A puppet was composed of countless mechanisms and components. Their categories and functions were meticulously cataloged throughout the storage room.
Unlike most puppet masters, who favored large-scale puppets or human puppets as frontline weapons, Shiraishi had a different approach—his focus lay primarily on support-oriented puppets.
Compared to traditional Sunagakure puppet users, Shiraishi's close-combat ability was exceptionally strong. Abandoning his own melee prowess to rely on puppets for evasive, indirect combat would have been a fundamentally unwise choice.
That said, puppetry possessed unique strengths of its own. The control of chakra threads was not limited to puppet manipulation alone—it extended into multiple domains, including applications within medical ninjutsu.
Chiyo herself favored humanoid puppets. The sheer number of artificial limbs and prosthetic bodies stored here was staggering. Shiraishi casually picked up an artificial arm and pressed a hidden mechanism—instantly, a cold poison needle shot out from within.
Silent, unavoidable assassination tools.
That was the hallmark of a puppet master.
Even so, high-level puppet masters had become increasingly rare in Sunagakure over the years.
Yet none of these components caught Shiraishi's interest.
As he continued deeper into the storage room, his steps suddenly halted.
Sensory components?
At the far end of the warehouse lay a section that felt distinctly different. Though the items there were clearly old, there was little dust—evidence that Chiyo had continued to maintain and organize this area carefully.
The components stored here bore no resemblance to traditional puppet frameworks. Among them were extraordinarily rare sensory modules, mechanisms unlike anything in common use.
Upon closer inspection, Shiraishi noticed a unique mark engraved beneath one of the components.
It belonged to the Second Kazekage—Shamon.
Among all the Kazekage, Shamon had been an outstanding researcher. Chiyo and Ebizō were both his disciples, and Chiyo herself had inherited his puppetry legacy directly.
And since Shiraishi studied under Ebizō, that made him—by lineage—Shamon's disciple's disciple.
These sensory components were unfinished tools Shamon had been developing before his death, intended for a new generation of puppets.
However, the chaos of the shinobi wars, the involvement of tailed beasts, and a chain of unforeseen events had ended his life before the project could be completed.
According to the preserved design blueprints, these puppets felt almost futuristic. Many of the concepts were far ahead of their era—so far, in fact, that once Shamon passed away, the research was abandoned entirely.
Over the years, Chiyo and Ebizō had both attempted to decipher these components, but every effort failed.
The internal structures bore no resemblance to traditional puppets, and the underlying philosophy diverged completely from conventional shinobi thinking.
Were these even puppets?
With that thought, Shiraishi began selecting the components one by one. Using the parameters engraved upon them, he carefully calibrated and reconfigured each piece. Once he donned specialized tools, he fully immersed himself in the assembly process.
What he had expected to be a tedious task quickly became engrossing.
Sunagakure's hidden legacy, it seemed, ran far deeper than he had imagined.
Outside the storage room, Ebizō watched the lively movement within, curiosity evident on his face.
"Sister… what kind of puppet do you think he's building?"
"If even a sly old fox like you can't guess what that little fox is thinking," Chiyo replied flatly, "how would I know? You were the one who insisted I open the warehouse for him."
Chiyo had little choice in the matter—after all, Ebizō was her younger brother. And with the current lack of promising puppet masters in Sunagakure, she had ultimately agreed to grant Shiraishi access.
"Well… you've admitted yourself that his talent in puppetry is exceptional," Ebizō said. "Though personally, I still think he's not suited to walk the puppet master's path."
"I know," Chiyo answered quietly. "But some things must be passed down. Have you forgotten what our teacher taught us?"
As they waited, news arrived from the Kazekage's office.
Iwagakure proposed holding a joint Chūnin Exams with Sunagakure in the Keiji Mountain Range, and they specifically requested Shiraishi to serve as one of the Kazekage's guards.
"That damned Ōnoki," Chiyo snapped. "His schemes grow more vicious by the year. And what is Rasa thinking? Sending Shiraishi into enemy territory at a time like this—does he want the boy's head delivered on a platter?"
Chiyo had never held a good opinion of Ōnoki. The two had clashed repeatedly during past wars. As the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki was immensely powerful—and notoriously shameless. If given the chance to eliminate a rising Sunagakure talent, he would feel no hesitation whatsoever.
Even if Iwagakure refrained from acting directly, all it would take was leaking information to Konoha. ANBU—or Root—would gladly infiltrate Iwa to assassinate Shiraishi.
For that reason alone, the elders rejected Rasa's proposal outright.
Ōnoki, as Tsuchikage, was among the strongest shinobi of the Five Great Nations. A master of Earth Release and wielder of Dust Release, a kekkei tōta surpassing bloodline limits, he was also one of the rare shinobi capable of flight. Arrogant, stubborn, and domineering, Iwagakure under his command had always been strategically aggressive.
But flight alone no longer impressed Sunagakure.
With the growing spread of Shiraishi's telekinetic techniques, such abilities were no longer exceptional within the village. That fact only deepened Chiyo's anger—how could Rasa even consider sending Shiraishi as a guard?
"Still," Ebizō said calmly, "we cannot refuse the Chūnin Exams. Otherwise, the war will begin immediately."
A direct rejection would hand Ōnoki a perfect excuse. Tens of thousands of Iwa forces stationed in the Keiji Mountains could march straight into the Land of Wind.
Iwagakure possessed the largest reserve of shinobi among the Five Great Villages. After the Kikyō Mountain conflict, Sunagakure could deploy only around five thousand troops in that region—far from enough to hold them back.
At present, nearly a thousand academy graduates and soon-to-graduate students remained. Over three hundred clan-born shinobi had already been sent to Kikyō Mountain for combat training. The remaining students had weak foundations at best.
Iwagakure demanded thirty teams—over ninety genin.
Their intentions were cruelly obvious.
Joint Chūnin Exams between great nations always carried a high risk of casualties. This was simply another method to bleed Sunagakure dry.
"What do you propose?" Chiyo asked, turning to her brother.
Ebizō smiled faintly.
"I think it's time Shiraishi returned to his true role."
"His true role?"
"The Chūnin selection begins in the academy," Ebizō explained. "As the assistant principal, Shiraishi's most important duty is to help the Kazekage identify and train outstanding genin."
"That position requires more than a mere chūnin."
"Then we do what Konoha does," Ebizō said plainly. "Make him a Special Jōnin."
Sunagakure's rank system differed slightly from Konoha's, and the title of Special Jōnin did not officially exist. Even if someone possessed jōnin-level skill in a single field, promotion was not straightforward.
"Konoha just promoted a thirteen-year-old brat to jōnin," Ebizō scoffed. "Are Sunagakure's geniuses inferior to that child? I say we elevate Shiraishi."
More proactive than Rasa or even Chiyo, Ebizō pushed firmly for Shiraishi to become a team instructor.
"The joint exams are still over a month away. Let him train these genin properly during that time."
As the elders spoke, the warehouse doors slowly opened.
After an entire afternoon of intense assembly, Shiraishi finally emerged.
The moment he stepped into the light, both elders froze.
This…
was impossible.
Shiraishi walked forward calmly, his gaze clear and composed. Behind him, his newly completed puppet reflected six distinct hues under the sunlight.
The sight was hauntingly familiar.
For an instant, the two elders felt as though time had folded in on itself—
and the young man before them overlapped perfectly with the image of the Second Kazekage, Shamon, from long ago.
If you want to read more, join my Patreon/kazama677
I will drop 1 bonus chapter for every 50 Power Stones