Triskelion Tower-
In the office of the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury and Phil Coulson both smiled upon hearing Kabuto's rejection of the Sand Village's recruitment offer. Coulson even spoke up:
"Director, it seems that Kabuto is a person with his own principles and convictions."
"For such talents, we should pay more attention to them and nurture them."
"Perhaps we should allocate some more energy blocks for him and let him purchase a suitable ninjutsu from Charles Agency as a reward."
However, upon hearing Coulson's suggestion, Nick Fury didn't immediately agree but instead pondered for a moment before saying, "Coulson, we can't just do that directly."
"Such actions would only be openly revealing our intentions to the other party that all his actions are under our surveillance, right?"
"Doing so would only make Kabuto resentful towards us."
"Moreover, his behavior may not be sincere. We still don't know his true background in the ninja world. Perhaps all of this is just an act?"
"Coulson, if Kabuto's intentions are genuine, then we will do our utmost to nurture him and not betray his loyalty."
"But if all of this is just an act, then Kabuto joining S.H.I.E.L.D. must have some ulterior motives."
"For Kabuto's assessment and monitoring, we need to be even stricter and cannot afford any mistakes."
Once again, Nick Fury's paranoid delusions flared up, causing him to doubt Kabuto's motives. However, this time, he wasn't entirely wrong, although he might not be able to see through Kabuto's true intentions.
Hearing his director speak like this, Coulson nodded in agreement. "Indeed, we need to investigate thoroughly. However, if he truly is as he claims, then S.H.I.E.L.D. will not mistreat him."
...
Hearing Temari's taunts, Kabuto continued to smile calmly and replied in a gentle tone, "Although I may be weak in strength, I still have my own convictions."
"But I didn't come here today to discuss ninja ways with the Sand Village. I came to negotiate some business with your side."
Kabuto then placed his box on the service counter and opened it, revealing the energy blocks inside.
Seeing the energy blocks in Kabuto's box, Temari glanced at the quantity and continued to taunt, "It seems that your choice isn't bad after all. Joining S.H.I.E.L.D., it seems you won't lack energy blocks anymore."
"Alright, what business do you want to discuss?"
Kabuto paid no heed to Temari's taunts and instead took out ten energy blocks from the box and placed them on the service counter.
"As a first-time visitor, I don't have any valuable gifts to offer. These ten energy blocks will serve as my gift."
Seeing the ten energy blocks Kabuto placed on the table, Temari nodded and collected them into the service counter before saying, "Since you're here to discuss business, it's not appropriate to stand here and talk. Let's go to the sofa area over there."
As she spoke, Temari pointed to the sofa area nearby, and Kabuto nodded in agreement.
Then, Kabuto closed the box and followed Temari to the sofa area.
As Kabuto made his way to the sofa area, he looked around the entire puppet shop and noticed that there were no other service personnel present.
Upon reaching the sofa area and taking a seat, he placed his box beside him and curiously asked Temari, who was seated across from him, "How come your village doesn't recruit some manpower over here?"
"I saw many service personnel in Charles Agency, but there's none here. Moreover, I heard that Leaf Village's local influence here is quite significant."
At that moment, a male voice came from behind.
"We don't need those personnel here."
"The power level here is even inferior to wandering ninjas and samurais, and there's no need for further development."
Suddenly, ten humanoid puppets appeared in the room, and one of them walked over to Kabuto.
"May I offer you something, like water, coffee, or alcohol?"
Hearing the mechanical voice of the puppet, Kabuto glanced at the various humanoid puppets moving in the room and exclaimed, "Heavens, is this the Sand Village's unique secret technique of puppetry?"
"No wonder you don't need service staff here. With puppet masters around, you indeed don't need ordinary people."
At this moment, Kankuro slowly descended the stairs, his ten fingers slightly moving. The ten puppets in the room stopped their movements and returned to their original positions.
Although Kankuro controlled ten puppets at once, it wasn't as impressive as it seemed. These ten puppets were just decorations without combat capabilities, allowing him to control them easily with a single chakra thread.
It only appeared intimidating at first glance.
Currently, despite the enhancement of Kankuro's abilities due to the replacement of puppet materials, he was still far from mastering the White Secret Technique: Performance of Ten Men.
Kabuto could see through Kankuro's true abilities at a glance but still praised his strong strength.
Kankuro didn't come over to join Kabuto and Temari but instead went to the service counter to take over Temari's work.
Temari then spoke again, "So, what business do you want to discuss?"
This time, Kabuto didn't change the subject but sat up straight, looking serious as he said to Temari, "I want to inquire about the usage of energy blocks. I wonder how many energy blocks the Sand Village needs before they're willing to share this secret with me."
Upon hearing Kabuto's business proposal, Temari rolled her eyes directly. This item was what Lord Charles wanted, and for them ninjas, it had no use. It was not even as effective as explosive tags.
"Energy blocks are used as trading fees on our side and serve no other purpose."
"Or, Mr. Kabuto, perhaps you've discovered other functions for this item."
As Temari spoke, she blinked at Kabuto, then leaned back against the back of the sofa.
"If Mr. Kabuto has discovered other uses for energy blocks, Sand Puppet Shop will be willing to provide financial support."
Upon hearing Temari's words, which were almost identical to Kakashi's, Coulson, who was far away in S.H.I.E.L.D., spoke directly:
"It seems they've already discussed and aren't planning to reveal the true usage of energy blocks to others."