"Creating puppets must take a lot out of you, doesn't it?"
Amanagi's voice interjected from the side.
Hanzō looked at Shiratori with concern. In the boy's words, he had considered everyone, everyone except himself.
He's still just a child.
His expression darkened as he looked at the puppet before him.
He had faced Chiyo of Suna dozens of times, if not a hundred. Even though he wasn't a puppet master himself, he could tell how much effort and energy it took to create a puppet.
"It's no problem at all!" Shiratori immediately responded.
But under Amanagi's gaze, he was too embarrassed to lie, so he admitted the truth, "It does consume a lot of my energy to create a puppet… But!"
He quickly lifted his head and looked at Hanzō and Amanagi:
"Everyone suffers during war! Compared to that, my burden is nothing! Everyone is willing to give their lives for Ame, so am I! Compared to fighting Suna ninjas on the front lines, making puppets isn't hard at all!"
[Reminiscence detected: Hanzō +3000 points]
[Energy transferred to Choso]
[Development progress: 52.5%]
[Affection detected]
[Multiple sources: +3000 points each]
[Total accumulated: 12,000 points]
[Energy transferred to Rika]
[Development progress: 89.6%]
"Good!"
Hanzō was overcome with mixed emotions.
Proud of his student, yet also pained that such a young child was contributing so much to Ame.
"Sensei!"
Shiratori's eyes sparkled as he looked at Hanzō.
"I want to join Mizu's unit. That way, my puppets can both gather intelligence and lure Suna ninjas into traps! That way, no one has to put their lives on the line!"
Mizu immediately looked at Shiratori, his fists slowly clenching. He lowered his gaze, and a trace of guilt flashed in his eyes.
As members of the trap unit, if they had Shiratori's puppets, they truly wouldn't have to risk their lives anymore. But the one now taking that risk… had become the boy.
Hanzō's gaze shifted to Mizu.
With the boy's puppets, the trap unit's safety, and even the intel team's, would increase significantly.
But at the same time, Shiratori himself would be the one most exposed on the front lines. He could easily become a target for all enemies.
Seeing that Hanzō hadn't responded for a long time, Shiratori's eyes darted around and he quickly said, "I know you're definitely worried about my safety, but I still have my cursed spirit to protect me. I won't be in any danger."
Hanzō suddenly remembered something else. He looked at Shiratori and asked,
"I heard from Isome that a new cursed spirit appeared on the battlefield this time?"
Shiratori pressed his lips together and nodded seriously.
"Yes, it was a cursed spirit that appeared out of nowhere. This was the first time I encountered it. It's incredibly powerful… and kind of hard to control…"
Then his voice suddenly turned firm and resolute.
"But don't worry, Sensei. I will control it!"
Hanzō looked at him with relief and pride in his heart. He placed a hand on Shiratori's shoulder.
"I believe in you."
"Thank you, Sensei! I won't let you down!"
Tears welled up in Shiratori's eyes as he looked at Hanzō, moved by his trust.
Warmth filled Hanzō's heart. Ever since Shiratori had entered his life, he had felt, perhaps for the first time, what it was like to have family.
"I approve of you joining Mizu's team."
Hanzō turned his gaze to Mizu, the meaning in his eyes unmistakable.
"You can rest assured, Hanzō-sama, we will definitely protect him."
Receiving the signal from Hanzō, Mizu immediately knelt on one knee and solemnly promised.
Shiratori had volunteered to go to the front lines for their safety. Of course they would use their lives to protect him.
His value far exceeded theirs. He was the hope of Ame!
No matter what, they would protect him.
Hearing Mizu's promise, Shiratori kept his usual smile, but inwardly he thought, In the end, I'll still be the one protecting them.
But he understood clearly: These ninjas truly wanted to protect him, their sincerity was real.
It was just their strength that hadn't caught up yet.
After Hanzō gave Mizu a few instructions, Shiratori followed him out of the command tent.
Mizu walked beside him as they approached the assembled squad outside the camp gate.
As Shiratori was deep in thought, planning strategies in his head, Mizu once again said seriously, "Rest assured, we will protect you."
Shiratori looked up at Mizu. Though his face was emotionless, his eyes were full of sincerity.
"I'll protect everyone too."
He showed the radiant smile he had practiced in front of a mirror, the kind that had the perfect arc of the lips and the brightest gleam in the eyes.
[Affection detected: Mizu +2000 points]
[Energy transferred to Rika]
[Development progress: 89.8%]
Mizu stood before the trap unit and swept his gaze across the familiar faces in the team.
He announced, "From now on, Shiratori will be joining our operations. Always pay close attention to his safety."
"Yes!"
The trap team shouted in unison, their eyes filled with excitement as they looked at Number One behind Shiratori.
For even someone like Hanzō to permit him to act alongside them, it meant his puppet arts were the real deal. He truly could create autonomous puppets that didn't require direct control.
That was incredible!
"Move out!"
At Mizu's command, the trap unit began marching toward the Land of Wind in perfect formation.
Meanwhile, Shiratori was flying high above on his broom.
Number One followed effortlessly behind Mizu. Its movement wasn't any slower than the ninjas, and as a puppet, it didn't get tired at all.
While observing the terrain from above, he was also fine-tuning his puppet strategy. Now that he possessed Mai's Construction technique, he no longer needed materials to make puppets.
He could use cursed energy to construct all kinds of puppets, then directly apply puppet control techniques to command them, resulting in obedient, self-driven puppets.
Having access to multiple techniques was just so satisfying.
And that wasn't all, he had also thought of another use for Momo's Tool Manipulation technique.
Since that technique could control objects remotely, couldn't he use it to make enemies' weapons turn against them on the battlefield?
Life was truly getting better and better!