Pupet Master in Konoha

The next morning.

It was the second day of the Ninja Academy, but the mood of the young ninjas seemed much better than the previous day when the school had started.

The cause of this interesting phenomenon was, of course, the puppet training class that had started the day before.

No one could have imagined that puppet techniques, which had always had a poor reputation in Konoha, would become the new favorite among the young ninjas after just one lesson.

If we want to find the reason, we can only say that the puppet technique Hideki demonstrated in class was so novel and interesting that the young ninjas could not associate it with the demonized puppet techniques.

Therefore, whether it was the cute and charming black puppet cat or the unique method of training chakra line segmentation, it became a hot topic for everyone.

Of course, what caught the most attention was the innovative and fun teaching material, the Pocket Puppet Beast.

The young ninjas who were lucky enough to try the Pocket Puppet Beast in class became the center of attention, without exception.

They eagerly recounted their gameplay experiences and happily enjoyed the envious looks of others.

Even Asuma, who had been critical of the class before, immediately became the course's most loyal fan after trying the Pocket Puppet Beast, saying he couldn't live without it.

Along with everyone's discussion, the content of the first puppet lesson also spread to the outside world.

Some people marveled and praised, while others couldn't believe it. Of course, many were still biased, accusing Hideki of being sensationalist and deliberately trying to please the students…

But there was no doubt that Hideki's puppet class had become a new breeze blowing through the ninja academy, bringing fresh air to the otherwise dull ninja school life.

…

"I'm telling you, that Pocket Puppet Beast is amazing!"

"Obviously, we haven't learned puppet techniques yet, but as long as we pick up the controller and input chakra, we can easily control those puppet beasts to fight…"

In the classroom of the fourth-year Class A, Uchiha Obito sat at the podium, passionately recounting his gaming experience to the classmates who didn't attend the puppet class.

"The puppet beast I controlled was called Charmander, and my opponent, seemed to control something called a strange seed."

"The battle between us was so shocking that even ghosts and gods wept…"

"Although he only had two vine whips with strange seeds, they danced tightly. By the way, they're like the legendary Wood Release, very difficult to deal with."

"Of course, this is no problem for me, Mr. Obito."

"I just BABA up, down, left, and right, allowing Charmander to easily dodge all the vine whips' attacks, then strike the strange seed hard in the forehead with a claw…"

Obito was racking his brain, vividly recounting the battle of the century between him and Genma.

As an atypical case among the Uchiha clan, Obito had never been popular with the children of his clan nor accepted by other village children, which was why he had developed this sensational character.

Now that he had the chance to be the center of attention, he certainly wouldn't let it go.

However, before he could enjoy his moment too much, a student who had also attended the puppet class finally couldn't stand listening anymore and couldn't help but complain:

"Wait a minute, Obito, I remember you lost miserably. You were defeated."

Obito immediately widened his eyes and said, "Why are you accusing someone for no reason…"

The other student wasn't backing down: "What innocence? Yesterday, I saw your little Fire Dragon caught by the strange vine whip, hung up, and beaten."

Obito's face quickly turned red, veins popping from his forehead as he argued:

"In practice, there's no winning or losing… It's practice!"

There were difficult-to-understand phrases like "I didn't do my best" and "some tricks"…

Everyone burst into laughter, and the classroom suddenly filled with a joyful atmosphere.

Only Obito was so angry that he immediately shouted:

"Wait and see, I'll definitely become the master of Pocket Puppetmon!"

In response to Obito, the young ninjas around him laughed even harder…

…

Hideki didn't know how many problems his puppet class would cause, as he wasn't even at the ninja academy at that moment.

He had left early in the morning and walked through almost all the streets of Konoha.

Of course, Hideki wasn't sightseeing; he was busy preparing for the workshop.

Although the Third Hokage hadn't immediately decided on his workshop plan yesterday, to save time, Hideki decided to start preparing in advance.

After all, finding a location and decorating the shop, ordering and transporting various equipment and materials, and hiring and training labor all take a lot of time.

After working hard for most of the day, Hideki had already decided on the shop's location and decoration and almost ordered the equipment and materials through the familiar Ninja Mandiantang.

To solve the remaining problems with the workshop's location and labor, Hideki headed to a place he knew very well.

…

The Hidden Leaf Village didn't just consist of the central area within the wooden walls, but also included many scattered settlements outside the walls in the forests and fields.

And where Hideki was headed now was to one of the small settlements near the forest.

To be precise, it was an orphanage on a hill not far from the small settlement.

Hideki walked along the path leading to the hill while looking at the surrounding scenery with nostalgic eyes.

Born as a war orphan, he had spent most of his time here until he graduated from the Ninja Academy.

So every time he saw a familiar scene, it felt as though a small stone was thrown into his heart, creating waves of memories.

Although most of them were boring memories of training in various places, looking back now, they held a special flavor.

After a while, Hideki reached the top of the hill.

At the end of the path was a large wooden building, but it looked quite old due to its dilapidated state.

There was an open space in front of the building where several children, around three or four years old, ran and played, and occasionally, the sounds of their laughter could be heard.

Somewhat strangely, there was a group of older children sitting in the shade of a tree, watching them play.

Although the children's eyes were full of envy, every time they tried to get up, they immediately touched their stomachs and suppressed the urge to join in.

As an experienced orphan, Hideki already had a clear idea.

Before being admitted to the Ninja Academy and receiving additional subsidies, he often went into energy-saving mode because he didn't have enough to eat, just like them, to reduce physical effort as much as possible.

In fact, his current situation was really resolved, at least his eyes still held light.

Unlike some poor children Hideki saw while doing errands outside, even their eyes had become dull and numb.

This was because the nutrients in their bodies were no longer enough to sustain their thoughts, and they couldn't even temporarily escape from the cruel reality through fantasy…