Touki never in his life thought he would have to act like some kind of God's messenger, but it was the only way he found to get those proud samurai to even listen to him.
In his quest to find allies among the different samurai clans and create a force to rival the ninjas, Touki tried everything he could to convince them through dialogue, but unfortunately, there was one very important factor he failed to consider: samurai are extremely loyal to their Daimyo, who in turn maintains strong relationships with the ninjas. Needless to say, all of those samurais ended up dead and with a lot of evidence pointing to ninja assassins.
Sometimes Touki is surprised by how easy it is for him to take down many samurai and ninjas, but if you analyze it carefully, it all comes down to the unpredictability of his fighting style, without hand seals, without words and without hesitation. Not to mention the swords he carries, which, instead of launching flashy attacks like samurai, concentrate their attack into a condensed, invisible form of energy.
Touki, extremely disappointed, had to optimize his approach, no longer breaking into the samurai's rooms or resorting to kidnapping, but rather appealing to spirituality, mysticism and fear, in order to put himself in a position far superior to the earthly figure of the Daimyo. Even so, only a fraction of the "auditions" yielded the expected results, leaving Touki with a handful of potential future allies.
But Touki is not stupid, even with all the ceremony and the oaths of the samurai that he managed to convince, he did not just hand over artifacts like that, but he devised a complex system that ensures that only those he selected can use them.
Each katana produced can only operate at a specific frequency, represented by a single key in the form of a quartz chip, which must be implanted into the user's body in order for them to be able to activate the sword. The chip can only be activated once, and if for any reason it leaves the body, it self-destructs, rendering the artifact completely unusable. Only Touki is capable of crafting a new key, and he even has the ability to remotely delete them. Such is the level of the man's paranoia.
Unfortunately for Touki, the recruitment process requires a lot of time on his part, including preparation and research for each particular case, so it will have to be a continuous work through months or even years in order to see any results, especially at times when there are other priorities for him, such as the Uchiha issue.
The village is experiencing times of apparent peace, but Touki knows well that beneath it all lies a potential rebellion by the Uchiha, at least by its older members, who resent the other clans for marginalizing them after the Kyubi's attack, which will inevitably result in their massacre.
Touki has tried to gather information about the current state of the Uchiha clan, but it's not an easy task, as all the clan members live in the same district and aren't particularly open about their intentions. The only thing Touki has been able to gather is that tensions have risen significantly since Shisui's death.
Touki's memory is terrible for most of the underlying themes of the original story, making it impossible for him to predict the exact date of the massacre, so he simply opted for the idea of making the most profit out of it. Warning anyone wouldn't help, as it could lead to a civil war, nor would interfering with any of the main characters, so the only thing left to do is to take advantage of those secondary or background characters. And Touki has some ideas on how to obtain precious resources without altering the course of the story too much.
During the production of the countless teleportation modules, Touki discovered an additional application for beacon devices. Since these must somehow be sensed before the jump is made, it wasn't difficult to design another program capable of functioning solely as a tracker, not very accurate with distances, but very effective with direction. A very useful invention if you want to track the position of someone, as long as they carry the beacon.
All of Touki's plans are based on too many assumptions, but the imminent opening of his bike shop opens up an opportunity he never initially considered, though only time will tell if it can be a success.
…
[Karin]
On a spring day in April, as the sun barely rises over the horizon, a little girl moves from one side of her house to the other, looking for her school supplies and making sure that every detail of her appearance is perfect.
Today is a very important day for Karin, as it's her first day at school. Many important things are about to happen, and everything has to be perfect. Once in the kitchen, the girl sits at the table and receives a hearty breakfast from Touki: sausages, bacon, eggs, and toast—a rather atypical meal by any standard, but one that's always been the norm in this house, and something she's already accustomed to.
"Touki, is my hair okay?" Karin asks the man sitting across from her.
"Don't you trust Suki?" Touki answers, looking at the young Suki next to him, who is simply smiling, and has been smiling since the beginning of the day.
"Nothing like that, I just need another opinion" the girl insists, touching her hair arranged in a single braid backwards, decorated with a blue ribbon and a floral headband of the same color above her forehead.
"You look adorable. Remember to take good care of those glasses and never take them off"
Karin nods and adjusts her new glasses, a gift from Touki and a device the girl knows not only helps her see, but is also a means of defense in extreme cases. The design is also quite cute and has an attachment that allows them to be secured and prevented from falling off, something Touki says all ninjas with glasses should wear.
"Remember, Karin" Touki says seriously. "Your stay at the academy isn't for you to become a Konoha ninja, but rather for you to learn, make friends, and complete a couple of missions I'm going to assign you. The first mission is to never excel in the ninja arts, never show what you're truly capable of, and never expose your healing ability. Understood?"
"Understood" The girl answers.
Karin knows that Touki isn't a normal person; Suki has told her this on multiple occasions, with her memories of her release from Kusagakure being the most telling evidence. The girl isn't exactly sure what the man is involved in, but it has a lot to do with the long hours he spends with Suki, working in the basement and doing who knows what. Sometimes he even disappears for days on end, only to reappear not through the front door, but in the basement itself. Suki is also an enigma, who also disappears with Touki, and who sometimes emanates an aura much more dangerous than the man.
Karin finishes eating, brushes her teeth and leaves the house with her new bicycle, a gift from Touki and a means for her to advertise at the academy. Outside, Naruto is waiting to accompany her on her first day. He does not have the right to drive alone at the moment, so he climbs on the axle of the rear wheel of Karin's bicycle and they both head towards the academy.
The ride to the academy is short, mainly due to the bike's speed, with Naruto shouting in excitement every time they pick up some speed on a downhill climb. As they approach the main building, they come across a large group of children entering the academy, and they are all surprised to see the duo arrive on the exotic vehicle.
Karin, trying to capitalize on the moment, takes an extra lap around the academy entrance before riding in alongside Naruto, who's smiling a bit too much at the experience of being the center of attention. The bike is a pink beauty, decorated with animal stickers, and has a basket on the handlebars to carry Karin's bag. The girls are most interested in the appearance, but the boys immediately notice the speed of the bike.
Soon, both children are bombarded with all sorts of questions about the bicycle, which are promptly answered by a helpful Karin, who is advertising her family's shop, which conveniently opens today. Naruto, meanwhile, in a rare spectacle, finds himself surrounded by several of his classmates, asking about the invention, though some are skeptical of the boy's exaggerated claims about his prowess and that he almost killed himself riding.
So far, a good first start for little Karin.