The days of being a puppeteer in Konoha

Chapter 25 Toy Workshop Project
"First of all, Hong, the toy you are holding is called the Rubik's Cube..."

Hideki began to introduce,

“It’s very simple to play, first scramble the colors by rotating them, then try to restore them in the shortest time possible.”

The word "simple" touched Hong's sore spot again, causing her to ask tentatively:

"Mr. Kimura, how long does it usually take you to solve the Rubik's Cube?"

Hideki smiled slightly and did not answer directly.

He simply stretched out his index finger and lightly hooked it, and the magic box in Hong's hand floated into the air and began to spin at high speed.

In the blink of an eye, the Rubik's Cube fell into Hong's hands again, making her a little flustered to catch it.

When Hong held it steadily and looked carefully, he found that the Rubik's Cube in his hand had been restored to a state where each side had one color.

Teacher, this is too fast!

The Rubik's Cube didn't take more than one second to spin just now, right?

After the surprise wore off, Hong put the Rubik's Cube back into the box with a speechless look on her face.

Excuse me, farewell!

I haven't been able to solve the Rubik's Cube for such a long time. It seems that I am not compatible with this Rubik's Cube...

Seeing this, Hideki smiled and explained:
"Actually, this Rubik's Cube is not as difficult as you think."

"As long as they master the formula, anyone can restore it in a short time."

But before Hong could be happy about having a formula to follow, Hideki added,
"But this toy is mainly used to train spatial thinking ability, so it's best not to stick to the formula..."

Upon hearing this, Hong collapsed on the podium like a deflated balloon, then rolled around on it and said coquettishly:

"Teacher, stop talking about the Rubik's Cube and introduce other toys."

Hideki and Lin smiled at each other helplessly, and then continued to introduce other toys.

"This is called Luban... No, it should be Kimura Lock."

“Although there are many types, they all use the principle of mortise and tenon structure, which allows wooden strips to fit tightly together without using nails or ropes.”

"Since puppets and many ninja tools also use mortise and tenon structures, if you are interested in puppet making, you can first learn the relevant knowledge through this Kimura lock."

Then Hideki showed them several Luban locks of different shapes.

Especially the scene where the entire Lu Ban lock fell apart by simply pulling out a piece of wood made the two of them marvel.

But when Hideki asked them to try to put it together, Hong once again recalled the fear of being crushed by her intelligence...

Especially Lin who was standing by the side actually restored the Kimura lock very quickly, which made Hong feel a little embarrassed. She felt that these toys were not fun at all~
Fortunately, the next one is not an educational toy that tests your IQ.

"This toy is called a yo-yo. It is the main product of my workshop recently. It will definitely be very popular in Konoha in the future."

Although the teacher looked confident, Lin and Hong were skeptical as they looked at the unremarkable yo-yo in his hand.

However, their doubts were quickly dispelled by the teacher's wonderful demonstration.

Under Mr. Kimura's skillful control, the yo-yo flew up and down between his hands and the thin string like an elf.

The two little girls had never seen such interesting toys before. They stared at them with their mouths wide open and their eyes shining.

Hideki performed various yo-yo tricks while continuing to introduce:

"As you can see, this yo-yo and your fingers are connected by cotton thread, so you can use it to practice how to use chakra threads to control ninja tools..."

Lin and Hong finally came to their senses after hearing this, and were speechless.

Because they began to understand the teacher's routine.

Like Pocket Puppetmon, whether it is the Rubik's Cube, Kimura Lock or Yo-Yo, they are all toys that are not only fun but also very helpful for practicing puppetry.

This deliberate enthusiasm to help everyone learn puppetry really touched and amused the two of them.

But the toys he played with after that were much more normal and had little to do with learning.

For example, Tangram, Huarongdao, bamboo dragonfly, kendama, whistle...

Especially the few Q-version wood carvings based on the heroes of Konoha that Hideki took out at the end, which made the two little lolis love them very much.

"Teacher, you are so amazing. You can actually invent so many interesting new toys."

Hong put her hands in a praying position and said with a look of admiration.

Lin also nodded repeatedly to show her agreement.

Hideki shook his head and said:
"In fact, many of these toys cannot be considered as my inventions. I am just standing on the shoulders of giants."

It’s a pity that the two of them just thought that the teacher was being humble and thought that he meant that the inspiration for the toys came from puppetry.

However, Hideki did not lie. The reason why he was able to invent so many interesting toys was thanks to the thousands of years of accumulation of toys by humans in his previous life.

"But why a toy?"

“I don’t think you can make much money selling toys.”

Hong couldn't help but ask.

No wonder she had such thoughts.

After all, there are only a few children who are as favored as she is and have many toys at home.

The children in Konoha who have money to buy toys are almost all children of the ninja clan. They don't have much time to play with toys, so naturally they won't spend money on them.

Therefore, Konoha doesn't even have a proper toy store. At most, it occupies a shelf space in a grocery store, which is not a good business to make money.

Is there something wrong with selling toys in Konoha?
In response to Hong's question, Hideki replied in a gentle tone: "It doesn't matter whether there is money or not, as long as it is enough to maintain the operation of the workshop and the orphanage."

"The reason why we chose to make toys is mainly to enrich the entertainment activities of the villagers of Konoha."

Hideki suddenly looked out the window and said with a nostalgic tone,

"There was once a martial arts master who proposed this kind of practice experience."

"Study hard, exercise well, eat well, sleep well, and play well."

"Studying and working are important, but relaxing yourself through entertainment is the long-term strategy to keep your body and mind in the best condition."

"The current ninjas of Konoha are OK in other aspects, but they are not very good at having fun."

"Everyone's entertainment is nothing more than eating, drinking and gambling. It's very unhealthy."

"Especially for you kids, you have even fewer ways to entertain yourself than adults. If you keep doing this for a long time, you'll get sick sooner or later."

"That's why I invented these toys, hoping to change this situation a little bit..."

The two little girls' eyes welled up with tears when they heard this.

Because the teacher's words really hit the nail on the head, touching the pain points of these ninja school students that are difficult for adults to know.

If they were not under the pressure of graduation and going to the battlefield but had no way to relieve it, these ninja school students would not be so precocious and try to relieve stress through love...

Moreover, they thought that the teacher's selfless teaching of puppetry and setting up a workshop to help the children in the orphanage was the limit of what he could do.

Unexpectedly, he still surpassed their imagination and even carefully considered the physical and mental health of these ninja school students...

What kind of spirit is this!

At this moment, it seemed to them that the teacher was no longer interpreting the will of fire...

Because he is simply the incarnation of the will of fire walking on earth!
But at this moment, Hideki was actually feeling a little uncomfortable under the burning gazes of the two men.

Because he knew that he was not as great as he had just said.

Helping Konoha ninjas and ninja school students relieve stress is indeed one of the reasons why he chose to produce toys.

But more importantly, as an equal exchange, Hideki will receive a large amount of real money in return.

Hideki could only shake his head and laugh in his heart at Hong's idea that selling toys was not profitable.

The reason why the toy industry is not profitable nowadays is that traditional toys simply cannot meet the needs of target customers.

Hideki's new toys not only surpass traditional toys in playability, but he also tries to link them to spiritual practice to reduce the aversion of children's parents to them.

Therefore, Hideki is very confident that these toys tailored for children will definitely create a craze in Konoha.

Another very important reason is that because the toy industry is still in a wild state in Konoha, Hideki was able to gain a monopoly position without any competition.

You have to know that in Konoha, there are ninjas behind every industry.

These shops were originally opened by the ninja clan in order to find a way out for those clan members who did not have ninja talent and to expand financial resources for the family.

But after years of operation, these shops have formed deep-rooted barriers in their respective businesses, making it difficult for outsiders to get involved.

Hideki returned to Konoha this time in order to accumulate various resources as quickly as possible to become stronger, but he had no intention of spending time on business wars with other ninja clans.

So even though there were other businesses like weapons and furniture that were more relevant to puppetry, Hideki ultimately chose toys as the main product when the workshop was first established.

……

Not long after, more students came to the workshop.

Just as Hideki expected, most of the descendants of great ninja clans such as Hyuga Kamado and Sarutobi Asuma did not come.

After all, it is impossible for them to abandon their family secret skills and study the puppetry technique with uncertain prospects in depth.

Therefore, Hideki didn't have high expectations in the first place, and his main target was still on ordinary children like Nohara Rin.

However, the arrival of young ninja children like Yuhi Kurenai and Shiranui Genma was an unexpected surprise for him.

Except for Yuhi Kurenai who was suspected to be here to chase stars, the other children basically just wanted to give it a try.

Because the ninjutsu they inherited were either common or had significant flaws.

Therefore, if these children can make achievements in puppetry, their families will naturally be happy to see it happen.

If all else fails, at least it will add another secret skill to the family.

Hideki was not too dissatisfied with their speculative behavior.

Faced with the current situation of understaffing in the workshop, he is not in a position to be picky.

Anyway, even if they make a lot of money, Hideki won't lose anything...

After arriving, the children, like Lin and Hong, were quickly attracted by these novel and interesting toys. They had so much fun playing with them that they almost forgot that they were here to visit the workshop.

However, Hideki, who had deliberately wanted to make them work as child laborers, still kept his goal in mind and clapped his hands:

"It's almost time, so let's officially get started."

"Everyone can take a toy they like and find a seat. You can use it as a template to make your own toy later."

"But before that, as a reward for your willingness to come and visit, I will teach you an interesting production technique."

At this point, Hideki couldn't help but curl up his lips slightly, muttering to himself:

It's time to show some real skills...

(End of this chapter)