章 12: Chapter 12: Hokage's Attention
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, half a month has already passed.
Noon—
The blazing sun shone high in the sky.
On the rooftop of the ninja academy, which was currently unoccupied.
After school, Tenten excitedly dragged Kiyoshi here.
Her ten fingers stretched out.
A series of chakra threads shot out from her fingertips.
Connecting to the puppet doll placed in front of her.
"Ka...ka..."
As she skillfully manipulated it with her fingers, the puppet doll moved its legs, swung its arms, walked, jumped, and ran...
Although the puppet's movements appeared somewhat stiff and lacked the natural fluidity of a real person, unable to move as gracefully as Kiyoshi, it was already quite impressive.
"How is it, Kiyoshi?" Tenten said excitedly.
Looking at Kiyoshi in front of her, she asked happily, "Am I doing well?"
"Very well, you've made great progress!"
Kiyoshi smiled and nodded.
Over the past few days, under his guidance, the two girls had been diligently practicing, and their efforts were beginning to pay off.
One couldn't deny that Tenten indeed had a talent for puppet manipulation.
Her progress could be described as rapid.
She could easily control the puppet doll with chakra threads, maneuvering it at will.
However, this was mainly because the puppet doll was relatively small and lightweight.
If it were a large puppet proportional to a real person, controlling it would not be so easy.
Meanwhile—
In the Hokage Building, in the highest office.
An old man with white hair and beard, marked with age spots, and a pipe in his mouth, looked surprised as he gazed at the crystal ball before him, which was about the size of a fist.
Displayed on the crystal ball was the scene on the rooftop of the ninja academy.
"It has just been half a month, and she can already manipulate the puppet doll so skillfully?"
Watching the images in the crystal ball, Hiruzen couldn't help but praise, "It seems this girl indeed has some talent to be a puppeteer!"
However, what truly caught his attention was not Tenten.
It was the orphan of the late medical ninja Ishikawa Masato—Ishikawa Kiyoshi!
"Although I have long noticed that Kiyoshi inherited his father's talent for medical ninjutsu, and his chakra volume is astonishing with chakra control far beyond his peers, he has even mastered some basic medical ninjutsu."
Gazing at the young boy in the crystal ball, even Hiruzen, the self-proclaimed mature and steady Hokage who has seen countless talented people, couldn't help but feel a twinge of amazement.
"Yet I never expected that this child could master Puppet Jutsu so quickly by merely studying a few basic puppet books on his own, and he could even design and create such exquisite puppet dolls."
A few days ago, while surveying Konoha as usual with his Telescope Technique, he happened to discover Kiyoshi teaching Ino and Tenten Puppet Jutsu.
Moreover, he was able to manipulate two puppet dolls at the same time.
It was quite unbelievable.
For a child who had outshone even the genius Neji from the branch family at the ninja academy, he had certainly drawn the Hokage's attention.
Hiruzen had not overlooked him.
He had seen Kiyoshi diligently reading related books on puppetry multiple times.
But he had not expected that the eight year old Kiyoshi could actually achieve something remarkable.
Though it was just two inconspicuous puppet toys.
The Third Hokage's insight was, of course, not something ordinary.
From a glimpse, one could see a glimpse of Kiyoshi's talent.
Moreover, he was able to control the puppets with such precision and fluidity that they seemed almost alive.
Such astonishing chakra control was something even he, as Hokage, might not be able to achieve.
This child's talent surpassed that of his father.
"Hmm…"
Looking at the young boy in the crystal ball, Hiruzen took a deep puff from his pipe and exhaled a cloud of smoke.
He couldn't help but reveal a pleased smile, filled with a hint of anticipation.
"Perhaps, in the near future, Konoha will indeed see the emergence of a master puppeteer proficient in medical ninjutsu!"
At that moment—
On the rooftop of the ninja academy.
As the Third Hokage shifted his gaze away from the rooftop with his Telescope Technique, Kiyoshi couldn't help but smile slightly, revealing a barely noticeable grin.
How could he not sense the presence of that old man, who often spied on him, monitoring the village every few days?
Moreover, it was impossible to hide the fact that he was teaching Ino and Tenten about Puppet Jutsu.
So, he never intended to conceal it from the start.
He wasn't from the Uchiha clan.
He was simply a civilian ninja with a clean background.
Even if he displayed some extraordinary talent, it wouldn't make the higher-ups too wary; at most, they would just pay a bit more attention.
There was no need for him to be overly cautious and second-guess everything.
"You called me over; it shouldn't just be for this, right?"
Kiyoshi smiled at Tenten, saying, "Lee said he wanted to challenge Neji, and I have to go treat him!"
"Eh? Lee is challenging Neji again?"
Tenten was taken aback for a moment.
Then, she spoke somewhat helplessly, "He really doesn't learn his lesson!"
She had long grown accustomed to similar challenges.
However, Lee always ended up with a bruised face.
"By the way, here's something for you!"
Tenten took out a storage scroll from her ninja tool pouch and handed it to Kiyoshi.
"This is the materials list you provided last time; I had my family prepare everything!"
Tenten said happily.
After she made up her mind to become a puppeteer, Kiyoshi had directly given her a list of some materials to have her family gather.
He said it would be used to create a proper combat puppet for training.
Tenten had been looking forward to this for a long time.
Especially after witnessing her achievements in training over the past few days.
Even her initially skeptical parents fully supported her in becoming a puppeteer.
Because becoming a puppeteer typically didn't require direct combat with others.
In fact, if it weren't for their precious daughter crying and demanding to attend ninja academy, Tenten's parents would have preferred that she not become a ninja at all.
After all, as one of the prominent wealthy families in the Land of Fire, they often hired Konoha ninjas to protect their merchant caravans.
Tenten's parents understood very well just how dangerous the profession of a ninja could be.
"Oh? So soon?"
Kiyoshi raised an eyebrow.
But he wasn't very surprised.
After all, he knew Tenten was a rich girl who didn't lack money.
Moreover, her family ran a weapon shop, so they were never short on resources in that regard.
"Well, wait for my good news!"
He smiled and nodded, accepting the storage scroll.
He had already prepared the puppet design and was just waiting for the materials to arrive.
Waving at Tenten, Kiyoshi lightly leaped off the rooftop, jumping onto a nearby tree, and headed toward the training ground.
"I'm off. Lee and Neji are still waiting."
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