Perfect Form Gundam

The earth-shaking battle with Shukaku that had shaken the desert had ended in Shaye's absolute victory, but the process had been far from as easy as it appeared. In Sage Mode, "Gundam" had certainly displayed overwhelming power, yet its immense energy consumption, the tremendous strain on the puppet itself, and the intense concentration demanded of Shaye had all reached unprecedented peaks.

After the battle, "Gundam" stood silently on the central maintenance rack within the enormous underground testing ground of the Sunagakure Research and Development Department. Its once imposing silver-white armor was covered in fine scratches and scorch marks—the medals left by withstanding Shukaku's raging sands and impacts head-on. They also exposed its defensive shortcomings in extreme environments. Faint metallic fatigue noises came from its joint connections, sounds only Shaye could keenly detect, while the shock of overloaded Senjutsu energy transmission on its internal circuits required a complete inspection.

Shaye stroked a deep claw mark on the armor, his gaze as sharp as an eagle's.

"Still not enough," he muttered. "Against saturated attacks from massive targets like Shukaku, local defenses still risk being breached. The explosive energy output is sufficient, but stability and heat dissipation during prolonged combat remain hidden dangers. Most importantly, the burden of 'Neural Overclock Synchronization' on my mental strength..."

During that battle, he had devoted nearly half his attention to maintaining precise control over Senjutsu energy and deep resonance with the puppet Core. While that had allowed him to crush Shukaku, if he faced multiple enemies of the same level or stranger tactics, that burden would become a fatal weakness.

The confrontation with Shukaku had not merely been a display of forceful "persuasion," but an incomparably valuable extreme data-gathering test! Shukaku's wild attack patterns, massive chakra impacts, and the destructive energy fluctuations of his Tailed Beast Bomb...