kscans

Chapter 34 - Iga Chunin Hojo Sakura (2/2)

"Nice to meet you. I'm Shizukuishi Hayate." I can tell from his voice. He seems like a nice young man. I know from his streams that he has a good personality.

I feel like he has a cuter face in person than on his streams.

He's the focus of worldwide attention, and on top of that, he's skilled enough to receive a certificate of complete mastery from Hattori-sama. I'm starting to envy Shinonome Rena-san for getting to date him.

Well, she is the young lady of one of Japan's four great zaibatsu, so perhaps they are a good match.

"From now on, I will have you all master the Hayate-style four-sword style."

Come to think of it, this was a mission where failure was not an option. I should focus and listen to him.

"This is based on the premise of equipping weapons you obtain in dungeons, so you won't be using your usual arms. They won't be effective against monsters even if you bring them into a dungeon. By the way, there's a trick to making it seem like you're doing it with the power of the manipulators, but it's quite difficult to convey that feeling with words, so I'll be controlling all of your bodies."

Controlling our bodies?

Could that be… Puppet Jutsu? What, you can use that at such a young age!?

"The Puppet Jutsu requires me to periodically show you the signs to re-cast it, so please don't intentionally look away from my hands. Well, I'll guide you to look even if you try to look away."

As he said that, Hayate-sama raised his right hand.

Before I knew it, I was mimicking his movements. And it wasn't just me. all the Chunin present were doing the same thing.

Wh-When did he make the signs!? When were we put under the jutsu?

This is a Special Jonin… He's on a different level, indeed.

"Also, this will be shared not just with everyone here, but with Chunin all over the world via video stream, and we will have them cooperate. There's a camera for that purpose, but please don't come to this side. I think it's probably impossible since you're being puppeteered, but this is just a warning."

And so, Hayate-sama's four-sword style lecture began.

The initial movements were so simple that not just a Genin, but even an athletic civilian could do them.

However, between each movement, Hayate-sama was forming hand seals at high speed. It was at a speed you wouldn't notice unless you were specifically watching for him to form seals.

I finally understood why he had said before the stream began that a frame rate of 144fps or higher was necessary to view the equipment.

The time he takes to form a seal is less than 1/100th of a second.

Only trained ninja like us can perceive it. And even if you played the screen in slow motion, the seals would not take effect.

The explanation about the frame rate was apparently to show the seals to the Chunin taking his lecture in other countries and maintain the Puppet Jutsu.

U-Uhm… Are you really human?

Among the Jonin, there are those who can walk on air or operate underwater without limits. In addition to the basic specs required of a Chunin, you cannot become a Jonin without such special techniques.

In Hayate-sama's case, perhaps the ability to form seals at super high speed corresponds to that.

--*--

N-No, I was wrong…

What Hayate-sama could do was not just forming seals at super high speed.

To begin with, he was using Puppet Jutsu. This is a jutsu of such high difficulty to master that just being able to use it is enough to become a Jonin.

Furthermore, he also managed to forcibly improve the physical abilities of the subjects he was controlling with the Puppet Jutsu. To be precise, he was forcibly increasing their brain usage rate.

While a civilian uses only about 10% of their brain, an Iga Genin can use up to about 20%. As brain usage increases, muscle usage rate also grows accordingly. Reflex speed improves dramatically. That's why they can run at speeds impossible for ordinary people or deflect bullets.

As a Chunin, I can activate my brain up to about 30%. It's very tiring, so I don't do it constantly.

Incidentally, if you can use 30% of your brain, you no longer need a computer. Conversation with nearby allies becomes unnecessary, and you can communicate just by making eye contact.

Memory and calculation abilities also skyrocket.

Physics calculations are completed in an instant, so you will absolutely never miss when throwing a kunai.

However, that was the limit of my abilities.

I had thought I was capable of something quite amazing.

However, by having my brain usage forcibly raised to 50% by Hayate-sama's jutsu, all my previous common sense was overturned.

Omnipotence.

That would be the correct word for it.

What was particularly enhanced was the ability to accurately grasp the state of my own body.

Our bodies are being moved by Hayate-sama's Puppet Jutsu, but we became able to perfectly memorize every single one of those movements.

This is… It's not just Puppet Jutsu, is it?

He is likely casting a combination of several jutsu on us, such as forced brain awakening and sensory sharing.

Otherwise, there is no way I would be able to perform these movements.

We thirty Chunin, having leaped to a height of about five meters from the ground, perfectly traced and unleashed the technique Hayate-sama used to slice through the Tidal Wave to avoid Undine's attack in the Spring Dungeon, the Soaring Sky Spiral Slash.

This technique feels amazing. I want to unleash it on an enemy soon!!

Incidentally, we had entered a dungeon beforehand to acquire manipulators. We were currently mimicking Hayate-sama's movements while equipped with them.

I had thought that he was using his own physical abilities for the high jumps, claiming it was the power of the manipulators. For us ninja, such heavy, useless junk is nothing but a hindrance.

However, Hayate-sama was deliberately using the power of the manipulators to perform all his techniques. This means there's a possibility that even ordinary people could imitate him.

Drawing out 100% of the manipulators' power is extremely difficult.

But not impossible.

It seems that Hayate-sama, despite being a ninja, barely used that power in his dungeon clears. If he were to get serious, he should have been able to instantly kill the Undine that the Goddess was controlling.

He told the Goddess he would 'go all out,' but he likely meant going all out as a human.

I felt Hayate-sama's strong and pure will to spread the four-sword style.

At the same time, this puts great pressure on us. We can no longer easily rely on our ninja arts.

This mission might be of an unprecedentedly high difficulty.

But I will carry it out perfectly.

Because I have completed the Hayate-style four-sword style, ultra-short training course!!