Chapter 219: Sasori of the Red Sand
Three days later.
"How is it this time?" Chiyo asked Masahiko while controlling the puppet in her hands.
Masahiko frowned, hesitated a moment, and said, "It's passable."
The puppet before him was quite tall and burly.
"Try transforming it? Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka?"
Chiyo breathed a sigh of relief. This was already the third puppet she had made. Having wasted three days, the S-rank rating for this mission was definitely justified.
With a movement of Chiyo's fingers, the giant humanoid puppet instantly disintegrated. Then, under the rapid movement of her fingers, it pieced itself back together into the shape of a "large horse carriage."
The corner of Masahiko's mouth twitched. A carriage was fine; he wasn't picky. People in this world didn't know what a big truck looked like anyway. However, this method of reassembly...
"For my grandson to play with a toy, does he have to come to your Sand Village to learn the Puppet Technique first?"
This question froze the expression on Chiyo's face. She looked at the giant puppet and realized this was a serious issue. To make this puppet transform, one would not only need to learn the Puppet Technique, but an average level of skill probably wouldn't suffice.
"To reassemble a puppet into another shape, it can only be operated by a puppeteer."
Masahiko shook his head. "What I want isn't reassembly, but deformation. For example, if these joints fold up, it can turn into a carriage."
Crack!
Masahiko had black lines on his face. He had just stepped forward to bend it, and "Optimus Prime's" arm snapped.
"Ten million ryo, and these are the materials?"
Chiyo was also stunned. "Merchant Hamura, you are quite strong... We are currently using scrap materials. We will switch to high-quality materials once the design is finalized."
Masahiko nodded. "This still won't do. Something like this is only worth two million."
Actually, at this point, Masahiko was relatively satisfied. It was just a toy; there was no need to be so serious. Besides, even without the Puppet Technique, he had gravity control and could manipulate it to reassemble.
Saying this now was mostly to make things difficult for Chiyo. As for the reason, he thought that since he had come all this way, it would be a pity not to see Sasori of the Red Sand. At this point in time, Sasori shouldn't have turned himself into a puppet yet.
As expected, Chiyo looked troubled. She really couldn't imagine that kind of transforming design.
After a long while, she sighed deeply, regretting not handing the mission to Sasori earlier.
Then, Chiyo led Masahiko to the room next door, her fingers still using chakra threads to drag the puppet with the broken arm.
"Sasori! Sasori! Are you not here?" Entering the room, Chiyo frowned.
"Merchant Hamura, don't touch anything!" Turning around, Chiyo was startled.
Masahiko was stroking the puppets scattered around. Two of them looked quite familiar; they seemed to be the ones Kankuro would use in the future.
Hearing Chiyo's voice, Masahiko looked up with a smile. "Elder Chiyo, these puppets are made quite well. They are much more intricate than yours."
"Merchant Hamura, don't touch anything," Chiyo repeated. "Some of these puppets might be coated with poison. Only Sasori has the antidote."
Masahiko nodded. Although his constitution likely wouldn't be affected by the poison, getting poisoned would blow his cover.
As they spoke, Sasori walked in from outside. He first frowned and scanned Masahiko before turning to Chiyo.
"Grandmother, what do you need me for?"
This was Masahiko's first time seeing Sasori. Aside from the conspicuous red hair, he had a face so young it looked tender.
"Is this the genius puppeteer of the Sand Village?" Masahiko took the initiative to speak.
Sasori looked cold and ignored Masahiko completely. It was Chiyo who responded with a smile.
"That's right. Although he is not yet fifteen, he is already the best puppet model designer in the village."
"Then can he design the feeling I want? The kind that goes ka-ka-ka-ka-ka and transforms?" Masahiko started twisting again.
Sasori's eyelid twitched, and he looked at Chiyo with confusion.
Chiyo sighed. "Merchant Hamura, no need to describe it again. I will explain it to him."
She then took the broken-armed puppet from before and demonstrated it to Sasori on the side. Sasori's expression changed three times: from indifference to concentration, and finally to keen interest.
As expected of a genius. After listening to Chiyo's description just once, Sasori completely understood what Masahiko needed. He even thought of more.
It wasn't that the Sand Village didn't currently have puppets capable of two forms, but those required a puppeteer with very high attainments in the Puppet Technique to operate. Masahiko's idea, however, required none of that. As long as one was a puppeteer, they could do it; it could even be popularized.
"S-rank mission. I understand, Grandmother Chiyo." Sasori nodded in agreement, formally accepting the commission.
"I leave it to you, Sasori." Chiyo gave instructions and walked out. Nowadays, every time she saw Sasori's smileless face, Chiyo wanted to develop the jutsu that gave life to puppets even faster. She had already been delayed for three days by Masahiko's commission and needed to return to her work as soon as possible.
Masahiko watched Chiyo leave without even saying goodbye, leaving him alone in the room with Sasori. The corner of his mouth twitched.
Facing this artistic maniac, if Sasori suddenly had a brain spasm and tried to turn him into a puppet, should he resist, resist, or resist?
Fortunately, at this age, Sasori had likely just begun dabbling in human puppetry. Masahiko clearly didn't look like "special material," so Sasori wasn't interested.
He was currently very interested in the puppet toy Masahiko described. He didn't speak to Masahiko, the client, at all and started experimenting directly.
"Artists are all mavericks, perhaps?" Masahiko smiled bitterly. He had looked forward to meeting Sasori, but now that he had, he didn't know what to say, and Sasori ignored him...
Helpless, he found a place to sit and watched Sasori's dazzling operations.
Unlike Chiyo, Sasori started assembling from the "vehicle" form, then figured out how to segment it piece by piece to unfold into a human shape.
In just half a day, Sasori actually produced a finished product.
Masahiko watched dumbfounded as the puppet before him transformed from a carriage into a standing humanoid, then back into a carriage. Except for the ugly appearance, it basically met his desires.
"This is beyond just genius. This puppet design is at least two levels higher than Chiyo's..."
"Commission complete." Sasori's voice rang in Masahiko's ear, waking him up.
Masahiko shook his head. "This won't do. I'm buying a toy for my grandson. If you make it this ugly, it will scare the child."
Sasori frowned. "A child's toy?"
He looked at the giant puppet, more than two meters tall. Whose child could play with this kind of thing?
"This one is for me to play with. Make a smaller one for the child later, about half a meter high should be enough."
"You... play?" Sasori remembered Masahiko's ka-ka dance earlier and wasn't too surprised.
"Tell me the appearance first."
Masahiko sighed. Another person asking for the appearance. His ability to express himself...
"Wait, can't I just carve a model?" Masahiko paused, realizing his brain had short-circuited earlier...
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you