"Whoosh—"
In the sunny outskirts of the village.
Tenten had just finished her morning training and was preparing to head to the Ninja Academy.
Suddenly—
A dark shadow rushed toward her.
Her pupils shrank and she jumped in shock.
But she reacted quickly, immediately retreating.
When she saw the "figure" attacking her, her eyes widened.
A white humanoid puppet stood there.
Thin chakra threads were connected to it.
And not far away—
stood a familiar figure.
"Ren—"
Before Tenten could finish calling out his name,
the white puppet had already rushed forward.
As if it had truly come to life, it swung a punch at her.
"Bang!"
Tenten dodged immediately.
At the same time, having trained in taijutsu alongside Ren, she wasn't weak either.
She retaliated with a swift kick.
"Bang!"
The white humanoid puppet also raised its leg.
The two figures clashed together.
"Bang… bang…"
As time passed,
Tenten gradually realized she had no chance of defeating the puppet.
After exhausting all her strength and sweating profusely, she raised her hands in surrender.
"S-Stop… I give up!"
"Tenten, this level isn't good enough. Looks like your training still needs to be intensified."
Ren said with a smile as chakra threads extended from his fingers, controlling the puppet.
"I'm already trying my best! I'm not a genius like you, Ren…"
Tenten complained.
But she didn't even bother wiping her sweat.
She ran over quickly.
Her eyes shone brightly as she stared at the white humanoid puppet in amazement and excitement.
"Ren, is this the puppet you built?"
"This puppet was just completed. I call it Ren No. 1. From now on, you'll use it for training."
Ren skillfully sealed the puppet into a storage scroll.
Then he took out another small scroll and handed it to Tenten.
One of them was the storage scroll she had previously given him.
It contained the new puppet along with related parts and materials.
The other was a normal scroll that recorded detailed information about the puppet for the user.
Under Tenten's excited gaze, Ren explained with a smile,
"It contains the structural blueprint, all the functions, the control methods, and some important precautions… as well as maintenance instructions."
"I've also stored spare replacement parts inside. If something breaks, you can replace it directly."
"Take it back and study it slowly. If there's anything you don't understand, come ask me."
"Ren No. 1? That's amazing!"
Tenten held the scroll tightly.
Her face was full of excitement.
Looking at Ren with admiration, she said,
"You're incredible, Ren!"
She hadn't expected him to finish building the puppet so quickly.
And after experiencing it firsthand just now, she knew exactly how powerful it was.
Ren had only used it for pure taijutsu combat against her.
None of its real mechanisms had even been activated.
Compared to the puppet dolls he had built before,
Ren No. 1 was on a completely different level.
Even without seeing its true combat mode, it had already exceeded her expectations.
"But Ren, are you really not going back to the Ninja Academy anymore?"
Tenten asked curiously.
Now it wasn't just her—
the entire academy knew.
The third-year genius Akira Ren had been accepted as a disciple by Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin and a student of the Third Hokage.
Countless people envied him.
Under the Third Hokage's instructions, the academy had even heavily promoted the news.
Ren had become a role model for many students.
It sparked a wave of motivation across the school.
"I won't be going to the academy anymore. Later I'm going with Sister Tsunade to the Konoha Hospital to learn how to treat patients."
Ren shrugged.
"But no matter how sophisticated or powerful a puppet is, it still needs a skilled puppeteer to fully bring out its combat potential."
He wiped the sweat from Tenten's forehead.
Looking at the lively girl with her twin buns hairstyle and Chinese-style charm, he smiled encouragingly.
"You need to keep working hard."
"Mm! I'll work hard to become an excellent puppeteer, Ren!"
Tenten clenched her small fists, full of determination.
"Go on. It's getting late—you'll be late for school."
Ren said with a smile.
Truth be told,
Tenten's family was extremely wealthy.
The materials she had provided far exceeded expectations.
Even after finishing Ren No. 1, more than half the materials remained.
Ren planned to spend some more time designing another puppet.
This one would be different from the combat-type Ren No. 1.
It would be a support-type puppet suitable for different battlefield situations.
Before he left Konoha, he would give it to Tenten.
After realizing that Tenten truly had talent in this area,
he had already decided—
to train this little rich girl into a truly outstanding puppeteer.
"See you later, Ren!"
Tenten looked reluctant to leave.
But she still said goodbye and ran toward the Ninja Academy.
Watching her leave—
"Flutter—"
A small sparrow flapped its wings
and boldly landed on Ren's shoulder.
It chirped cheerfully and hopped around.
As if treating him like an ordinary tree, showing no fear at all.
Looking at the sparrow on his shoulder,
Ren smiled.
A glimmer of inspiration appeared in his eyes.
"How about designing a flying puppet?"
To be honest,
when he studied puppet techniques before, it wasn't only out of personal interest.
The main reason was that he didn't want to reveal the abilities of the Mori Mori no Mi too early and attract unnecessary trouble.
Before he grew strong enough,
he had planned to use puppet techniques as a surface-level ability.
But he never intended to truly specialize in that field.
Now things were different.
He had become the disciple of Tsunade, one of the Sannin.
In other words—
he was now firmly part of the Hokage faction.
And he might soon leave Konoha.
He no longer needed that layer of disguise.
There was no need to remain as cautious as before.
After all—
he now had powerful backing.
He could openly display his talents in ninjutsu and genjutsu without worry.
Still,
since he had already guided Tenten down the path of puppetry,
he wanted to do it properly.
A puppet capable of carrying a person in flight, while also possessing strong aerial combat capabilities—
He believed that when the time came,
that girl would definitely be very satisfied.
…
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