Sasuke reacted instantly. He swiftly formed a Tiger seal with one hand, while with the other, he laid his fingers upon his summoning beast, the water bat. He closed his eyes, concentrating to feel what the bat perceived.
Below, by the tree, Ryo sniffed the air fiercely. Beside him, Akimaru did the same, his nostrils flaring as he tried to catch any trace on the wind.
"Dammit, it's a Sand Puppet Master!" Ryo exclaimed, his face changing drastically. The air was permeated with a disgusting scent of puppet oil and treated wood. There was no doubt.
Tekudō, his veteran subordinate, climbed the tree to stand beside Sasuke. He was about to suggest the obvious.
"Captain, do you want us to go get support? If there's a Puppet Master this time, maybe we shouldn't—"
But Sasuke interrupted him, his voice sounding unusually firm.
"Support! Of course, we're going to provide support! We must, this time!"
Tekudō was baffled. 'What's wrong with him? Did the captain take the wrong medicine today? This is so unlike him. He knows there's a puppeteer, and he still wants to go head-on. Is it possible that all that survival philosophy he always teaches us is fake? Captain, you haven't been faking it all this time, have you? Have you awakened the Will of Fire?'
"Hiss..."
Just the thought of the Will of Fire sent a shiver down his spine. 'I, Tekudō, am not one of those leaves that fly just to be burned. I'm the hope of my family! Captain, please don't fool me. You yourself said that sacrificing young sprouts to illuminate your own path is the most shameful thing there is. You don't want to burn us, your three little sprouts, do you?'
Hearing the decision, even Ryo and Chōmi were a little surprised. The captain was breaking from his usual style. Why was he acting so responsible and bold all of a sudden? Even Chōmi's pure mind clearly perceived the abnormality in his behavior.
In contrast, Ryo, born and raised as a clan ninja, started to believe it. He felt that great heroes thought alike and that, perhaps, his own efforts to instill the right spirit in the team had finally borne fruit. A new energy coursed through him, his shoulders straightened, and a flame of pure conviction burned in his eyes.
"Do you not believe in my Will of Fire?" Sasuke asked, fixing his gaze on Tekudō. He forced a conviction into his voice that he didn't quite feel; his tone was harsh, but inwardly, a cynical voice laughed at the irony.
The truth was, he hadn't awakened any Will of Fire. And if he did, it would be a very flexible and opportunistic version of it. He would never commit the shameless act of sacrificing his subordinates, but if an opportunity to profit presented itself, he would undoubtedly seize it.
Just now, by borrowing his bat's chakra, he had activated his sonar radar perception ability and had obtained much more precise information from the Aoba Squad's defense zone. It wasn't an elite infiltration, but a Suna team chasing a Konoha intelligence team. The fact that Suna had dispatched their puppet squad meant that the information carried by that Konoha team was extremely valuable.
If he managed to help and secure that information, even as mere support, the mission's merit would easily reach B-rank. If he got lucky and played a key role, maybe it could even be A-rank?
An A-rank mission merit... It wouldn't be enough to exchange for a ninjutsu of that level, but it might be enough for the knowledge related to developing new chakra natures. With that information, and thanks to his mental strength and chakra control, he was sure he could develop a second attribute. And once he did, his power would increase drastically. Becoming a jōnin would be the logical next step.
Such a great reward was well worth taking some calculated risks.
Of course, he wasn't the type to die for a jutsu. The risks had to be controlled. Did they really think he had chosen this high-risk defense zone by pure chance?
If he hadn't known that Konoha's "Strongest Genin," Maru, was part of the mobile patrol force in this sector, he would never have come. He knew the value of that man perfectly well.
Maru was, at a minimum, an elite jōnin. At this point in history, in his prime, he was very likely a quasi-Kage level warrior. With such a heavyweight hidden in the area, the real danger was minimal, as long as the intel team wasn't wiped out silently or in a matter of seconds.
And just now, his bat had informed him that Maru wasn't at the base but was patrolling nearby. Judging by the roar of the explosions, he had to be on his way already. How could he pass up such a perfect opportunity to snag some easy merits?
Of course, he couldn't explain any of this to his subordinates. How would he justify his knowledge of such advanced sonar perception? Revealing your hand is not what a good ninja does. Besides, this ability bordered on the taboo of stealing clan secret techniques, a crime severely punished in Konoha.
No, this ability wasn't theft, he consoled himself. At most, it was a "small reference."
Initially, frustrated by the ninjutsu monopoly, he had no choice but to obsessively practice the few techniques he knew. Thanks to his transmigrator soul, his mental power and chakra control were exceptional, and he quickly brought the three basic techniques and the Water Prison to a level of mastery comparable to an elite jōnin.
With nothing new to learn, he continued to practice, and it was then that he discovered the extraordinary possibilities of the Transformation Jutsu. He remembered the battle of Naruto against Gaara, when Naruto transformed into the Nine-Tails. Then, watching Ryo and Akimaru use their hybrid transformation techniques, he understood: if he could borrow a creature's chakra, he could transform into it and use some of its abilities.
He discovered he had a natural talent for this jutsu. Using the rigorous scientific thinking from his previous life, he deconstructed the technique, drawing inspiration from the Inuzuka's methods. Soon, he could transform not only into inanimate objects like a kunai but also into living beings. But to transform into a summoning beast and use its powers, he needed to borrow its chakra. The key, therefore, was to get one.
After much consideration, he chose the most common creature in the Land of Rivers: the water bat. And the reason wasn't its ease of capture, but its special ability: ultrasonic echolocation.