Chapter 218: Ka-Ka-Ka-Ka-Ka
The Sand Village (Sunagakure) was very poor.
Especially in recent years, it was even poorer.
The Daimyo of the Land of Wind seemed to have lost his mind, demanding that the Sand Village reduce its military forces and implement an elite soldier program. He was only willing to provide 150 million ryo in financial aid annually. The Sand Village was on the verge of starvation.
Meanwhile, the commission fee for an S-rank mission ranged roughly from five to eight million ryo. Masahiko took out a full ten million ryo just to make a puppet toy.
Faced with the temptation of money, the Third Kazekage spinelessly put down all the work in his hands and chatted amiably with Masahiko. Someone who could casually take out ten million ryo must have a net worth at least dozens of times that amount...
Thinking of this, the Third Kazekage sensed something amiss. He had met all the famous wealthy merchants in the Land of Wind, and Masahiko was clearly not one of them. Yet, his attire was distinctly that of a resident of the Land of Wind.
"How should I address you?"
This question momentarily stumped Masahiko. He really hadn't come up with a name for this identity.
"Call me... Hamura." After the Sage of Six Paths, his brother couldn't escape Masahiko's clutches either.
"Hamura? Where do you come from?"
Masahiko paused. "I just want to make a toy. Do I have to explain where I come from, where I'm going, how many people are in my family, and how many cows are in my fields?"
The Third Kazekage took a deep breath. What is all this nonsense...
Frowning in thought for a moment, the Third Kazekage decided not to overthink it. The person opposite him was clearly an ordinary civilian and couldn't cause too much trouble. Wasn't it a good thing to give money to the Sand Village?
"With a commission of ten million ryo, I'll make an exception and classify this as an S-rank mission. I will find the best puppeteer in our village to make the toy for you."
Masahiko frowned. "Ten million ryo might not necessarily be yours. If it's done well, I'll add money. If it's done poorly, I'll deduct money."
"Oh?" The Third Kazekage looked pleasantly surprised. He completely ignored the part about deducting money; only the words "add money" echoed in his mind.
With a wave of his hand, an Anbu appeared instantly.
"Go call Elder Chiyo over."
Masahiko's face darkened slightly. He was quite familiar with Chiyo. He hoped he wouldn't be recognized, or else the rumor would become "Masahiko Uzumaki hides his identity to buy a toy for a child."
"Elder Chiyo is one of the strongest puppeteers in our Sand Village and is also excellent at puppet design."
In reality, the most excellent puppet modeler in the Sand Village was already Sasori, but it was better for Chiyo to take this mission. After all, mission commissions were shared between the ninja and the village. Chiyo was more "selfless," so the village would get more funds.
"I have long heard of Elder Chiyo's name in the Sand Village. Please." At this point, Masahiko could only answer like this.
Less than ten minutes later, Chiyo arrived. She had been researching with the elite puppeteers of the Sand Village on how to grant life to puppets, which the Kazekage knew. Being summoned urgently by the Kazekage at such a time, she thought something major had happened.
"Make a puppet toy?" Chiyo looked astonished, almost saying, "Are you kidding me?"
"Yes, this merchant Hamura is willing to pay ten million ryo or even more to make a toy for his grandson. The mission rank is S."
"Is that so?" Chiyo understood now. She was well aware of the Sand Village's financial distress. She guessed they had encountered someone who treated money like dirt.
"Merchant Hamura, right? What kind of toy do you want to make?" Chiyo turned her head.
This question stumped Masahiko. How should he describe it?
"If I say Optimus Prime, you definitely won't understand, right? Autobots? Transformers?"
Chiyo shook her head blankly, and the Third Kazekage wore the same expression.
"Hmm... it's the kind that goes ka-ka-ka-ka-ka and transforms." Masahiko made ka-ka sounds while shaking his body.
Chiyo's face stiffened. She turned to look at the Third Kazekage, as if asking, "Can this person really take out ten million ryo?"
The Third Kazekage spread his hands, indicating he was also desperate.
If it weren't for the taboo of a ninja village robbing a client, he would have wanted to make a move long ago after chatting with this baffling "nouveau riche" for so long...
"Alright then." Chiyo sighed. "I accept this mission."
She raised her prediction of the mission's difficulty by several levels and truly treated it as an S-rank mission.
Masahiko didn't waste words, fearing he might expose himself if he said too much. He directly handed over the banknotes and watched the Third Kazekage start registering the mission.
Just as he was about to write down the ninja accepting the mission, Chiyo stopped him.
"Write Sasori's name down too. We might have to rely on him for this mission."
The Third Kazekage hesitated for a moment but did as told. At this point, he also had to consider Masahiko's threat of "deducting money."
With the mission commission settled, Masahiko followed Chiyo to the Sand Village's "Puppet Research Institute." Of course, they didn't call it that; Masahiko named it for them after seeing the room filled with various discarded puppets on display.
Inside the institute, there were many rooms of various sizes, which were individual rooms for the Sand Village's puppeteers. Based on size, they could basically be divided into three tiers.
For example, among the three largest rooms, one belonged to Chiyo.
"Whose are the other two rooms?" Several figures flashed through Masahiko's mind.
"One belongs to my brother, and the other to my grandson." Chiyo said this with quite a bit of pride.
"Sasori is only fourteen or fifteen, yet he holds such a high status in the Sand Village. If he doesn't go astray, the position of Kazekage in the future should belong to him," Masahiko lamented inwardly.
Entering Chiyo's "workshop," Chiyo turned around and said, "Merchant Hamura, please describe the puppet toy you need in detail."
Masahiko frowned. Where should he start?
"Hmm... a humanoid puppet, about two meters tall, capable of being disassembled and reassembled, and then... ka-ka-ka-ka-ka, transforms into a small car—no, a big truck."
Masahiko started twisting again, making Chiyo's eyebrows jump as she watched.
"What is a big truck?" Ignoring the superfluous onomatopoeia and movements, Chiyo focused on this new term first.
"Hmm... you know what a horse carriage is, right?"
Chiyo nodded.
"A big truck is like a horse carriage with four wheels that can carry a lot of things."
"I see." Chiyo frowned, roughly understanding Masahiko's requirement.
"This design is quite ingenious. I wonder who came up with it."
"Of course, it was me." Masahiko claimed the credit without hesitation.
Chiyo naturally didn't believe him. Just looking at Masahiko's description of the thing, one could tell he definitely didn't design it.
However, she didn't expose him. With a flick of her finger, chakra threads shot out, and a puppet flew over.
"About this height?"
Masahiko glanced at it. He didn't expect the Sand Village to have such tall puppets; it was about two meters high.
"Yeah, the height is about right. But the key is that it must be able to transform. Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka, do you understand?" Masahiko was getting addicted to the twisting.
"I understand."
Chiyo remained expressionless.
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