Something Off About This Mission

Puppet Name: Little Boy

Overall Parameters:

Height: 1.35 meters

Weight: 29.18 kilograms

Materials: Reinforced wood, lightweight composite materials, high-strength alloy

Power Source: None

Control Method: Chakra Threads, equipped with five Chakra Hubs

Puppet Rating: B-

Overall Evaluation: Support-combat puppet. Moderately damaged. When intact, it should possess the combat strength of a newly promoted Chunin. Moderate difficulty to control.

Detailed Data: ...

After reading the data, Shimizu became even more puzzled.

A Chunin-level puppet—would they really assign it to a Genin Puppeteer like him for repairs?

Suddenly, Shimizu recalled some news he had heard from his Jounin instructor some time ago.

This might be a good thing.

Due to the constant wars over the years, the Puppet Force seemed likely to expand its recruitment.

Shimizu picked up the mission scroll again and examined it carefully.

The client was the Puppet Force.

Not a specific squad within the Puppet Force, nor an individual.

That was somewhat different from before.

Did that mean he had caught their attention and entered the village's puppet-maker training program?

Was this mission a test for him?

The Puppet Force was a unit every Puppeteer in Sunagakure wanted to join.

Its strategic importance rivaled that of the Anbu. Within it, one could gain access to more Puppet Technique and ninjutsu legacies, along with more abundant resources.

And besides...

Shimizu turned his gaze toward the motionless progress bar at the bottom of the System Panel.

Forget it. He would deal with that later. First, he needed to finish the job.

He took out a pencil and began sketching and writing on the paper.

More than ten minutes later, an entirely new repair and improvement plan was complete.

"The hinge of the left mechanical claw is broken, and the bearing of the right serrated blade is damaged. Both need replacing. Model number..."

"The Senbon launcher in the mouth has rusted. Clean it with Type Three acid."

"The rust was likely caused by the user repeatedly storing Senbon soaked in poison inside it, allowing the toxin to corrode certain parts. An anti-poison coating can be applied to the affected areas..."

This was the first time Shimizu had gotten his hands on a Chunin-level puppet. Before this, he had only ever watched others use them.

Its internal structure was far more complicated than Fatty Puppet's, and it also contained several designs that gave Shimizu fresh inspiration.

"Besides the limbs, there is another Chakra Hub at the core of the torso. The connected glass lens should be used in conjunction with some kind of sensory ninjutsu. During battle, if another Chakra Hub is damaged, this one can be transferred there using the sliding rail mechanism."

Shimizu took out his notebook and wrote down his observations.

It was a new design he had never seen before. He would note it down and study it slowly after the repairs were complete.

If he had relied solely on the knowledge he currently possessed and checked everything bit by bit, it would probably have taken an entire day.

But now, it had taken less than an hour.

Shimizu looked at the puppet structural diagram in his notebook, which had been revised multiple times, then glanced at the System Panel. He tossed aside his pencil and wooden triangular ruler, focused his mind on the System Panel, and modified the puppet diagram on it according to his repair plan.

It was almost like a holographic projection, allowing him to alter it however he wished while perfectly simulating its operation, making it easy to identify unreasonable or incompatible parts.

With this ability, Shimizu could refine a modification plan until it was nearly flawless within two hours.

That efficiency was dozens of times greater than that of other Puppeteers at his level, perhaps even more.

After all, it was difficult for them to improve a puppet to near perfection.

Those capable of doing that were generally Puppeteers of a much higher level.

That was also why he had been able to modify Fatty Puppet, a mere teaching tool, into a puppet with the combat strength of a qualified Genin.

"Oh? Maintenance Puppet Number Eleven, Little Boy, has been repaired? So quickly? This is the first one to be submitted, isn't it?"

Ebizo lifted his head from the pile of documents, his face carrying a hint of exhaustion.

The Third Kazekage was away, and Elder Chiyo, the village's second-most important figure, was also absent. Thus, Sunagakure was currently being overseen by Ebizo.

Ebizo's position in Sunagakure was similar to Danzo's in Konoha: an elder and the head of the Anbu, mainly responsible for intelligence work.

"They basically restored Little Boy's functions in four days. Even if I handled it myself, I might not have done it any faster. And he even modified the puppet to a certain extent, even..."

Ishido, captain of the Puppet Force's Sixth Division, handed several sheets of paper to Ebizo.

"He even proposed a plan for the next stage of improvements, though it would require more resources."

Ebizo took the papers and examined them with his chin resting on his hand.

He was also one of Sunagakure's foremost master puppeteers.

When it came to Puppet Technique, Chiyo was currently the strongest in the ninja world. Whether in controlling puppets or crafting them, she had reached an extremely high level. She was also the puppeteer personally chosen by Monzaemon to inherit the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu.

Ebizo came next, followed by Chiyo's late son and daughter-in-law.

In puppet control, Ebizo was inferior to Chiyo, but in puppet construction, Ebizo surpassed her by a notch.

"The modifications are excellent. Though the techniques used are all basic, they're enough to improve the Little Boy puppet's performance by more than six percent. And this alteration to the puppet's joint structure and the flow nodes of its Chakra Hub—the idea of switching the puppet into a shield form is very interesting. It even already has the beginnings of the Mechanism Shield Seal."

Ebizo stroked his gray beard, becoming a little more alert, with traces of admiration in his eyes.

Even by his standards, it was a perfect design.

This had to be the work of an exceptionally gifted puppeteer!

Other than his grandnephew, there was actually such a Puppet Technique genius in the village?

"This child only took the most basic puppet elective courses at the Ninja Academy. His previous Jounin instructor, Momi, was not a puppeteer either. Aside from the basic skills taught to Genin, she could probably only instruct him in Taijutsu and Wind Release Ninjutsu. Therefore, I believe this child has considerable potential and meets the Puppet Force's reserve training criteria."

Jounin Ishido pointed at Shimizu's repair proposal as he spoke.

"Are you sure there's no problem with his background?"

Ebizo asked Jounin Ishido.

"He is the surviving child of Chunin Sashin. His mother was a civilian and died in childbirth, so he was sent at the age of one and a half to an orphanage for the children of fallen ninja. His only starting resources were the inheritance left by his parents when he entered the Ninja Academy."

Ishido meant two things.

First, Shimizu's identity was completely clear and beyond doubt.

Second, he had no possibility of coming into contact with high-level puppet knowledge, which proved his potential as a puppeteer.

As for the possibility that Shimizu had been turned into a spy by another ninja village and obtained high-level puppet knowledge from them, it was virtually zero.