Puppeteer

Wisps of cooking smoke rose and drifted toward the setting sun.

The blood-red afterglow seeped with enticing color, staining all of Sunagakure crimson.

"This is the third batch to withdraw from the front lines this month."

Shimizu sat at his desk, watching a group of battered, defeated soldiers pass beneath the window across from him, and could not help but sigh.

In a water-scarce place like the Land of Wind, his name carried a fine meaning. It had been given to him by the head of the orphanage.

It was now Sunagakure Year 37.

Since the Five Great Shinobi Villages had all been founded in the same year, Sunagakure Year 37 was the same year as Leaf Hidden Year 37.

The shinobi world was currently embroiled in the Second Great Ninja War, which had already reached its most intense stage.

Sunagakure had two main fronts. One lay northeast, in the Land of Rain, commanded by Elder Chiyo. Its purpose was to suppress Amegakure, prevent Hanzo from leading Amegakure into becoming the sixth great shinobi village, and plunder the village's supplies.

The second front lay directly east, commanded by the Third Kazekage. Its purpose was to attack the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire, securing a fertile territory for Sunagakure.

However, ever since two of Sunagakure's higher-ups had been slain by Konoha White Fang two years ago, the advantage Sunagakure had once held on the battlefield had gradually vanished.

None of that concerned Shimizu for the moment, because he himself had only withdrawn from the Land of Rain battlefield last week.

For the time being, he did not need to return to the battlefield.

Eleven years had passed since he had transmigrated into the world of Naruto.

When he had first arrived, he had only been an infant. It was not until he turned three, when his brain had developed to a certain extent, that he gradually recalled the memories of his previous life.

Ever since he could remember, he had lived in Sunagakure's orphanage.

As a result, he had displayed maturity and intelligence beyond his peers from an early age. He had smoothly passed the Ninja Academy entrance examination and outpaced the vast majority of his classmates during the early stages of study.

However, in terms of ninja talent, he was not truly among the best. At most, he was average, and his background could not compare to those students supported by high-ranking ninja or clans.

So, when he realized that others were gradually catching up to him, Shimizu chose to specialize in the unique ninja profession of Puppeteer in order to maintain his competitiveness.

In resource-starved Sunagakure, everything had to be fought for.

"The injury in my leg will take another month to heal, and the internal injuries will take even longer. During that time, I can only take on some side work and help people repair puppets. I probably won't be able to accept missions for money anytime soon. Still, at least I don't have to go to the battlefield.

But before that, I need to finish the puppet repair assignment the village gave me."

Shimizu refocused on the workbench.

He had graduated from the Ninja Academy last year.

More precisely, he had been graduated, because after seeing neighboring Konoha do the same, Sunagakure had followed suit and sent upperclassmen from the Ninja Academy to the battlefield.

Still, the higher-ups had some humanity. They did not use them as cannon fodder, instead assigning them to guard and patrol warehouses, escort supplies, and deliver low-level intelligence. They were not sent to the very front lines. There was danger, but not much.

Sending these upperclassmen to the second line of the battlefield could free up some manpower while also allowing these ninja reserves to gain experience early.

But if the front lines ever failed to hold, they would still have to serve as cannon fodder.

Puppeteers were Sunagakure's specialty. Their inheritance was complete, their combat strength formidable, their potential high, and their status respectable. Their only flaw was...

Poverty.

Especially in an already impoverished Sunagakure.

The creation and routine maintenance of puppets were enormous expenses.

"There's something strange about this mission..."

Shimizu took out the mission scroll and frowned.

Puppet repair was a normal mission, usually D-Rank and occasionally C-Rank. But even C-Rank missions generally only paid the minimum reward of ten thousand ryo.

This time, the village had been unusually generous. The mission assigned to him paid a full sixty thousand ryo. It was not even a team mission, so he did not have to split the reward with teammates.

And he only needed to repair one puppet. Any repair costs under ten thousand ryo would be reimbursed by the Puppet Force.

Would such a lucrative mission really fall to an ordinary Genin Puppeteer without any backing like him?

"Generous to an abnormal degree..."

As he considered the reason, Shimizu turned his gaze to the nearly man-high puppet placed against the wall. A box appeared in his field of vision.

Puppet Name: Fatty

Overall Parameters:

Height: 1.5 meters

Weight: 40.22 kilograms

Material: Reinforced wood combined with lightweight metal

Power Source: None

Control Method: Chakra Thread

Puppet Rating: C

Overall Evaluation: Modified from a basic D-Rank instructional transport puppet. Low cost and equipped with standard Genin-level combat ability, though it places certain demands on the Puppeteer's control skills.

Fatty was Shimizu's only puppet. He had made it by dismantling an instructional puppet purchased from the Ninja Academy and adding extra materials.

With a thought, he tapped the pop-up window. Three-view diagrams and an exploded view of Fatty appeared beside it, along with detailed specifications for every aspect, including several existing flaws.

Knowing all that, it was easy to devise a set of improvement and optimization plans. That was how Fatty had gone from a basic D-Rank instructional transport puppet to a C-Rank puppet with competent Genin-level combat strength.

The System Panel was an ability Shimizu had brought with him when he transmigrated. Aside from providing detailed data on items he made himself, he had not yet discovered any other functions.

At the very bottom of the System Panel was a progress bar that had already reached around eighty percent.

Shimizu did not yet know what would happen when the progress bar filled, but he had some guesses as to how it could be increased.

Although the progress bar normally increased with time, the rate was extremely slow. It might not even grow by 0.1 percent in a month.

But sometimes, it underwent substantial changes.

So far, that had happened twice.

The first time was when Shimizu received his Ninja Academy acceptance notice. The second was when he graduated and became a Genin.

At the time, Shimizu had guessed that it might be related to his ninja rank and personal status.

His mind turning, Shimizu looked at another puppet beside him.

This was the target of his current mission.

It was a short humanoid puppet. Its left arm was an elongated mechanical claw made of segments of connected wood, while there was a hole in the palm of its right hand. It could fire Exploding Kunai and switch into a spiral drill bit.

Although the System Panel appeared this time, there was virtually no data apart from its name.

Because this thing had not been made by Shimizu's own hands.

Shimizu picked up a measuring tape and screwdriver, dismantled the puppet, studied it carefully for a while, then reassembled it.

That counted as something he had manually made himself.