Chapter 7: Coach, I Want to Learn Ninjutsu
"In that case, would you like to come with me to Sunagakure?"
After waiting a while, believing that Hiiro Rinko's mood might have calmed down, Chiyo knelt in front of him and asked tentatively.
With her strength, kidnapping a child would have been effortless, but having him willingly join Sunagakure would be the best outcome. It was just an extra sentence to say, so there was no harm in asking.
However, the moment the words left her mouth, Rinko's eyes widened. He stared at her with an indescribable look, making her feel completely uneasy.
"Do I have any other choice?"
He wasn't just uncomfortable because of the dust in his eyes; he genuinely had a strong question about this.
Even if he was supposedly completely unaware of his parents' dealings with Sunagakure, he was still the child of two shinobi, and he had just disabled one arm of her Puppet—even if the thing looked crude and the joint protection was shoddy.
In short, did he look like a brat who was completely unaware of his own situation?
What was the true intention behind her asking this question?
"Mm… mm."
Under Rinko's gaze, Chiyo was somehow reminded of her teacher's booming voice from her youth, saying, "Now, I ask you!"
Feeling a little flustered, she pursed her lips and responded with two long, drawn-out hums.
"Then you must also know about the dealings between us and your parents, yes?"
"I don't know the specifics, but it must have something to do with Sealing Jutsu or something similar."
Walking nonchalantly into the living quarters to find a shirt to put on, Rinko replied to Chiyo's question, "I figure that's the only thing about our clan worth being coveted."
"You're a very sharp child. You're definitely going to become an incredible shinobi."
And to be able to do all that without even refining Chakra yet…
Chiyo withdrew her gaze from the Puppet, not voicing the second half of her thought, and instead sealed the crude Puppet back into the scroll on her wrist.
She naturally had some doubts about Rinko's actions: the wounds disproportionate to the amount of blood, his ability to sense her entering the forge and preparing in the living quarters, and even the way he easily disabled her Puppet's arm.
But the fact that he was a pure-blood descendant of the Uzumaki Clan was genuine, so everything else became less important.
If he was willing to serve Suna wholeheartedly, that was excellent. But if he was disobedient… the Uzumaki Clan's quality as sacrifices for sealing Tailed Beasts was also far superior to others.
Regardless, his very existence was a saving grace. Whatever their eventual 'application' of him, it would compensate for some of their losses.
"Wrong. I think with my brain, I can probably succeed at anything."
Rinko made no effort to hide his disdain for the title of shinobi. Chiyo shrugged understandingly, her face betraying none of the dark schemes brewing in her mind.
No matter how much her motherhood made her feel sympathy for the child, she was still an elite Jōnin who had fought her way out of piles of corpses; she wouldn't easily reveal her emotions.
Even though she had behaved quite out of character earlier. (Self-correction, internal monologue.)
Besides, wasn't it normal for a child whose parents were just killed by a shinobi to hate shinobi? No matter how 'mature' and 'strong' he acted, a child was still a child.
"Do you know where your parents kept their training notes?"
Deciding to set aside her sympathy and treat Rinko as an elite Jōnin would, Chiyo asked this.
Despite her intentions, her tone was still relatively gentle. Clearly, she couldn't completely shake off her compassion.
But Chiyo had a good reason for asking. She had no trouble cracking hidden spaces based on mechanical devices like secret rooms or compartments.
The talent to inherit and skillfully utilize the Puppet Master's prized creation, the Ten Puppets Collection of Chikamatsu, was not just talk. It would not be an exaggeration to consider Chiyo the most adept ninja of her time at dealing with mechanical traps.
But don't forget what Suna was trying to trade for with the Uzumaki couple.
What if those items were sealed inside a Barrier (Kekkai) designed to 'destroy everything inside if triggered?' If they could handle the Uzumaki's seals and barriers, they wouldn't have needed the trade in the first place, would they?
This was why Suna was being strung along.
Alas, the seller's market.
Alas, high demand, no price.
"That stuff no longer exists. Well, if you have the ability to restore ashes back into paper, consider me corrected, but if you don't…"
Having said this, Rinko did not know why the kunoichi before him was seeking those materials, but it didn't stop him from feeling fortunate about his foresight.
He raised a hand and tapped his temple, whispering, "Then you'll just have to look for it up here."
"..."
The side of Chiyo's forehead, hidden beneath her headband, twitched slightly. Her heart rate had clearly surged.
First, she discovers that the family she had been negotiating with is dead. Then, she finds out their child survived. Now, that child is telling her the vital trade goods have been burned to ashes.
These dramatic ups and downs were indeed bad for the heart.
Chiyo even suspected the child was retaliating against her for 'arriving too late' to save his parents. But thinking again, no one could have predicted she would arrive at the forge at this exact moment.
So, he was just simply raising his own value…
Staring down at Rinko, Chiyo finally let out a long, exasperated sigh, her shoulders slumping.
"Hmph… Fine. You win. Brat, tell me your name."
"Rinko. Just call me Hiiro Rinko."
Although the address changed from the gentle 'child' to the slightly more exasperated 'brat,' this actually indicated that Chiyo no longer viewed him as an ordinary kid.
Understanding this nuance, Rinko calmly stated his name.
"Hiiro Rinko, huh? Not a bad name."
Chiyo repeated the name, then smiled brightly and clapped Rinko on the shoulder. "I'm Chiyo. My name is easy enough to remember, right?"
"Mhm."
"Alright, is there anything else you want to take with you?"
"The forging furnace and the hammers. Those were the tools my old man was used to."
"You're the type of brat who gets sentimental over things like that, aren't you? That's good. Looks like you and I will get along just fine."
Chiyo glanced at the extinguished furnace. Though slightly surprised, she didn't find it troublesome. With a quick gesture, she unsealed a scroll and sealed the furnace along with the other tools inside it.
"…Say, Chiyo-senpai."
"What is it?"
"I want to learn Ninjutsu. Will you be my teacher?"