Chapter 49: Cleaning Test
The hall had four paths, each one a hallway that led to a different part of the building—the one they had come from, as well as the ones to the right, the left, and another one directly in front of them. The hall was silent, except for the sound of their footsteps muffled by the sand.
Without another word, the woman led Souta down the hallway to the right. They walked past several closed doors, each decorated with faint carvings that looked like symbols or emblems. Some of them were already worn down, as if they had been there for years without ever being repaired.
They walked until they reached the end of the hall, where there was a door that looked more plain than the others. Without hesitation, the woman pushed it open, revealing the room beyond.
As soon as she entered the room, Souta's eyes immediately widened.
The room looked messy. A large wooden table sat against the wall with several chairs around it, some of which were tilted as if they had been left in a hurry. A wooden cabinet stood in the corner of the room, with one of its doors open, revealing a seemingly disorderly pile of books and scrolls of paper. On the other side of the room, there was a simple bed made of compacted sand, complete with a thin, wrinkled blanket.
But what was most striking was the floor of the room—it was littered with sheets of paper scattered everywhere. Some looked intact, while others were folded, stepped on, or even torn in places. Some were just filled with random scribbles, while others had seemingly intricate sketches.
Souta swallowed and turned to the woman, still with a confused expression.
"This is...?" Souta asked with a doubtful face.
The woman only smiled faintly before answering.
"The test I gave was quite easy," the woman said in a casual tone, but her eyes remained sharp. "I want this entire room to be clean and tidy within ten minutes. If you succeed, I will declare you a pass and you will be accepted to work at the Puppet Theater."
Souta was silent for a moment, but then nodded determinedly.
"No problem! I will do it!" Souta said in a firm voice.
The woman nodded briefly, then turned and walked out of the room. The door closed softly behind Souta, leaving Souta alone in this chaos.
Souta took a deep breath and began to walk to the center of the room, where Souta then observed the chaos around him. Souta's eyes traced every corner of the room, trying to understand this place more deeply.
Even though he already knew that almost all buildings in Sunagakure were made of sand, Souta still felt amazed. The compacted sand formed solid walls, and could even be used as a bed. However, what surprised Souta the most was the fact that in the middle of this dry and poor environment, this room had so many papers.
Without wasting any time, Souta bent down and picked up one of the papers on the floor.
When Souta's eyes fell on the contents of the paper, Souta's body stiffened.
"This paper..." Souta muttered, Souta's expression immediately turning serious.
The sheet of paper was full of rough and irregular scribbles. But if you look closely, Souta can see something hidden behind the scribbles—detailed sketches of various parts of the wooden doll's body. There are drawings of hands with tiny joints, and there are also designs of mechanisms inside the doll's body.
Souta frowns.
Sunagakure is a poor village, and paper is a rare commodity. There aren't many trees in the desert to make paper, and books are very expensive. That's why when the Ninja Academy offered free books, Souta was very grateful.
So, seeing so much paper lying around like this really doesn't make sense.
...
Chapter 50: Wooden Doll Sketch Paper
Who owns this room? How could someone have so much paper and just throw it away?
The longer Souta looked at the paper, the more Souta noticed something strange.
On each doll sketch, there were small scratches that seemed unintentional. The scratches weren't that obvious, but they shouldn't have been visible enough to ruin the original drawing.
"No way..." Souta muttered, his eyes widening.
Was it possible that someone would consider this design a failure just because of these small scratches? If so, then the person who owned this room was no ordinary person.
Souta felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
Whoever owned this room, it must be someone who had a deep understanding of the art of wooden doll making. And more than that—it must be someone influential enough to have so much paper in Sunagakure.
Souta stared at the other pile of paper on the floor.
The longer Souta looked, the more curious Souta became.
...
...
...
The room was a mess. Not just a mess, but like being hit by a raging paper storm. Sheets were scattered on the floor, some folded and crumpled, others covered in ink scribbles that seemed to have been written in a hurry.
Souta stood in the middle of the mess, taking a deep breath. Souta's eyes then began to comb the surroundings, where Souta observed every corner of the room filled with papers of various sizes. Some of them were still in good condition—not torn, although there were a few creases and some ink stains that were not too disturbing.
Then Souta immediately crouched down, where Souta began to collect sheet by sheet carefully, Souta then examined each page before arranging them in a neater pile on the table. Every time Souta found a paper that was still in good condition, Souta turned it over, making sure that no important parts were damaged or completely covered in ink.
Souta's hand touched a page that was thicker than the others. When he lifted it, Souta's eyes caught a rough sketch drawn on it—lines that depicted the shape of the hands, feet, and body of a wooden doll. Souta's eyes narrowed, focusing on the small details that, although faint, Souta could still read clearly.
"This is... A sketch of a Kugutsu doll?" Souta thought to himself, his eyebrows furrowed.
Even though the drawing was filled with rough scribbles, the important parts could still be seen. This sketch was not just any drawing, this was a design for a wooden doll mechanism used in the Kugutsu technique—one of the signature techniques of the Sunagakure ninja.
Souta bit his lip, his fingers gently tracing the lines of the drawing. As a mechanic, researcher, and scientist in the field of robotics, Souta could immediately see the similarities between this doll design and the working systems of the robots he had studied.
"Although the concept of movement is different, overall, the principle is not much different. Kugutsu dolls move through their user's chakra, while robots use mechanical or electrical energy. However, if these movement principles could be combined..."
Souta's mind began to fill with interesting possibilities. If Souta could study the mechanics of the Kugutsu dolls more deeply, perhaps he could find a way to create something new—something more advanced than just a simple wooden doll.
However, Souta hesitated. Was he allowed to keep this paper? Was it really considered trash, or had it just fallen out by accident? If he took it without permission and it turned out to be important, that could be a problem.
Souta looked to the corner of the room, where he saw a pile of papers that had been collected as trash. Since there was no trash can, he could only pile them up near the exit.
After thinking for a moment, Souta finally decided to fold the paper he was holding and put it away. At least for now. Souta would find out more about whether he was allowed to have it or not.
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