The next day, after breakfast, Hii Kōri brought Sasori to the workshop.
Whether Chiyo had returned or not didn't matter—whether his foster mother had time to care for the child was one thing; whether she could educate him properly was another. So-called stereotypes always have prerequisites for formation. As someone who had personally experienced "Chiyo-style education," Hii Kōri felt he had some authority to comment on this matter.
Of course, beyond considerations of convenience care and teaching, he also intended to let Sasori and Yahiko's group get familiar with each other first.
Although this wretched world was full of tragedies and people twisted by tragedy, human nature generally didn't change that easily. Friendships between children were always easier to establish.
The first-floor hall of the workshop was empty. Walking to the door leading to the backyard, one could see that Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato had already begun their morning training according to habit.
Because this backyard wasn't prepared for training purposes—it lacked suitable venues and equipment—the three little ones were only doing very basic weight-bearing exercises and shuriken throwing technique practice.
Although Hii Kōri himself could throw anything as a projectile when fighting, as basic form training, it was better to use shuriken.
The shape of kunai determined that their performance as throwing tools wasn't excellent. Unless tying explosive tags to them to blow someone up, it was best not to throw these things.
Moreover, the three little ones didn't actually have much need for "throwing kunai." Konan's Paper Manipulation Technique meant she was the last person in the entire ninja world to lack throwing tools. Once she graduated, would Hii Kōri ever let her lack explosive tags?
The black rods Nagato would obtain after fully developing his Rinnegan were crystallizations of Yin-Yang Release—far more useful than other things.
As for Yahiko—well, he had some strength too.
He'd prepare some nifty little tools for him later.
Watching the three of them throw a round of shuriken in proper form, Hii Kōri finally pushed open the door and entered the courtyard with Sasori. Hearing the door, the three children stopped their movements, their gazes turned towards them.
"This is my nephew. From now on, he'll probably be training with you."
Hii Kōri's introduction was so succinct it left nothing to be said. "They're my disciples."
Sasori, who had been quietly standing at Hii Kōri's side, felt his uncle pat his shoulder and stepped forward two steps subconsciously, still holding the robot doll in his arms.
Hearing this, he raised those light gray eyes, quickly swept them over the three before him, paused briefly on Nagato's conspicuous crimson hair and glasses, then lowered his gaze, staring at his toes, and said nothing.
An invisible barrier seemed to have opened with him at its center.
Yahiko looked at Hii Kōri, who had quietly retreated a distance—clearly intending to let them handle social interactions among their peers—then looked at Sasori, whose mood was clearly very low. He stepped forward first, revealing a cheerful smile, trying to disperse the slightly oppressive atmosphere: "Hello, I'm Yahiko. Nice to meet you."
He had never forgotten why Hii Kōri had ventured alone into the battlefield. He naturally recognized this child's circumstances.
When he, Konan, and Nagato had just become orphans, they were far more withdrawn and indifferent than this child.
Although he had now been far surpassed in strength by Nagato, and could foresee no possibility of catching up in the future, Yahiko remained the unshakable "leader" of their trio.
The reason was his cheerful and frank personality.
He was the type who naturally attracted others' attention and gained others' trust.
"You... hello, I'm Konan."
Seeing Yahiko made the first move, Konan followed his lead and introduced herself in a soft voice. Nagato, as always, was dull: "I'm Nagato."
"...Sasori."
Sasori blinked, silent for a moment, then also stated his name.
On the way here, Hii Kōri had given him advance notice. He knew about the situation of his uncle's three disciples.
Also orphans who had lost their parents and family, Sasori held no ill feeling toward them. This display of indifference was simply due to his nature.
He had said at the time that perhaps he was slightly happier than the three of them—at least he still had his uncle and grandmother, while they only had themselves left.
Hii Kōri had retorted him then with the words "they have each other."
But could people with no prior relationship be considered family?
Little Sasori couldn't yet understand.
But he felt that what his uncle said must be right, so he needed to learn properly.
Holding these thoughts, after Yahiko opened the conversation, Sasori also began chatting intermittently with the three children.
Truth be told, although their fundamental natures differed, at first glance, Sasori and Nagato actually seemed quite similar in their manner of dealing with others.
Seeing this scene, Hii Kōri felt somewhat relieved.
He had originally worried that Sasori might become more closed due to his parents' sudden death, or develop resi
stance toward these "outsiders," seeing them as enemies coming to take away his remaining family.
But now it seemed the situation was better than he had expected.
Leaving the four children to interact on their own, he turned and walked back into the workshop. Having left his comfort zone for nearly two years, he urgently needed some simple, convenient, easy-to-start little experiments to "replenish his experimental energy."
The various experimental data collected from Tsunade, and the blood and cell samples have been sealed in the constant state container, needed to be warehoused as soon as possible. The physical functions that hadn't been re-measured in time needed thorough re-testing from start to finish.
Puppet design plans that had been forced to shelve due to material data needed revision. The chakra nature blending that had been ongoing in his mind now had new feasible plans. Research on the Reincarnation Technique required finding additional materials...
Oh right, also needed to prepare various tools for the Great Sand Sea training.
Ah, why did coming home mean getting so busy? This was great!
Thinking of his schedule instantly filled, and the fulfilling life he could foresee growing increasingly busy, Hii Kōri almost cast all worries to the back of his mind.
It was as if the water vapor filling his cells during his nearly two-year stay in the Country of Rain was being squeezed out of his body by pure satisfaction.
"Hmm hmm hmm~♪"
Even the door separating the backyard from the workshop couldn't completely conceal Hii Kōri's upbeat tune. For a moment, even Yahiko, trying his best to find topics and maintain the atmosphere, almost couldn't maintain his composure.
"...Uh..."
Teacher? What are you doing, teacher! Your nephew only learned of his parents' death yesterday! Why are you still so cheerful now?!
Have you truly betrayed them?!
"It's okay." Seeing Yahiko's embarrassment, Sasori's voice remained dull, but he rarely added a few more words. "Uncle has always been like this."
"As long as research is mentioned, even Pakura... sister and Karura sister can't extinguish his interest."
Long at his uncle's essential nature as a "technosexual," Sasori didn't find it bad at all. Instead, he felt somewhat reassured—since Hii Kōri could still act so comfortable, it meant he had absolute confidence in his "guarantee" to Sasori, rather than making promises just to reassure him.
"A promise" was both a binding and a curse. If one lacked confidence in achieving it, one absolutely should not make a promise—this was a "little piece of knowledge" Hii Kōri had taught Sasori long ago.
Thinking thus, when mentioning his two "aunts," Sasori suddenly paused, then corrected himself to "sisters."
Why? Did he even need to ask?
Then, he thought about what to do next. Finally, he reached out and tugged Yahiko's hand, signaling them to follow him, and brought the three children to a certain room on the workshop's second floor.
Having spent a very long time with Hii Kōri, Sasori naturally had his own workshop here.
Pushing open the door, what met their eyes was a dazzling array of various puppets and parts.
"Uncle said that from now on, I'll be learning with you."
Standing amidst countless puppet limbs, the red-haired boy's gaze was brighter than ever.
Unlike Hii Kōri's main work area, filled with various hazardous experimental materials and unfinished products, this workshop is more like a simple craftsman's workshop.
On shelves, neatly categorized and arranged, were gears of various specifications, bearings, mechanisms, wires, and timbers and puppet shells either awaiting processing or already polished smooth.
On the walls were several already-yelloowed simplified anatomical diagrams of basic puppet structures, surrounded by densely packed blueprints of various variant mechanisms, apparently posted from different periods. From the blueprints, one could still clearly see annotations written in different colored pens—the strokes somewhat immature, yet meticulously detailed.
Several puppets of varying completion stood or sat in corners—from rough practice pieces to semi-finished products with ingenious conceptions. Along with tools on the workbench bearing obvious signs of use, they clearly displayed the trajectory of their owner's skill development.
Here was Sasori's world. The "egg of dreams and talent" constructed by him and Hii Kōri together.
"So, this place is open to you too."
Sasori's words, and his proactive behavior of sharing his "territory," were undoubtedly a form of silent acceptance and goodwill. For one naturally indifferent and just experiencing great pain, this was nearly the most solemn expression he could make.
Yahiko looked at this bizarre yet curiously beautiful, otherworldly scene, his mouth wide open, letting out a heartfelt Exclamation: "Wow... amazing... Did you make all this, Sasori?"
Konan also opened her gray eyes wide, curiously examining the delicate parts and blueprints. Even the previously silent Nagato grew interested; his Rinnegan, hidden behind cosmetic contacts, swept over the complex structures, analyzing them with great interest.
"Just a half-finished product."
Sasori didn't directly answer Yahiko's question. Instead, he walked to a half-person-high puppet, skillfully opening the protective cover on its chest, revealing the intricate yet neatly organized mechanism inside.
"This is the core node of the chakra conduction circuit," he pointed at several faintly glowing thin lines. "If this is damaged, the puppet's functionality will be severely affected."
"I haven't started learning ninjutsu yet, but Uncle says puppet techniques and ninjutsu have commonalities. I thought you all might find it useful too."
His tone was steady and focused, making one feel he was far too similar to Hii Kōri.
At this moment, he seemed not like a child bearing harsh reality, but a "little expert" immersed in his own field.
"Uh..."
This overly technical connection was somewhat over-the-top for Yahiko. He listened half-understanding, just nodding repeatedly, being a very appreciative audience.
Konan moved closer, pointing at a joint design on the puppet that differed from others: "Here... is it for increased flexibility?"
Sasori looked at Konan with some surprise, nodded: "Mm. Limited by materials, if using ordinary ball joints, the strength would be hard to guarantee. But if choosing single-axis joints, the range of motion would also be affected."
"This joint is the final equilibrium product."
Nagato didn't participate in the discussion. His gaze swept over the various puppet parts, finally stopping before another puppet with higher completion, carefully observing its hand structure.
The design there to simulate human finger bones was particularly exquisite.
"If you pursue efficiency, why must it be humanoid?"
Suddenly, Nagato looked up and voiced this doubt to Sasori.
Although one could also see many beast-form and alien puppet components here, the assembled puppets were, without exception, all humanoid.
This puzzled Nagato greatly.
"Hmm... probably because the original development goal of puppet techniques was to make up for Sunagakure's manpower shortcomings. If you're going to disguise as 'people,' you might as well just make them humanoid from the start."
Sasori tilted his head, thinking, then answered thus. "Then Due to long-term technological accumulation, it's led to humanoid puppets being more convenient to design and manufacture now... I mentioned before, puppets and human bodies have similarities. If made humanoid, it's also easy to find reference objects."
"Since it's default that lots of additional armament will be installed, the form itself isn't that important. In that case, although humanoid forms aren't very convenient to operate, they can still be called the optimal choice..."
As he spoke, Sasori's gaze turned to the robot doll placed on the workbench. His speech slowed slightly, then he bent down and searched through a thick stack of blueprints piled under the table.
After a moment, he pulled out a drawing that looked quite old—compared to the other increasingly detailed blueprints, it was indeed just a simple sketch.
The content of this drawing appeared to be precisely the robot doll carefully placed on Sasori's workbench.
"But I prefer Uncle's way of putting it."
The little puppet apprentice Dusting off the drawing, his eyes shone brightly.
"Humanoid puppets are unreasonable. As killing weapons, they inherently lack efficiency compared to pure weaponry. But technology shouldn't only consider its use in 'killing people.' It should also have some romance."
"An individual's power is insignificant. But if you control a massive machine, maybe it would be different. Donning steel, you can suppress your cowardice. Humanoid machines are extensions of human limbs... With those enormous hands and feet, you can grasp things you couldn't hold before."
"I want to create that kind of machine."
***
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