"But before the class starts, I still have a few words to say."
Hideki, now with everything under control, rubbed the back of his neck and said with a bitter smile:
"First of all, I must apologize to everyone..."
"The reputation of puppetry in Konoha is really bad. To let everyone experience real puppets at least once, I came up with this strategy and used puppet cats to lure everyone here."
"But no matter what, I deliberately locked everyone in here and restricted your freedom to choose courses. This is truly my fault, and I am really sorry."
"Now, the door to the warehouse is open. If you want to take other training courses, you may leave at any time. It's not too late."
"But since you're all here, I still hope you consider it a misunderstanding and listen to the content of this class before making a decision."
What does "hope" mean? Obviously, they were deceived!
Everyone complained in their hearts, but no one moved.
If this had happened just now, most people might have decided to leave.
But after seeing the lively puppet cat and hearing the promise the teacher made, they were still reluctant to leave.
The initial resentment everyone felt for being tricked disappeared with Teacher Kimura's sincere apology.
That's right.
According to the impression they had of puppetry, if the teacher didn't use any tricks, they feared not many would be willing to attend class...
Anyway, there was a one-month selection period for training courses, so it wouldn't hurt to attend a puppet class first.
However, what the little ninjas didn't know was that what they were thinking was actually within Hideki's expectations...
Hideki smirked inwardly as if his plan had succeeded.
Having lived as a child in two different lives, he knew that blind force would only trigger rebellious psychology in children.
So, after painting a big picture to stabilize everyone, he immediately took a low-profile approach to reduce the negative impact of deceiving everyone into attending the class.
Seeing that no one actually intended to leave, Hideki showed a pleased smile and said:
"Alright, let's officially begin the class."
He first looked around at everyone and then finally fixed his gaze on a girl with purple lines on the left and right sides of her face.
"Classmate, what is your name?"
"No... Nohara Rin."
Suddenly, the teacher asked Rin a question, making her a bit nervous. She quickly stood up and answered.
Hideki reassured her with a kind smile and then asked:
"So, Nohara-san, do you know what puppets are?"
Rin felt a little relieved after hearing the question because she had learned some relevant knowledge in the Ninja Class.
She thought for a moment and replied:
"Puppet Jutsu is a secret ninjutsu invented by the Second Kazekage of Sunagakure, Sammon, and later popularized by the genius puppeteer Monzaemon..."
"This technique allows remote control of puppets equipped with various hidden weapons through chakra strings to fight..."
"By the way, I remember the teacher said that the number of puppets controlled is basically equal to the strength of the puppeteer..."
"Very well, Nohara Rin-san, you may sit down."
Hideki continued:
"As this classmate said, when everyone thinks of puppets, their first impression is of all kinds of strange puppets and the chakra strings used by puppeteers to control them."
"And these two things correspond to the most important aspects of puppetry: puppet creation and puppet manipulation."
"In fact, this is why I chose this warehouse as my classroom."
"Because puppet making or mechanical ninjas require many tools and materials, it's suitable to do it indoors, and puppet manipulation requires enough space."
"To avoid constant running in and out, I chose this place as the puppet class classroom."
"Since this place has just been vacated, tables, chairs, and equipment might not be available until the next class, so let's make do with it for now."
Naturally, no one voiced any objections to this.
However, there were some who couldn't help but guess that the lack of tables, chairs, and equipment might be because the teacher was worried everyone would immediately know this was a puppet classroom...
Naturally, Hideki wasn't aware of these precise thoughts, so he continued:
"As you can probably imagine, puppet making is a complex science that involves material science, ninja tool crafting, mechanism techniques, sealing techniques, and so on."
"If you want to master it, you must be prepared to dedicate a lot of time and energy."
Hideki paused for a moment. Seeing that everyone was starting to look confused, he quickly added with a smile:
"But since this is just a training course, you don't need to dedicate too much time to it."
"I've prepared several simple and practical hidden weapons for this course based on my own experience."
"You only need to master how to assemble them, which will be enough to pass the final exam for this course."
"But don't underestimate them, because if you can master and use these hidden weapons skillfully, they could make the difference between life and death on the battlefield."
When the little ninjas heard this, they relaxed again.
Life and death were still too far from them. The key factor for deciding whether to stay or not was whether they could easily pass the exam.
Unfortunately, the next words from Hideki made them feel relieved again.
"Since puppet making is not the goal of this course, the main focus of our course will, of course, be how to control the puppets."
"As a foundation, creating and maintaining chakra strings will be everyone's learning goal this semester and will also be the focus of the final exam."
Although they expected it, the little ninjas were still a little confused when asked to learn how to create chakra strings.
Did the teacher overestimate their abilities?
Making chakra strings sounded difficult at first. Could they really learn it when they could barely climb trees and walk on water?
Many little ninjas began to look more and more dismayed, and some even began preparing to leave.
Seeing this, Hideki secretly smiled to himself, thinking that if the class ended now, there might not even be ten students who dared to attend the next class...
Fortunately, he had already expected this. He chuckled and said:
"Of course, as a former student of the ninja school, I know very well what everyone is thinking."
"With everyone's current chakra control abilities, it might not be realistic to learn how to create and maintain chakra strings in one semester..."
"But that's exactly why I, as the teacher, have value."
"To achieve this goal, I specially invented an interesting teaching material for everyone..."
As soon as Hideki finished speaking, under the expectant and skeptical gaze of everyone, he shook his sleeves, pulled out three wooden balls, and threw them forward.
Once the three wooden balls hit the platform, they suddenly began to deform and eventually turned into three puppet beasts with different forms.
Although they weren't as realistic as the previous black cat, the little ninjas could still recognize their prototypes from their simple mechanical appearance:
the first was a red lizard walking on two legs.
The second was a small blue turtle, looking cute and innocent.
As for the third strange green creature, they couldn't really recognize it... let's just call it the Garlic Bastard...
Seeing the little ninjas staring at the three puppet beasts with wide eyes and curious faces, Hideki suppressed a smile and seriously explained:
"These are what I call teaching materials. You can call them... Pocket Puppet Beasts."