Logic Masters Deutschland e.V.

This is the larger of two puzzles made for Math Pesto as a part of Secret Santa in the CTC discord server. They requested a pencil puzzle / sudoku hybrid, and I had never done a pencil puzzle before. After doing some research, I stumbled across a shading-type genre called "nurimisaki" that I found could give some good logic. Then, I decided to give it a twist. I hope you enjoy the puzzle!

Rules:

Normal sudoku rules apply.

Shade three orthogonally-connected, one-cell-wide (possibly branching) paths through the grid. All cells must be on a path, and each path must pass through more than one box in the grid. No 2x2 region can all be a part of the same path. Circles must be orthogonally connected to their path on exactly one side, and the number in the circle indicates the number of consecutive cells on the path can be seen in a straight line from the circle, including the circle itself.

One of these pathways must be a German whispers line - adjacent digits along the path must have a difference of 5 or more. One of these pathways must locally be a renban line - from the time the path enters a box until the time the path leaves, the digits along the path must be a consecutive set in some order. (If the path leaves and re-enters a box, these two segments need not be consecutive.) One of these pathways has no additional rules.

The pointing signs are greater than/less than signs which point towards the smaller digit.

You can play the puzzle here:

Happy solving!

The first gifted puzzle (a 6x6 with slightly different rules) can be found here.