Chapter 36: Chiyo

The modification of Little Boy went smoothly.

Shimizu even had the time and energy to upgrade the puppet's mouth launcher. Now it could not only fire poisoned needles but also explosive kunai.

[Puppet Name]: Little Boy

[Overall Parameters]:

Height: 1.40 meters

Weight: 29.95 kilograms

Materials: Reinforced lightweight wood, lightweight composite materials, lightweight high-strength alloy

Power Source: None

Control Method: Chakra strings

[Puppet Rating]: B

[Overall Evaluation]: Support-type combat puppet. Well-designed with excellent agility. Possesses standard Chūnin-level combat capability.

[Detailed Specs]: ...

Compared to before, the upgraded Little Boy had a slight increase in height and weight, but its speed improved significantly. More importantly, its pneumatic speed and short-range burst capabilities had increased greatly, naturally boosting its combat power.

Together with the upgrade to Fatty, Shimizu's strength had once again improved.

At the very least, this time his fight with Sasori was noticeably easier than the last.

Watching as Black Ant was sliced in half by Little Boy's toothed blade and Salamander's shield was crushed by Fatty's pneumatic punch, Sasori frowned.

He had lost again.

And this time, even more decisively than before.

It meant that this guy was upgrading his puppets faster than Sasori could.

Annoying.

But... that's what made it interesting.

"You win," Sasori said, retracting Black Ant and Salamander, silently facing Shimizu with a sealing scroll on his back.

"So then—"

"Let's go."

Sasori turned away decisively, a thoughtful look on his youthful face.

How exactly should he modify his puppets next to defeat Shimizu?

Shimizu followed him cheerfully.

His next target was the Advanced Design and Application of Puppet Mechanisms by Monzaemon.

At the main gate, Jinba rested his chin in his hand as he watched Shimizu and Sasori walk away together, then glanced toward his sister.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Miyuki looked puzzled.

"I get the feeling... you probably can't beat Shimizu anymore. And even Sasori might not win."

"You can drop the 'probably'… or at least half of it," Miyuki said, a bit unsure. "If it's a straight-up fight, I definitely can't beat Shimizu. But Sasori? That's pushing it."

"They both can only control two puppets," Jinba shook his head. "Sasori's puppets aren't much weaker than yours, and his mastery of the Black Secret Technique is excellent. You might not win."

Miyuki's expression sank.

She had graduated at eleven, joined the Puppet Unit at twelve, and made Chūnin by thirteen—already considered an outstanding talent among her peers. It wouldn't be wrong to call her a prodigy, and she had a good shot at becoming a Jōnin in the future.

But Sasori and Shimizu—those two were the most gifted she had ever seen in her life.

"What about you, brother?"

"Shimizu's Fatty puppet already has combat strength on par with my main battle puppet. And Little Boy is fast enough to keep one of mine occupied. He's still a bit lacking in fine puppet control, though. If I only use two puppets, he has a 20% chance of winning. If I go all out, he could probably last more than fifteen minutes."

Jinba explained plainly.

He was a Tokubetsu Jōnin—and a strong one at that. While he wasn't quite at full Jōnin level, he wasn't far off either, with expertise in command, tactics, and team coordination.

"Ugh, forget it. No need to compare myself to those guys," Miyuki said with a forced grin. "Maybe Granny Chiyo was like that when she was young too."

"So that's how it is... by upgrading the material and structure of the chakra nodes, you can wrap and interweave chakra strings within a single puppet. That lets a puppeteer use fewer chakra threads to control more puppets—maybe even a single thread for one puppet."

"So the key is in the shape transformation of chakra... I might try this in my next puppet upgrades."

Sasori's family library held a wealth of knowledge not found elsewhere.

After all, this family had already produced four top-tier puppet masters. Their accumulated knowledge and experience were second to none.

According to the inheritance left by Monzaemon to the Puppet Division, the upper limit of puppet mastery could reach Kage level. Chiyo and Ebizō were prime examples of having reached that point.

Sasori's family library helped him avoid many detours along the way to such mastery.

That's why someone as young as Sasori could wield such exceptional puppet control.

Snap.

Shimizu shut the book and stood up, stretching lazily.

His DC World avatar had already copied the entire book.

"Ah, time for dinner. Sasori, want to join me?"

"No need. There's food in the cold storage. I'll grab some later."

Sasori shook his head and picked up his wrench to continue working.

"C'mon, let's eat out. It's so noisy outside you probably can't concentrate anyway."

Shimizu patted Sasori's shoulder with a smile.

This kid had VIP passes to the best restaurant in Sunagakure—probably gifted by Chiyo or another elder.

"Why is it so noisy outside?"

Sasori looked annoyed as he glanced out the window.

Shimizu stuck his head out too, listening to the clamor on the street.

"Seems like the troops from the Rain Country front line are back—and brought back a lot of supplies."

Sasori's expression shifted slightly.

"They brought back a lot, huh? That probably means things didn't go so well at the front lines. Otherwise, they wouldn't have looted in such a rush."

Shimizu rubbed his nose and added,

"...Don't say that out loud though."

Sasori gave a small nod, then looked off into the distance.

"My grandmother's back."

Shimizu followed Sasori's gaze.

There, Ebizō was walking toward them alongside a woman nearing fifty.

That was none other than Chiyo—second only to the Third Kazekage in both strength and status among Sunagakure's elders.

Due to Chiyo and Ebizō's return, Shimizu and Sasori's dinner plans had to be postponed.

"So you're Shimizu, huh? It's been a long time since Sasori brought a new friend home."

Chiyo greeted Shimizu with a warm, grandmotherly smile on her slightly aged face.

"Elder Chiyo."

Shimizu stood respectfully at the door, bowing as a junior should.

"Good. Sasori, I've heard the news—you're now the youngest member in the history of the Puppet Unit. I'm truly proud of you."

Chiyo crouched down with a gentle expression and affectionately patted Sasori's head.

(End of Chapter)