shiki then turned to Shizune and asked.
"Well then Shizune-nee, let's start with the paste." He said.
All members of the lab team then explained the products they developed and co developed.
The medicinal paste took advantage of Zetsu's regeneration ability that Shizune and Kabuto were researching for the healing stimulant but also incorporated his ability to bond to organic matter through the spore jutsu.
When applied to a wound, the paste sealed it perfectly and prevented infection while increasing the tissue's regenerative capabilities. It could even maintain one's combat efficiency despite major injury until proper treatment could be administered.
"Although not very useful for the core members with advanced regenerative capabilities, I still though it would be a great product for our fringe members." Shizune explained.
"Indeed! But not only that." Shiki said.
"By marketing this product to the whole continent under my real name, I'll be able to reinforce my pristine and benevolent image in the eyes of the world and make it much easier to carry out the later parts of my plans." Shiki commented.
"Well done Shizu-nee! You've out done yourself." Shiki unhesitantly praised.
"Thank you!" She blushingly replied.
"Your planning on selling it?" Kabuto asked.
"Yes. And I imagine it won't be long until it becomes a strategic resource for all hidden villages. The fact that I'm sharing such a thing to the world instead of keeping it for Konoha's exclusive use will no doubt boost my reputation further." Shiki explained.
"Why do you need that reputation anyway?" Kabuto asked.
He could not see through Shiki's motives. In truth while some knew more than others on what he was attempting to do, not even Tsunade knew the full scope of Shiki's plans, partly because she wasn't interested in prying into Shiki's matters when he did not see fit to tell.
"Well, let's just say it's a necessity for my future endeavours and leave it at that." Shiki said.
"But we've strayed off topic, back to the products." He added.
Next up, Kabuto introduced the stims he and Shizune developed in cooperation. The stims basically injected a huge amount of vitality and healing agents that, while bearing short lived effects, could drastically boost the regeneration of a subject.
It only lasted for a couple of seconds at most but, during that time period, one's regeneration was boosted to core member levels. No doubt a trump card best saved for Mugetsu's exclusive use, at least for now.
However, predicting this would be the case, the versions of the stim were made. A powerful version for Mugetsu's use, and a weaker version for marketing which Shiki was planning on using much in the same way as he would the paste.
Of course, the stims had a much different military use and purpose than the paste but they would be far more rare and thus expensive. A precious resource save for the most critical of times.
Shiki once again spared no praise for the efforts of the two assistants and even kabuto was quite pleased. After all, no dislikes having their efforts acknowledged and praised.
But now, it was time for the most complex and powerful of the produced items.
'Something co developed by Orochimaru and Tsuna-nee . . . It gives me shivers just thinking about it . . .' Shiki said to himself in his mind.
*cough* *cough*
Tsunade fake coughed before starting.
"I am proud to present the Graded Zetsu Serum!" She excitedly said and, before Shiki could get a word in, she started explaining all on her own.
"This serum co developed my yours truly and the snake over there, is divided into grades which are, form highest to lowest, S, A, B, C and D. Each have their own effects and unfortunately, requirements for use." She detailed.
"We know about your preference for grading things so that we can hord the more powerful versions while sharing the weaker ones and, since the stronger the effects, the stronger the requirements would be, we've decided to create several grades."
Orochimaru explained their reasoning.
Still, all the preliminary explanations and multiple grades only served to build up more anticipation in Shiki and he was raring to hear the actual effects . . .
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P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!
The link is: https://www.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/lusoba without the extra dots of course.
You'll get to read up to FOUR week ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.
There's also my other novel Archon of DanMachi, do check it out!
I would greatly appreciate any support since this is going to be my breadwinner.