With a faint network of black lines etching themselves onto his forehead, Ren sighed, turning to Tsunade. "The weapon is in the box."
Tsunade, curiosity now piqued, lifted the lid. Inside, nestled against a soft lining, lay eighteen gleaming, golden metal feathers.
"This is a weapon?" she scoffed, poking at them with a disdainful finger. "It doesn't look as reliable as the box did! At least I could throw that box as a hidden weapon and smash an enemy to death! What good are these metal feathers?" Her tone was laced with an almost childish incredulity.
Ren offered a silent smile, saying nothing. He simply reached into a pouch and quietly produced what looked like a supple leather glove. One by one, he carefully inserted the eighteen golden feathers into the inner layer of the glove, then gently slid it onto Tsunade's left hand.
"This... what is this?" The confusion in Tsunade's eyes deepened, her brow furrowing. She had truly never witnessed a feather being wielded as a weapon; it seemed profoundly peculiar.
"Try it?" Ren invited, his smile widening. He took Tsunade's wrist, guiding her hand. He waved her left hand towards the open space in front of her, swinging it forward through the air.
With a soft, almost imperceptible shimmer, a golden feather chain materialized in Tsunade's grasp. She barely exerted any strength, yet with astonishing ease, the chain lashed out, neatly slicing a thick wooden stake five meters away clean in half!
"So sharp! Is this a whip? Huh? Is there a flow of chakra on this? Is this whip actually connected to my chakra?" Tsunade exclaimed, her surprise evident in her voice.
"It's more than a whip," Ren said, a knowing smile playing on his lips. Then, the hand still holding Tsunade's wrist gave another subtle shake. The unified feather chain dissolved, breaking down into eighteen individual golden feathers. They shot out like a volley of darts, instantly piercing through several empty wooden boxes scattered ten meters away in the yard.
And in Tsunade's utterly astonished eyes, those feathers suddenly defied logic, behaving like boomerangs in mid-air. After completing more than half a graceful circle, they swiftly flew back, seamlessly reforming the feather chain, and settling back into Tsunade's waiting hands.
"This is... a chakra thread?! Isn't this a trick only ninjas who can use puppet arts can manage? I can actually use it?" Tsunade's eyes were wide with disbelief, her gaze fixed on Ren, a new astonishment coloring her expression. Because this weapon, it looks so weird!
"Well, I incorporated a metal material into its base that's specifically designed to attach to chakra," Ren explained with a reassuring smile. "In theory, when you inject your own chakra into this weapon, it will automatically form chakra threads within it, allowing you to control the eighteen metal feathers as a cohesive feather chain."
"My goodness!" Tsunade couldn't help but exclaim, a genuine sense of wonder in her voice. "How did you come up with such an exquisite design? I've never seen anyone else use such a strange weapon!"
How did I come up with it? Of course, it's from the blueprints the system provided.
While this feather chain is undeniably delicate and unpredictable, allowing for strange transformations in battle that can cause unexpected attacks and catch enemies off guard, Ren already has an extensive collection of potent hidden weapons. And although this weapon boasts incredible sharpness, its overall lethality isn't exactly top-tier for him. To Ren, it's merely a mediocre weapon.
But in Tsunade's hands, it held a profound significance. Ren gifted this feather chain to Tsunade for another crucial reason he hadn't directly explained. Instead, he chose to let Tsunade experience its true potential firsthand.
From a cage in the yard, Ren released a white rabbit, typically used for his experiments. The moment it was freed, the rabbit bolted, scurrying frantically into the distance.
"Try to condense the chakra formed by your Chakra Scalpel and attach it to this feather chain," Ren instructed, looking at Tsunade.
"Hmm?" Tsunade's eyes held a flicker of doubt, yet she followed Ren's directions. She condensed her vibrant green chakra, shaping it into the precise form of a Chakra Scalpel, and seamlessly flowed it into the feather chain.
Tsunade hurled the feather chain. The golden feathers, as if guided by an unseen force, locked onto their target, darting from various directions towards the fleeing rabbit in the distance.
Stab!
Several invisible threads seemed to slice through the air, whipping around the white rabbit in mid-flight. The rabbit froze, suspended in mid-air like a string puppet, its tiny body twitching almost imperceptibly.
After three agonizing seconds, the rabbit was instantly, gruesomely cut into pieces. Its head, forelegs, hind legs, tail... every joint severed, flying in a different direction before falling to the ground in the distance. The rabbit lost its breath of life in the blink of an eye.
"Ah!" Tenten gasped, quickly covering her eyes. It wasn't that she hadn't witnessed death before, but to torture and kill such a small rabbit in such a cruel, almost artistic way... It still feels cruel every day!
Tsunade, meanwhile, had a chilling premonition of what was about to happen a second before the rabbit was torn apart. She, too, closed her eyes in advance. She suffers from hyperphobia... Even seeing the blood of a rabbit can make her feel scared.
"Open your eyes, trust me, you won't be afraid," Ren said, gently patting Tsunade's shoulder. His tone held an almost enchanting persuasion.
Despite her fear of blood, Tsunade slowly opened her eyes as Ren had instructed. Then, in her beautiful eyes, her pupils suddenly constricted, and her gaze widened impossibly.
"There's no blood?"
The dead rabbit, moments ago torn into several pieces like a ragged doll and scattered across the ground, should have painted the yard crimson. Tsunade had fully expected a gruesome spray of blood, perhaps even a direct hit. But everything before her was utterly different from her imagination. Where the rabbit had been severed, there were only a few faint traces of bright red, no gushing torrent of blood at all. This contradicted all of Tsunade's previous understanding! What did I just do to achieve such an effect with this weapon?
As if sensing the doubt in Tsunade's eyes, Ren explained with a reassuring smile, "The greatest advantage of this weapon is singular: its sharpness! It's incredibly sharp!"
"Your current operation is still very unfamiliar, so the resulting cutting effect appears relatively rough," Ren continued. "But as you continue to practice, honing your ninjutsu technique with the Chakra Scalpel and mastering this feather chain, the cutting effect will become increasingly fine when you face an enemy."
"After enough practice, when you throw a chain out to strike, the ideal effect is that the enemy's head will detach from their neck only after about half a minute. By then, you'll have ample time to leave the battle scene, and naturally, you won't see any bloodstains."
A hint of pride shone in Ren's eyes as he looked at the feather chain he had personally crafted. He then turned to Tsunade and asked, "How about it? I made this one for you myself. A weapon that can not only help you avoid your fear of blood but also greatly enhance your combat effectiveness. Do you like it?"
"Like." Tsunade lowered her head, the bangs on both sides of her forehead falling to obscure her eyes, making her expression unreadable. But Tenten carefully noticed that on her master Tsunade's slender, scallion-like fingers, her nails were deeply embedded in her flesh. She seemed to be trying her best to control her emotions.
Tsunade turned around quickly, raised her head, and strode briskly towards her living quarters in the distance, leaving Ren and Tenten in the courtyard with her back to them.
"I like this gift very, very much!" "Tonight's good show, be sure to call me! Hehehe!" Tsunade exclaimed loudly, then walked into her room without a backward glance.
From an angle that Ren and Tenten couldn't see, a single, crystal tear fell silently from her eye. A faint smile, one she herself didn't even notice, lingered on Tsunade's lips.
Damn it! I am Princess Tsunade, one of the dignified Konoha Sannin! I don't want anyone to find out that I almost broke down and cried, moved to tears by that little devil, Ren!