"Uchiha brat, why are you back here again?"
"And!"
"We don't have any foxes here!"
Tenten, sitting behind the counter, covered her face and sighed heavily, feeling like this kid treated her shop as some kind of wishing well.
"I want to buy a puppet."
Kaito pointed to a small puppet by the counter, indicating he wasn't here to cause trouble this time.
Even Tenten, the queen of sarcasm, fell silent for a full minute after hearing the Uchiha kid's request.
"Hold on..."
"While what you're asking for this time is slightly more normal than last time, have you ever considered the fact that you're an Uchiha?"
If possible.
Tenten really wanted to crack open this kid's skull to see what was going on inside.
An Uchiha coming to buy puppets...
Wasn't that just too absurd!?
Facing Tenten's skepticism, Kaito nodded very seriously. "Yes, I want to study puppet techniques."
"100,000 ryo."
Tenten glanced at the dust-covered puppets in the shop, frowned slightly, and waved her hand, signaling she could sell them as a bundle.
"Never mind, those have been sitting around too long..."
"If you want them, you can take the whole lot for 100,000 ryo."
Of course, this was also to get rid of the Uchiha brat as quickly as possible.
She was genuinely worried this kid might go down some dark path in the future, and the Uchiha clan head might come barging into her shop demanding answers.
Kaito nodded, left the pocket money he'd taken from his father's room, and pulled out a rope to tie up the puppets.
These puppets weren't large, about the size of dolls, six in total.
Likely meant for beginners to practice with.
However, it seemed no one in Konoha really practiced puppet techniques. Even if someone wanted to learn more advanced stuff, they'd probably have to slash their forehead protector and defect to the "Sunagakure Puppetry Academy."
And if they wanted to go even further...
They'd probably need to reach Kage-level strength and actively join the hidden Sect "Akatsuki Organization" to learn from the Puppet Master—Sasori.
Kaito wasn't thinking that far ahead, though. The main reason he came to buy puppets was that he'd noticed the limitations of his Flying Thunder Dog.
After all, dogs move around, and unlike the Inuzuka clan, he didn't treat his ninja hounds as partners.
He... was already doing well by not treating the dogs as disposable items to throw at enemies.
Puppets were different.
A mechanical dog... should still count as a dog, right?
With a trial-and-error mindset, Kaito figured he'd start with a mechanical dog. Once he incorporated his teleportation abilities, it would significantly boost his combat power.
After purchasing the puppets, Kaito borrowed various tools from Tenten's Weapon Shop and began disassembling and reassembling them.
Four hours later, as evening approached, Kaito had pieced together a puppet that somewhat resembled a dog.As everyone knows, the current situation in Konoha is extremely tense with the Uchiha clan. Having an Uchiha kid squatting in front of the village's weapon shop only made things more conspicuous.
Villagers and shinobi passing by the weapon shop would stop and stare, wondering if this Uchiha brat was plotting some earth-shattering scheme—just so they could report it to the Hokage at any moment.
Meanwhile, Root and ANBU operatives who happened to pass by didn't slow their steps upon recognizing Uchiha Kaito. If anything, they sped up, as if stopping to watch for even a few seconds would mean having their intelligence ruthlessly trampled by the kid.
Some even feared that lingering too long might infect them with whatever "brain disease" he had.
Yet the oblivious onlookers found the whole scene quite entertaining, gathering about ten meters away from the shop.
After watching for a full half-hour, their expressions all mirrored the same mix of speechlessness and existential doubt.
"Am… am I seeing things?? That thing in the Uchiha brat's hands is a puppet, right??"
"Wait… what is he even doing?? Since when do Uchiha mess around with puppets??"
"Our village doesn't even teach puppet techniques!"
"Hold on! Isn't that Fugaku's kid who's always hammering metal?!"
Someone in the crowd seemed to recognize Kaito, their face twisting in disgust before they stormed off.
At that moment, everyone suddenly realized they had just wasted the most precious half-hour of their lives.
Ignoring the jeers and skepticism, Kaito remained focused on assembling his "mechanical dog."
Glancing at the dispersing crowd, he summed up his thoughts in five words:
Stupid humans.
Tenten, however, was indignant.
Sure, this Uchiha kid's dream was bizarre—jumping from blacksmithing to puppetry was quite the leap—but mocking someone's aspirations was just low.
Unable to stand it, she snapped at a few bystanders before turning to comfort the brooding Uchiha.
"Hey, Uchiha brat."
"Okay, an Uchiha dabbling in puppetry is hard to wrap my head around… but I gotta admit, that centipede puppet of yours is kinda interesting."
Kaito's face darkened instantly, his brow furrowing as he glared at the puppet at his feet.
Such a nice girl…
Too bad she's blind.
After a long pause, he coldly corrected her:
"It's a dog."
Tenten: ??
Those three words short-circuited her brain. The usually quick-witted girl was so stunned she even forgot to retort.
Ignoring her, Kaito grabbed the rope tied around the "puppet dog's" neck and dragged it outside.
The puppet itself was complete—all that remained was installing a voice module and making it move.
[Ding—]
[Task triggered.]
Kaito: ???
The sudden sound of the system, absent for so long, didn't bring him joy. Instead, it nearly made him drop the leash in fright.
[Task: Soul Pet Training. As all cultivators know, a Soul Pet is an indispensable companion. Please nurture your Soul Pet for three days and nights, eating and sleeping together to deepen your bond. Current progress: 10%]
[Reward: Spirit Awakening Pill]After reading the system's task, Kaito felt his life was being questioned as he held the dog leash in his hand, glancing several times at the crooked and twisted "dog Puppet."
Excuse me...
How on earth does this Puppet of mine have anything to do with the term "Soul pet"???
As for the Spirit Awakening Pill...
Are we sure it would even work if this dog Puppet ate it???
Rather than feeding this stupid puppet, Kaito thought it might be better to give the Enlightenment Pill to Sasuke—perhaps it could make his foolish younger brother a bit smarter.
Kaito was somewhat skeptical, even wondering if the system had detected the wrong target. He turned his head to search the surroundings for any other small animals that might be present.
The result...
No other intellectually deficient small animals were found.
Well, those villagers who avoided him at all costs didn't count.
Kaito sighed deeply, picked up the dog leash, and dragged the puppet along, walking slowly toward the ninja academy under the envious gazes of the crowd.
After all, the mission to grow stronger had to be completed.
As for whether the Enlightenment Pill would work on the puppet...
It didn't matter.
He could always give it to Sasuke later.
[Next mass release after we got 200 power stone, i think thats reasonable no?]