Pupet Master in Konoha

At this point, did the little ninjas still not realize they had fallen into a trap?

But they didn't blame themselves for being too stupid and naive. Instead, they all angrily denounced the teacher of the puppet class.

Because you don't have to think hard to know that the person who locked them here must be this stranger they had never met before.

It was brilliant—he had actually tricked the students, which perfectly matched the stereotype that puppet masters were sinister and cunning.

Kurenai Yuhi, who always prided herself on being extremely intelligent, was even angrier for falling into such a simple trap.

"As my father always said, no puppet master is any good. This teacher actually used such despicable methods to trick us into attending class."

At that moment, a clear male voice suddenly sounded from the back of the warehouse:

"Using puppets to lure the enemy into a trap and eliminate them is one of the basic tactics of a puppet master. How can that be considered a despicable method?"

"As the introduction to this puppet class, I believe it's the most fitting."

For some reason, these few words immediately reached the ears of all the little ninjas, causing them to fall silent.

They searched for the source of the voice and found that, at some point, a young man with black hair and a high ponytail had appeared on the stage.

He appeared to be in his twenties, handsome, wearing a dark blue kimono with wide sleeves, and had a reassuring smile on his face.

The small black cat immediately approached the young man and affectionately rubbed its cheek against his pant leg.

Is this guy really a puppet master?

Many of the little ninjas couldn't help but murmur to themselves.

Because the handsome man in front of them was completely different from the creepy puppet masters they had heard about since childhood—those with strange patterns painted on their faces.

However, their doubts were quickly dispelled.

The young man with black hair began to introduce himself:

"My name is Kimura Hideki, and I'm a puppet master."

"From this school year onward, I will be responsible for teaching the puppet class here."

"You can call me Master Kimura or Master Hideki."

As he spoke, Hideki slowly scanned the little ninjas in the audience.

Although many of their faces were familiar to Hideki, he was now more concerned with the number of students...

Forty-six people.

The number of students at Ninja School wasn't large, with usually three or four classes per grade, and more than twenty students per class.

So having over forty people attend a training class was considered a good result.

Of course, now they had been tricked, and it seemed unlikely they would be fooled so easily again in the future.

The biggest challenge Hideki now faced was figuring out how to keep everyone in one class.

Right now, everyone responded coldly to Hideki's introduction, resentful for being tricked:

"Hello, Mr. Kimura..."

However, some of the girls were more enthusiastic.

Kurenai Yuhi, who usually kept her appearance under control, even made a praying gesture with her hands, her red eyes glowing like agate:

"Master Hideki is so handsome~"

Who was it that said there were no good people in the puppet masters?

Asuma, standing to the side, couldn't help but silently complain when he saw this and looked at Hideki with a more scrutinizing gaze.

Then, as if thinking of something, he twisted his lips, raised his hand, and said:

"Master Kimura..."

"You just said 'use a puppet to lure the enemy in deeper,' but obviously, this is just an ordinary cat!"

The little ninjas nodded slightly when they heard this, feeling that the teacher's words at that moment were a bit imprecise.

But Hideki simply smiled slightly when he saw this, then said calmly, in the manner of a seasoned card player:

"That's not necessarily true~"

"Maybe this cat, which seems so ordinary, is not as simple as you all think..."

All the little ninjas displayed expressions of disbelief when they heard this and looked at the small black cat on stage, still licking its fur contentedly.

But no matter how they looked at it—up, down, left, or right—they couldn't find any flaws.

Is the teacher tricking us again?

Many little ninjas began to murmur to themselves.

That's right. Aren't all puppets supposed to be terrifying killing machines?

How could such a cute little cat be a puppet?

—But before they could raise any objections, Hideki, with a slight curve of his lips, raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

At that moment, the small black cat, still licking its fur, suddenly froze, as if its time had been stopped in that instant...

Even the reflection in its large eyes dissipated, as if it had suddenly lost its vitality.

The once lively small black cat became lifeless in an instant. This strange scene left the little ninjas stunned and speechless for a while.

After a moment, the entire classroom erupted!

"Wait, what's going on?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"No way, is this cat really just a puppet?"

"Uuuuuuuuuuu, my little kitty..."

The little ninjas were curious, resistant, emotional, or sad, but they all expressed their surprise at this new revelation, shouting as they reexamined their views.

When everyone gradually calmed down under Hideki's smiling gaze, he opened his mouth and said:

"As you can see, this cute little cat is actually just a puppet under my control."

"If you still don't believe me, I can disassemble it and show you..."

"It doesn't have to be that polite, teacher!"

"We believe you, isn't that enough?"

All the little ninjas shook their heads vigorously, fearing that if they hesitated too long, the rebellious teacher would actually cut the cat into pieces right there.

No matter whether it's a real cat or a fake one, the image probably would make people look away...

"That's all for now... we'll talk more about it later."

Hideki seemed regretful but secretly smiled to himself.

And everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Then they were even more surprised when they saw the little cat on stage suddenly come back to life.

It then lightly jumped onto Hideki's right shoulder and lay obediently.

This made the little ninjas feel envious again, thinking it would be nice to have such a puppet cat.

You don't even have to scoop its litter every day...

Indeed, it didn't matter whether it was a living cat or a dead one, as long as it was cute— it was a good cat!

"Master, Master!"

At that moment, Uchiha Obito suddenly raised his hand and asked a question that everyone was eager to know:

"If we continue with this class, will we be able to have a puppet cat like this in the future?"

Hideki looked at the extremely expectant eyes of everyone in the audience and thought to himself:

They're thinking nonsense!

This black cat-shaped puppet beast was his latest creation, the result of many iterations of small beast puppets. It nearly represented his current level of puppet production.

However, to not dampen everyone's enthusiasm, Hideki nodded and said with a smile:

"How to make such small puppets is indeed part of future lessons."

As for which version of the small beast puppet it would be, and when it would be, that's another matter...

"YES!!!"

The little ninjas, unaware of the hidden meaning in Hideki's words, were already cheering wildly, like naïve types such as Obito.

Others showed confused expressions.

At first, they had no good impression of puppets, but now their opinions began to change.

After all, it now seemed that puppets weren't as bad as they had heard...

Hideki on stage finally felt a bit relieved when he saw this.

Although he had devised a comprehensive plan to make the little ninjas change their minds about puppets, it would be in vain if no one came to class in the first place.

So, Hideki had no choice but to take risks, using beast puppets to trick the young ninjas into attending class and then using this to spark everyone's interest in puppets.

So, even without Asuma's provocation, the shadow clone he had prepared beforehand had already blended into the crowd, ready to ask similar questions at any time...

Now, it seemed that the effect of this risky measure was pretty good. Although most people still hadn't decided to join, at least they were willing to keep listening.

But risky chess is still risky chess, and it can't be used every day.

The key to getting everyone to stay willingly lies in the content of the teaching.

So Hideki clapped his hands to get everyone to quiet down and then said loudly:

"As no one has any further questions, let's begin the formal class."