Chapter 58
They sat for another half hour or so, all the while Kenshin pondered the situation. On the one hand it was extremely dangerous, but on the other hand, great danger bordered on great opportunity.
Eventually he decided that this was an opportunity not to be missed, so after dinner he sent the girls to the bedroom and himself gathered all his sons in the gym, lining them up in a single line.
- Ichiro, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth. Get a good night's sleep, you'll have a combat mission tomorrow morning. - Kenshin commanded, folding his hands behind his back as he strode past his stunned sons.
- The rest is on you and your mothers. Do you understand? - He said, stopping abruptly and turning to face them.
- Yes, Father! - Everyone answered with glee.
- I'll give you a rough plan tomorrow morning, as well as the specifics of the mission. Now dismissed! - He commanded, and everyone went to their rooms at once.
Kenshin was surprised to note his sons' penchant for discipline and obedience. Direct commands were not challenged, but only clarified, and supplemented if they had something to say.
While all went to bed, Kenshin began to prepare for tomorrow's operation. First of all, he strengthened and reinforced several mates of ropes, so that they would not break when the huge stones from the rubble were being pulled down.
It took him only half an hour to reinforce the ropes, and the rest of the night was spent working on an existing concept for an "exosuit", which he had christened it because of its similar properties.
In fact, the concept of this exosuit was quite rudimentary, and consisted of a tight one-piece suit, in the manner of divers, to which multiple formations were to be applied, from reinforcement, to competent weight distribution.
And if he could reinforce the suit in a few minutes, there were a few problems with weight distribution, especially with proper weight distribution. He spent half the night just trying out possible engineering solutions to the problem, or simply crutches.
Some of the "crutches" could help lift a whole tonne of weight, but were apt to break the formation and suit, and then the spine of the inept and over-eager user.
Others, on the contrary, increased the weight carried by a few tens of kilograms, but completely excluded the possibility of accidents that could lead to injury to the user.
Kenshin's challenge was to take the best of both options, and create a formation with an acceptable amount of distributed weight, but without the risk of spinal fracture.
By morning, he had finally come up with a solution, and immediately jumped into the suit, eager to put it into practice. He applied the key nodes of the formation using telekinesis, but in those places where jewellery was required, he had to work the old-fashioned way.
By eight in the morning he was finally done, and immediately put the suit on, heading to the gym. According to his calculations, the suit could help him lift about three hundred kilograms, which would feel like sixty kilograms. Weight beyond three hundred kilograms no longer "lightened", and if the user wanted to lift 340 kilograms, he had to be able to lift 100 kilograms. The suit would no longer take any part in the "extra" kilograms, eliminating the possibility of sudden malfunctions.
At least that's how it was supposed to work in theory. In order to test it all in practice, Kenshin spent about half an hour pulling various weights, testing the strength of the suit and the smoothness of the flow of magic in the nodes of the formation.
When all the measurements were taken, Kenshin breathed a sigh of relief and slumped down on the long bench, leaning his back against the wall. He had already sketched out a plan to rescue the trapped kunoichi, and to do so he needed to play the role of "Prince Charming"
He hadn't forgotten that all women were friendly to him by default, and decided that coupled with the rescue from the trap - the effect would only increase, allowing him to get his hands on an extremely strong kunoichi without too much trouble.
Over breakfast, Kenshin voiced the purpose of the mission, and brought his sons up to speed on various aspects of the plans.
Plan A - assumed the letter was not a forgery and the girl would accept help without resistance.
Plan B - assumed that the letter was still not a forgery, but the girl would put up a little resistance, not wanting to go somewhere unknown with unknown people. In this case, the necessary force was to be used, without causing critical injuries, let alone killing.
Plan C assumed that the letter was a forgery, and then we had to act according to the circumstances. If it was possible to get away undetected, if not, the most important thing was to save Kenshin.
Kenshin realised that it was wrong to save his life by sacrificing his sons' lives. But he also realised that without him, the whole family would be doomed to die. Besides, like any man, he wanted to live badly.
After breakfast, Kenshin had everyone prepare the necessary equipment and went to take a nap. The sleepless night was taking its toll. He thought it would be better if they rescued the girl a few hours later.
He didn't want to interact with a strong kunoichi at all. As cynical as it seemed, an exhausted and tired kunoichi was preferable, at least for the sake of his sons' health.
At the present moment of time this girl was a stranger to him, whose life was worth far less than that of any of his sons. And though he was sure that if she became his wife he would sooner or later love her with all his heart, he had no warm feelings for her at the moment.
After sleeping for six hours, Kenshin got up, showered, put on his exosuit along with his gloves, and the barely visible lines glowed with a pale blue light for half a second.
The sons were already at the ready, and were working out some points of interaction, splitting into groups of two based on age and growing up together. Ichiro was the only one without a partner, acting as commander in his father's absence.
After checking everything once more, Kenshin led everyone outside and they moved along the planned route.
- Kasumi didn't give the exact coordinates of that location, just a rough estimate. I estimated it to be about seven kilometres east of our base. She said that there were signs of battle, fallen trees, and loose earth in the forest nearby. This should serve as a reference point for Konoha shinobi who will come to her aid....
- Fifth and Sixth can check the next few kilometres of forest. - Ichiro suggested, and got approval from Kenshin.