[Puppet Name]: Little Boy
[Overall Parameters]:
Height: 1.35 meters
Weight: 29.18 kilograms
Material: Reinforced wood, lightweight composite material, high-strength alloy
Energy Source: None
Control Method: Chakra strings, equipped with five chakra connection hubs
[Puppet Rating]: B-
[Overall Evaluation]:
Support-type combat puppet, moderately damaged. When fully repaired, it should possess the combat power of a newly promoted Chūnin. Moderate difficulty of control.
[Detailed Data]: ...
After reading through the data, Shimizu became even more confused.
A puppet of Chūnin level—how could a mere Genin-level puppet master like him be tasked with repairing it?
Suddenly, Shimizu recalled something he had heard from his supervising Jōnin a while back.
Maybe this was actually a good thing.
Due to the prolonged war, it seemed the Puppet Corps might be expanding their recruitment.
Shimizu picked up the mission scroll again and examined it carefully.
The commissioning party was the Puppet Corps.
Not a specific squad within the corps, and not an individual either.
This was different from usual.
Could it be that he had drawn their attention? That he had already been included in the village's training pipeline for puppet artisans?
Was this mission essentially a test?
Every puppet master in Sunagakure dreamed of joining the Puppet Corps.
That unit held strategic importance on par with the Anbu. Within it were more advanced techniques for puppetry and ninjutsu, as well as richer resources.
And...
Shimizu glanced at the progress bar at the bottom of his interface, which hadn't moved.
Forget it. No use thinking about that now. Better to focus on the job.
He took out a pencil and began sketching and jotting notes on a sheet of paper.
Within a dozen minutes, a brand-new maintenance and upgrade plan had taken shape.
"Left mechanical claw hinge is broken; right saw blade bearing is damaged—both need replacement. Model is..."
"The needle launcher in the mouth is rusted—clean with Type-3 acid solution."
"Rust likely caused by prolonged placement of poison-soaked senbon by the user, resulting in corrosion. Apply anti-toxin coating to affected parts…"
This was Shimizu's first time actually working with a Chūnin-level puppet. Previously, he had only seen others operate such models.
Its internal construction was far more complex than his puppet Fatty and featured some refreshingly new designs.
"Besides the limbs, there's another chakra hub located in the core of the torso. The glass lens attached to it likely works with some kind of sensory ninjutsu. During the battle, if other hubs are damaged, the sliding mechanism can shift this hub into place."
Shimizu pulled out a notebook and recorded the details.
This was a new mechanism he hadn't seen before. He planned to study it more thoroughly once repairs were done.
If he had relied solely on his current level of knowledge to inspect the puppet piece by piece, it would have taken him a full day.
But now, it had only taken him less than an hour.
Looking at the puppet schematic in the notebook—revised several times—then glancing at the interface, Shimizu put down his pencil and wooden triangle ruler. He focused his will on the system panel and began updating the puppet blueprint in the interface according to his own revised plan.
It was almost like working with a holographic projection—fully customizable, capable of running perfect simulations, allowing him to identify any incompatibilities or flaws.
With this ability, Shimizu could refine a repair plan to near perfection within two hours.
That level of efficiency was dozens of times greater than his peers—possibly even higher.
Most puppet masters of his level couldn't even come close to refining a puppet to this degree.
That kind of mastery was usually only achieved by high-level puppet masters.
It was also the reason he had been able to turn Fatty, a basic teaching tool, into a legitimate C-rank combat puppet.
"Oh? Puppet #11 awaiting maintenance—'Little Boy'—has already been repaired? That fast? Was that the first submission?"
Ebizō lifted his head from a pile of documents, looking slightly fatigued.
With the Third Kazekage out of the village and Elder Chiyo, the village's second-in-command, also away, it was Ebizō who was overseeing Sunagakure's daily operations.
Ebizō held a position in Sunagakure akin to that of Danzō in Konoha—a village elder and head of the Anbu, mainly in charge of intelligence affairs.
"The puppet's basic functionality has been restored in just four days. Even if I had done it myself, I might not have finished any faster. Not only that—he even made structural modifications, and..."
Captain Ishido of the Puppet Corps' 6th Squad handed several sheets of paper to Ebizō.
"He even proposed further upgrades, though they'd require more resources."
Ebizō took the documents and examined them thoughtfully, stroking his chin.
He was also one of Sunagakure's top puppet masters.
In terms of puppet arts, the strongest in the current ninja world was Chiyo—her puppet manipulation and crafting had reached extraordinary levels. She had been hand-picked by Monzaemon to inherit the legacy of the "Ten Puppet Masters of Chikamatsu."
Next in line was Ebizō. Following him were Chiyo's late son and daughter-in-law.
In terms of puppet manipulation, Ebizō was a step below Chiyo. But in puppet crafting—he was her superior.
"The modifications are excellent. Though he used basic techniques, they've improved Little Boy's performance by over six percent. And this idea—altering the joint structure and chakra hub flow points to allow transformation into a shield mode—is fascinating. It's practically a prototype for the Shield Sealing Mechanism jutsu."
Ebizō stroked his graying beard, visibly more alert now, his eyes showing traces of amazement.
Even with his expert eye, this was a brilliant design.
Clearly the work of a gifted puppet master!
Aside from his grandnephew, were there actually other puppet prodigies like this in the village?
"This boy only took the most basic puppet elective in the Ninja Academy. His supervising Jōnin, Momi, wasn't a puppet master either. Aside from basic Genin skills, all he could've taught were Taijutsu and Wind Release. So I believe this kid has real potential—and he fits the Puppet Corps' pre-recruitment profile."
Jōnin Ishido pointed at Shimizu's repair plan as he spoke.
"Have you verified his background?"
Ebizō looked at Ishido and asked.
"The orphaned son of Chūnin Sashin. His mother was a civilian who died in childbirth. The boy was sent to an orphanage for fallen ninja dependents when he was a year and a half old. The only resource he had growing up was his inheritance when he enrolled in the Academy."
Ishido's implication was twofold:
First, Shimizu's background was clean and honorable—his roots were unquestionable.
Second, there was no way he had come into contact with high-level puppet techniques, which meant his talent was genuine.
As for the possibility of him being a spy from another village who had acquired advanced puppet knowledge elsewhere—virtually zero.
(End of Chapter)