The days of being a puppeteer in Konoha

Chapter 11 Orphanage Reconstruction Plan

"Ah, it's Brother Hideki!"

A little girl with twin ponytails who was playing the ghost-catching game first spotted Hideki. She screamed and ran towards him.

When many children heard this, they realized that it was really Hideki who came, and their eyes suddenly lit up. They all ran towards him on their short legs and surrounded him.

Hideki seemed to be accustomed to this kind of zombie attack and greeted them patiently.

Although Hideki has basically not stayed in Konoha in recent years, he would occasionally stay in Konoha for a short period of time due to missions or to purchase materials.

And every time he came back, he would visit the orphanage.

The reason why the children were so enthusiastic about him was that every time Hideki came, he would bring them delicious food.

Sure enough, after greeting them, Hideki asked them to make way for him, then took out a few storage scrolls and spread them out to unseal them.

bang bang bang...

After a few puffs of white smoke dissipated, a small mountain of supplies appeared on the ground.

Although they were just daily necessities such as rice, cooking oil, and cloth, there were also a few baskets of fruits and vegetables and several large bags of snacks that Hideki had just bought from the market.

But in the eyes of these poor children, this was like a banquet, making them drool.

However, even the youngest child just stared at it and did not reach out to take it. He was so sensible that it made people feel distressed.

Hideki, who hated this scene the most, simply stuffed a large bag of snacks into an older child's hand and asked him to share it with everyone. After they finished eating, they moved all the snacks to the warehouse and kitchen.

After the children happily went to get their snacks, Hideki was able to get away and had the chance to walk to the door of the orphanage. He greeted a middle-aged nun who had been watching with a smile for a long time and said:
"Aunt Kelly, long time no see."

Aunt Kelly is a caregiver at this orphanage and has been working here for many years.

Although she is big and strong, she can beat a kid with one punch.

But Hideki, who grew up here, knows that she actually gets fat even if she drinks water, and it's not because she eats too much for her own benefit.

"Hideki, you have grown taller again."

Aunt Kelly looked up at Hideki, who was now a head taller than her, and couldn't help but sigh.

"It's hard to imagine that you were so small back then, but now you've grown so big and helped the orphanage so much."

"This is what I should do."

Hideki said sincerely, "After all, without this orphanage, there would be no me today. These small rewards are not worth mentioning."

"No, you've done enough."

Kelly said with emotion, "To be honest, if it weren't for the donations from Hideki every month, the orphanage would have been closed down long ago..."

Hideki couldn't help but frowned slightly when he heard this, and couldn't help asking:

"Is the orphanage so short of money recently? I remember the situation wasn't this bad when I came here last time."

"We can't help it. The village hasn't received subsidies for several months. I heard that there's a war going on at the front line, so the village's financial situation is not good. And the children here are not native to Konoha..."

Kelly said this and took out a handkerchief to wipe the corners of her eyes.

"Hideki, you may not have noticed, but several of the older kids are no longer around."

"They knew the orphanage was in a bad situation, so in order to give their younger brothers and sisters more food, they secretly left the orphanage early to make a living on their own. I don't know how they are doing now..."

Hideki felt a little heavy.

Although the Third Ninja World War has not yet arrived, the shadow of war has begun to affect the lives of the lowest class people in Konoha.

If he had come back a few months later, perhaps the orphanage would no longer exist.

Although Hideki did not have many good memories here, in the entire ninja world, this was the only place that made him feel at home.

Fortunately, Hideki just happened to have a perfect solution to the orphanage's problem.

Hideki said, "Aunt Kelly, is the dean here? I have something to discuss with him."

...The director of the orphanage is named Camp, a thin and kind old man who looks a bit like KFC Grandpa.

His main job is to solicit sponsorship for the orphanage or help the orphans find jobs, but unfortunately his business ability is average.

Simply put, he is a good person with a good heart but limited abilities.

So when Hideki saw him, he didn't beat around the bush. He said a few pleasantries and got straight to the point:

"Grandpa Dean, I am planning to build a workshop recently and will need a lot of apprentices, so I hope to recruit them from the orphanage."

"Hideki, you are not kidding me, an old man, are you?"

Kamp, who was having a headache over the management of the orphanage, stood up excitedly when he heard what Hideki said.

After all, as long as the number of children decreases, the operating problems of the orphanage will be alleviated.

Being an apprentice in a workshop was the best place the children in the orphanage could find.

Not to mention that the owner of the workshop is Hideki, who knows the children well, so there is no need to worry about the children being mistreated.

No wonder Dean Kemp was so excited when he heard what Hideki said.

Without waiting for Hideki to answer, Kemp asked cheerfully:
"So Hideki, how many people do you plan to have?"

"In the early stages, we'll probably need about fifty people."

Hideki said casually.

"So there are fifty people...wait, fifty?"

As Kemp was speaking, he suddenly realized something was wrong, and his eyes widened.

Because now the total number of children in the orphanage is less than 50...

This... doesn't that mean the entire orphanage will be wiped out?
Kemp had a good idea. In fact, after Hideki had formulated the workshop plan, he had already decided to take over the orphanage.

Because both the workshop and the store require a lot of manpower to operate normally...

Although the manpower problem can also be solved by hiring.

But Hideki's ultimate goal in establishing the workshop is to create a complete puppetry research and development system in Konoha with himself as the core.

This also means that after the scale expands, he will not be able to do everything himself like he does today, and he will need a large number of assistants who can understand and implement his ideas.

Coupled with the issue of technical confidentiality, assistants like this must be trained from an early age.

That's why Hideki took a fancy to the orphanage and planned to transform it into his own talent training base.

Anyway, the workshop has just started, and the most difficult product production tasks will be completed by students who work and study.

Therefore, if the only job is to assist, the children in the orphanage are capable of doing the job.

Moreover, Hideki had already inquired that the surrounding land, including the orphanage, belonged to the village.

Therefore, as long as we can get the approval of the Third Generation, it would be a very good choice to directly establish a workshop here...

After that, Hideki easily persuaded the director to agree to the cooperation between the orphanage and the workshop.

After all, he was born here, and with his years of selfless donations, Kemp didn't believe that Hideki would do anything that would be detrimental to the orphanage.

He even volunteered to bring back those children who had to find their own way out early because the orphanage had no money, in order to fill the vacancies of the fifty people.

Before officially building the workshop, he provided a spare room in the orphanage to Hideki as a temporary studio.

In this way, the problems of site selection and manpower for the workshop have been solved. Now the only thing the workshop lacks are students who can work and study.

Therefore, Hideki’s next goal is already very clear.

That's a lie... No, it's to make students willingly apply for work-study programs and join Hideki's puppet workshop family...

(End of this chapter)