Giving Puppets... Life

With their salaries finally paid, not only was Tsunade feeling a little carried away—even Jingyi's hands were itching to do something.

Of course, he would not be going to the casino. He wanted to buy a batch of high-quality materials and parts for making puppets.

Jingyi had no interest in becoming the second Big Fat Sheep.

Although Konoha had few puppet users, the village had legitimate channels for purchasing materials.

After work, Jingyi said to Tsunade, "You go to the market and buy groceries. I'll go buy some materials and parts. The materials I prepared aren't enough, so I need another batch."

"Go on, go on. Don't waste time. I have something important to do tonight."

Tsunade waved him off indifferently, urging Jingyi to hurry up, get going, and come back soon.

As for what important business she had, there was no need to guess. She had money in her pocket now, and her hands had started itching again.

Unless she lost every last coin in her pocket, Tsunade would never settle down.

After buying the materials, Jingyi went home to cook.

After dinner, Tsunade lay on the sofa, watching Jingyi curiously as he entered a busy state.

He took all sorts of materials from a sealing scroll, including an animal corpse.

It was a tiger over three meters tall and more than six meters long without counting its tail. In his previous life, such an enormous creature would have made countless people cry out that it had become a spirit.

But in the Shinobi World, a creature of that size was nothing remarkable.

There were plenty of creatures in the Shinobi World as huge as small mountains.

The living room had limited space, so Jingyi could only start with the smaller materials.

As for the larger ones, he would have to wait until his days off and find an open area to make them.

Otherwise, bringing out the corpses would be enough to crush the house.

As Jingyi implanted various materials into the tiger's body, Tsunade, who had been lying on the sofa, sat up.

She was very curious why Jingyi wanted to make this sort of puppet.

Puppet users were not exclusive to Sunagakure. All Five Great Shinobi Villages had puppet users; Sunagakure simply had more of them.

But regardless of the village, most puppets made by puppet users were humanoid now.

Even animal-shaped puppets rarely used animal corpses as their base. Most were assembled directly from components.

As a result, the puppets made that way were not particularly attractive.

Puppets made from corpses were even harder to look at.

Puppet users who did that were unpopular as well. After all, nobody liked associating with people who played with corpses—except for Sunagakure's puppet users.

Soon, all the components had been assembled. Several chakra threads drifted from Jingyi's hands, and the corpse lying on the floor slowly rose.

The tiger, once merely a corpse, stood up. Its body over three meters tall carried considerable oppressive force.

Unfortunately, its movements were very stiff.

A failed product.

Tsunade lost interest after one glance.

To her, Jingyi had focused too much on recreating the creature's form when it was alive, directly turning the puppet into a failed product.

Without the various attack methods ordinary puppets should have, what use could a puppet like this possibly serve?

As a disposable item?

That would be far too wasteful.

Jingyi stood before the puppet thoughtfully, raising a hand and placing it on the puppet's body. He closed his eyes as though sensing something.

What was this brat doing?

Watching Jingyi think one moment and fiddle with the puppet the next, Tsunade could not understand why he was wasting his effort. This puppet was obviously useless already.

Either keep it as a memento or dismantle it and salvage what he could.

If he salvaged it, he could at least get a tiger pelt and some reusable parts.

People always had special feelings toward their first creation. Even if it was a failure, they were reluctant to give it up.

Tsunade felt that she could understand Jingyi's feelings.

She thought Jingyi felt the same way she had when she first formulated a highly effective medicine.

"You take your time studying it. I'm heading back first. I still have two classes tonight."

After being left to the side and bored for quite a while, Tsunade saw that Jingyi's attention was entirely on the puppet, as focused as Orochimaru during an experiment.

She knew there was no point in staying, so she might as well slip away early.

"Mm."

Jingyi answered casually, his gaze fixed on the puppet. He did not even turn around to say goodbye to Tsunade.

"Take it easy. Medical Ninjutsu combined with the Chakra Enhanced Strength Technique and Taijutsu has already given you the ability to protect yourself. There's no need to waste too much time on puppets."

Bang!

Jingyi glanced back at the closed door, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

Was making puppets really a waste of time?

He raised his hand and placed it on the puppet.

As chakra entered the puppet's control core, the puppet—which had originally required chakra threads to control and moved stiffly—suddenly had its dim eyes light up.

The puppet had come back to life.

That was the true reason Jingyi made puppets.

The Tenseigan could grant life to puppets, so he did not need to make traditional puppets like those of Sunagakure.

After being granted life, the tiger puppet moved around the living room as flexibly as a living creature. It had no trouble performing all kinds of tricky movements. The only problem was that the floor was not sturdy enough; it kept creaking and seemed liable to be crushed at any moment.

"Lie down."

The puppet immediately lay down and stayed put obediently.

For the sake of the floor at home, Jingyi decided that he should make puppets outside the village from now on.

Although there were plenty of secluded places inside the village, that old geezer, the Third Hokage, spent all day in the Hokage Office holding a crystal ball and spying everywhere.

Jingyi did not want to expose the secret of his puppets at this time.

He would make another flying puppet, save the remaining materials, and leave the village during the holidays to find a secluded spot outside where he could make them slowly.

He could also test the puppets' strength while he was at it.

For the next period of time, Jingyi devoted most of his energy to puppet-making. Fortunately, he still went to work normally every day and did not let the puppets affect his work.

Time passed quickly, and the end of the year arrived. Lush Konoha was covered in white snow, and everyone walking the streets wore thick cotton clothes.

Somehow, Jingyi sensed that the Tenseigan's fetal movement was coming soon. It might begin after the New Year.

But weather like this was best for lying at home and sealing oneself inside a blanket.

"Ha..." Jingyi yawned as he carried the things he had bought from the market.

Being dragged out early in the morning to shop at the market was truly irritating. Unfortunately, he had run into the unreasonable bandit Tsunade, leaving him helpless.

Kushina and Nawaki would only shout a few times at most, but Tsunade was different. This female bandit would barge straight into the bedroom and pull off his blankets.

After returning home, Jingyi began directing the lazy Tsunade and Nawaki to work.

Once the grill was set up, Tsunade was responsible for lighting the charcoal, Nawaki and Kushina ran errands, and Jingyi handled the grilling.

The marinated meat soon gave off an enticing aroma on the grill. As various seasonings were sprinkled over it, Tsunade, Kushina, and Nawaki all began swallowing hungrily.

The grilled meat smelled incredible.

When the heat seemed about right, Jingyi picked up a brush and started basting the meat with oil. After waiting several minutes, he announced, "You can start eating."

Before his words had even finished, the ravenous Tsunade grabbed a fork, speared a large chunk of meat, and bit down hard.

"Whew, it smells amazing. Hiss—it's hot! If you didn't become a medical ninja, you could open a barbecue restaurant and definitely make a lot of money."

"I want some too."

Copying her, Nawaki picked up a fork, speared a piece of meat, and bit into it. The heat immediately made him grimace in pain.

"Kushina, don't copy them. They're acting like starving ghosts."

Jingyi speared two pieces of beef, cut them into smaller chunks, placed them on a plate, and only then handed it to Kushina.

"Thank you, Jingyi. You're so nice."

Kushina was delighted, her beautiful eyes curving into crescents as she smiled.

You're the starving ghost!

Tsunade nearly choked on his words and shot Jingyi a fierce glare.