Chiyo looked serious, and a hint of confusion flashed in Hattori's eyes.
"How does she know I used puppet techniques to control those corpses? No one should've seen that…"
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Chiyo seemed to have guessed what he was thinking and spoke again.
"I examined the bodies of those Iwa-ninjas. Some showed signs of chakra threads controlling them."
At this, she gave Hattori a slight smile.
"I hadn't realized your talent for puppetry was so great, so I didn't tell you about the rules. But now that you know, there can be no next time. Even ninja need to have some boundaries, understand?"
"Yes, I understand!"
Hattori immediately nodded obediently, though whether he would follow this advice was another matter.
After all, boundaries only matter if you're alive. If your life is at stake, who cares about boundaries?
Chiyo, unaware of his thoughts, was pleased by his quick agreement and nodded.
"Good, as long as you understand. You'll stay here to learn puppet creation for a few days. I'll make sure someone brings food to you."
"Thank you, Sensei!"
Chiyo nodded again before turning to leave the storage room.
Once she was gone, Hattori turned back into the puppet storage room and started flipping through the puppet blueprints on the shelves.
But after a quick glance, he put them back.
It wasn't that he couldn't understand them—the designs were just too basic for him to bother with.
"I thought my level 20 puppet crafting skill was low, but compared to the Sand Village's technology, my level is actually pretty high."
This realization made him chuckle.
"No wonder Sasori turned to the forbidden art of human puppets. He must've felt the limitations of puppet crafting."
Hattori figured that with Sasori's passion for puppets, it was no surprise he would turn to human puppets to break through those limitations.
Though to Sasori, human puppets were probably just another tool, so long as they could fight—no taboo there.
To Hattori, however, using human corpses as puppets was revolting and seemed twisted.
But when he used chakra to control the bodies of the Iwa-ninjas, he felt nothing wrong with it. In fact, he found that method of combat quite effective.
Recalling the terrified expressions of the Iwa-ninjas held by their comrades' corpses just before the explosive tags detonated gave him a wicked satisfaction.
How was that taboo?
Isn't recycling a good thing?
But since Chiyo said otherwise, he had no choice but to comply.
No sense asking questions or making trouble.
After all, under someone else's roof, he had to play along.
"If I can't use corpses, I'll just make a few puppets. The materials are all here anyway—no sense wasting them."
With that thought, he immediately started planning what kind of puppets to create.
After a while, he had a plan.
Based on his puppet-control skill descriptions, he knew that the number of puppets he could control depended on their level.
Simply put, the higher the puppet's level, the fewer he could control; the lower the level, the more he could control.
Using this principle, he decided to create three types of puppets.
The first would be low-level puppets, used to carry explosive tags for detonation.
The second would be mid-level puppets, meant for engaging enemies in combat.
The third would be high-level puppets, used to defend against enemy attacks.
With a solid plan in mind, he began designing the first type, a low-level puppet to carry explosive tags.
These puppets would be small, stealthy, numerous, low-cost, and able to withstand high losses.
After finalizing the specifications, he settled on two design models: spiders and lizards.
These animals were the perfect size for carrying explosive tags and were common enough to remain unnoticed during a stealth attack.
On the battlefield, who would pay attention to a tiny spider or lizard?
Even if a cautious ninja spotted one or two, there's no way they'd locate every spider and lizard around them.
As long as one went unnoticed, Hattori would have a chance for a sneak attack.
Of course, the puppets had to be well-sealed since water could ruin an explosive tag.
With these details in mind, Hattori began his work.
Thanks to his level 20 puppet crafting skill, he was practically a master craftsman by now.
In no time, he had crafted two life-like wooden spiders and lizards.
Although their appearances differed, they had identical stats:
**[Level 1 Puppet: Attack 1, Defense 1, Durability 1, Usable with Level 1 Puppet Control, Consumes 1 MP per minute.]**
The low level was intentional.
Both the spider and lizard puppets were simple, with hollowed-out interiors coated in waterproof tung oil and moveable limbs attached.
Structurally, they were more like wooden toys than sophisticated puppets.
The only true difference was whether they carried an explosive tag inside.
"All right, the first type is done. Now onto the second!"
Placing the finished puppets aside, Hattori started designing the second type—a mid-level puppet for close combat.
This puppet needed to be medium-sized, agile, fast, and versatile, able to both fight and flee as needed, or gang up on an opponent in numbers.
After refining the design, an image of a dashing, sword-wielding figure flashed through Hattori's mind, making his eyes light up.
"In honor of my glory days in the arena, the mid-level puppet shall be you—the Unstoppable Sword Master!"
Having made his decision, he immediately took out paper and pen and started sketching, lines flowing smoothly on the page.
"If I'm doing this, I'll do it right. Performance can be the same, but appearances will be unique, and skins have to be included. Strength may be temporary, but style is forever!"
As he sketched, he muttered to himself.
"Unification of Heaven and Man, Soul of the Warrior, Ruthless Swordsman, Project: Forest, Starforged Sword, Sword Legend… Ah, so cool, I'm practically drooling…"
*(End of Chapter)*