In the old days, Karin would have erected a chakra barrier or dodged frantically. Now, she simply moved. Cheris Soft Upd calculated the trajectories instantly. She shifted her weight a fraction of an inch. The shuriken hissed past her, close enough to cut the air, but not touching her skin.

Silence returned to the ravine, save for the rain and the distant clash of Satoshi’s fight.

Karin stood at the threshold of her village, looking out at the world beyond. She was the culmination of generations of skill and knowledge, the tenth iteration of her family's dedicated line of kunoichi, marked as V10 by the elders. Her existence was a testament to evolution and adaptation, qualities as essential to her craft as the blade of her tanto.

"Then we intercept," Karin said. She cracked her neck, feeling the new fluidity in her joints. "I want to test the soft release."