Sweet Doctor's Update [Private | Kitsune]

[Honnou]

How long had it been, again? Man, she was probably going to be mad… he’d have to explain a lot, too. About his disappearance. About his state of health… and about the black contour of his prosthetic arm. It wasn’t black before, he didn't have much to say about his absence, and that was because... he was found waking up from some kind of coma. That was it, yeah... scary, right?! Absolutely terrifying! How?! When?! Why?! Who did-?!

There was no time to waste from the moment Hon returned to the safe inner areas of the Hidden Cloud, and yet the event with the chakra bomb underneath the Academy took his attention away. Therefore, his first objective was to neutralize that bomb, and that he did. Afterwards, he made his way towards the Aesculapium only to be informed that Kitsune's office had moved - this was troubling him as he needed to seek out the hot doctor who was responsible for his new arm. Back when his original arm had undergone a crazy chakra disruption and, in a way, lost all functioning, motion and sensitivity, she was the one who returned his quality of life back to him. He was still able to uphold the proud Hyuuga bloodline techniques with both arms and hands, all thanks to her…

… Imagine the look on his face when, upon reporting on his actions in Cloud's Academy during the bombing crisis linked to the recent warring state, he found out from the staff at the Aesculapium that Kitsune had not only moved her laboratory to that fancy, GIGANTIC formation of skyscrapers further away from downtown, but that she had also become the Eleventh Generation’s Raikage. It was such a reality photo bomb to Hon that he needed a few moments for himself to just… breathe in how much he must’ve missed. Now that the war was over, he could breathe a little more, but... what the hell? He missed out on her coronation - she must've been fuming mad! He almost considered not showing up personally out of shame of himself.

It was no wonder that he had to get back up to speed on Kumo time, but despite his feelings, right now was heavily prioritizing his arm and its status. The black contour and thin, skin-like coat over the arm would make anyone worry. That was a whole story, right there... and the bruises and bludges on its surface from neutralizing the chakra bomb earlier were visible too. Thankfully, he didn't compromise his right arm too.

For now, though, he stood in front of the talk of the town; the formation of incredibly tall skyscrapers- h-holy shit, they were huge. He knew that she had become Raikage, but was this all her office? How much work did she have on her hands?! How taxing was it to be Raikage?!

Even with his new black suit and beanie, the Eleventh Generation's Raikage would probably recognize him immediately. Not everyone carried a red strand of a bang on their hair along with a pair of shining, azure-blue eyes…

“Raikage… she became Raikage? And I wasn’t even there for the coronation- or was… was I? Argh, shut it, I probably wasn’t…” he mumbled to himself in a slight panic, “Man… I need to apologize to her. I need to say sorry. I must’ve missed a lot of checkups – I bet she’ll rip my head off my shoulders or something… b-but still, Raikage? What should I call her, then? Dr. Raikage? Foxykage? Dr. Raikage-sama?” His unreasonable mumbling continued as he made his way into the main floor... and as soon as he got the floor to Raikage-sama's laboratory - thank you so much for your consideration of the state of his arm, secretary - he took a walk across the hallways and felt like his eyes were taking in too much... he was almost getting a headache over the amount of visual information his Byakugan was sending to his brain. Thank Raiden he found his way to the laboratory - good idea to install it here, actually.

"... I sure hope she won't be too mad at me. She looked amazing with that reassuring smile and- ... h-huh... somehow, I feel like I shouldn't say stuff like that out loud. S-Stop talking, then! Shut up, Hon! Urrghhh!!!" His monologuing was getting loud enough for anyone to hear, even if they were on the other side of the entrance.

Spoiler: Appearance

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

​

For all intents and purposes this was one of the more quiet days for Kitsune since the new administrative towers had been constructed. No one had made an attempt at her life today, the paperwork had been handled much faster than usual, and she even found herself with some spare time to boot. So, given Kitsunes inquisitive nature and wanting to improve upon things she’d already made, she went to her laboratory which had been moved from the Aesculapium to the central tower of the Torre Empirea super-structure. This time, she was working on improving the speeds of the networking in the building.

See, the hospital had been using simple copper cables as conductors for the electrical signals that made up the various data packets being sent between terminals and servers at the hospital. But the Torre Empirea itself was a modern building, equipped with modern creature comforts, and that included highspeed networking in the form of fiber optics. Granted, there were some minor issues from time to time due to how extremely new the technology was, but that was why Kitsune was trying to make improvements. It seemed to her as if sometimes the strength of the light being sent across the fibers wasn’t quite strong enough, or modulated correctly, so she was doing tests with a light emitter, a bundle of fibers, and a receiver on the other end.

After some time doing tests and figuring out that the emitters used some of the networking equipment in the building had been miscalibrated, she was about to head out of her lab to inform the techs working further down that she’d found the issue, when she heard someone mumbling outside her lab. Well. At first it was mumbling, then it became louder and louder. She heard the name “Hon” being mentioned, and she remembered the youngling she’d fitted for a prostetic arm. She’d sometimes wondered what became of him, as he never showed up to any of the scheduled maintenances. So, Kitsune stepped over to the door and flung it open, only to see Hon himself basically arguing with himself about what he should do.

”I’d wait for you to make up your mind on knocking, but then we’d probably both grow old.” she said in a snarky tone, while giving Hon a reassuring wink, that it was merely a friendly jab at his indecisiveness. ”Come on in. I’d say you’re much overdue for that prosthetic maintenance at this point. And I suppose I should also thank the man that saved the city’s academy. Now that couldn’t have been an easy task.”

 

[Honnou]

!!!

Despite the constant 360-degree vision, Hon still had to move his eyes towards the doctor as she opened the door to find him in the middle of a babble. Not exactly the way he wanted to present himself to her after so long… urgh, live with it. “… Ki… Kitsune-s-sama…?” She hadn’t changed one bit, that was for sure. It brought him comfort, since at this point in time, she was the first familiar face outside of family that he met after his return to the village. Entering her new laboratory also felt reassuring, in a way.

“I, uh…” He was about to apologize for the obvious notion that he had been missing a lot of monthly check-ups at her place, but then he received a short but heartfelt praise for having saved the Academy earlier. It was comforting to hear that from her – it even made him blush like the inner child in him used to – but it also reminded him of the purpose of coming here. “You received intel about the basement, right? The chakra orb located in there…” All of this made him feel that he was out of the loop, and he gently bowed his head in an apologetic manner, “I have to be honest with you… I-I’ve missed out on much more than my arm’s check-up. I… where do I even start…?”

Perhaps simply going straight to the case would prove the most useful informant. As he slowly rolled up his left sleeve, the prosthetic arm came in full view in front of Dr. Redhead-Raikage-Kitsune-sama – immediate alterations from its previous, first installment was visible on it. One could faintly notice the blunt marks on it, results of having exerted excessive force with both arms against the chakra bomb down in the Academy’s basement. The red barriers had taken a toll on it, too, but there was something far more alarming…

The scratches and blunts were hardly visible due to the arm’s new, coal-black color. That was no ink, dye or spray paint; the black color had the texture of a thin layer of leather, and every time the Hyūga tried to peel it off, it grew its damaged parts back into a complete layer as if nothing had happened. It kept on clinging to his prosthetic, no matter how many times Hon had tried to remove it on his way back home to Kumo. The black, leather-like skin proved no obstacle in the arm’s functions, but it had been like that ever since he woke up.

Stretching out the leather a bit to draw Kitsune-sama’s attention to it, he spoke up: “Do you think that you can identify thi- w-woah, this place is even larger now…”

Arrghh, he was easily distracted by what his eyes presented to him. The laboratory was so modern that it struck awe in him, especially compared to the last laboratory where the Raikage worked. “Oh yeah… you’re Raikage-sama, now… damn.” He sounded a bit disheartened, though, as if… jealousy was growing in him. It was easy to hear, for he hid it behind a silly pout.

WC: 517 [MFT]

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune chuckled and showed him into the lab and gestured for him to have a seat over by a worktable equipped with the tools needed for prosthetics work. ”Yes, I got the report about what happened at the academy. You did very well there.” she said and raised an eyebrow at the prosthetic arm itself, as it looked quite banged up and had gotten discolored to the point where it was all black. ”But uh… It would appear the prosthetic I fitted you for years ago has… Seen better days. The design has been altered… There’s dents and scratches all over it… And what’s with this black coloration?”

She tried scraping it off, assuming it was merely some form of oxidation on the metal, but considering it creased and tore, something was off about it. It seemed… Organic in nature, rather than merely a residue on top of the metal. ”How’d this happen to your arm, Hon-kun?” she asked, looking up at him from her hunched over position at the workbench. She kinda wanted to just unhook the arm and put it in a containment vessel for later study. And, well, in the same go also fit Hon for a new arm that’d fit his growth.

Hon seemed dejected at the realization that Kitsune had become Raikage, and she chuckled a bit ”Yes. Yes, I am. And after the recent nobility uprising, I am also the ruler of the country. Which, to be honest, is just a slight extension of my existing responsibilities. Remember I was a Duchess before becoming Raikage. I already ruled a decent chunk of the country, as I had been given the responsibility of two provinces. Then came Kumogakure, and lastly the rest of the country. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not all fun and games, Hon-kun. It’s hard work.” she told him earnestly.

”But if my actions can help the citizens of Kumogakure, and the now chakra capable citizens of Lightning Country, then I’ll gladly carry that burden. It’s why I had the Torre Empirea that we’re currently standing in constructed. And why the Torre Celeste is now a museum. I want people to remember where they came from, and I want them to know where we’re going. Have you been to the Cronopolis in the past year or so? It’s a completely revitalized place, now that there’s homes for even the most destitute of our citizens.” she continued, a hint of pride in her words, as it was Kitsune that had put that into motion.

Really, all the construction work to provide homes, schools, recreational facilities for the people living in Kumogakure, and the country as a whole, was being driven by Kitsunes desire for nobody to lack a safe place to call home. And hopefully by providing a safe base for people to start from, she’d have stronger shinobi in her forces, and brighter minds working in the administration. And for that, she’d have to keep on working hard. It all required a lot of money, and while it could hang on trees, that’d just devalue it immensely. So instead of relying on raw materials for exports, Kumogakure had pivoted to exporting technology as well as certain materials only found in Lightning, and the proceeds from that helped immensely in keeping everything running.

 

[Honnou]

Hon gently took a seat at the worktable, deciding to rest his body and soul at last. He closed his eyes for a second, simply taking in as much idyllic silence as he could, even for just an instant. Call it sloth, he had to get some well-deserved laziness run through his system after all the events having led up to this point in time. The strong lights above which illuminated the worktable bothered him not, and even if he turned away from them, they’d still be within his field of vision – alas, it was a futile battle to fight. Not that the light bothered him in any way.

Kitsune brought out the alterations quickly and simply; it was almost unrecognizable with that weird skin over it, and it sure had its fair share of battle scars. Hon watched closely as she began to scrape on it, witnessing the exact same thing that happened when he attempted the very same thing – the leather was creasy and almost rubber-like, not flaking off like layers of rust would. It was… difficult to explain. “… It must’ve happened near the Monumentum Deo. That was where I woke up, somehow unharmed as far as I know,” he began to explain to the best of his abilities, perhaps reminding Dr. Redhead-Raikage-Kitsune-sama of the monstrous titan that paid Kumogakure a visit a couple years ago.

He explained that a fluid object with animate capabilities emerged from the monster before its fall, something that he had reported to Saitou Rei back then. It was by her behest that he hunted down this remain outside of the borders of the village, thus finding himself in the Monumentum Deo where he met… a child. Yeah, he did meet a child in the middle of those jagged roads, didn’t he? It blew his mind, though, and it must’ve done so too back when it actually happened…

“I… no, this can’t be. I met a child, at the Monumentum road. I asked what she was doing… so far away from any settlements, and then… did I- did I lose consciousness?” While he had a thread going at first, beginning to grapple onto his fleeting memories, that string began to slip out of his hands at the end. Something happened – maybe he got knocked out, but how? With his Hakumei Byakugan, no one could really just sneak up on him… but was it the works of a Genjutsu, then? Genjutsu used to be his Achilles heel for a long time, y’know.

Was it the child’s doing? Was she some kind of distraction or bait for him to arrive? If so, what was the purpose of performing such a feat as knocking the ANBU unconscious? And how was it connected to this leather-like substance? If anything, Hon had great belief in that the skin around his arm was the same substance as what emerged from the giant creature that attacked the gate long ago… but none of it felt connected. The child’s role, the knockout, the fact that his life wasn’t taken while vulnerable like that and many other factors just didn’t connect to each other, not one bit.

“Urgh… I can’t let my guard down like that again, especially not in front of children. Forgive me,” he pleaded for her pardon despite abusing the power of his blue eyes to ogle at a very nice angle from her hunched over position, “… No, I wasn’t even with anyone. Not from the last part I remember before I woke up. None of this makes any sense.” In all honesty, he was trying to grasp empty buckets like this; if he wanted answers, he’d have to risk losing consciousness again… and go back to the Monumentum Deo. He’d definitely not travel alone, though – if his previous incident was the cause of a Genjutsu, then having a partner come along was optimal.

Now, to more heartwarming subjects… Kitsune-sama was far more ‘-sama’ than he thought at first. Not only was she Raikage, but she was now the ruler of the entirety of Lightning Country? He knew of her noble heritage, but this was too much. Too much. Way too much! She could’ve just let someone else be Raikage, then! Like him!

Just kidding… she did say that it was hard work.

“Yeah, I can imagine. Sounds overwhelming, if you ask me,” he expressed himself, wondering how she was able to keep things going so smoothly. I mean, a glance at the building that he was in said it all – however and whatever she was doing, it was going very well! “… Cronopolis is inhabitable? People can stop trying to spill acid over me?” he asked in confusion, adding the terrifying fact that he had often been the target of a rather grotesque and inhuman act of barbaric violence such as spilling acid on someone. However, the way he said it so nonchalantly insinuated that it had been a common occurrence for him, almost to be expected with every visit.

“Damn…” He felt genuinely proud of being a Kumonin… or rather, he felt his already present pride rise up, “You’ve been doing great, Kitsune-sama. I only wish I can be of more help.” Now, back to the topic that was his arm; how was he going to have it fixed?

“… I’ve tried both knives and Lightning Style Jutsus. It keeps growing back, like something possessed or from one of those ghost novels…”

WC: 907 [MFT]

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune listened to Honnou’s explanation while she examined the dark goop covering his arm a bit closer than before. Yep, definitely organic in nature, it’d have to be studied, or at the very least safely contained. She pondered what to do about it for a while before deciding on a course of action. ”So it sounds to me like it must’ve happened while you were out and about, and you have no recollection of exactly how it happened,” Kitsune concluded ”So in my professional opinion, I think it’d be best if we disconnected the arm, and fitted you for a new one. It’s about time anyway. The current one was merely a prototype, and I’ve done a fair bit of improving on the designs since then.”

She grabbed a tool to close off the nerve links and chakra conduits to the arm, from the socket it was mounted to, so it could be safely removed. Once it had been detached, Kitsune’d put it in a glass casing, for later study. ”Now then. The field of prosthetics hasn’t advanced much in terms of arms and legs, but it has produced more durable, less dentable, stronger limbs, with chakra conduits capable of being on par with even the strongest of shinobi. I’m sure you’ll find this new arm perfectly adequate for your needs, my dear patient-kun.” Kitsune said as she brought out a tray with the new arm.

”It can withstand several tons of pressure before it begins to buckle or bend, and it contains an advanced suite of sensors and diagnostic equipment, allowing you to perform most maintenance on your own by simply following the readout step by step. It also contains some rudimentary EM detection capabilities, so you have the possibility to use the screen to see if there are strong magnetic fields nearby. Meanwhile, the arm itself is made from a non-ferrous alloy, the details of which I won’t get into as it’s a trade secret… But long story short, it’s not magnetic, and it’s stronger than even the steel your kunai are made from.” she finished, giving the arm a pat.

Now came the fun part. Installing it. It had been made with compatibility for most existing sockets in mind, but Hons was just old enough to also need an update. After a few tweaks and component replacements, it was ready for the installation of a new arm, and Kitsune figured that Honnou would prefer it sooner rather than later, so he could get back to being an excellent shinobi. ”You might feel a sting, and then the feeling of your arm ‘waking up’. You know when you’ve accidently sat in a position and cut off blood to your leg and it prickles all over? Yeah, that feeling.” she said before connecting the arm, and engaging the nerve links and chakra conduits in the new arm.

 

[Honnou]

Nothing appeared to have the means of getting this black stuff off of his prosthetic arm, so Kitsune decided that they’d be better off isolating the entire arm instead. She mentioned good news; since this arm was a prototype, another one had been in the works ever since last time… and today was the day to test it out. A new arm, more durable and compact than the previous one, capable of returning Hon back to the high playing field of extraordinary shinobi. His eyes were sparkling at the notion, locking onto the rolling tray holding his new prosthetic.

It looked far smoother now. The smooth surface was likely to complement the increased durability – cylinder beams were harder to bend than rectangular ones, in the end. On top of that, it even contained devices for maintenance and a… screen? Wait, it worried Hon for a brief moment – having a screen exposed like that could be troublesome during battle. What if someone were to smash it apart- oh, nevermind… he spotted the lid.

The screen was attached to an EM detector, revealing the new arm’s electronic device. This was definitely a step up from the prototype earlier, and Hon was beaming to try it on. His socket was in the middle of some kind of tweaking, but his attention was still glued to the arm – he could go through the pain one more time, definitely. Kitsune warned him just before the installation, and he nodded confidently.

And then… his face started vibrating. Yup, it wasn’t pain, it was SHIVERING. A sort of shiver that not even earthquakes could replicate. This type of shiver was unheard of in the tales of couch-dwellers and those who sat on the floor for too long. All the ants in the world had begun to harvest and feast on his nervous system, and he felt like he was about to lose consciousness again… but he didn’t waver.

It was easier than last time.

“… H-Hng? Hey, it’s settled,” he noted out loud, starting to recognize the sensation of holding a left arm up. Upon further gazing upon it, he clenched his fist… no creaky noise. It was silent, preferably so. It was very smooth, too, so landing blows on it would likely just slide right off. He then stretched the arm out horizontally, beginning to feel the flow of chakra fill the conduits up. He could see the thin, dense lines light up a clear white flare, the color of a Hyūga’s chakra.

“I’ve got to try this out. Would you mind a test run outside?”

WC: 430

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune watched how Honnou handled the nerve reconnection, ready to grab him if he were to faint, which luckily wasn’t necessary it seemed, because after a short while of Hon looking right on the verge of keeling over, he seemed to stabilize, much to the surprise of the both of them. As Hon moved the arm around, testing basic functionality like being able to move his fingers and clenching a fist, Kitsune kept a close eye on diagnostics of the arm. So far it seemed to be performing up to the designed spec, with no parameters going out of bounds.

”There isn’t an outside testing course, but I do have a reinforced room capable of handling even S-rank power outputs.” Kitsune said and gestured over to a door that looked reinforced beyond belief. ”That room should be able to withstand whatever you can dish out. I’ll configure it for offensive testing, so you’ll have to break a number of targets with your new arm to verify that it works as intended” she continued and tapped a few keys on a control panel over by the door, with the panel responding with an affirmative beep.

Inside the chamber, there’d be targets on the walls, ceiling, and on various blocks on the floor. To demonstrate, Kitsune did a few handseals and filled the chamber with flames, letting them burn for some 60 seconds or so, before extinguishing them, and showing Hon that the chamber had taken no damage, but the targets were gone. ”So yeah. Something like that won’t do any damage at all. Let me reset the targets for you…” she said and tapped a few more buttons to fix things up. ”There you go. Go bananas.”

 

[Honnou]

Oh ho? This was news to the young Hyūga – then again, the entirety of Torre Empirea was news to him. Still, being introduced to a reinforced room behind the huge, multi-layered thick steel gate was quite a treat to him, and it was visible in his sparkling, azure-blue eyes. Whatever Kitsune-sama had in store in that room, Hon was more than eager to throw himself around and cut loose a bit. It was different from combating another human being, so he felt a bit more… unhinged than usual.

Once he took a look through the opened gate, he counted the targets located around – on the walls, on the ceiling, on the cubes standing around and all around the closure. It was just like a target practice range, just far more 3-dimensional… and the room itself appeared quite resistant to damage. Kitsune-sama was by all means a Kage-level shinobi, as fully expected from the Eleventh Generation’s Raikage, and he’d be wise to not let her dominant interest in anatomic enhancement engineering draw his eyes away from her combat skill. But still… the room remained intact, free from scorches.

Oh, was he about to go bananas. “As you wish,” he replied, a small grin and smugness creeping up on his face as he entered the room.

Now inside, there was no need to think too much about things. He had to test out the limits of his new arm, so he might as well have begun all-out… chakra control and physical strength were on the list, so he’d test his chakra control first. That was shown by the sudden release of bluish chakra from both arms, by which he paid close attention to the release from his left arm… yup, it matched the chakra level of his right arm to a T! A slight imbalance could lower the force of the Hyūga clan’s secret Taijutsu, but Hon was glad to see that he had little to worry about at first. The chakra that leaked off in both arms began taking on the form of a vicious beast’s head, complete with glowing eyes and long, sharp fangs. Jyūdan, Zōshishiken!

Like an electron appearing in all locations around the room, Hon’s body blitzed around the walls until it was difficult to track him down even with the limited space inside. He had gotten plenty attuned to the Lightning Release chakra that his body naturally produced, and channeling the chakra throughout his entire body was a mastered skill of his at this point. Someone with the Visual Prowess of Kitsune-sama, however, would be able to see him make mincemeat of the targets placed around, slapping the beast fangs into each one with inhuman precision. His arm was holding up just fine, but would he be able to do this…?

Located in the center of the room again, Hon had spared some of the targets and lunged his arms to each side. The lion heads did the unthinkable, a new idea of his, and protruded from his arms entirely, linked back to him only by a nigh unseeable chain of chakra to each. With the chakra heads free as is, they looked like floating spirits of hostility or predatory hitodama… and then, it clicked.

Dancing around with the chakra heads mauling away at the last targets, or simply bouncing off of them in some cases, Hon came up with a name: “Took me a while to think this up, but if using the Zōshishiken like this needs a new name, then…” As a last demonstration of his new arm’s expertise chakra control, he re-attached each chakra head to his arms once more and watched the flaming, blue chakra coat them as the lion heads growled in strength, “… Zōshishiken, Ryūtō. A fitting name for flying orbs of chakra like these.” While still in effect, Hon awaited the renewal of the targets without the need to move his head around to see what his eyes could already see.

“I have a hunch that the other targets might be able to hit back. Let me see what you’ve been working on, Kitsune-sama…”

[OOC NOTES]
(Ryūtō can be translated to 'dragon lights', and using the term here is due to inspiration)

 

[Shinrya Kitsune]

Kitsune chuckled at Hon’s sudden unhingedness and apparent willingness to go all out from the beginning. He sure went and began testing out his chakra control, and began taking out targets one by one, and soon enough multiple at a time. Once he’d finally taken the entire set of targets and reduced them to miniature bits, he seemed raring to go for even more, but Kitsune stopped him and shook her head ”Now now, Honnou-kun. Being too eager could risk ruining your body. Let’s not press too hard, considering it’s brand new tech that’s been installed into you.” she said firmly.

Ideally Hon would need to take the next week or two to get acclimated to the new arm, but knowing Hon he’d likely be unable to restrain himself. Kitsune scratched her head before going over Hon’s arm, giving it a solid lookover and running the internal diagnostics on it to ensure there was nothing immediately wrong ”Your body still has to get used to it. Remember this isn’t like your old arm. Updated materials, updated software, all resulting in it behaving a bit different than what you’re used to.” she explained, ”So here’s what I want you to do. Do regular non-chakra enhanced training. Get used to the weight of the arm.” she continued.

It sounded simple, but if one were used to their arm weighing a certain amount, and it suddenly weighed half as much? Well you just might tear a muscle somewhere. For Hon that wasn’t a super big risk, but if he did tear something, it’d be in his shoulder and it’d probably be a pain to fix. So all in all, Hon would need to first get used to his arm, and THEN he could go nuts on the training course.

 

[Honnou]

Oh yeah, since the arm was brand-new, Hon had a risk of… accidently breaking it. Especially if he went too hard on it from the get-go, which was something that he urgently wished to avoid – he was quite handicapped without the prosthetic tool attached to him, so he’d have to accommodate for it. If he ended up breaking it, Kitsune-sama would probably break his brain apart like watching popcorn pop off inside a microwave.

Summing up her words, he just needed to start slower. Non-chakra-enhanced actions, just to get used to throwing that prosthetic arm around himself and all that. Yeah, he could do that – hopefully, his shoulder would be fine if anything happened, however.

Once he entered the room again, he simply took a defensive stance and raised both hands up in the air. A few jabs out in the air would give him a slight idea of the weight of the arm – while that was to be expected as way too quickly to draw such a conclusion, Hon was far from a mentally slow individual. He could tell many things very quickly, simply leaning on his reliable instincts a bit more than before.

Another thing that he tested out inside the room was how the arm dealt with his own, full weight. To test that out, he did a hand-stand on the prosthetic arm, letting time pass upside down while slowly performing a few push-ups with the prosthetic tool. It felt much less straining than when he would do hand-stands on his right, organic arm – while he still felt that he was touching the floor and all, it was as if there was a lack of tightening his muscles in there. It could prove tricky at first, so he went on like this for a while longer to get a complete hang on just how much strength the prosthetic tool needed to perform this task of his.

“It… does feel weird when there are no muscles in this arm. It’s like I’m not putting any effort into this,” he informed Kitsune-sama who was outside of the room, “… But that won’t be a problem.” However, saying that, a thought occurred to him while he used his prosthetic arm to leap up on his feet again. Taking another glance over his prosthetic tool, his wondering mind spoke up: “Hey, an idea just dawned on me… you think I’d be able to use this arm as a shield? Wait, don’t tell me… it has some umbrella-like, collapsible shield installed in it, doesn’t it? C’moooooon, Kitsune-sama, tell me where the button is – I know you’d be creative enough to build such a thing, don’t keep it hidden from me. My eyes can see through it, anywa- … w-way… oh, nevermind.”

Yeah, remembering that one detail about his eyes and actually using the advantage of having a constantly active Byakugan on the ready spoiled the fun for him. Unless if Kitsune-sama was an irrational genius who was able to hide things away from even Byakugan users, then…

WC: 505
[MFT]