Pakura naturally wouldn't refuse.
After leaving Sunagakure, she changed into the White Phoenix Mecha out of habit.
Looking at the mecha, which was more like clothing, Chiyo thought it looked quite nice and paid it little further attention.
The two of them were among Sunagakure's strongest fighters, so they needed no guards and headed straight for the oasis on the border.
Along the way, Granny Chiyo noticed that Pakura seemed distracted and asked in puzzlement:
"Pakura, I had the feeling something was wrong with you at the Jonin meeting. Did something happen?"
By now, Pakura was closely tied to Mukai and Sasori, so she naturally wouldn't hide anything from Chiyo.
Pakura moved a short distance away from Chiyo, and orange-red flames burst around her with a whoosh.
"Is that a new technique you've developed?
No, it's still the dry heat of Scorch Release.
Could it be..."
Chiyo stopped and looked at Pakura, who had become a goddess of flame. Only then did she belatedly notice what was extraordinary about the clothing-like mecha:
"Could that entire outfit of yours be made from Chakra Metal?
No, ordinary Chakra Metal couldn't conduct it so efficiently. Is this another of that little fellow Mukai's creations?"
Pakura nodded and fed Chakra into it, causing the flames around her to surge.
Even though Chiyo was standing in the dry heat of the desert, she felt the air around her grow even drier.
Pakura in this state would be a devastating weapon on the battlefield. That little fellow Mukai was truly extraordinary!
Hearing Chiyo's praise, Pakura nodded in agreement.
Then she concentrated all her Chakra in her hand, forming a massive Extremely Steaming Murder fireball.
At the center of her palm, an egg-sized iron ball was enveloped in the scorching orange fireball.
After the fireball had burned for more than ten minutes, the iron ball had only grown a little red.
A few black flakes had appeared on its surface, but there was no sign of it melting.
The glove on Pakura's hand was made of Chakra Metal wire and insulated her from the heat, so she was unaffected.
She looked at the iron ball, which had only reddened slightly, and dispelled the Extremely Steaming Murder fireball in disappointment:
"Elder Chiyo, this is a challenge that rascal Mukai gave me.
He said my flames aren't hot enough, and I can only hurt enemies by drawing out their moisture.
If an enemy blocks them with Ninjutsu or has protective gear, they're much less effective.
He told me to work on raising the temperature of my flames, and that I wouldn't pass until I could melt this iron ball.
I've been trying for a month. My Chakra has increased by more than twenty percent, but I still have no idea how to raise the temperature."
Chiyo was a conventional puppet master.
All her abilities were built around controlling puppets, and she hadn't studied elemental techniques much.
Looking at the dejected Pakura, Chiyo tucked her hands into her sleeves and said meaningfully:
"If you can't find the answer no matter how hard you think, why don't you ask the person who posed the question?
Or are you so concerned about saving face that you're making things hard for yourself by stubbornly trying to solve it alone?
Who says a squad leader can't ask her student for advice?
Pakura, that student of yours named Mukai is no ordinary boy!
Why not just ask him directly?"
Chiyo's words brought Pakura to her senses. For more than a month, she'd been racking her brains over the problem Mukai had left her.
She'd tried all sorts of ways to increase her Chakra, but she still couldn't melt the iron ball.
The problem had troubled her so much that she'd been distracted lately. How had she never thought to ask that little rascal directly?
What did saving face matter? If the rascal dared refuse to tell her, she'd give him a taste of her Poison Dragon Drill!
Having figured it out, Pakura returned to her usual proud, aloof demeanor and picked up the pace alongside Chiyo.
Before long, the two arrived at the oasis workshop, which had changed considerably.
Beside the oasis, most of which had originally been occupied by a towering hill of Iron Sand, there was now a large bowl-shaped pit.
At the center of the pit, tall stone pillars created with the Earth Release: Earth Shore Return Technique stood against the sides of a deep well made with Earth Release Ninjutsu.
The pillars rose more than two meters above the bottom of the sand pit, holding back the surrounding sand.
Following Pakura's lead, the two leaped onto the pillars and looked down into the large pit,
where a little girl with blue-violet hair was busy working.
"Oh, Konan, you're here! Where's that brat Mukai of yours?"
Konan, who was taking measurements at the bottom of the pit, heard Pakura's question and looked up to see that Pakura hadn't come alone.
She didn't recognize the elderly woman beside her, who wore a Sand ninja Forehead Protector.
"Teacher Pakura, you're here. Mukai and the others are installing a generator nearby. I'll go get him."
As soon as she finished speaking, Mukai's voice came from the tunnel behind her:
"Sasori and I are coming out now. Konan, are Teacher Pakura and Granny Chiyo here?"
Chiyo had heard from Pakura that Mukai had an ability similar to Sensory Ninjutsu.
For a ninja, information about oneself was also part of one's combat strength.
The more trump cards Mukai had, the more reassured Chiyo felt about him.
Just looking at the Mountain God Mecha Mukai had made for Sasori and the subsequent modifications,
he had never been stingy with Chakra Metal.
Since he had helped her grandson so much, Chiyo naturally regarded Mukai as one of her own.
The more capable Mukai was, the happier she naturally felt.
Seeing Mukai and Sasori emerge, Chiyo used the Body Flicker Technique to go straight to the bottom of the large reservoir pit.
Looking at the tunnel, which had been completed, she asked in puzzlement:
"Did you really dig a tunnel from here to the Land of Rain?
Good heavens, that's a full seven or eight kilometers, and it goes through a mountain! How did you do it?"
As before, Mukai left it to Sasori to explain to Chiyo.
Under his influence, Sasori had gradually begun growing close to Chiyo.
As long as he didn't become estranged, twisted and corrupted, he was still Sasori, the genius puppet master Chiyo was proudest of.
As she listened to her grandson animatedly tell her about the interesting things that had happened while digging the tunnel,
Chiyo felt gratified, but was also astonished by the performance of the mecha Mukai had made.
Puppets had always been designed to be light and portable for ease of control.
Poisoned blades, concealed weapons, powerful attacks and weak defenses had always been the hallmarks of puppet masters.
Yet these two children had dug straight through a rocky mountain with their special puppet mecha.
That terrifying attack power would be utterly overwhelming in a fight between ninja.
Not to mention the extraordinary defensive capabilities of the Mountain God Unit, which used large amounts of Chakra Metal.
As for the three children from the Land of Rain whom Sasori mentioned, Chiyo didn't mind them.
These days, what village didn't have a few orphans?
In her eyes, the most important thing was that her grandson and Mukai were strong enough.
After they finished exchanging pleasantries, Chiyo smiled and asked Pakura's question for her:
"Mukai, I hear you asked Jonin Pakura a question about the temperature of Chakra flames.
Although Pakura is skilled in a Kekkei Genkai formed by combining Wind Release and Fire Style, she's been working blindly at it for a month,
and still hasn't managed to raise the temperature of her Scorch Release.
Since you were the one who posed the question, do you have a way to raise the temperature of her flames?
Would you mind explaining it to the muddleheaded Pakura?"
Beside her, Pakura held out her fist and made a Poison Dragon Drill motion in warning.
Mukai whispered a few words to Konan, who gave him several exquisitely made origami sofas.
Even the coffee table was made from origami.
Mukai invited Chiyo and the others to sit down, then took out an iron ball and said:
"Actually, raising the temperature is very simple. You just need to understand the nature of flame.
Teacher Pakura, what do you think flame is?"