Mukai and Sasori exchanged a smile, each patting the storage scroll at the back of his waist.
Mukai was borrowing Sasori's; he still couldn't afford a storage scroll of his own.
Mukai grinned and replied:
"I'm not a puppeteer. I specialize in Wind Release and Lightning Release,
but when the situation calls for it, I can fill in as a Taijutsu ninja too.
The real puppets are in the scroll. Don't worry, Teacher Pakura, we won't hold you back."
Pakura raised an eyebrow, lowered her arms, and stretched.
Her sizzling figure was like her Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder, leaving Mukai, who had a child's body but a college student's mind, parched.
In Pakura's eyes, eight-year-old Sasori and seven-year-old Mukai were still children, so she naturally paid no attention to his gaze and said calmly:
"As long as I have my Scorch Release, you couldn't hold me back even if you tried.
I've always heard that Sasori is a puppet genius,
but I didn't expect you, who barely managed to graduate from the Ninja Academy,
to earn such high praise from Elder Chiyo too.
I haven't agreed to be your teacher yet. For now, I'm only your team leader.
Elder Chiyo has simply asked me to take you two on some missions
and shield you from trouble for a while!
You children don't need to know too much about the dirty business in the village."
Sasori snorted softly beside them, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
Mukai, on the other hand, thanked Pakura sincerely.
He had also suffered some negative consequences from his association with Sasori. The two ninjas who had come to cause trouble at his family's shop were one example.
With Sasori's reputation as a genius puppeteer and his dazzling record of becoming a Genin at seven and a Chunin at eight,
he was one of the best among the Sand ninjas of his generation.
Not to mention his grandmother, who was skilled in both Puppet Technique and Medical Ninjutsu.
With advantages like those, he would naturally attract the attention of people with ulterior motives.
Pakura thought Mukai, like Sasori, was still too young to understand the dirty side of politics.
What a joke. Mukai had studied five thousand years of history and was thoroughly familiar with Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the like.
As a Chinese man with a higher education, his basic political acumen put that of the vast majority of this world's politicians to shame.
Even so, he didn't regret being caught up in Sasori's troubles.
You had to lose something to gain something. Even without the connection formed by merging with the original owner's memories,
he had been quite fond of the tragic character Sasori in his previous life.
He had no desire to deal with those so-called politicians.
Besides, even if he wanted to cozy up to them, they wouldn't think much of a commoner ninja like him!
This was a world where strength reigned supreme.
All Mukai could do was seize the time to grow stronger!
Pakura led them through an inspection of their supplies and briefly explained the mission objective,
then took them out of Sunagakure and into the vast sea of sand.
Their mission was to investigate an outpost that had lost contact, near the Land of Wind's borders with the Land of Rain and the Land of Rivers.
The outpost was at the junction of the three countries. It wasn't important and was mainly used to provide early warning on the front line.
The outpost normally sent back intelligence every five days.
But this time, ten days had passed without word, the equivalent of two reporting cycles.
The village had issued an investigation mission, classified as C-rank.
Once they entered the desert, Pakura picked up her pace, intending to test Mukai and Sasori's abilities.
The result left her utterly astonished.
Not only did Mukai and Sasori keep her from leaving them behind, they kept pace with ease, covering great distances with each stride as if they were taking a leisurely stroll.
"Those shoes you're wearing, and those things around your waists-there seems to be more to them than meets the eye!"
As a Jonin of the village, even though Pakura wasn't a puppeteer,
she was well-informed enough to quickly notice there was something special about what the two were wearing.
Whenever Sasori and Mukai were together, Mukai handled their interactions with other people.
Sasori was somewhat aloof and usually spoke very little; he wasn't deliberately trying to act cold.
Hearing Pakura's question, Mukai patted the energy-storing knee-lift linkage at his waist and said:
"It's a little device that saves a lot of effort when running.
It's even more useful for a puppeteer with Chakra Threads, and gives a bigger boost.
If you want one, Teacher Pakura, Sasori and I can make you a set when we get back."
Pakura raised a delicate eyebrow.
"Well, aren't you generous.
Trying to bribe me?
It's too ugly. I don't want one."
Sasori used his Chakra Threads to wind the energy-storing ratchet at his waist more than ten turns,
letting him lift his legs much faster, and said in displeasure:
"How could a shortsighted woman understand the art of puppets?"
Pakura crushed the Extremely Steaming Murder fireball she had formed in her hand.
The expression on this violent woman's face made Sasori obediently shut his mouth.
He couldn't afford to provoke her!
Since Mukai and Sasori both had auxiliary puppet equipment to help them,
Pakura stopped holding back, and the three of them ran faster and faster through the desert.
As their speed increased, the energy saved by bouncing alone and the assistance from their waist devices were no longer enough to keep up with Pakura.
Sasori had begun using his Chakra Threads to continuously control the ratchet and actively wind it up,
while Mukai began controlling Wind Release to produce pulsed jets at his waist,
using the reactive force to reduce his weight and propel himself forward.
Gritting their teeth, the two persevered, staying right behind Pakura without falling behind at all.
As the three raced along, they kicked up billowing clouds of dust across the sea of sand, looking like a colossal sand dragon speeding through the desert.
Pakura was a ninjutsu-type ninja, and Taijutsu was not her strong point.
Even running at full speed, she had failed to leave the two little guys behind.
Sasori had always been known as a genius in the village, so it was no surprise he could manage it.
But Mukai had never stood out before, and his ability to do the same made Pakura see him in a new light once again.
Apart from stopping to rest at noon, the three ran at full speed, and the outpost that should have taken three days to reach
came into view by evening!
The flag hanging over the outpost signaled that all was well, indicating that nothing was wrong there.
Pakura stopped, breathing a little hard. Seeing Mukai and Sasori forcing themselves to keep going, she couldn't help finding it funny.
"You two little guys are pretty stubborn!
What, do you think it's embarrassing to lose a footrace to a Jonin like me?
Take a break!
Otherwise your legs might turn to jelly in a bit, and the ninjas at the outpost will laugh at you when they see you.
Ha ha!"
Mukai didn't try to put on a brave front. He had used up more than half his Chakra, and he plopped straight down on the ground.
"I can't go on. You're amazing, Teacher Pakura.
If I run any farther, I'll cough up my lungs."
Pakura liked folding her arms across her chest. Finally hearing Mukai admit defeat, she snorted smugly.
"You two brats did pretty well yourselves. Being able to keep up with me puts you among the best of the new generation of Sand ninjas.
When you're a little older, you'll definitely make a name for yourselves in the Shinobi World!"
Mukai nodded and smiled in response to Pakura's praise.
But what he was thinking was quite different.
Just make a name for myself?
That wasn't his style.
He was a man determined to unite the Shinobi World and stand at its pinnacle!
Of course, he could only keep those words to himself. Without enough strength,
going around saying them would only make him a laughingstock.
As Mukai rested, he gathered Chakra.
He entered a state of introspection, carefully sensing the tiny amounts of Wind and Lightning Release Chakra in the outside world as they joined the Chakra produced by his own body.
Finally, the Chakra flowed along his meridians and accumulated in his dantian.
Once he had restored half his Chakra, Mukai activated Bioelectric Sensing out of habit and suddenly asked:
"Teacher Pakura, aren't there only supposed to be four people stationed at the outpost ahead?
Why do I sense eight people inside?"