Disclaimer: I do not own Taimanin series.
Between The Line - 02
On a certain day, she realized he woke up earlier than usual.
When she was about to start her morning routine, the young master was already in the dining room. He had a coffee mug holding for occasional sip while he was going through each page of one of the books taken from a box. She recognized it, the box was originally kept in the Archive of the former clan master, Fuuma Danjou.
"Morning, Saika." Greeted Kotaro while his eye still glued to the book.
She was worried she might have disturbed his focus. That didn't seem to be the case since he noticed her presence first.
"Good morning, Young Master." Saika greeted as she put on an apron, ready to cook breakfast. "What are you doing?"
"There's still a lot of stuff in the Archive I haven't read yet, might as well killing some time before the next briefing begins."
The Task Force would begin its next mission today, she recalled he had mentioned that yesterday.
"What are you reading today?"
Saika was curious, and that was not the only feeling she had towards her young master and his activity. By talking about the books, she knew this question was one among the many approachs that helped her dive deep into Kotaro's interest and keep the conversation going.
"A book about Ninja Art." He explained. "The old version of it, I think. Gosha library has one but that book seems to leave out details on low and mid-level ninja arts. I want to see the differences between this book and the new edition."
Like usual, he was being diligent in his own way.
"Did you find anything interesting so far?"
"I did. There's this one book."
Marking the page and closing back the book he was reading, Kotaro reached for another one in the box. It was a very old, worn out book with the cover part and spine barely held onto the body. Kotaro was handling it carefully as not to make its current state any worse.
"This wrote about most of the Forbidden Jutsu that's ever existed and documented throughout the history of Taimanin. I've only took a glimpse on couple pages since it's pretty toughed to read without understanding the archiac pattern. Old kanji and hiragana alphabet make this whole book one heck of a challenge to read."
"Forbidden Arts, hm." Saika muttered. "I heard the story of Taimanins' reliance on the most deadliest arts in their arsenal back in the ancient time. However, there's a reason why their use were forbit. Either it's a technique that can be used only once with a deadly side-effect or the damage caused is so destructive that our ancestors blacklisted it."
"Or in some cases, it was actually the user themselves became the Forbidden Art."
The young master added a intriguing detail into the topic. Saika glanced over her shoulder as those words sunk in.
"The user became the Forbidden Art?" She repeated to grasp the meaning.
"Meaning their power is too much strong. It reaches an extreme level that even they can't properly control it on their own. The solution here is to use something that can act like a safeguard so that the built up Taima pool won't burst like a bubble. Similar to Yukikaze and Maika with their weapons acting like a limiter."
Kotaro inhaled deeply, laying back on the seat and his arms folded. That was how young master acted whenever he was in deep thought.
"Aside from that. What got your attention you from the book, young master?"
"Well, I'm just curious how each ninja art in their respective element would look like in the form of a forbidden jutsu. For example, if the next stages of Fire Art are Blaze and Scorch, and next is Lava Art, then the most dangerous level of Fire should be Inferno Art, yes?"
Saika turned off the stove, she started to wonder about it.
"Hm. Young master, I believe Lava should be a unique Art on its own."
"Ah." Kotaro understood what she meant. "You're thinking about efficiency in combat and range. For sure, Lava Art does rely on its stationary nature and environment unlike the straightforward performance of a Fire Art technique. If the user is skilled with the range of this Art, it will be one of the deadliest traps out there. The only shortcoming is it's dangerous to use offensively in combat due to the devastating damage it could physically cause to everything."
"Yes~."
Ninja Art wasn't necessary a difficult matter. However, it could be very complex depending on which aspects being discussed. Saika was glad to know they arrived at the same train of thought without any hindrance. This was another step taken closer in their bond, perhaps?
"I actually scaled Lava Art based on Astaroth's power though. Maybe I'm overdoing it."
Saika giggled sweetly.
"I don't think that is the case, young master. Astaroth is a Noble-ranking Demon, her scale of power is on a different league. Her flame is a part of her being, which she can manipulate at will. It's hard to say we can distinguish her flame by the common definition. I personally think Lava Art is unique due to its own element, and Astaroth is someone who can put its use to the highest capacity and potential without any effort."
Kotaro pondered over Saika's opinion for a moment and nodded his head.
"Then I guess we can exclude the posibility that her flame can reach the level of Inferno Art, huh. Because in essence, Inferno is a great fire that goes beyond control. Basically, not even the user can control its ferocious nature hence the name. Astaroth's flame obeys her will, pass. Ingrid's Flame of Hell also works the same, pass." The young master stopped. He just came up with a name. "Wait a minute, if you don't count the bazooka, does this means Maika has the potential of being an Inferno Art user?"
"Whatever the idea you have in mind, young master. Please don't let her know that."
That was like implying Kamimura Maika was never able to control her ninja art. Kotaro realized he was about to go overboard with that thought.
"W-Well, it's just an idea came to mind." He awkwardly scratched his cheek. "The book has me thinking, you see."
"I'm sure you are working hard enough to think of a new strategy based on your team abilities everyday. Anyway, what else did you find interested from the book?"
There was still sometime before Saika finished her cook, the young master briefly checked the clock and looked over the stacks inside the box.
"Asagi-sensei's Art."
When you think of Shadow Art, you imagine the user can control, make or summon things made of their own shadow. It's considered one of the most flexible abilities to have for a Taimanin of the Igawa clan.
"The ability alone has everything a shinobi needs for stealth, combat and investigation. Asagi-sensei's art also lets her to create a physical shadow figure of herself. She makes it look like Shadow Art has no flaw, but in reality, she doesn't rely on it much."
"Indeed. Accurate precision, lighting-quick speed, great strength and sheer will are the things that earned her the title Almighty." Saika added.
"Believe it or not, the ability doesn't have a weakness. There is only advantage or disadvantage when it comes to the usage. Shadow Art user can knead Taima particles to amplify the shade of their shadow no matter daylight or nightime." Kotaro took a sip. "But Shadow Art also has a separate branch of techniques that qualified its dangerous consequences if abused. The Forbidden Art book wrote about this."
"I'm familiar with the technique."
"You do?" He was somewhat surprised to hear that.
"Yes. The Shadow Clone technique." She cheerfully shared the story. "Let's just say I once came across some of my colleagues who were in a hurry to win during a group sparring match and they decided to use it. Testing may be the better word to describe."
Kotaro turned to Saika, who stood in the kitchen, and listened.
"How did that go?"
"The match didn't last long." Saika gently rushed her hair to the side with a subtle hint of disappointment. "They created many duplicates of themselves, not shadow figures but actual clones. Those clones came in waves, each could think on its own. I had to create a safe distance to counter the attacks. However, the technique took a great toll on their bodies since more than half of the Taima energy accumulated was already distributed to the clones. In the end, the clones faded away. My sparring partners passed out immediately, one entered cardiac arrest as the heart couldn't catch up with the critical condition of the body. They recovered after a few days, eventually. And here I was, looking forward to a good match."
"That's scary." Kotaro paled a little. "Half of the user's life force cut off in exchange of multiple shadow clones with a mind of their own, no wonder it became a forbidden jutsu."
Kitchen gloves put on. Noodle and soup poured into a bowl, Saika delivered her young master's breakfast to the table.
"Oh! Smell good!" Kotaro had no doubt about Saika's five-star chef skill. "We're eating ramen today?"
"I also prepared some additional naruto slices for you in case you want more."
"Thanks, Saika! Hold up, let me clean up the table."
Something slipped out from the books as Kotaro put them back. It was a pocket-sized envelope with a postcard that showed the picture of a giant tree and a small town.
"Hm? The old man kept this around?" He picked it up and glanced at the postcard. "Saika, do you know where this is?"
She shook her head at the picture.
"I'm not sure, young master. I'm not familiar with this location. It seems Danjou-sama used to have some plan for it."
Kotaro took one last look at the letter before putting it away in his pocket.
"Oh well, memory of the past. I'd better check on it later. Time to dig in!"
Saika returned to the kitchen stand. While breakfast for others were prepared, she occasionally glanced at the young master who was eating his ramen in an enthusiastic manner. A fluttered feeling swelled up in her chest by watching him.
She hoped his next mission would be a success.
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