Chapter 32: Process

Click 

Clack

Click

Twack

Wooden sounds resonated through the forest.

Wooden dolls were moving clumsily, at times they were moving fast before slowing down.

Other times they perform an incorrect action such as stepping wrong or not moving a leg but moving the other causing them to fall.

The dolls were human shaped but small and fragile evident by the broken pieces that would fall off the doll.

Standing near the dolls were a group of individuals who could be seen trying to move the dolls despite the evident frustration on their face.

"What's the point of these puppets!??!!" yelled a young adult as he got closer to the puppet he was trying to control.

He picked up and smashed it to the ground before kicking it away.

He turned to the older adults and yelled, "Using a bow is easier than this. He said our bows wouldn't harm a shinobi, but what are these puppets supposed to do?"

The other adults of the Yokobe Clan ignored Hideki's tantrum as it wasn't the first time the young adult performed these actions.

'This damn puppet doesn't do what I want it to do!!!'

'This piece of shit….I didn't mean to do that!!!!'

'Fuuuuuuuuuu.....ckinnnnnng puppet if you were alive I would have beaten you to death.'

As the adults recalled the young adults previous tantrums they continued to diligently practice moving the puppet.

After all, their Clanhead was doing the same actions as them; they had long understood the greatness behind these puppets.

But as their attention turned to their Clanhead who was deftly moving the puppet using the chakra threads coming from her hands she would then perform simple actions one at a time noticing the reaction of the puppet in front of her.

As she pondered over the reactions of the puppet, as for what she was pondering they wouldn't know till practice was over.

These puppets were all handcrafted by their hands after chopping the wood nearby.

Before they got this far they had to look for a woodworker from Torogawa, the nearby town.

Once they located a suitable woodworker they brought him and his family into the compound after offering ample compensation to stay within the compound to teach what they knew over woodworking.

The woodworker and his family were astonished as they were guided through a thick layer of mist and met with an open sky.

The Mist didn't flow further; it stopped it from filling in this empty space or covering the sky.

When the woodworker first found out that he would be teaching a group of shinobi the man was flustered.

It took him days to get over the fact he was teaching shinobi, but as his family settled in the classes got more efficient.

Eventually the man had nothing else to teach but was still asked to stay within the compound and work for them.

The man was entrusted to make quick and easy repairs on the puppets after they were done training.

Making these puppets was a learning process as their Young Master didn't really give them much detail and threw the task to their clan.

In the mornings they would listen to each other's discoveries discussing how to better build the puppet.

They noted all the weak points, flaws, and problems they experience with their puppets.

Once that was over they would work on the puppets aiming to improve it and fix the problem they had or they didn't notice.

Once they were done they would use the puppets practicing moving it and performing action with it, but that wasn't all that they were tasked to do.

They were told to create more creative traps that involve their chakra threads. 

'Support items,' they were told.

One such item they came up with was an item that when triggered would release a clack of wooden sounds similar to the puppets movement.

They thought of this item to be in use in conjunction with mist controlled by Endo Clan.

As the mist would obscure the vision as the enemy wouldn't know where the puppets would be.

However the problem is that the Yokobe Clan wouldn't be able to see in the mist just as their enemy couldn't see them they too wouldn't be able to see them.

They struggled in vain for countless days trying to figure out how to overcome this problem. It wasn't until Hideki finally screamed the answer.

'This isn't right!!! These puppets are horrible.' 

He placed his foot over the puppets head before smashing it head under his foot afterwards he kicked the puppet away, 'Although we used bows we could see our enemy, even if the enemy up close we still fought with our bows.'

That's when they came up with the idea to just fight up close.

But that went against the idea of the puppets hence they covered the puppets and themselves in similar cloaks to prevent them from telling who was human at a glance.

The puppets and themselves wore bottom face masks, and gloves hiding features that would expose them.

But that wasn't enough the enemy would be able to tell through sound who was human, so they wore wooden items that would mimic wooden sounds similar to those of their puppets.

The sounds would be produced as they moved around.

Their cloaks were gray in color to mimic the color of mist providing a sense of camouflage. 

Although the puppets were small at the moment that would change once they were confident on how to build a bigger version of the puppet.

The Yokobe Clansmen all stopped their actions when they noticed Ritsu had appeared not too far from their Clanhead.

They all bowed their heads showing their respects. Although many wished to continue their way of the bow many felt the excitement.

Through Ritsu they've discovered something they've never thought of before. In their past they hunted their prey with their bow, but now their prey will be hunted through their actions.

Their prey will dance in the palm of their hands, the thoughts of their prey confused, flustered, anxious. This woke up a feeling the Yokobe Clan never knew they had, a sadist.

Although they have yet to put this action, the experience of a hunter allowed them to imagine the various hunts they will conduct in the future except this time they will be hunting shinobi.

"I trust that everything is coming along?"

"Yes, young master, everything is coming along just fine. I am close to making the first human sized puppet.

Although my clansmen are having trouble they don't seem too far off from it's just a matter of time," Noriko smiled as she glanced at her clansmen showing her confidence in her clan.

Yet her smile falters for a second as she eyes the broken puppet off in the distance.

Her smile straightened as her gaze went over her Clansmen before narrowing at the young adult who didn't have a puppet.

The young man didn't dare to look at her as he shivered uncontrollably gazing at the ground.

Ever since they started working with puppets he's broken more than a dozen.

Each Time he was met with a personal training session with their Clanhead yet it wasn't the good kind.

Ritsu noticed Noriko's lingering gaze so he turned to see where she was looking as he noticed the broken puppet, "Yes…. I see your clans doing good," seeing Noriko's attention still on the young individual without a puppet he quickly said what he wanted to say before leaving, 

"Once your Clan is confident in your abilities, tell me so I can plan a way for you guys to test your abilities."

—---------------------------------

Jinsei watched as the group entrusted with him grew, they were talented.

They advance quickly through what he taught them.

Although they were not as talented as him. 

Therefore he pushed them harder, he kept training them until he knew their bodies were screaming in agony.

He found joy in seeing how his student's grew from the intensity of the training.

One kid in particular caught his interest.

He was from the Endo clan, he has sparred with him before and the kids got a knack for picking up the skills for his Clan's Tanto arts.

But the kid wasn't gifted for the blades; his actions were precise to the letter.

The young man's name was Sato. Other than his precise skill with the Tanta, his degree of control over his Kekkei Genkai surpassed his other clansmen.

He witnessed first hand how Sato guessed where his Tanto which was covered in chakra would hit his body, he watched as Sato's body deformed in irregular shapes as his Tanto went through Sato's body.

Once he pulled back the blade the body would form back in. It wasn't like when one used a regular blade to stab through he consciously moved his body away from the chakra covered blade.

If Sato had made a single mistake in that moment his blade would have pierced his body.

After that fight he made sure to train Sato even more in the use of his Kekkei Genkai.

Beside Sato his eyes land on Ena the young miss of the Karatachi Clan.

She was an excellent sensor and did the required training but recently she has started to push herself more than what was required.

Pausing without break, even after the training is over she would stay and continue training.

Although Jinsei advised that rest was important her eyes showed she wouldn't stop.

Jinsei sighed, 'She was talented and she will be strong but what she's reaching for isn't possible.

As a founder he would be privy to some details other clans that join later would not know.

Ritsu in the future is not something she could reach, something that many would not be able to reach.

I wonder how he compares to those other two?'

Aside from Sato and Ena, a younger child named Yuko Karatachi also caught his eye although not as talented as others. Her spirit was special.

In team fights she wouldn't hesitate to receive an attack if it meant protecting her teammate, she was always the first to attack creating opportunities for her team to attack, and always the first to volunteer no matter how harsh a beating she's already received.

His gaze softened as he looked at her determined face, 'He made sure she received special treatment as he reduced the power in his blows.'

After the end of today's training regiment he was wandering the compound lost in thought recalling the bea—conversation his father had with him.

'A family huh…'

He kept wandering around the compound with the word family constantly in his mind.

He stopped as he saw one of his student's lying down outside of what he assumed was her home.

She was resting in what he assumed to be her Mother's lap.

He watched as their mother applied ointment on her bruises as they relaxed outside in the evening, "Yuko I know you were selected to train but you have the option to not be a shinobi."

"But I was chosen," replied Yuko, smiling at her mother.

"It hurts my heart seeing you come back with bruises every day."

"I understand mom,"

"If you understand, you would tell them you want to stop being a shinobi."

"But I can't mom"

"It's just a matter of telling them to consider your feelings,"

Silence built up as the mother daughter stared at each other's eyes, "I can't mother, my feelings tell me that I don't want the people I cared about to endure what we went through.

Just as you protected me from the beating we received, just as you skimped on the meals so I could be fed I want to do something for those who are protecting us. But I want to be the person who protects others."

"Yuko….." said the mother as she lifted her daughter as she hugged with all her might.

In doing so Yuko noticed Jinsei, "M-Master!! What are you doing here?"

"Ahhh I was just wandering around."

Yuko's mom stopped hugging her daughter and turned to face Jinsei, "Hello Clan elder Jinsei, I am Mayumi Yuko's mother."

Jinsei nodded as he shook her hand, she smiled as he took her hand, "I would appreciate if my daughter didn't come back to me covered in bruises,"

Mayumi continued to smile as she tried to squish Jinsei's hand which was a futile action as she couldn't fully enveloped his hands much less harm him.

"Pffftt…Hahahaha!" laughed Yuko as she tried tickling her mother to get her away from Jinsei, "Mom stop, that's my Master." 

Her actions led to her mother turning around to tickle her back as they started a tickling battle.

Jinsei watched their actions as their laughter resounded through his ears.

He watched as the mother and daughter laughed without care that he was present, 'So this is family, was I like this too?.....Maybe in the past,'

His gaze softened as Yuko's joyful laughter, he was aware of what she went through. Ritsu showed no hesitation to reveal his actions in the past years.

He learned how the people who swept and cleaned the compound were all servants for life. 

Captured from the clans who had decimated the Karatachi Clan, now they were branded with a seal that condemned to eternal servitude a single trace of hatred would leave them to experience vast amounts of pain.

Although he did not approve of such actions, Ritsu said that whether he liked it or not those people deserved it after what they had to his clan.

'In this world of pain and suffering he does not wish to bring others into the world to experience what he went through.'

His gaze turned to the numerous scars that adorned his body, some were earned through the rigorous training of his father while most were earned through battle.

Each carrying a pain he would not forget, his attention was pulled back when someone gripped his hand.

It was Yuko, "Master, are you okay?"

Jinsei heaved a heavy sigh before assuring Yuko that he was okay.

"You should spend time with your family. Spending time with my mother soothes my pain so it should work for you too."

Jinsei absentmindedly nodded at Yuko words, as he recalled the beating he received from his father.

His father would kick him back out until he brought a woman back.

"Master, do you not have family?" Yuko meekly asked. Her master was always tough during training, not allowing a single mistake.

During sparring he ensured no serious injuries would take place, always intervening at the critical moment.

Yuko knew that although he was a fierce man, a scary man, and a scary Master she knew he was a caring individual.

Jinsei stayed silent as he reminisced about his mother before deciding to respond, "I have a father."

Yuko understood what it meant to say you only had one parent left after all she only had her mother.

"I'm sorry,"

"Don't be, it was a long time ago."

"Master, do you have a wife?"

Jinsei, confused by Yuko's question, "No I don't"

Yuko beamed in joy, "Then in that case be my father!!!"

"Yuko!!!" Mayumi rushed to cover her daughter's mouth.

The person in front of her was the Clanhead of the Hatake Clan.

Jinsei stood still, 'Yuko had a good heart, yes, but to become her father?' 

He glance at Mayumi who was still admonishing Yuko, he smile, 'I guess I can try.'