Forget it. Those in office should attend to the duties of their office.
What does any of this have to do with a small fry like me?
There were only a handful of people who could have obtained Sunagakure's defense map and were familiar with the village's barrier.
Whoever it was, he couldn't afford to get involved.
For now, his priority was to develop, grow bigger and stronger, and create glory once more.
He gave the puppet fragments on the ground a quick cleanup, picking out the parts that were still usable.
Then Hoshino set out for the village with Shaji and the others.
They had come in a hurry, but left in an even greater rush.
By the time they returned to the village, dawn was only just breaking, and the temperature was still very low.
Hoshino calculated the time.
The mission had taken only around eight hours, but the intensity of the fighting had been unprecedented.
If their captain, Shaji, hadn't completed the mission quickly enough, they might well have lost one or two people.
"I'm still too weak!" Hoshino sighed.
The Puppet Technique was the art of the weak overcoming the strong.
But in the face of absolute power, even the most ingenious mechanisms were nothing more than tricks to delay death.
This time, they had run into Cloud ninja who specialized in Taijutsu and weren't very fond of using their brains.
That was what had given him an opening.
If he had run into Konoha Ninja who specialized in ninjutsu and had no obvious weaknesses in either Taijutsu or Genjutsu,
he would have been the one to die this time.
"Looks like I need to speed up my research into new puppets."
When Hoshino followed Team Six into the Kazekage Building, the morning mist had yet to clear.
"Go to the rest room first and wait for me to report on the mission," Shaji said.
"Right, Captain!"
The group went to Team Six's room and each got busy.
Some debugged their puppets, while others took stock of their losses. Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
When Shaji pushed the door open and entered,
Hoshino was playing with half a spider leg using Chakra Threads.
"The mission has been reclassified as S-rank. Lord Kazekage is taking the theft of the defense map very seriously and has assigned the investigation to us," Shaji said.
"You're getting a day off. Report here at eight sharp tomorrow morning."
"Oh, and hand your loss reports to the Logistics Department before you leave."
Shaji had directed that last remark specifically at Hoshino.
He was the only new member there and might not yet be very familiar with the procedure.
By the time Hoshino walked out of the Kazekage Building, the morning mist had cleared.
Hoshino returned home to find Grandma Chiyo sitting beneath the eaves, fiddling with a part for an unfinished puppet.
Hearing his footsteps, she looked up, and a kind smile appeared on her face when she saw him.
"Xiaoye, you're back?"
"Mm, Grandma, I'm back."
Hoshino nodded, walked over to Grandma Chiyo, and sat down beside her, setting his ninja tool pouch to one side.
"You're back so soon. Did the mission go smoothly?"
Grandma Chiyo put down the part in her hand and looked Hoshino over carefully.
"We completed the mission, I suppose!" Hoshino gave a wry smile. "But six of the puppets you gave me were destroyed."
A flicker of surprise crossed Grandma Chiyo's eyes. "Six? Sounds like this mission was no simple matter."
Hoshino nodded, but didn't say much about the details of the mission.
Anbu missions were always confidential.
Even to Grandma Chiyo, he couldn't reveal too much.
Of course, if Grandma Chiyo wanted to investigate, she could certainly find out.
That was a privilege belonging to an elder.
Hoshino said simply, "We ran into some trouble, but fortunately, the captain and the others were really dependable."
Grandma Chiyo didn't ask further. She patted Hoshino gently on the shoulder. "It doesn't matter if the puppets broke. I'll make you new ones. What matters is that you came back safe."
Hoshino's heart warmed, and he nodded. "Thank you, Grandma."
Grandma Chiyo smiled and stood up. "Go get some rest. I'll prepare something for you to eat."
"Okay!"
By the time Hoshino woke up, it was already afternoon.
After eating the rice balls Grandma Chiyo had prepared, he headed straight out.
He walked along the familiar streets.
Suddenly, Hoshino heard a flurry of hurried footsteps ahead. Temari was rushing toward him with an armful of scrolls.
"Temari?" A little surprised, Hoshino waved. "Where are you going?"
Temari looked up and saw Hoshino, a hint of pleasant surprise appearing on her face. "Hoshino, you're back!"
"I just came from home and was about to look for you and Kankuro."
Hoshino pointed at the scrolls in her arms. "Are you... on a mission?"
Temari sighed and said helplessly, "Yeah. Teacher Baki told me to deliver these scrolls to the Kazekage Building."
Hoshino couldn't help laughing. "Looks like your team's keeping pretty busy."
His success in graduating early had greatly spurred on his classmates in the Puppet Brigade.
Over the past few days, many more people had applied to graduate early, Temari and Kankuro naturally among them.
What he hadn't expected was that, after they passed the graduation exam, their third teammate turned out to be Gaara.
The reason given was that Gaara's status was special and he wasn't suited to studying at school. Moreover, his mental state had been good lately, and Shukaku hadn't gone berserk again.
So he had been assigned directly to the team to carry out missions.
Gaara was only four years old, practically matching Uchiha Itachi of Konoha, who had gone to the battlefield at four.
What a sin!
As for their teacher... it was Jonin Baki, an Elite Jonin and one of Rasa's trusted ninja.
The two chatted briefly before going their separate ways, having agreed to eat together that evening and invite Gaara and Kankuro along.
Hoshino arrived at the market.
It was as lively as ever, with vendors' calls and the sounds of haggling rising and falling all around.
Hoshino made his practiced way through the bustling market and turned into a narrow alley.
He finally stopped in front of an unassuming metal materials stall.
"Boss, where's the stuff I asked for?"
Hoshino looked up and called to the middle-aged man arranging goods behind the stall.
Hearing him, the boss looked up, his face immediately filling with a guileless smile.
"Hey, Xiaoye! Don't you trust me to get things done? I've got it all ready for you!"
As he spoke, he bent down and rummaged through a wooden box beneath the stall, pulling out several blocks of metal tightly wrapped in oiled paper.
The boss carefully unwrapped the paper, revealing metal with a dark red sheen.
"Take a look at this."
"I got it from an ore vein deep in the desert. It conducts well and is hard enough, too. It definitely meets your requirements."
Hoshino took the metal blocks and examined them closely.
The metal's surface bore fine, dense lines, like natural patterns carved by windblown sand.
He then hefted them and nodded. "They really are good. I'll take all of them. Put them on Grandma Chiyo's account as usual!"
"Sure thing!" the boss replied with a smile.
He knew Hoshino had a Sunagakure elder backing him and wouldn't fail to pay, so he didn't mind doing him an easy favor.
And sure enough, whenever Hoshino needed metal of any kind now, his stall was the first place he thought of.
Hoshino put the metal blocks into his ninja tool pouch and was about to leave.
Just then, the boss suddenly lowered his voice.
"Xiaoye, things haven't been peaceful deep in the desert lately. I heard a band of desert bandits has been active out there, causing a lot of trouble. Be careful when you go out."