This time it was Sasori's turn to stand aside and watch dazzlingly Masahiko doing his work.
Masahiko randomly chose two pieces of waste wood, took out his carving knife, and then in a few minutes, sculptured the two pieces into an "Optimus Prime" and a "Big Truck."
"Look at the shape, look at how handsome and mighty he looks, and look at the one you've just made, embarrassing," Masahiko said.
Sasori didn't reply and stared at Masahiko.
"A Ninja?"
Masahiko was startled, then he shook his head again and again, "No, I'm not." Although his hand move really fast, he made sure not to use Chakra.
Sasori hesitated slightly but didn't pursue it anymore. Even if he is a Ninja, it had nothing to do with him.
After receiving the two models, Sasori nodded.
"It's well carved."
Masahiko smiled, "Of course, I'm the Legendary Moonlight Sculptor. You don't understand what that means, right? It's basically a god status, sculptors are divided into different classes, Gehori, Chuhori, and Johori, then there's me the God of Sculpturing."
(T/N: Horimono: Hori: A Japanese word that literally means sculpturing. Masahiko swapped the word "Nin" in every classification with "Hori" to make it sound like actual ranks.)
Sasori: "Do you think I'm a fool?" Of course, he wanted to say that, but he didn't, yet his expression made it clear.
"Is this how you want it to look? I got it." Sasori decisively changed the subject.
"He can't be teased, how boring…" Masahiko murmured, watching Sasori getting busy again.
This time he didn't sit. He roamed around admiring Sasori's puppet designs.
"Oh, I can't see the father and the mother…" After looking around, Masahiko couldn't find the two puppets.
"Don't touch anything," Sasori shouted, and Masahiko curled his lips.
"You're just like Chiyo."
Masahiko stopped looking around. Sasori wouldn't have displayed the real collection here anyway.
In the second production, Sasori took even less time. In just an hour, a decent Optimus Prime appeared before Masahiko's eyes.
Watching Optimus Prime's transformation, Masahiko felt nostalgic.
"Have you seen such a thing before?" Sasori noticed Masahiko's eyes.
Masahiko glanced at him, smiled, then shook his head, "That's right, young talented kids will always be arrogant. Why are you asking? Do you think you're the only one who can make such a thing?"
Sasori: "…"
Sasori stopped talking and started working on the smaller version. This time it was easier, and he finished it in less than half an hour.
"The mission is completed."
Masahiko nodded, checked the two toys carefully, then frowned slightly, looking a bit unsatisfied.
"An Optimus Prime, who's fully made from wood, will always look a bit off, huh?" Masahiko muttered.
Walking aside, Masahiko touched the iron shell of an abandoned puppet, "Replace the toy's hands and legs with this material."
Suddenly, Sasori took out a small bottle and handed it over to Masahiko, "There is poison on it, this is the antidote."
Masahiko was taken aback for a moment, he certainly didn't feel anything, but if he didn't want his cover to expose, he had to drink the medicine…
"Huh…?"
Gudong Gudong
Masahiko instantly drank the entire bottle, "Huuh, thank god."
Sasori, on the other side, looked shocked at him, "What are you doing? That antidote bottle worths one million Ryo! You only needed to take a sip of it!"
Masahiko was startled, "What? Where am I? America?"
Sasori didn't know what America is, but he knew for a fact that he had just lost a large bottle of antidote before he gets his commission.
Masahiko sighed, "So, the genius puppeteer master of Sunagakure, that I can't even imagine how much research fundings his village has provided for him, is now trying to rob his clients. Have some decency!"
Looking at the expressionless face of Sasori, Masahiko smiled, shook his head, then handed over the one million Ryo, "You have contributed so many designs and puppets to Sunagakure, are you telling me that the village isn't paying you enough?"
"Hmmm, this shouldn't be it. It must have been held in custody by the Kazekage. Say, did you ever thought of killing him?"
"You say, are you an enemy ninja?" Sasori squeezed out these words.
Masahiko shook his head, again and again, he was as usual, just "sowing dissension."
"I've told you I'm the legendary moonlight sculptor."
It was effortless to change the material for the arms and the legs.
It took him ten minutes to finish, and this time Masahiko was finally satisfied, "This looks good!"
Masahiko took out another one million Roy out of his sleeves, "This is a reward for you, but remember scamming clients will get you in trouble, if they write bad reviews about you on the internet, it will be the end for your business."
Listening to him skimming a bunch of unknown words, Sasori directly accepted the one million Ryo.
"You look rich?"
"Yup." Masahiko said proudly, "I'm a sculptor, and I make money by my craftsmanship. In fact, you could have done so too, but unfortunately…" Masahiko tried to provoke him.
"Let's just submit the task." Sasori walked out directly with the two puppets, leaving Masahiko alone there.
"Man, this kid is so boring. Damn you, Sakumo, what have you done to him…"
Following Sasori, Masahiko once again walked into the Kazekage building, then entered his office.
"Hamura-San, are you satisfied with Sasori's work?" The third Kazekage had learned that Chiyo was replaced by Sasori. At this time, he looked expectant since he remembers the part where Masahiko said, "Add money."
"I'm delighted, and I've even given Sasori a million Ryo as a reward, although he kind of scammed me into paying him another million…"
"scammed you?" The Third Kazekage got taken aback.
"It was for the antidote." Sasori didn't say much.
The Kazekage didn't ask any more too.
With this, Sunagakure got paid its 10 million Ryo, as for Sasori's income…
The Kazekage reduced Sasori's commission by two million for no reason and paid him only 5 million Ryo.
Sasori didn't argue much, took the five million, turned, and left.
"Laugh if you want, Hamura-San," The third Kazekage said, "As you can see, the current situation in Sunagakure is quite embarrassing, I hope that you will still release this kind of tasks in the future…"
Masahiko didn't know if he should laugh or cry. In fact, he was actually having fun making these action figures too, so it might turn into some kind of addiction soon.
"I'm fine for now, but is it okay for the Kazekage-Sama to do this? Sasori is the most outstanding genius in Sunagakure. If you deduct his mission funds like this, even if he doesn't say anything, I'm afraid that it will cause hatred…"
"It doesn't matter, you don't need to worry about this Hamura-Sana. So do you need anything else?"
Masahiko looked at the two puppets. If he carries such heavy things, he would immediately reveal his cover.
"Can you bring me a carriage so I can take these two toys back?"
...
After half an hour, Masahiko left Sunagakure with a carriage and two Transformers.
"That greedy Kazekage, he asked 500k for a broken carriage. Such a scammer will sooner or later turn into a puppet by Sasori." Masahiko muttered.
Two kilometers away from Sunagakure, Masahiko got startled, "Why did Sasori come to see me off?"
In his perception, he could sense Sasori not far away.
Sure enough, after another 100 meters, Sasori appeared in sight, and suddenly he said, "Follow me, and I will grant you eternal life."
"Hehe, stop making troubles, kid."