Chiyo

The modifications to Little Boy went smoothly.

Shimizu even had enough energy left to modify Little Boy's mouth launcher, allowing it to fire not only poisoned needles but also Exploding Kunai.

Puppet Name: Little Boy

Overall Parameters:

Height: 1.40 meters

Weight: 29.95 kilograms

Materials: reinforced lightweight wood, light composite materials, lightweight high-strength alloy

Energy: None

Control Method: Chakra Thread.

Puppet Rating: B

Overall Evaluation: Support combat puppet, well-designed, exceptionally agile, possessing standard Chunin-level combat strength.

Detailed Data: ...

Compared to before, the modified Little Boy was a few percent taller and heavier, but its speed had increased considerably. Most importantly, its pneumatic speed and short-range burst speed had risen dramatically, naturally improving its combat power.

Together with Fatty Puppet's upgrade, Shimizu's strength had increased substantially once again.

At the very least, this time, he had an easier time fighting Sasori than before.

Looking at Black Ant, which Little Boy had sliced into two with its serrated blades, and Ibuse, whose shield Fatty Puppet had blasted apart with a Pneumatic Fist, Sasori frowned tightly.

He had lost again.

And he had lost even more cleanly than last time.

That meant this guy was upgrading his puppets even faster than he was.

How irritating.

But that was what made it interesting.

"You win."

Sasori put away Black Ant and Ibuse, slung the Sealing Scroll over his back, and silently spoke to Shimizu.

"Then..."

"Let's go."

Sasori decisively turned and left, his young face filled with thought.

How should he modify his puppets next to defeat Shimizu?

Shimizu followed after him with a cheerful grin.

This time, his goal was Advanced Design and Application of Puppet Mechanisms, written by Monzaemon.

At the main gate, Miyaki watched Shimizu and Sasori leave together, propping up his chin as he studied his younger sister.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Miyuki asked in confusion.

"I feel like... you probably can't beat Shimizu now. Maybe you might not be able to beat Sasori either."

"You can take out the 'probably'... well, take out half of it. In a head-on fight, I definitely can't beat Shimizu, but Sasori shouldn't be that far ahead, right?"

Miyuki said, somewhat lacking confidence.

"You can both only control two puppets. Sasori's puppets aren't much worse than yours, and he has a solid grasp of the Black Secret Technique. You might not necessarily win."

Miyaki shook his head.

Miyuki's expression fell.

She had graduated at eleven, joined the Puppet Force at twelve, and become a Chunin this year at thirteen. She was already considered outstanding among her peers, and calling her a young genius would not have been an exaggeration. There was a good chance that she would become a Jonin in the future.

But Sasori and Shimizu were the two most talented people Miyuki had ever seen in her life.

"What about you, Brother?"

"Shimizu's Fatty Puppet already has combat power no weaker than my main combat puppet. His other puppet, Little Boy, can also restrain one of my puppets for a short time. But he is still somewhat lacking in puppet control. If I only use two puppets, he has a twenty percent chance of winning. If I go all out, he should be able to hold on for more than fifteen minutes."

Miyaki gave a simple explanation.

He was a Special Jonin, and one of the stronger ones at that. Aside from qualities related to personnel command and tactical deployment, he was still somewhat short of being a true Jonin, but not by much.

"Ah, forget it. There's no need to compare myself to people like them. Maybe Elder Chiyo was like this when she was young too."

Miyuki waved her hand helplessly, speaking without a care.

"So that's how it is. By upgrading the material and structure of the Chakra Hub, a single Chakra Thread can be woven into a network around the various Chakra Hubs inside one puppet, allowing a Puppeteer to control more puppets with fewer Chakra Threads. They could even control a puppet with just one Chakra Thread."

"So the key is Chakra's Shape Transformation? Maybe I can try that when modifying puppets in the future..."

The books in Sasori's home contained plenty of knowledge that had not circulated outside.

After all, this family had produced four top-tier Puppeteers so far, so their accumulated knowledge and experience were naturally the most abundant.

Following the inheritance Monzaemon had left behind in the puppet forces, the upper limit could actually reach the level of a Kage. Chiyo and Ebizo were typical examples; they had walked this path to the end.

But the books in Sasori's home could also let Puppeteers take far fewer detours while following that path.

Sasori's extraordinary puppet control at such a young age was not unrelated to this.

Clap!

Shimizu closed the book, rose from his chair, and stretched.

His incarnation in the DC World had already copied down the entire book.

"Ah, it's time to eat. Sasori, want to come with me?"

"No need. There's stored food in the ice cellar. I'll get some later."

Sasori shook his head and picked up a wrench to continue repairing his puppets.

"Let's go out and have a meal together. It's so noisy outside right now that you probably can't settle down anyway."

Shimizu patted Sasori on the shoulder and grinned.

This kid had VIP vouchers for the best restaurant in Sunagakure. They had probably been given to Sasori by Chiyo or some other elder.

"Why is it so noisy outside?"

Sasori seemed to find it irritating as well. He stood and looked out the window.

Shimizu also stuck his head out, listening to the clamor of pedestrians outside.

"It seems the troops from the Land of Rain front have returned, and they brought back a large amount of supplies."

Sasori's expression shifted slightly as he spoke.

"They brought back a large amount of supplies? Looks like the situation at the front isn't very good. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been in such a rush to plunder so much stuff and bring it back."

Shimizu rubbed his nose.

"Don't say that outside."

Sasori nodded lightly and looked toward the far end of the street.

"My grandmother is back."

Shimizu followed Sasori's gaze.

There, Ebizo was walking toward them with a woman nearly fifty years old.

She was Chiyo, the elder whose strength and status in Sunagakure were second only to the Third Kazekage.

Because Chiyo and Ebizo had arrived, Shimizu and Sasori's plan to go out for dinner was forced to be postponed.

"You must be Shimizu. Sasori hasn't brought a new friend home in a long time."

When Chiyo saw Shimizu, a kind smile appeared on her somewhat aged face.

"Elder Chiyo."

Shimizu stood at the doorway and showed Chiyo the proper respect of a junior, bowing slightly.

"Good. Sasori, I've already heard. You've become the youngest member in the history of the Puppet Force. I'm truly proud of you."

Chiyo crouched down peacefully, reaching out to affectionately stroke Sasori's head.