Penguin

As a ninja, running across rooftops, scaling walls, and walking on water were all basic skills.

Ignoring the clamor from the bar downstairs, Shimizu picked up the safe. To avoid drawing attention, he climbed through the window, evenly spread Chakra across the soles of his feet, and walked straight up the wall at a ninety-degree angle. Without anyone noticing, he reached the balcony, then vanished among the towering buildings after several leaps.

One hour later, Iceberg Lounge.

Basement Level One.

This was a casino hidden beneath the Iceberg Lounge.

The moment he arrived, someone invited Shimizu to a private room.

"Unbelievable. You actually escaped Arkham Asylum, Puppet Doctor."

Inside the room, Penguin studied Shimizu with surprise.

Here, Shimizu did not hide his identity, because his status as an Arkham graduate gave him more room to operate.

It was practically a degree in advanced criminality personally certified by Professor Batman, with plenty of prestige behind it.

Thanks to Gotham's news outlets dispatching helicopters and reporters to capture footage of Batman's final battle with Joker, the entire city already knew what had happened at Arkham Asylum.

Several criminals who had escaped, including Shimizu, had become dangerous fugitives wanted across the city by the Gotham City Police Department.

Shimizu in particular.

After an investigation by Batman, the world's greatest detective, it was determined that Shimizu had been the mastermind behind this prison break, taking advantage of Joker's incident.

Overnight, Clear Wade became famous throughout Gotham, emerging as the city's newest star villain.

"Interested in working for me?"

Sure enough, Penguin, a cigar clenched between his teeth, extended an offer to Shimizu.

"I prefer working alone. Besides, if we gather together, we become too obvious. It'd be easy to attract the attention of certain black little animals."

Shimizu placed the safe on the table in front of Penguin.

"I need to buy a few things."

A female dealer carrying an electronic scale stepped forward and began tallying the contents of the safe.

"Aha, you're right. One of those bat brats is running around everywhere, asking about you!"

Penguin adjusted his glasses and laughed heartily.

The Bat Family had gained another headache. That was a good thing.

The one asking around about Shimizu was Nightwing.

Only after Wayne Tech used a blood separator to extract the Titan Venom from Milovan's body, restoring his original appearance, did Nightwing realize he had been played.

After wrapping up the investigation, Nightwing volunteered to Batman to capture the criminals who had escaped from Arkham.

"Fifty chips in total. Normally, I charge a five percent transaction fee here, but I'll waive it this time."

Penguin clapped his hands, and one of his men immediately brought over fifty chips and handed them to Shimizu.

"Ten thousand per chip. Enjoy your shopping, my friend."

Penguin made an elegant inviting gesture and pulled open the door.

Shimizu left the private room, crossed the noisy casino, came to a small door, opened it, and stepped into an elevator.

The first basement level was the casino, while the second was the black market operated by Penguin.

The original owner of this body had come here once before, which was why Shimizu knew the place so well.

Black cloaks and masks hung along the corridor.

They were prepared for guests who did not want to reveal their identities. Wearing them was optional.

Shimizu draped a black cloak over himself, casually took down a Raccoon Dog Mask, put it on, and entered the black market.

As Gotham's largest black market, it was fairly bustling.

After all, Penguin was a major underworld figure in Gotham, and the most business-savvy one at that.

Like Shimizu, most people concealed their identities with cloaks and masks.

That applied to both sellers and buyers.

Firearms and ammunition, human organs, rare ores and medicines, and all kinds of jewelry—almost anything could be found here.

Shimizu began browsing, touching this and examining that.

He had come mainly to look for materials that could be used to make puppets.

Whenever he saw something that interested him, he bought a small amount first.

He was not very familiar with the materials here, mainly because he did not know how well they conducted Chakra.

Most of them, however, seemed rather poor.

Chakra had existed in the Naruto World for over a thousand years. Many substances had developed a resistance to Chakra and possessed a certain degree of conductivity, such as Chakra metal, as well as the various plants used to make Exploding Tags and Chakra Paper.

But not here.

Shimizu frowned.

When making puppets, it did not matter if the main body used as filler had slightly poorer Chakra conductivity. But the Chakra Hub, where the Chakra Thread connected, had to conduct Chakra well.

The materials he had encountered so far all seemed mediocre.

It looked like he could only make do.

Gold, silver, and copper were the three most conductive metals. They transmitted energy relatively well and were also the materials Shimizu had found to have the best Chakra conductivity so far.

He could afford plenty of them, but unfortunately, all three were not very hard, making them unsuitable for the main body of a puppet.

So Aluminum alloy plated with bulletproof Stainless steel would do.

He did not need to rack his brains over the weapon modules, because there were too many weapons here. They even sold RPGs.

After making a full round, Shimizu ultimately selected three Ceramic composite material bulletproof vests, a bag of miniature cameras, small radar sensors, and two guns.

One Hardin Revolver and one Beretta PMX Submachine Gun.

All of them were weapons he intended to modify and install on his puppets.

He also bought some other materials that might come in handy.

The total cost was not high. He only used two chips, or twenty thousand dollars.

"You don't seem to have bought much. Is it because you don't think much of the things here?"

After leaving the black market, Shimizu went back to Penguin.

"They didn't have what I wanted. But now that I think about it, you should be able to help me solve part of my problem."

"Oh? I can't tell what you intend to do with the things you bought, but I think I know what you want from me. An identity, right?"

Penguin chuckled.

Shimizu was now wanted throughout Gotham by the Gotham City Police Department. If he were caught, he would be sent back to Arkham. And because he had escaped once already, he would most likely receive the same treatment as Joker and be locked in the highest-security cell.

Therefore, he needed a new identity.

"That's right. A legal identity that can stand up to scrutiny. For the time being, I don't want that annoying bat hounding me."

"Aha, I understand. An identity like that costs one hundred thousand dollars. Would you also like me to arrange plastic surgery performed by a top surgeon? An identity is easy enough to handle, but your face..."

Penguin puffed on his cigar, smiling broadly.

"No need."

Shimizu lifted his cloak and formed a Hand Seal with both hands.