Deep within the Hidden Sand Village, sheltered inside a restricted workshop belonging to the Puppet Research and Development Department, the lights burned with an artificial intensity throughout the night. Unlike the wind-eroded, earthy yellow tones that dominated the world outside, the interior of this space was a cathedral of meticulous order. Tools were not merely stored; they were sorted, calibrated, and hung on magnetic racks within arm's reach of the central workbench. The air was a heavy, intoxicating cocktail of scents: the fresh, resinous aroma of special-grade Iron-Oak, the cold, sharp tang of ozone from high-frequency magnetic testing, and the unique, sweet-metallic signature of chakra-conducting ink.
Sayo stood before the massive workbench, his posture straight and unyielding. The frailty that had defined his early years was gone, a deleted file in his biological history. The continuous nourishment provided by the Natural Energy Body Tempering Furnace had executed a slow, fundamental transformation. He possessed a frame of balanced musculature and a reservoir of energy that seemed to hum just beneath his skin. His eyes, clear and analytical, remained fixed on the primary design scroll spread across the table, the finalized blueprints for the prototype of his manned mobile platform: Mirage.
After a decade of systematic learning at the Suna Academy, receiving the elite tutelage of Chiyo and the shadowed legacy of Sasori, and being enlightened by the ancient source-code shared by Bunpuku and Shukaku, Sayo felt the scattered pieces of his knowledge finally clicking into a unified logic. He was no longer just a user of technology; he had become its architect. The goal of crafting a puppet entirely his own, a creation that surpassed even Sasori's "Red Sand" legacy was no longer a dream; it was an engineering certainty.
The concept of the "Mirage" stemmed from a cold audit of his combat performance. Even with Jonin-level chakra reserves and the Natural Energy Core, Sayo was still a child in a world of giants. His physical size and pure sprinting speed remained "Legacy Bottlenecks" in high-level engagements. He needed a platform, not just a tool, but a mobile fortress that could compensate for his physical stats, enhance his sensory range, and serve as a high-output turret. While Sasori's "Salamander" and "Hiruko" offered structural data on heavy puppets, Sayo's vision was fundamentally different, driven by the memories of his previous life as Logan.
"Standard chakra thread manipulation is distance-limited and introduces too much latency," Sayo murmured, his finger tapping the control-bus on the blueprint. "It occupies the bandwidth needed for hand seals and complex tactical analysis. To achieve peak efficiency, the system needs a cockpit."
In his mind, he saw the ultimate evolution: a direct neural interface between pilot and machine. But as an engineer, he knew better than to attempt a "Final Build" during the prototyping phase. Sasori's path of turning himself into a puppet was a corrupted script that Sayo refused to run; he wanted to enhance his humanity, not abandon it. For now, the "Mirage" prototype would utilize an optimized version of chakra thread control, but the infrastructure for a future cockpit was being built into the very chassis.
His primary advantage was a refusal to be limited by the "Traditional Forms" of the Ninja World. Most puppeteers built wooden humans or animals. Logan's mind demanded aerodynamics, fluid dynamics, and energy efficiency.
"The movement script must be based on magnetic levitation," he muttered, focusing on the chassis schematics.
Using his Magnet Release, he had designed a series of high-frequency magnetic force generation arrays. Powered by the "Natural Energy Puppet Core (Type II)," these arrays would produce a powerful, controllable repulsion field. The "Mirage" would lift off the ground, achieving low-altitude hovering and frictionless gliding. In a desert environment, this was a "Cheat Code" bypassing sand-traps and rugged terrain while moving with near-zero acoustic output.
F_lift = ∫ (B² / 2μ₀) dA
He calculated the necessary magnetic flux (B) required to lift the 400-pound prototype, factoring in the permeability of the iron-rich sand beneath the village. But stability was another matter. You couldn't just float; you had to steer.
"Stability and yaw cannot rely solely on the magnetic field," Sayo noted. He looked at the design of the vector nozzles distributed around the shuttle-shaped platform. Inspired by Logan's memories of jet propulsion, he planned to use micro-manipulation of Wind Release chakra to perform precise jetting. These nozzles would adjust the platform's posture, provide counter-thrust for sudden stops, and allow for instantaneous lateral shifts, the kind of "Dodge Script" that would make him impossible to hit with traditional projectiles.
For months, Sayo dedicated every free clock-cycle to manufacturing. He selected Iron-Oak for its resilience and high chakra-conductivity, shaping the streamlined armor plates with surgical precision. He smelted lightweight alloys in a specialized forge, personally machining the magnetic bases on a custom-built lathe. He used ink mixed with pulverized chakra-metal to outline the Spirit Siphoning Seals, ensuring that the Natural Energy flow remained stable even during high-G maneuvers.
The workshop was filled with the rhythmic sounds of creation: the high-pitched hiss of the lathe, the steady rasp of the file, and the crisp click of parts being fitted with zero-tolerance precision. Sayo was completely engrossed, oblivious to the sweat on his brow. Every component was a challenge. Was the magnetic pole strength uniform? Were the air ducts in the vector nozzles smooth enough to prevent turbulence?
The process was far from a perfect "First Pass." Problems arose endlessly. Uneven magnetic distribution caused the platform to tilt dangerously during power-on tests. Unstable nozzle output created a "Jitter Bug" in the steering. A structural spar cracked under a simulated 5-G load test. But Sayo remained focused. Every failure was just a data point, a bug to be fixed before the final compile.
His dream from his previous life, to build machinery that could defy the limitations of the world was finally materializing. He wasn't just building a puppet; he was building a legend.
When the last major component, the tail stabilizer wing with a unique airflow-foil design was polished and passed the Wind Release simulation, Sayo finally straightened up. He let out a long, ragged breath that had been held for nearly a week. Neatly laid out around the workbench were the core modules of the Mirage prototype. They caught the lamplight with a dull, lethal luster a sleeping behemoth awaiting its soul.
"The hardware is ready," Sayo whispered, a rare, expectant smile crossing his face. "Now, we begin the integration."
He knew that when these parts were combined, a creation that surpassed the "Traditional Meta" of the Ninja World was about to emerge. The "Mirage" was no longer just a drawing; it was a physical reality, and the desert was about to find out how fast a shadow could truly move.