Back at the bathroom where he had imprisoned the guard whose identity he had stolen—
Shimizu found Milovan, the Arkham guard, once again. He dressed him in a standard Arkham Asylum patient uniform, then dragged him near the control room.
"From here on out, whether I escape or not depends on you, buddy."
In a hallway corner, Shimizu patted Milovan's face, then pinched his philtrum to wake him up.
"You!"
As Milovan was about to cry out, Shimizu covered his mouth and stared him down.
Of course, Milovan was terrified—especially since the man in front of him looked exactly like him.
Shimizu reached into the ammo pouch inside his bulletproof vest, pulled out a vial of Titan II serum, and with calm precision, inserted the needle directly into Milovan's heart.
This method allowed the drug to take effect faster.
The powerful regenerative abilities triggered by the Titan II mutation would quickly heal this minor injury anyway.
Milovan's eyes clouded—rationality giving way to uncontrollable rage. His body began to bulge and mutate uncontrollably.
"Perfect. Just like that."
A satisfied grin spread across Shimizu's face. He put the nearly empty injector back into his vest, then gathered chakra into his right hand and delivered a heavy punch to his own shoulder.
Even with the vest's protection, blood began to seep through the wound.
Shimizu's expression quickly shifted into one of panic. Clutching his injured shoulder, he turned and ran down the hall, shouting:
"Something's wrong! A monster's been released! Quick—call Nightwing for backup! Only a superhero can stop this thing!"
At the control room entrance, Shimizu shouted to Nightwing and the guards.
"Where is it?"
Nightwing paused his interrogation of Harley Quinn, grabbed his batons, and asked sharply.
"Just outside the hallway! It's coming this way!"
Nightwing glanced at the monitor.
At the end of the corridor, a creature as monstrous as Bane was rampaging and destroying everything in sight.
Without hesitation, Nightwing sprinted out, weapons ready.
"Let's help him!"
The security captain shouldered his gun and gave chase.
"Captain… my shoulder's hurt. I can't handle a gun…"
"Milovan, you stay here and rest—watch Harley Quinn. The rest of you, with me!"
Once the room was clear—only Shimizu and Harley remained.
Shimizu flashed her a grin, then knocked her out cold with a punch.
"Now… time for the final step of the plan."
Shimizu smiled in satisfaction as he looked over the control room's surveillance monitors.
Nightwing and the security team were being held up by the mutated Titan-monster version of Milovan.
At the top of Arkham, Batman was engaged in a standoff with the Joker. Commissioner Gordon was strapped to an electric chair, hanging upside down from a radio tower, while the Joker pointed a serum injector gun at him.
Just as the gun fired, Batman shielded Gordon with his own body.
Then, through sheer willpower, he resisted the mutation, declaring:
"I am Batman."
Frustrated that his masterpiece had been ruined, the Joker injected himself with Titan and launched into a final showdown with the Dark Knight.
"Excellent. Now, nothing can stop me from escaping."
Shimizu pressed a button, unlocking one high-security door after another inside Arkham, and turned to leave.
By the time the Titan-mutated Milovan was defeated, Nightwing and the others rushed back to the control room.
They found Harley Quinn unconscious in her chair.
On the monitors, Arkham's gates had all been thrown wide open. Every inmate was scrambling for escape.
But Arkham Island is surrounded by water. Escaping it wouldn't be easy.
Swimming was nearly impossible for anyone other than Killer Croc.
The best bet was to seize a boat or yacht—but those were few, and hard to secure.
Only a small number of inmates were likely to escape.
But none of that mattered to Shimizu, who only had slightly wet shoes.
"Phew... what a hassle. Good thing the water was calm. Walking on the surface wasn't hard."
Having made it to shore, Shimizu found a secluded forest and stopped to rest.
He had long since mastered tree-walking and water-walking techniques.
Even though this body didn't have as much chakra as his true form, those were just techniques. Execution might be a bit rough, but they still worked.
"Not much chakra left. I'll rest for now, then head into Gotham. I'll use Transformation Jutsu to disguise myself, then start figuring out how to gain more Fortune Points and increase my power."
Now free from the pitch-black prison of Arkham Asylum, Shimizu felt an exhilarating freedom.
The vast sea for the fish, the high skies for the birds.
And after all, he was now an Arkham graduate. With credentials like that, he could surely carve a name for himself in Gotham's underworld.
"Perfect. My clone has escaped Arkham. And now, I'm finally about to officially join the Puppet Corps!"
Back in the real world, Shimizu patted his puppet Fatty and looked at his system panel.
His Fortune Progress Bar had now reached 17.9.
He wondered how much it would rise this time.
Placing Fatty and Tom into what looked like a wardrobe-sized wooden box, Shimizu slung it over his back and set off for the Puppet Corps headquarters.
It had been a month since the last selection trial.
Of the 80 puppet masters who participated, only about 10% passed. A total of 12 new recruits had been accepted into the Puppet Corps.
But before becoming official members, they still had to undergo a one-month intensive training to improve their puppet techniques, fill in skill gaps, and learn advanced puppet arts.
"Our village's puppet techniques were founded by the Second Kazekage. Over the past thirty years, they've branched out into multiple paths, forming a complete system. For example, the foundational Sand Secret Techniques, or the White Secret Techniques passed down from Monzaemon. Today's final lesson is a transitional technique known as the Black Secret Technique."
Inside a classroom built from sand and stone, a puppet master cloaked in black lectured the 12 new recruits.
He was a special jōnin skilled in teaching. At the moment, he was using both hands to control two puppets simultaneously.
"The Sand Techniques are the basics, usually allowing control over only one puppet. Of course, that doesn't mean they're weak. If your puppet is strong and you can utilize its full power, you can still become a powerful puppet master."
"What makes the Black Secret Techniques unique is their ability to let you split your mind, even into three—so one person can control multiple puppets at once."
(End of Chapter)