[Note: From now on, whenever multiple versions of Moze gather, each will receive a unique title — for instance, the One Piece Moze will be 'Pirate Moze,' and the Naruto Moze will be 'Hokage Moze,' and so on.]
Chapter 2 – Talismans
Pushing open the door to his shop, Moze was greeted by the familiar scent of polished wood mingled with tung oil.
He casually hung the "Closed" sign on the door, then carried his pastries into the back room.
Unlike the usual puppet shops in Sunagakure—grim, practical places full of battle puppets radiating a sense of lethal intent—his store was a completely different world.
Here, there were no vicious, fanged killing machines on display. Instead, neat rows of shelves held a collection of exquisite, palm-sized wooden dolls.
A wooden bird with wings spread as if about to take flight, each feather carved with painstaking precision.
A chubby little wooden dog, tail cocked just so, ready to wag at any moment.
Even a pair of dolls dressed as nobility, clad in lavish garments, with refined expressions and elegant poses.
Compared to the rough, intimidating combat puppets designed for maximum destruction, Moze's creations were more like works of art—especially popular with the women and children of the village.
It was also his second major source of income, aside from supplying raw materials to Sasori.
In fact, it was the more stable of the two.
Once he'd realized he didn't have the talent to become a top-tier powerhouse, Moze had decisively abandoned the shinobi world's obsession with pure practicality.
Rather than stubbornly banging his head against something he wasn't suited for, why not do something he genuinely enjoyed—and could make money from?
And so, these "figures," as they were called in his previous life, had become one of his main businesses.
Seeing people light up over something he'd crafted with his own hands was surprisingly satisfying.
Still, even though he'd already made up his mind to leave, he couldn't just run blindly.
Getting mistaken for a rogue ninja or a spy could end very badly, so careful planning was essential.
Moze set the pastries on a small table and poured himself a pot of hot tea.
The steam curled upward, fragrant.
He leaned back in his chair, savoring the bliss of a bite of dessert, while mentally reviewing the details of his escape plan.
How to move his funds.
Which routes to take.
Which neutral country had the best scenery, the fairest prices, and—of course—the most beautiful women…
He was in the middle of happily imagining his peaceful, comfortable future when a wave of intense dizziness crashed over him.
The room warped and blurred, and his consciousness was yanked down into a bottomless abyss.
In the blink of an eye, everything around him changed.
He was standing in an endless void of pure darkness. There was no up or down, no left or right—only absolute silence and nothingness.
Far away, faint points of light glimmered like unreachable stars.
The only thing clearly visible in this emptiness was a colossal round stone table. Its surface was ancient and carved with intricate, indecipherable patterns.
Suspended above the table were twelve circular emblems. Two of them were glowing softly, yet distinctly.
Moze narrowed his eyes.
A rat.
An ox.
"Rat… ox?" He frowned. The symbols sparked a strange sense of familiarity, though he couldn't recall where he'd seen them before.
What is this place? He instinctively tensed, ready for trouble.
And then, without warning, a voice like thunder boomed in his ears, making his eardrums ring.
"Oh! Finally, a newcomer! I knew I wasn't the only one!"
Moze's heart skipped. He spun toward the source.
From the darkness, a figure began to take shape—shifting from hazy light to solid form.
He fixed his gaze on the emerging silhouette, every muscle primed for action.
But when the stranger's face came fully into view, every bit of wariness shattered—replaced by raw shock.
His eyes went wide.
"…What the hell?!"
Almost at the exact same moment, the other figure blurted out in perfect unison:
"…What the hell?!"
Moze stared at the newcomer with a surreal, almost mirror-like sense of recognition.
The features were nearly identical to his own.
The only difference: the other man looked older—around twenty—with a steadier, more mature air in place of a teenager's youthfulness.
They locked eyes in stunned silence.
After a few seconds, the older-looking "Moze" finally spoke, his voice trembling slightly with disbelief.
"…Moze?"
Moze reflexively shot back, "You too?"
And then, silence again.
Only this time, the same thought hit both of them at once:
A double-transmigration?!
The older Moze rubbed his temples, muttering with a mix of annoyance and resignation,
"I thought my cheat was upgrading. Turns out I'm the cheat—for someone else. Great. Looks like I'm getting freeloaded this time…"
He sized up Hokage Moze with a smirk and clicked his tongue.
"Tch, looking at your age, you just crossed over not long ago, huh? Lucky you—already milking the veterans dry on your first day."
Hokage Moze's lip twitched. He'd just been deep in thought, planning how to escape, and now he runs into another version of himself—who's calling him a freeloading parasite?
What kind of nonsense was this?
Still, he quickly shrugged it off. After all, it was himself. What was there to get hung up on?
He spread his hands.
"We're the same person. No point quibbling over this. But hey, why's your voice booming like thunder?"
"Used to it! Where I'm from, if you don't speak loud, nobody hears you!" Pirate Moze patted his chest, voice still booming.
"I got dumped into the One Piece world—every day I'm yelling over a bunch of idiots at sea. No way to get a word in without volume. What about you?"
"One Piece world... huh, figures." Hokage Moze smirked, unable to resist a jab.
"Classic crossover fare—Dead Fire Sea, the three must-visit worlds for transmigrators. Everyone knows."
"I'm in the Naruto world, running a puppet shop in Sunagakure," Hokage Moze said, rubbing his temple as his ears still rang from Pirate Moze's shout.
"I mainly make delicate stuff—ya know, the kind girls like. But the village's about to get thrown into the Third Great Ninja War, so it's tense. I'm just figuring out how to pack up and vanish."
"Oh? Sunagakure? Puppeteer?" Pirate Moze stroked his chin, eyes gleaming.
"Sounds pretty technical. Not like my world—just fists, swords, and all kinds of crazy Devil Fruit powers."
He paused, then grinned.
"But running away? That's my specialty. Out on the sea, finding a quiet spot's a nightmare. Navy, pirates, monsters everywhere. Your side probably isn't that bad, right? Just duck into some backwater neutral country?"
"In theory, yes," Hokage Moze sighed.
"But the tricky part is my status. Being an outsider with no roots, if I disappear during wartime, I'm likely to be accused of being a spy from another village or a deserter. The intel and assassination squads have noses like bloodhounds."
"Let's not talk about that now."
Hokage Moze's gaze swept the endless darkness before them, finally resting on the absurdly huge round table and the two faint glowing spots on its surface.
"You got here first—what's going on? This table, those glowing things..."
Pirate Moze scratched the back of his head, a rare frown creasing his otherwise mature face, even looking a bit… goofy?
"Well, uh… don't ask me complicated stuff. My brain's been rattling nonstop since I got here. Ever since that world, it's been either throwing punches or downing rum at parties. Feels like my brain's shark bait. I couldn't explain the mechanics even if I tried."
He pointed at the glowing symbols on the table, voice suddenly more certain.
"But the key's gotta be these glowing things—talismans."
He hesitated, then added for emphasis,
"Not sure why they're here, but these are definitely good stuff. No doubt."
"Talismans?" Hokage Moze blinked, as if those two words unlocked some hidden corner of his memory.
He looked back at the two glowing symbols—a solid ox head and a nimble rat figure.
No wonder they'd seemed familiar!
Aren't these the Twelve Talismans from that cartoon… Jackie Chan Adventures?!
Seeing Hokage Moze's reaction, Pirate Moze continued,
"Looks like each of us matches one. I got here first, so I'm the Ox talisman."
He pointed at the glowing ox symbol.
"It was the only one lit up before. Now that rat's glowing too, that's gotta be yours."
"Rat talisman…" Hokage Moze muttered, eyes fixed tightly on the tiny rat symbol.
Rat—the divine power of turning stillness into motion!
Turning stillness into motion... turning stillness into motion!
His breath hitched and his heart started pounding uncontrollably.
He instinctively looked down at his hands—those famous, deft hands known for crafting exquisite puppets.
His entire life in Sunagakure revolved around those lifelike wooden dolls.
His greatest passion was breathing 'life' into the lifeless.
Sure, his figures were more art than battle-ready, but what if… what if he could make them really move?
Granting life and motion to inanimate objects—that was a tailor-made ability for him!
If he could use this power, wouldn't his entire collection become a formidable asset?
When running away, wouldn't that make things a lot safer? Maybe even…
Suddenly, countless fresh puppet ideas flooded his mind, igniting a fire in a heart that had only been focused on how to escape safely until now.
This was way more exciting than just running away!
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