Let's Get a New Identity First

Uchiha Hikari stared at the mechanical puppet Tokiju had produced and asked, puzzled, "What are you trying to do now?"

Tokiju chuckled and explained, "Obviously, I'm sending this puppet out to gather intelligence from the various villages and nations."

With that, Tokiju opened the puppet's chest cavity to reveal the Mechanical Core inside, then immediately manifested a Light Clone.

This Light Clone was something Tokiju had developed while within the seal space; unlike a standard Shadow Clone, which would vanish upon taking the slightest damage, this one was different.

Much like the First Hokage's Wood Clone, even if it sustained severe damage, as long as there was light in the vicinity, the clone could recover by absorbing light energy.

Unfortunately, Tokiju's Light Clone did not possess independent consciousness like a Shadow Clone; it could only be controlled by Tokiju, the original body.

After all, Tokiju had yet to learn the Shadow Clone Technique, so naturally, he couldn't use it as a foundation to develop a Light Clone with its own consciousness.

As for Uchiha Hikari, as a relic of the Warring States period, it was naturally impossible for her to have mastered the Shadow Clone Technique developed by the Second Hokage.

Tokiju manipulated the Light Clone, causing it to transform into a sphere of light before slowly merging it into the puppet's Mechanical Core.

Once the sphere of light had completely integrated, the mechanical puppet was immediately activated.

Tokiju diverted a portion of his focus, attempting to awaken the muscle memory he had developed while playing with the puppet in the past.

Under Tokiju's efforts, the mechanical puppet slowly began to move; it was a bit stiff at first, but as time passed, its movements gradually became fluid.

Looking at the puppet before him, Tokiju felt as if he were playing a VR game, only this game felt exceptionally real.

Speaking of games, Tokiju thought of something else: he wondered if his System Space could interface with the mechanical puppet.

Logically speaking, it should be possible.

After all, his Light Clone was merely a portion of his consciousness that he had split off; it still remained a part of his own spirit.

Thinking of this, Tokiju immediately manipulated the puppet to see if it could open the System Space.

As the puppet Tokiju focused his intent, a translucent panel that only he could see suddenly appeared.

Seeing this, Tokiju was overjoyed; with this interconnected System Space, passing intelligence or items in the future would be a breeze.

"I'll call you 'Sigurd' from now on."

PS: From here on, the mechanical puppet persona will be referred to as "Sigurd."

Tokiju nodded at the puppet; besides, no one in this world knew the story of Sigurd, so borrowing the name wouldn't cost him anything.

At this moment, Uchiha Hikari saw that Tokiju had already started the puppet: "You intend to use this puppet to gather intelligence?"

"Please call me Sigurd, thank you."

Tokiju did not answer directly, instead manipulating Sigurd to respond.

Through Tokiju's careful adjustments, Sigurd's voice sounded much like his own original tone—very deep and resonant.

Hearing Sigurd answer, Uchiha Hikari was long past being surprised.

Back when they were in the seal space, Tokiju had loved playing two roles like this to mess around, which had annoyed her to no end.

She had assumed he had long since grown out of such low-brow hobbies, but she hadn't expected him to pick it back up now.

Looking at the earnest-faced Tokiju, Uchiha Hikari shook her head helplessly: "Fine, fine, Sigurd, if you go out to gather intelligence like this, won't there be trouble?"

Seeing Uchiha Hikari's solemn expression, Tokiju set aside his playful mood and said, "It's fine. You know Sigurd's durability well. As long as I don't go out of my way to court death, there won't be any accidents."

That was indeed a fact; regarding Sigurd's own durability, Uchiha Hikari had no good way to break through its defenses other than using Amaterasu.

Although Uchiha Hikari's taijutsu might not have been particularly strong due to her past as a human weapon, she was still someone who had fought her way up from the Warring States period. Even without activating her Mangekyo, she was at least at the level of an elite Jonin.

If she activated her Mangekyo, with just the ocular techniques of Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, she was guaranteed to be at the Kage level.

If she could engrave enough of her signature ocular technique, Yachihoko, it wouldn't be impossible for her to clash with those at the Super Kage level.

However, because her eyes were not Eternal Mangekyo, she would go blind if she used them too many times.

Therefore, until he found an effective solution, Tokiju would not allow her to use her Mangekyo abilities casually.

Uchiha Hikari knew Tokiju had her best interests at heart, and she didn't want to go blind at such a young age, so she obediently agreed to the proposal.

As for Sigurd, his mechanical body alone was enough to stand on equal footing with an elite Jonin-level Uchiha Hikari.

Now, because he could absorb sunlight, his offensive capabilities had increased significantly.

If Tokiju's control was sharp enough, he could even clash with Kage-level powerhouses.

Hearing Tokiju's words, Uchiha Hikari recalled her sparring sessions with Sigurd.

Without using Amaterasu, her Fire Style ninjutsu could barely scratch its defenses, and all sorts of genjutsu were essentially useless against the puppet.

You hit it, and it feels nothing; it hits you, and you're in pain for a long time. It was like a beast—incredibly annoying.

Thinking of this, Uchiha Hikari felt quite helpless.

Though she felt helpless, she was quite confident in Sigurd's reliability.

The only thing she wasn't confident about was the brat in front of her, who could trip over a tree branch and end up with a head full of bumps.

Feeling the other's suspicious gaze, Tokiju looked blankly at her and asked, "Hey, what kind of look is that?"

Uchiha Hikari snorted upon hearing this, "Hmph, I'm just worried you'll end up exposing yourself while you're busy playing around."

Hearing this, Tokiju was about to retort, but he suddenly realized that what she said actually made sense.

Although Sigurd looked vastly different from him, the abilities they used were from the same source, making it easy for others to draw a connection between them.

To prevent such a thing from happening, Tokiju had to come up with a plausible excuse.

After a moment of contemplation, Tokiju looked at Uchiha Hikari, and when his gaze landed on her eyes, a sudden inspiration struck him.

He immediately stepped forward to grab Uchiha Hikari's hands, exclaiming excitedly, "Thank you, Hikari, I absolutely love you to death!"

Uchiha Hikari was startled by Tokiju's sudden action, and feeling the warmth radiating from his hands, her little face flushed red.

She hurriedly pulled her hands away, turned her blushing face to the side, and complained, "You... what kind of madness are you acting out again?"

Ignoring her little complaint, Tokiju immediately reached out a finger and tapped Sigurd's left eye.

In an instant, Sigurd's originally emerald-green eye turned golden-yellow, much like the Eye of Light in Tokiju's own right eye.

With this, Tokiju could claim that Sigurd was the thief who had stolen his left eye.

As long as his own left eye wasn't fully exposed, his Sigurd persona would remain safe.

As for the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan, you ask?

Heh, don't you dare underestimate my attainments in sealing techniques.

As long as I place the proper sealing formulas on my eyepatch, I guarantee that even the Hyuga Clan won't be able to sniff out any flaws.