Jin had hoped to have a conversation to thank the spirit who had helped him break free from his confinement by boosting his armor. He even wanted to ask how it was done, since the armor was saturated with his chi and no one else should have been able to move it—not even a spirit.
But he certainly hadn't expected to be called "Dad" right away!
Just a short while ago, he had been painfully lamenting not having children…
He carefully observed the spirit in front of him.
Her female base was composed of some kind of dark liquid, she wore bone accessories as clothing, and small bony protrusions emerged from her shoulders. She had platinum bracelets on her arms, a gem necklace around her neck, and a kind of salt tiara from which molten magma flowed, forming a thick mane that reached down to her waist. Her eyes were completely green, with no white sclera.
"Who's your mom?" Jin asked, very sure he hadn't had children—much less with a spirit.
"Mom? Inkasha doesn't have a mom, only dad," Inkasha replied, wagging her index finger as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Alright, Jin was completely lost.
Right in the middle of his confusion, the same Truth-Seeker returned with a different scroll for him, which read:
*"By the way, during your absence, the various forms of sub-control you invented or perfected ended up becoming recognized enough by the people of the world to manifest, after a couple or three decades, as a new spirit in the Spirit World, since no one had claimed those domains. It is the first spirit to be born in the last millennia, and its appearance unsettled many ancient spirits. I took the liberty of keeping her as a resident of my library for practical and security reasons. Her name is Inkasha.
You know the entrance fee—come by to chat sometime.
Wa Shi Tong."*
"Alright," Jin muttered as he finished reading the document, rubbing his forehead. "It must have been a few decades since you were born, but… aren't you a little older?"
He knew he shouldn't apply human logic to spirits, but he had a certain level of understanding, and this…
"Oh, this is the form I use to manifest my strength at maximum," Inkasha explained, spinning in the air. "But I can return to normal whenever I want. Watch!"
With a puff of white ninja smoke, she immediately became younger.
"Done!" Inkasha smiled, now in a smaller form.
Jin was speechless.
Could it be that she found the manga section he had secretly sent to Wa Shi Tong?
They had barely started that project, but he was sure Naruto had some volumes… He was glad he had only sent a few volumes of regular series, relatively speaking.
At the same time, Jin understood how Inkasha had managed to move his armor. The spirit's chi was surprisingly similar to his own—enough so that if there were levels of authorization like an Ironman armor system, his chi would grant a "secondary access permission."
Which meant…
If he made a puppet and saturated it with his chi, his spirit daughter could inhabit the puppet without the drawback of corrupting the body she entered?
After all, if a spirit entered the body of a person or animal, it inevitably caused mutation, if not death.
"Dad?"
"Oh, sorry, I was lost in thought," Jin replied. He unconsciously reached to stroke her head as he would with Toph, but paused for a second, leaving his hand suspended in the air.
Even with their chi similarity… could they interact outside the Spirit World?
Inkasha seemed to understand her father's doubt. She took Jin's hand and placed it on her head. Far from passing through her like a mirage or illusion, Jin felt the touch. What was even more astonishing was that it didn't seem to hurt her molten hair.
It felt like touching warm, wiggling jelly that tickled a bit, while her dark liquid body was rather cool.
"Dad's chi is like Inkasha's chi, so it's all fine," the spirit summarized, her expression proud yet secretly seeking approval.
"You're amazing," Jin couldn't help but smile. The pain of everything he had lost was still there, but it seemed not all had been bad…
Inkasha looked at him in confusion.
"If Dad's happy, why are you crying?"
Jin ran a hand across his face, noticing the warm wetness in his palm.
"It's just… raining a lot."
Inkasha: ???
The spirit looked up at the starry sky, not a single cloud overhead, puzzled by her father's words.
But wasn't it raining just now?
"Can other people see you?" Jin changed the topic. "Does your aunt Toph know about you?"
"Mmm-mm," Inkasha shook her head. "Only those in tune with the Spirit World can notice me like this. But I can manifest in this world for a while if I want. That's the ability you gave me, Dad! As for Aunt Toph, Master Wa Shi Tong said it would be better to wait until you returned to meet everyone."
So only people like Jinora could see her, huh? That was pretty good.
He wouldn't mention his idea for a spirit puppet just yet, but he was already thinking about the design. He hadn't been the Chief Mechanic for so long without learning something about engineering.
Also, if his daughter could use it, maybe he could make a version for Kyoshi?
Though the chi aspect would be a bit more complicated, he had no shortage of ideas to try, and as for materials, he could get unlimited amounts of metal around the city.
As for her ability to manifest in the physical world… many spirits would kill for a power like that, even if it were only temporary.
"Seems like I owe Wa Shi Tong a big favor…" Jin sighed, but accepted it fully, understanding that while friendship with the old owl spirit played a role, he definitely didn't want something like this falling into the hands of an evil spirit.
"Alright, daughter," Jin said, feeling strangely happy as he rose from the bench and began walking through the streets of Republic City in a specific direction. "Let's go meet one of your cousins."