Chapter 531: An Idea for Kankurō
"Shiromo-nii told me about the Five Great Nations back when we were in the Land of Snow. He said the Sunagakure Village is famous for beautiful women, the Kirigakure Village is famous for femboys, and the Konohagakure Village is famous for bond addicts."
"I don't really get what those last two mean, but judging by what I'm seeing now, at least he wasn't wrong about the Sunagakure Village. There really are so many cute girls here."
Naruto looked thoughtfully at the stack of files in Temari's hands and nodded.
"...Get lost."
Temari hurriedly hid the files behind her back.
She had originally thought Naruto was just the friendship-and-bonds type of ninja, so as long as the male ninja stayed on guard, everything would be fine.
But she had been careless.
How could someone who had created the Sexy Technique possibly be a pure friendship-type ninja?
A saying suddenly came to her mind.
'Every hole is his goal.'
She had to be careful.
Holding the files tightly, Temari slowly backed away from the Kazekage's office while watching Naruto with wary eyes.
Uzumaki Naruto was far too dangerous.
He had such an honest-looking face, yet he stood there pretending to be innocent.
He was clearly one of those "bond addicts" produced by Konoha himself, yet he still had the nerve to say he didn't understand.
After Temari left, everyone else also went their separate ways.
Konohamaru left with Kankurō.
Naruto went with Gaara.
Kakashi headed outside the village using the information Gaara had provided to search for Hōichi.
Originally, the three Sand siblings had all lived in the same residence.
Not in the same room, of course.
As the children of the Fourth Kazekage, and a Kazekage who could literally pan for gold, they had owned one of the more luxurious homes in the Sunagakure Village.
However, after the Fourth Kazekage died, Gaara became Kazekage, Temari grew older, and Kankurō needed more private space as a puppet master.
In the end, they sold their old family home and each bought their own separate residence.
Money had never been an issue for the three siblings. They sold the old house simply because there was no point leaving it empty.
The person who bought it was the puppet master Saya, the eldest daughter of one of the wealthiest families in the Sunagakure Village.
Living separately had its advantages.
At times like this, everyone could avoid each other when necessary without worrying about someone overhearing conversations through the walls.
After moving out, Gaara's home was still the largest.
Although his real training grounds were outside the village, his residence still had a spacious backyard where he could train whenever he wanted.
That was exactly where Gaara brought Naruto.
He was ready to receive Naruto's guidance and begin his training.
Meanwhile, Kankurō brought Konohamaru back to his own house.
"Kid, if you see something interesting, don't touch it. There are hidden mechanisms in here that shoot poisoned needles."
Kankurō kindly warned the curious-looking Konohamaru.
The current Kankurō looked nothing like the painted-faced weirdo who had frightened Konohamaru during the Chūnin Exams.
As Konohamaru asked question after question, Kankurō enthusiastically demonstrated the unique features of each of his puppets.
Ever since their father, Rasa, died and Gaara became Kazekage, Kankurō had seemed to mature overnight.
Gaara had become Kazekage.
As Gaara's older brother, Kankurō naturally couldn't afford to stay childish any longer.
At the end of the day, puppets were basically elaborate toys.
Kankurō often visited the Ninja Academy and used his puppets to entertain children, hoping to spark the next generation's interest in puppet techniques.
So dealing with Konohamaru came naturally to him.
Konohamaru could also feel Kankurō's kindness.
Having inherited both the Will of Fire and the spirit passed down by the Third Hokage, Konohamaru naturally wanted to return the favor by sincerely teaching Kankurō Sage Mode.
So after Kankurō failed his first attempt at cultivation, Konohamaru asked, "Kankurō-nii, have you never tried making your own puppets?"
Since Kankurō had enthusiastically explained the history of all his puppets earlier, Konohamaru already knew them inside and out, making the question feel perfectly natural.
"Of course I have!"
Kankurō answered with unusual excitement.
After all, one of the questions he was asked most often was why, as a puppet master, he only used puppets made by other people.
"Konohamaru, you're from Konoha. You don't have puppet masters there, so you wouldn't understand. Building puppets is incredibly complicated. Just because you make one yourself doesn't mean it'll suit you better or be stronger."
Kankurō led Konohamaru into a private workshop.
After opening the door, countless puppets could be seen filling the room.
"I made all of these."
"Have they all been abandoned?"
Konohamaru asked curiously.
"They're not abandoned. They're just not as practical as the puppets I use now, so I've never actually used them. A puppet master can only control a limited number of puppets."
Kankurō sighed.
For a puppet master, deciding which puppets to bring into battle was like building a team in a mobile game.
There were only so many slots.
The puppets he had inherited from others didn't suit him perfectly, but their stats were high. At the very least, they were SSR-tier.
The puppets he built himself had synergy and sentimental value, but realistically they were only SR-tier. Their stats were simply too low.
After listening to Kankurō's explanation, Konohamaru fell into thought.
Gifted with remarkable insight, he quickly identified the real problem.
Kankurō knew how to make puppets, and the puppets he created suited his own style perfectly.
The problem was that their base performance was too weak.
The same was true of Kankurō himself.
Forget Sasori's Performance of a Hundred Puppets—even Chiyo's Chikamatsu Collection of Ten Puppets was beyond him.
The number of puppets he could field was limited.
In short...
His own stats were too low as well.
In that case, there was no point wasting chakra on Shadow Clones.
Signing a summoning contract with a summon beast would also defeat the purpose, since it conflicted with the role of a puppet master.
Which meant...
"Kankurō-nii, back in the Kazekage's office, I accidentally glanced at those ninja files. There was a puppet master named Saya, right? One of her puppets is a puppet doll, isn't it?"
Konohamaru asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
"Well..."
Konohamaru's mischievous side took over as he gave Kankurō a knowing grin.
"Kankurō-nii, since you can't make powerful combat puppets, why not make... special puppets instead? Puppets that can help you enter Sage Mode much faster."
"Holy crap... You mean those dolls from Niuzihou Bottle-kun's shop?"
Kankurō stared at him in shock.
He had never imagined that the honorable grandson of the Third Hokage would come up with such a shameless idea.
But...
The more he thought about it, the more feasible it sounded.
The only problem was that making those puppet dolls had to remain an absolute secret.
If Granny Chiyo ever found out, she'd probably consider him a disgrace to puppet masters and personally clean house.
"Uh... Kankurō-nii, how do you know about that shop? Have you bought something there?"
Konohamaru looked at him with obvious disdain.
"I didn't buy anything. I've just seen them... Wait a second. How do you know about it?"
Kankurō stopped halfway through his explanation as realization hit him.
Wasn't Konohamaru far too young to know about something like that?
Was this really the kind of upbringing the Hokage's family gave their children?
"Uh... don't worry about little details like that, Kankurō-nii. Hurry up and start making them! As the successor to Naruto-nii's Sexy Technique, I can give you all kinds of valuable suggestions!"
Konohamaru rubbed his hands together eagerly, looking forward to what would happen next.
(End of this chapter)