After leaving Deidara's training ground, Teizawa did not go back.
He followed the stone-paved road on the western side of Sunagakure.
Then he walked deeper into the village.
The farther in he went, the fewer people he saw. The buildings also became lower and more crude.
At last, he stopped in front of a heavy iron door.
An ANBU ninja stood on each side of the door.
They wore animal masks, their postures straight as pines.
The moment they saw Teizawa, both dropped to one knee.
"Kazekage-sama."
Teizawa nodded. "Open it."
The iron door slowly slid open, letting out a deep rumble.
Inside was a long passage.
Night pearls were embedded into the stone walls on both sides, giving off a cold, ghostly glow.
Teizawa stepped inside.
His footsteps echoed through the passage.
Like some ancient clock, each sound steady and powerful.
At the end of the passage was an even heavier iron door.
Teizawa reached out and pressed his hand against it. Chakra surged.
The sealing runes on the iron door lit up one by one.
Then, with a crisp click, it opened.
Inside was a massive underground laboratory.
The place was brightly lit, as clear as daylight.
Dozens of puppeteers were busy at their own workstations.
Some were polishing parts, some were adjusting mechanisms, and others were assembling puppets…
The air was filled with the smell of machine oil and metal.
The clanging of hammers rose and fell without pause.
This was Sunagakure's deepest secret.
Steel puppets, armor, mecha technology.
All of it was hidden inside this underground laboratory.
Teizawa walked into the lab.
His gaze swept over the busy puppeteers.
Finally, it settled on the figure at the very back.
Sasori sat in front of a massive workbench.
His back was turned to Teizawa as he lowered his head and tinkered with something.
Hiruko was already gone.
In its place was an entirely new puppet…
No, not a puppet.
Armor.
A pitch-black metal shell with a streamlined design.
Its joints were connected by precise gears.
A fist-sized red gem was embedded in the chest.
Chakra light surged inside it.
Since he had soothed Deidara, there was no reason not to come comfort Sasori's sensitive little heart as well.
Of course, he had also come to stabilize Sasori's state of mind.
Neither Deidara nor Sasori had any real loyalty to Sunagakure.
What kept them obedient?
Nothing more than Teizawa using things they wanted to hold them in place.
Once Sunagakure and Akatsuki clashed later on, these two might very well run.
Or stab him in the back.
That was the real reason Teizawa had decided to meet both Deidara and Sasori.
"Sasori…"
Teizawa walked over and stopped behind him.
Sasori did not turn around.
He only gave a faint "Mm."
His hands did not stop moving.
Teizawa looked at the armor being assembled.
Then he nodded.
"Not bad."
"Not bad?"
Sasori's voice was hoarse and flat. "My puppets are never merely 'not bad.'"
He set down the tool in his hand and turned around.
The eyes peering through the gaps of his puppet body looked at Teizawa.
"But steel is too heavy. You should understand that problem."
Of course Teizawa understood.
From the very first day the steel puppet project had started, he had known about that issue.
Iron was far heavier than wood.
A steel puppet weighed three to five times as much as a wooden puppet of the same size.
That meant controlling one required more chakra.
Moving one required greater force.
Transporting one required more resources.
If that problem was not solved, steel puppets would forever remain inside the laboratory.
They could not be equipped to the troops on a large scale.
The puppets and mechs they had deployed against the Four-Tails, Roshi, had all been the kind that required several people to operate.
And how could someone as proud as Sasori be willing to share control of armor with others?
Teizawa had even heard from Kankurō that this lunatic Sasori was planning to replace every puppet in his Performance of a Hundred Puppets with steel puppets.
"I know."
Teizawa sat down by the workbench and lightly tapped his fingers against the table.
"That's why I've been thinking of a solution."
Sasori stared at him. There was a trace of expectation in his eyes.
But there was even more doubt.
He had researched puppets for decades.
He had tried countless materials and countless designs.
Yet he had never been able to solve the weight problem.
What kind of solution could this guy possibly have?
"Have you ever thought…"
Teizawa raised his head and looked at him. "About making the puppet move on its own?"
Sasori paused.
"What do you mean?"
"Right now, all puppets are controlled by puppeteers using chakra strings."
"You move, and the puppet moves. You exert force, and the puppet exerts force."
Teizawa's finger drew circles on the tabletop. "But if you could make the puppet move on its own…"
"The puppeteer would only need to give an order, and the puppet could complete the rest of the action by itself."
"That way, chakra consumption would be greatly reduced, and the difficulty of control would also drop sharply."
Sasori's brow furrowed slightly.
"…Move on its own? How is it supposed to move on its own?"
"A puppet has no life, no chakra, no—"
"Steam."
Teizawa cut him off.
Sasori froze.
"Steam?"
"Yes. Steam."
Teizawa stood up and walked to the armor. He reached out and touched its pitch-black metal shell.
"When water boils, it turns into steam. When steam expands, it generates pressure. That pressure can push a piston. A piston can drive gears. Gears can turn wheels."
He turned around and looked at Sasori.
"That is a steam engine."
Sasori's pupils shrank slightly.
Steam engine?
He had never heard that term before.
But he was not stupid.
He understood every word Teizawa had said.
And he immediately realized that the principle was feasible.
No chakra. No life.
With only the most ordinary fire and water,
a machine could move by itself.
"Besides steam…"
Teizawa continued, his voice calm and unhurried. "There are also internal combustion engines. The kind that burn oil."
"And electric motors, the kind that use electricity. There are many, many kinds of energy that can make machines move on their own. You only need to find the most suitable one."
Sasori was silent for a long time.
His gaze stayed on that suit of armor.
Countless thoughts churned through his mind.
Steam engines. Internal combustion engines. Electric motors…
Those terms were all foreign to him.
But the principles were not difficult to understand.
If machines truly could move on their own as Teizawa said,
then puppeteers would only need to perform simple control.
They might not even need to do that much. They would only need to issue commands.
Then the puppet could complete the battle by itself.
That would completely change the history of puppetry.
"You…"
Sasori's voice sounded a little dry. "How did you think of all this?"
Teizawa smiled.
"Secret."
The same two words.
(End of Chapter)
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