A few relevant sources.
Chakra-conductive ink was expensive. More, since it lacked blood's connection to its user's chakra, it demanded greater precision to achieve the same results. Given these facts, and given that a pricked finger could be expected to heal in minutes at most, most ninja saw no need to bother with the stuff.
There was, however, one advantage to using it - that being that a properly handled pen could produce far finer lines, and, hence, far more complex results, than the simple smears left behind a fingertip.
In short, ink was an expert's tool, and somehow it didn't surprise Kakashi to learn that Neshan kept three seperate wells of the stuff in his pack.
What he was doing with it, though, would have been a surprise no matter what - not so much because it should be beyond a Genin's ability (the Jounin was well on his way to expecting that), as because it was something he couldn't follow.
"So?"
Neshan frowned at the glowing smears of light hovering above the intricate tracery covering the sheet of paper he'd laid out over the grassy yard where the first of the attacks against humans had occured. "Demon. Not a type I know, thought the pattern has some similarities to a nekomata. Teleportive power, probably quite intelligent. Eats meat but not chakra, so probably something else I can't trace without knowing to look for ahead of time."
"Can you track it?" Both of them had completely forgotten their usual, half-serious quarrels - this was a mission, and a serious one, with no time for personality conflicts.
"...Yes. But I'll need a fresher trail. A few hours, at most." In other words, not until it struck again. "What did you learn from the villagers?"
Kakashi had mostly been monitoring their environment while the younger ninja concentrated on his work, but that hadn't kept him from talking to the people who had gathered to watch. "No one saw or heard anything. There were a few catlike tracks and a scuff mark where the body seemed to have fallen - but otherwise, the victims vanished completely."
"So it either eats fast, or it's taking them with it."
"Can you determine which?"
"Not here. There was an ox lost a few days ago, right? That'll be fresh enough."
"Maa... let's go, then."
"Right."
For as long as that took to write, it's embarrassingly short. Arg.
Ja, -n
(ETA: Annoying typo corrected.)
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===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."
Chakra-conductive ink was expensive. More, since it lacked blood's connection to its user's chakra, it demanded greater precision to achieve the same results. Given these facts, and given that a pricked finger could be expected to heal in minutes at most, most ninja saw no need to bother with the stuff.
There was, however, one advantage to using it - that being that a properly handled pen could produce far finer lines, and, hence, far more complex results, than the simple smears left behind a fingertip.
In short, ink was an expert's tool, and somehow it didn't surprise Kakashi to learn that Neshan kept three seperate wells of the stuff in his pack.
What he was doing with it, though, would have been a surprise no matter what - not so much because it should be beyond a Genin's ability (the Jounin was well on his way to expecting that), as because it was something he couldn't follow.
"So?"
Neshan frowned at the glowing smears of light hovering above the intricate tracery covering the sheet of paper he'd laid out over the grassy yard where the first of the attacks against humans had occured. "Demon. Not a type I know, thought the pattern has some similarities to a nekomata. Teleportive power, probably quite intelligent. Eats meat but not chakra, so probably something else I can't trace without knowing to look for ahead of time."
"Can you track it?" Both of them had completely forgotten their usual, half-serious quarrels - this was a mission, and a serious one, with no time for personality conflicts.
"...Yes. But I'll need a fresher trail. A few hours, at most." In other words, not until it struck again. "What did you learn from the villagers?"
Kakashi had mostly been monitoring their environment while the younger ninja concentrated on his work, but that hadn't kept him from talking to the people who had gathered to watch. "No one saw or heard anything. There were a few catlike tracks and a scuff mark where the body seemed to have fallen - but otherwise, the victims vanished completely."
"So it either eats fast, or it's taking them with it."
"Can you determine which?"
"Not here. There was an ox lost a few days ago, right? That'll be fresh enough."
"Maa... let's go, then."
"Right."
For as long as that took to write, it's embarrassingly short. Arg.
Ja, -n
(ETA: Annoying typo corrected.)
===========
===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."