I Just Awakened My Sharingan, and You're Telling Me This Is DanMachi?

[Reward settlement in progress—]

[Reward 1: Dōryoku +10%!]

[Reward 2: Unique Ninjutsu — Puppet Master Jutsu!]

[Reward 3: Summoning Puppet — Karasu!]

Note: Karasu is an offensive-type puppet, capable of long-range remote control, and can be used in battle, reconnaissance, and mission assistance.

"Puppet Master Jutsu? The puppet techniques of the Hidden Sand?!"

Ryota froze for a second, and a name instantly popped into his mind—

The Second Kazekage, Shamon.

It was that Kage-level powerhouse who had developed this unique system of puppet techniques, propelling the Land of Wind into the ranks of the Five Great Nations.

It wasn't an exaggeration to call puppet techniques the ultimate art of chakra control.

As that thought settled, Ryota felt as if some mental floodgate had been flung wide open, and countless bits of strange yet familiar jutsu knowledge surged into him like a tide.

How to form chakra threads, the skeletal connection mechanisms of puppets, chakra-splitting techniques for controlling multiple puppets…

Every piece of knowledge etched itself into his mind as if carved in stone.

Once the initial excitement wore off, Ryota felt a trace of confusion.

"The chakra capacity boost reward… didn't show up this time…"

Normally, every time he completed a side quest or branch quest, the system would reliably hand him one thing: a chakra cap bonus.

Ever since he'd gotten the system, this reward had never been missing, practically a standard allocation.

But this time, it had been completely replaced by this high-level, unfamiliar jutsu — Puppet Master Jutsu.

"Could it be that the Mystery development ability is changing the system's reward logic?"

The second he thought that, Ryota found it perfectly reasonable.

After all, his All-Encompassing Divine Eye system always did a matching check after every quest completion.

That matching check determined which kind of combat skill best suited Ryota's current soul structure.

And with the emergence of his Mystery development ability, the system must have reconstructed its matching model, deciding that Ryota now needed a more diversified fighting style.

"So from this point on, the system's best-fit rewards might not be raw chakra reserves anymore…"

Once he understood that, Ryota had to admit — this system was scary smart.

Not only could it dynamically adapt its rewards based on his current condition, it even took development abilities from the DanMachi world into account.

At the same time, Ryota could clearly sense, deep in his mental sea, a summoned puppet with three eyes and four arms — Karasu — floating quietly.

With just one thought, he could instantly summon it right in front of him.

"If… I modified it with forging skills, and boosted it with the Mystery development ability…"

"That would be a real surprise reward…"

A grin slipped across his lips.

At that point, Karasu wouldn't just be a puppet anymore.

It could become a fully autonomous combat unit, with smart command responses, loaded with remote-release jutsu and chakra trajectory calculations — a tactical-grade killing weapon!

"With something like that, once I get into the Dungeon, I could just find a safe spot and let it do the clearing for me. The efficiency would be through the roof!"

Clearing out monsters, gathering materials, hauling loot — all in one smooth operation.

Like bringing an MMORPG cheat plugin straight into Orario.

"But… to actually make that happen, I'll have to stockpile a ton of materials first."

Ryota came back to his senses — and what he saw made his scalp prickle.

Besides Loki, Riveria, and Ais,

somehow Finn, Bete, and a bunch of others had showed up, too.

Do these people have a telepathic link or something?!

The core members of the Loki Familia were all staring at him,

like a pack of wolves eyeing fresh prey — or a bunch of collectors spotting a priceless treasure.

Riveria, seeing that everyone had arrived, finally spoke up.

"Loki, why not set up a forging workshop and just put him in there?"

Finn nodded with a bright smile, clearly approving.

"I checked out that sword. Mystery as a development ability is incredible. Ryota, I'd like you to work with us and make each of us a custom piece to match our combat styles."

It was a pseudo–magic sword, after all, and with both captains vouching for its quality, who wouldn't want one?

"Wait, wait, wait—"

Ryota's mouth twitched hard.

"So you're planning to toss me in a blacksmith's dungeon and work me until my soul leaves my body, is that it?"

"And even if we're all family here, we still have to settle the bill properly, don't you think?"

Riveria didn't even blink before replying,

"Name your price. As long as it's reasonable, we'll pay. Just get us the gear on schedule."

"Huh?"

Ryota glanced around.

Finn and Gareth simply nodded silently.

Bete still wore his usual "I don't buy your hype" scowl, but his eyes were firmly glued to the swords strapped to Ryota's back.

Even Lefiya was muttering softly behind him,

"If Ryota's willing… I could save up months of living expenses…"

And the Hiryute Sisterss?

They were practically devouring him with their gazes, one step away from pouncing.

As for Ais… she was still under the tree, staring blankly at her new sword.

Ryota: ?

"Good grief, am I the only broke guy in this whole Familia?"

Everyone else goes downstairs to train in the morning — he goes down to mine for resources.

Everyone else fights to level up — he fights to gather materials.

Everyone else comes home to eat — he comes home to hammer metal.

—This round, this round, was pure "skill turned him into a workaholic robot."

Even as he grumbled with that look of "you're all squeezing me dry," Ryota was secretly overjoyed.

Originally he'd figured that "providing a combat boost for a Familia member" meant crafting a piece for each of the Three Captains, or at least cycling through the whole main squad.

But turns out, just one sword for Ais had made the system ding.

That proved his guess — the system's evaluation standard was based on whether he really boosted someone's power, not on cranking out a ton of equipment.

In other words, quality could trump quantity as long as it was effective.

So under Loki's hammer-blow of a final ruling, Ryota's forging commission was formally, "legally" confirmed.

One million valis as a "labor fee" for each of the Three Captains,

and fifty thousand valis minimum for other core members like Lefiya, Bete, the Hiryute Sisterss, etc.

Of course, that was just the base price.

Any extra complex or advanced customization would be "negotiated separately."

Materials? Provided entirely by the Familia.

Blueprints and requirements? Would be delivered to his door tomorrow morning.

Ryota's only job was summed up in two words: produce results.

Looking at this whole group of "clients" with a complicated expression, Ryota honestly wondered if he should just register a signboard — "Ryota's Smithy, open for business."

Still, a finished quest, rewards in hand, and a new income source — he had to admit, it wasn't bad.

As the excited chatter gradually faded, Ryota was left alone, ready to head back to his room and get his stuff in order for his trip to the Dungeon.

At that moment, Ais approached him holding her brand new sword.

"Where… are you going?"

"To the Dungeon. I've got a new commission to take care of."

Ais tilted her head, a faint gleam of expectation and curiosity in her eyes.

"Can… I come with you?"

For a second, Ryota almost agreed.

Having the Sword Princess on your team was the ultimate cheat code.

But sadly, this mission required him to make the kill alone.

So he could only give her a slightly apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Ais — this one's a bit special."

Ais froze, clearly surprised by the rejection.

But she quickly caught on, giving a small nod.

"…Okay."

She answered quietly, taking half a step back and not asking anything further.

Ryota didn't explain either — he just lifted his Kusanagi Sword with a grin.

"Make sure you give that sword a name. When I get back, we'll push it to its limits together."

A flicker of excitement lit up in the golden-haired girl's eyes again. She nodded obediently.

"Be safe. Come back soon."

As soon as Ais finished speaking, a murderous aura slammed into him from behind.

"Ryo—ta—!!"

"You've been alone with Lady Ais this whole time?!"

No surprises — Loki and Lefiya had come charging back.

Ryota shrank his neck in, kicked off the ground, and slipped past them like a shadow, appearing in front of Twilight Manor's main doors with only one parting shout:

"I've got a quest to handle — see you!"

—

After leaving Twilight Manor, Ryota didn't stop for even a second.

He secured the Kusanagi Sword at his waist and moved quickly through the streets, heading straight for Babel Tower.

Soon, he stepped inside, climbing the familiar spiral staircase to begin today's mission.

The rock walls glistened with a damp sheen, occasional drips echoing in his ears, mingled with the distant growls of monsters moving through the dark.

—First floor, reached.

He glanced at the ground, then looked ahead into the pitch-black tunnel.

"Target's the 11th to 12th floors…"

"Might as well warm up first."

Muttering to himself, he formed a hand sign.

Poof—

A puff of white smoke appeared, and Karasu materialized in front of him.

"You're out."

Ryota nodded in satisfaction, raising his right hand. His five fingers spread, delicate threads of chakra energy extending from his fingertips to connect tightly with Karasu's back.

But the next instant, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"So heavy!"

Not physically heavy, but the "control load" was enormous.

Four arms, three eyes, dozens of controllable joints, plus all the special internal mechanisms, ejectors, and storage modules — all of it fed back into his nervous system.

Even with his chakra already at A+ rank, he could only manage the most basic hovering and turning at first.

"This is way harder than I thought!"

He grit his teeth, forcing himself to focus, and made Karasu raise its right arm—

Click!

A small kunai fired from its fingertip, shooting straight into a goblin's forehead ahead of them, pinning it to the cave wall in one neat stroke.

The goblin collapsed to the ground, twitching twice before going still.

"At least the firepower's fine."

Ryota knew full well that if he wanted to truly harness this puppet's power, it would take a lot more practice than what he had now.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to train with it as I push forward."

With that, he manipulated Karasu and headed deeper into the Dungeon.