Shang Qi was in a fully equipped puppet-manufacturing workshop. Not only did it feature a richly stocked material storage room piled high with all sorts of precious supplies, but it also housed a roaring metal-forging furnace and a specialized laboratory for testing the destructive power of puppet weapons.
Dedicated personnel meticulously attended to Shang Qi's three meals a day to ensure he could throw himself into his work with boundless energy. As for materials, he had completely free rein to use whatever he pleased without any restrictions. Yet, rather than rushing to build a puppet, he first used the abundant supplies here to carefully craft a pair of bracers for himself.
These bracers had metal casings; with a light press of a mechanism, an incomparably sharp short sword would suddenly shoot out, its chilling glare enough to strike terror into anyone's heart. Cleverly concealed underneath the wrists were five steel wires as thin as hairs, hidden within the bracers so deeply that a casual glance would never reveal them. Through the meticulous modification of the Synthesis Hand, these wires not only became razor-sharp—capable of slicing through hard objects with ease—but also possessed exceptional toughness that prevented them from snapping easily.
Even more miraculously, they were also exceptionally good at conducting Chakra. Relying on his unique technique for manipulating Chakra threads, Shang Qi could freely command these steel wires to dance wildly through the air. With a slight movement of his left hand, the five steel wires shot out like lightning, instantly piercing into a humanoid target inside the laboratory. Immediately afterward, with a few gentle tremors of his fingers, those five steel wires acted like agile serpents, swiftly wrapping around the humanoid target and slicing through it. In the blink of an eye, the humanoid target was reduced to fine, shattered fragments.
Retracting the steel wires back into the bracers, Shang Qi could not help revealing a satisfied smile. He thought to himself that he finally possessed a means of self-defense, though he also knew in his heart that this was far from enough.
A full week had already passed since Shang Qi arrived here. Throughout this entire week, he had either been diligently practicing Puppet Technique or concentrating wholeheartedly on crafting the bracers, and had yet to build even a single puppet.
"You've been here a week now. How well have you mastered the Puppet Technique?" On this day, Chiyo came specifically to visit Shang Qi, wanting to see his progress firsthand.
"I have basically mastered the Puppet Technique, and I already have a preliminary concept for a transport puppet," Shang Qi said with a firm tone.
"Let's hear it." Filled with curiosity about Shang Qi's idea, Chiyo spoke up impatiently.
"I abandoned the shape of an ox and changed it to the design of a camel." As he spoke, Shang Qi led Chiyo over to a person-height blueprint and began to introduce it in detail.
"Look, I've divided the storage space into compartments. The front compartment can be used to hold grain, and the back compartment can hold water. Then, we cover this puppet with a hide modeled after a camel's fur. That way, during transport, it can disguise itself as a caravan of camels."
Gazing at this detailed design, Chiyo, as an experienced and seasoned puppeteer, instantly grasped the crucial points. She knew very well that following this concept, such a transport puppet could indeed be successfully built; Shang Qi's idea was extremely feasible.
She said, "This can be built. I heard from Takase An that you also have an idea for seawater desalination. How does that work specifically?"
"The principle is to heat seawater to turn it into water vapor, and then cool and condense the vapor into liquid fresh water. It's very simple." Shang Qi said it as a matter of course. This distillation method was an experiment Shang Qi had already performed back in junior high school, so it was second nature to him.
However, for everyone in Sunagakure, including Chiyo, they had never touched upon this kind of knowledge. This was precisely the major reason why Wind Country remained extremely scarce in water resources despite being adjacent to the ocean.
"Then how do we desalinate seawater on a puppet like this?"
Shang Qi gently flipped open this blueprint, revealing another blueprint underneath. Pointing to the first hump of the camel puppet, he said: "We add a convex lens right here to focus the intense sunlight of the desert onto this spot, causing the seawater in the first compartment to heat up and boil. The resulting water vapor is then channeled into the second compartment to cool down, thereby forming fresh water."
Chiyo looked intently at the second blueprint. Although she did not completely understand the principles behind it, she deeply felt how formidable it was. She said, "As long as you build everything you just described, I will personally teach you the puppet arts of our ancestor Monzaemon."
"Good," Shang Qi agreed without the slightest hesitation.
Shang Qi spent an entire day successfully building the transport camel. Afterwards, the transport camel equipped with the seawater desalination function was also successfully born on the third day. During this period, a few minor technical difficulties arose, but they were quickly and accurately analyzed with the True Sight Eye and swiftly resolved.
Looking at these two lifelike camel puppets, Chiyo could not resist trying her hand at operating them herself, and then had Akasuna Uchao test the storage capacity and the desalination effect.
Looking at Shang Qi, Chiyo praised approvingly, "Your ideas are unconstrained and uniquely ingenious. It seems choosing to impart the way of the puppet to you was a wise decision."
"I simply feel that puppets shouldn't just be tools for killing," Shang Qi slowly remarked.
"Since the founder created the way of the puppet, it has been meant for slaughter. In this world, if you don't strike, others will attack you," Chiyo said meaningfully, gazing at the vast scenery in the distance.
Monzaemon was the first puppeteer in the Hokage world. He inventively created puppets and the Puppet Technique, thereby pioneering the method of puppet combat and serving as the founder of the ninja classification known as puppeteers. Without any guidance, relying on his own wisdom and hard work, he not only invented puppets but also created a series of complex and profound puppet techniques. He was capable of controlling a puppet with a single finger, alongside all sorts of training methods and ways to increase finger dexterity.
Shang Qi was like a long-parched sponge, insatiably soaking up the knowledge Chiyo taught him, striving to constantly improve himself.
Meanwhile, after the Red Sand Couple requested the blueprints for the camel puppet, they successfully built more than twenty camel puppets under Shang Qi's patient guidance, and formed a transport team together with the puppeteers of Sunagakure. When this team returned, bringing back nearly ten tons of fresh water, the entire Sunagakure was sent into a frenzy.
"Have you heard? The Red Sand Couple led a team back from the outside with ten tons of drinkable fresh water."
"They truly are the heroes of our village."
"I also heard that from now on they'll be able to continuously bring fresh water back from the outside. We won't have to worry about drinking water anymore."
"The puppeteer lineage is truly amazing..."
However, while some rejoiced, others worried. As the Red Sand Couple's reputation soared with this success, Third Kazekage Retsuji found himself burdened with a bit more anxiety. *(Having checked a lot of materials and truly unable to find the Third Kazekage's name, seeing that he looked somewhat similar to First Kazekage Retto, I simply gave him this name.)*
Unlike Second Kazekage Shamon, who excelled in both Magnet Release and Puppet Techniques, Third Kazekage Retsuji only knew Magnet Release. Precisely because he focused on a single path, Retsuji's iron-sand Magnet Release was exceptionally formidable, earning him the praise of being the strongest Kazekage in the village.
Yet the many puppeteers of the puppet lineage, outwardly submissive, harbored discontent in their hearts. This time, the Red Sand Couple's soaring fame made him sense a latent crisis. The puppet lineage had always focused on increasing the lethality of puppets; how on earth did a bunch of puppets used for transporting fresh water pop up all of a sudden?
Retsuji decided to investigate the ins and outs of the matter thoroughly. However, the moment he discovered the existence of Shang Qi, a flicker of ruthless light flashed across his eyes.