Life in the capital has been a rather surreal time for Touki, the closest thing to living in a modern society. For almost two months, aside from finding a few jobs as an electrical appliance repairer or general electrician, Touki searched, looked, and researched any business opportunity that was attractive enough to jump into, something that was both appealing and that he could actually manufacture.
From the moment Touki set foot in the city, he knew something was missing to make it truly resemble the modern versions of his old world, aside from vehicles of course, and that's the bicycle, a means of transportation that is unthinkable for a post-industrial society to lack. Touki doesn't understand how no one has come up with something even close to it, to the point that he began to doubt that it really doesn't exist, even thinking "But they have electricity, radios, telephones, even primitive computers, how the hell has no one come up with something as simple as a bicycle?" But we're talking about a world where they still use carts, sailboats, and even lack trains, a world where Chakra dominates the agenda of the powerful.
After overcoming his internal conflict, Touki immediately undertook the project of making a bicycle, something quite simple compared to his seal language, the only problem was the materials.
As was common in his old world, Touki had bicycles his entire life. He was by no means an expert, but he always knew how to maintain, assemble, and disassemble a bicycle, so he knew what was needed to make one. He initially opted for a simple, rigid-framed version, designed for use within the city and on well-maintained roads, with no gears and the simplest brakes possible.
Fortunately, the city is full of skilled blacksmiths who can make almost anything you can imagine, so the gears, chain, and bike body were immediately accessible. The problem was finding the material to make the wheels, as rubber wasn't easy to find in a place that's almost unused. It took Touki more than two months to find a merchant who works with rubber in the form of glue and other very rare applications such as in food.
Finally, six months after arriving in the capital, Touki presented his revolutionary invention to a group of investors and a blacksmith with considerable industrial skills. Everyone was surprised and enthusiastic, behaving like children when trying out the bicycle, which had training wheels to make the demonstration easier. But Touki didn't limit himself to just a design for individual use; he immediately presented plans for a wide variety of applications for the new invention, from cargo versions to passenger transport and even for street vending. The investors were the first to unanimously support the proposal, although the blacksmith expressed considerable reservations about the ability to manufacture the bicycles at the speed everyone wanted, pointing out that it would require time and money to make many tools specifically designed for the new invention. Fortunately, the investors understood the potential of the new idea, so together with Touki, they planned a phased development. Initially, the product would be presented as something exclusive and expensive for the city's elite, and then, with greater industrial capacity, it would be promoted to the general public. Ultimately, the cost of industrial optimization would be borne by the investors, and Touki would keep 20% of the profits without doing anything.
Many of the investors thought Touki was making a mistake by not pursuing the idea himself like anyone else, but for him, the idea of spending time on something other than his chakra research is a waste of time. Twenty percent of the profits from a secure business is more than enough to help him with his future finances, even more so if it's backed by a contract signed with the capital's highest commercial authorities, ensuring that his money will be deposited into a bank account every month.
Touki let his invention speak for itself, participating in initial presentations to important merchants, but staying away from nobles and important figures, preferring to return to his research and concentrate on Suki's training.
As time passed, Touki's life returned to its usual monotony: training, research, and experiments. As nobles and important people gradually began to appear traveling around the city by bicycle, the demand for the new invention grew so great that supply could never match it. Thus, Touki's pockets began to fill rapidly, and he was finally able to begin raising the level of experimentation.
Using his contacts in the commercial sector, Touki was able to obtain extremely high-quality materials, including chakra metal and small amounts of adamantite. Soon, the experiments yielded more than promising results, increasing the potency of the artifacts produced and greatly optimizing Touki and Suki's armor, making special use of chakra metal as a channel, as well as developing a potential source of interference for all types of chakra-based attacks.
Adamantite was a special case, as obtaining said metal is quite difficult in the first place, so Touki decided to use what little he could obtain in a rather specific weapon, a sniper rifle he's been developing for some time. The idea isn't at all innovative on his part, considering the shotgun he made back in the Konoha era, but this time the difference lies in the fact that he used the best steel he could find, as well as the incorporation of rifling inside the barrel. The resulting weapon, capable of withstanding enormous pressures without breaking, thanks also to the use of a complex program capable of further hardening the barrel, promises to fire projectiles accurately over great distances. So, what happens if a projectile made of adamantite, traveling at several times the speed of sound, hits a ninja without them realizing it? That's something Touki will probably have to test.
In his second year in the capital, Suki, who has never stopped training despite her job, made enormous strides in his hand speed, managing to execute the first sextuple seals with effort. Touki immediately began calculating the possible successful combinations from the nearly three million possibilities, a task that became increasingly complex and mathematically intense. As the combinations were tested, Touki came across unexpected surprises, combinations capable of further simplifying programs, others of amplifying elements, one incredibly capable of mixing two elements, and one that is apparently capable of accelerating healing, the most precious to him.
The combination capable of mixing two elements represents a qualitative leap in the use of chakra, as it represents the first gateway to the study of the famous "Kekkei Genkai." On its own, the combination is incapable of achieving practical results, as the resulting energy must be interpreted and channeled according to its intended use. Therefore, it is impossible to use it in the short term. Therefore, Touki must invest time and dedication if he wants to achieve anything with the discovery.
On the other hand, the discovery of a combination capable of generating the effect of the Mystic Palm jutsu, which accelerates the body's natural healing, represents a true surprise for Touki, who never thought he could access such a necessary ability. Because of this, Touki put aside all his other research and focused 100% on being able to utilize the discovery in a practical way, even considering adding a use within his armor.
Suddenly, Touki found answers to many of the mysteries of the seal language, those that had prevented him from formulating countless algorithms that previously seemed unsolvable. Little by little, the path opened up, and Touki could see a world where chakra can do everything and more; all it takes is dedication and time.
But it wasn't all good news for Touki. As the bike grew in popularity and money filled his pockets, strange events began to occur. First, there were strangers following him when he left the house, which didn't attract much attention. However, when other strange characters began watching the house at night, all Touki's alarm bells went off. He immediately decided to move to a new neighborhood with Suki, who also had to quit her job.
Touki, as a former member of the underworld, immediately understood that someone had noticed the money he was making and perhaps thought he was an easy target since he didn't have connections with powerful people. But the truth is, Touki doesn't want anything to do with the city's power circles; all he wants is a quiet space where he can experiment. The problem is that he needs to be able to move freely when he needs to test his artifacts outside the city, something he can't do if someone is following him.