The reason was simple: advanced puppet master knowledge existed only in Sunagakure.
Puppet masters were a new type of ninja profession, founded by the Second Kazekage and further developed by Monzaemon. From its inception until now, less than thirty years had passed. Other villages, at most, had only acquired some basic puppet techniques—true powerful puppet masters existed only in Sunagakure.
"A graduate from the Ninja Academy's elite class, his squad leader was Morimi—a typical Wind Release user. He probably couldn't have taught him these things. In fact, even if someone had taught him, being able to reach this level at his age means his future potential is limitless," Ishido continued, speaking to Ebizō.
"Hm, alright. You want to transfer him to your Sixth Squad?"
"Yes, Lord Ebizō. Two years ago, White Fang wiped out over 70% of our Sixth Squad's puppet masters. Even now, it hasn't been fully rebuilt. So when I saw a promising seedling, I just couldn't help but…"
"Alright, I understand."
Ebizō moved his hand from his gray beard and took another thoughtful look.
Such a genius was worth nurturing.
And he was only two years older than Sasori—essentially the same generation.
It might be a good idea to let him interact with Sasori a bit.
After all, ever since losing his parents, Sasori had become increasingly withdrawn.
"Directly assigning him to your squad isn't possible. I'll be selecting eighty of the new generation of puppet masters to enter the training list. Who joins the Puppet Corps and which squad they go to—that'll be up to the leaders of each division to decide."
...
...
"Puppet Corps training program?"
One week after submitting the puppet repair task, Shimizu received such a notice at home.
"Yes. You must seize this opportunity. The Puppet Corps is an elite unit of the village. In the past ten years, nearly every puppet master who has become a Jōnin has come from there."
A bandaged, fifty-something ninja placed a form on the table.
This was Morimi—Shimizu's former squad leader, an experienced Jōnin of Sunagakure. He had also recently returned from the frontlines in the Land of Rain due to his injuries, like Shimizu.
Of course, Morimi hadn't been directly leading Shimizu in battle. As a Jōnin, he performed missions that a Genin—only one year out of school—would never have access to.
"I'm not a puppet master. I became a Jōnin through Wind Release ninjutsu and kenjutsu. So there's only so much I can help you with when it comes to puppetry. If you want to keep progressing, you must seize this chance."
Morimi looked seriously at the young man before him.
He was well aware of Shimizu's potential.
In terms of ninjutsu, Shimizu's talent was above average. His ninjutsu was fairly good, too. If he followed the standard path, he could surely become a Chūnin. If nothing went wrong and he accumulated enough years of experience, he might even reach the level of a Special Jōnin.
The chance of him becoming a full Jōnin was slim, but not impossible.
However, in terms of puppetry, Shimizu's talent was so high that it astonished Morimi. He believed that if Shimizu could receive a high-level puppetry inheritance, becoming a Jōnin would be inevitable.
And maybe—just maybe—he could one day become a figure as important as Elder Chiyo.
"Thank you, Teacher Morimi,"
Shimizu accepted the form from Morimi and bowed in gratitude.
"No need to thank me. When you graduated and were assigned, the fighting on the frontlines was at its fiercest. At that time, all the top puppet masters in the village…"
Morimi shook his head.
"What happened to them?" Shimizu asked curiously.
"At that time, Elder Chiyo had handed command of the Puppet Corps to her son and daughter-in-law. They were both excellent puppet masters—considered potential successors to the Fourth Kazekage. Unfortunately, in one battle, the squad they led encountered White Fang's team from Konoha. The battle was disastrous. Many died, including the two of them."
"The Jōnin originally assigned to lead you was also called to the frontlines to fill in the gap in the Puppet Corps. That's why they ended up assigning someone like me—neither top-tier nor totally unqualified—to guide you."
Morimi patted Shimizu on the shoulder.
Each of the Five Great Ninja Villages had a ninja population in the tens of thousands. So every new batch of Genin wouldn't be just twenty-seven students, like in the anime, with some getting eliminated.
In reality, those twenty-seven were just the ones with outstanding talent—or deep backgrounds. Only they would be assigned a personal Jōnin instructor after graduation.
Shimizu was one of them.
Though his talent was not quite on par with the elite prodigies, it was still above average. Combined with his early edge in development, he had just barely squeezed into that group.
...
...
That night, at his desk, Shimizu absentmindedly fiddled with puppet parts, watching the progress bar at the bottom of his system interface slowly climb.
"It seems the application for the puppet master training program has already been approved."
97%... 98%... 99%...
The progress bar crept forward slowly but steadily until it reached 100%—then instantly reset.
[System updating...]
[New functions unlocking...]
[System update complete!]
At that moment, the interface underwent a transformation.
To the left of Fatty's puppet panel, a new sub-panel appeared—displaying a 3D model of Shimizu himself.
"This is... my own data screen?"
Shimizu stared in surprise at the changes and immediately checked his stats.
[Name: Shimizu]
[Age: Eleven]
[Occupation: Ninja (Primary), Puppet Master]
[Attribute Stats]:
Nin (Ninjutsu): 4
Tai (Taijutsu): 3
Gen (Genjutsu): 3
Int (Intelligence): 5
Str (Strength): 3
SPD (Speed): 4
Sta (Stamina): 4
Seals (Hand Seals): 5
"This is... the Ninja Eight Attributes?"
The Ninja Eight Attributes were numerical values used to evaluate a ninja's overall ability. The Academy also used them to score students.
These values gave a general sense of a ninja's level—but didn't represent everything. For example, a ninja who wasn't good at Genjutsu but excelled at dispelling it might still score a 6 or 7 in Gen. Conversely, someone with a 10 in Genjutsu might not be able to trap that person easily.
Typical examples of this were Might Guy and Jiraiya—they weren't skilled in Genjutsu but were still resistant to it.
That said, the Eight Attributes were still highly useful for reference.
Curious, Shimizu lightly tapped on the "Nin" (Ninjutsu) value.
He couldn't add points, but a sub-window popped up, showing the sub-skills under Ninjutsu:
[Wind Release Ninjutsu: LV1 | Puppetry: LV2]
"If it's just like this, it doesn't seem particularly useful to me..."
Unwilling to give up, Shimizu tried clicking every corner of the panel.
Opening Wind Release Ninjutsu showed the two C-rank techniques he currently knew:
Wind Release: Gale Palm
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough
(End of Chapter)