No heartbeat!
That's right, the puppet crow had no heartbeat. No matter how lifelike it looked, a puppet was still a puppet. Takashi wasn't going to put all his energy into puppetry, after all, it was only a temporary measure and not worth his complete focus.
The smile on Orochimaru's face completely vanished.
"This is a puppet?"
"Yes."
Takashi intentionally picked up his cup to show Orochimaru clearly that he wasn't controlling the puppet.
It looked alive, yet it was still a puppet, and there were no chakra threads controlling it.
Orochimaru's eyes lit up instantly. This puppet was definitely something worth studying.
He had to obtain it!
Although he wanted to take the puppet away immediately, Orochimaru managed to hold himself back. After all, this puppet still belonged to Takashi, and he had only been given permission to see it, not to take it away. Taking the crow puppet away would likely require paying some kind of price.
"Hahaha, I knew I wasn't wrong about you. You're an interesting person, Takashi-kun."
"I think I'm quite interesting myself."
Takashi raised his hand, and the puppet crow broke free from Orochimaru's grasp, hopping back onto Takashi's palm, tilting its head to observe Orochimaru.
It definitely needed further study.
Being stared at by the puppet crow in curiosity, Orochimaru felt his own breathing grow more rapid.
A puppet that seemed to have life.
It was astonishing.
For someone like Orochimaru, who had always longed for immortality, it felt as though a new door to the world had opened before him.
He had to get this puppet—at least one of them.
After a moment of thought, Orochimaru was about to speak, but Takashi beat him to it: "I need money."
This wasn't a joke. Takashi was genuinely short on funds at the moment. Even if Orochimaru's debt was cleared, he would still be in need of money. Besides paying off his debt to Orochimaru, most of his money had been spent on purchasing all sorts of materials and parts, which weren't cheap at all. Takashi had practically poured all his resources into these puppets.
From the beginning of making puppets until now, Takashi had almost lost count of how many he had made.
The total number was certainly a lot—at least several hundred.
Takashi planned to work hard to gather enough puppets to form his very own puppet army.
One day, he would show the puppet masters of Sunagakure what a real puppet army looked like!
The so-called puppet army of Sunagakure was nothing more than a unit formed by puppet users.
Takashi's vision for puppetry was to be an army unto himself.
Not only in quantity but in quality too.
As for how Orochimaru might study the puppet, Takashi didn't care much. Without the Tenseigan's chakra, no matter how much Orochimaru studied, he wouldn't be able to grasp its secrets.
Of course, if Orochimaru did manage to come up with something impressive out of it, Takashi could only acknowledge his brilliance.
Short on money?
Now Orochimaru was in a bit of a bind as well because, truthfully, he was also short on money.
It was no joke; most of Orochimaru's income was poured into building his base and purchasing all kinds of equipment. Setting up a research base required considerable funds, and with the ongoing expenses and various experimental costs, Orochimaru was completely drained.
He truly couldn't come up with much money at the moment.
"I'll figure something out."
Since the terms were laid out, there was no point in discussing anything else—the solution was simply to find a way to make money.
As for how Orochimaru would manage to raise funds, that had nothing to do with Takashi.
Leaving the border camp, Orochimaru made his way to Konoha as quickly as possible. What would normally take two days for others, he managed in just one. To save time, Orochimaru didn't mind exhausting himself.
Back in Konoha, Orochimaru headed straight for the Hokage's office.
"Sensei."
Orochimaru entered unannounced, slightly out of breath, and closed the door behind him.
The Third Hokage looked up curiously. "Orochimaru, do you need something from me?"
As the Third Hokage's favorite student, Orochimaru's nature was well known to him. If it wasn't something important, Orochimaru would almost never come to him voluntarily.
"Sensei, about the research project you mentioned before, I think I'm willing to give it a try. But I need funding from the village. I need money."
There was a reason why the Third Hokage liked Orochimaru so much. In everyone's eyes, Orochimaru was a versatile genius, with knowledge and abilities across all fields, truly a well-rounded shinobi.
"A research project?"
The Third Hokage was stunned for a moment. He had previously suggested that Orochimaru redirect his research towards something beneficial for the village—focusing on public welfare would be the best approach.
But his suggestion had been flatly rejected by Orochimaru at the time.
Who could have expected that the same Orochimaru, who had previously refused without hesitation, would now bring up the project himself?
Though surprised as to why his student had changed his mind, the Third Hokage was pleased that Orochimaru was willing to take on the project.
He knew better than anyone else just how talented his student was.
"Since you're willing to take on this project, I'm very happy. This project has been ongoing but progressing slowly. It would be great if you could take over, and you needn't worry about funding."
No one knew what Orochimaru and the Third Hokage discussed after that.
Orochimaru soon entered the village's research facility, and in less than a month, a household appliance with a white snake logo—a refrigerator—was born.
Thanks to the village's promotion, it was quickly accepted by the villagers.
"Oh my!"
Orochimaru wouldn't really go into appliance development just for some quick cash, would he?
Upon hearing this news, Takashi was stunned.
"Pfft~~ Hahaha!"
The thought of Orochimaru racking his brains for a way to make money—even taking on projects he had once scoffed at, lowering himself like this—made Takashi laugh out loud.
Why did this feel so amusing?
The image of Orochimaru, wearing a white coat and working on appliance development, was akin to Tsunade becoming an anti-gambling ambassador or Jiraiya writing a sappy teenage romance—it created an enormous sense of contrast.
Despite the humor, Takashi thought Orochimaru did an impressive job. If refrigerators were being made, could other household appliances be far behind?
Not far at all.
Once these basic appliances were developed, daily life would definitely become much more convenient.
With a bit of effort, perhaps they could even usher in a period of accelerated development for the shinobi world.
The truth was, the technological advancements in the shinobi world weren't impossible—it was just that the researchers had been heading in the wrong direction.
With focus, these people could definitely deliver some surprising results.
There was a joke in the shinobi world that wasn't actually that funny. In other nations' eyes, the people of the Land of Lightning were seen as highland brutes, unreasonable and full of muscle, even in their brains. Yet, in terms of technological development, the Land of Lightning far surpassed the other nations.
Takashi couldn't understand where people got the nerve to mock the Land of Lightning as brainless brutes.
"I hope Orochimaru doesn't get too caught up in public welfare research."
After all, research could be addictive, and this type of work brought in money fast—unlike his previous biological research, which was more of a money pit.
What Takashi didn't know was that Orochimaru, at that very moment, was filled with enthusiasm. He was brimming with energy, fully immersed in the development of household appliances.
In the past, he would never have touched such things or even looked down on them, but now, constantly being short on money, he had begun to see the benefits.
Tsunade came to the border camp once again, though this time she came on a mission.
"Has Kushina's mood improved?"
Takashi poured a glass of water for Tsunade.