Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

Actually, he didn't understand what Handsome Scorpion was saying, but after decades in politics, keeping his emotions hidden was just basic for him. For a powerful figure like him to be unable to understand a little kid would be a laughingstock...

421. Handsome Scorpion fell in love with the sport of PK (player versus player).

"When will I let them fight me again...?"

Chief Meichuan left with a chuckle, carrying the twenty-odd pounds of iron. Handsome Scorpion glanced disdainfully at the bastard uncle who was about to open a blind box and said, "Although my previous insights were interrupted by this bastard, what he said makes some sense. Seven-tailed Fox is just a beast that uses brute force and has no brains. Fighting it one-on-one is not good for him at present, except for some improvement in his one-on-one ability. In other aspects, he has not made any progress."

He initially thought that after so many one-on-one battles with the Seven-Tails, dealing with three weaklings who didn't even know what a Tailed Beast was would be a piece of cake. But the reality told him that beasts aren't human after all! Fighting the Seven-Tails one-on-one and battling against a human are completely different concepts. He discovered that although he hadn't managed to beat up the three weaklings, the experience he gained in that battle was far more effective than his dozen or so fights with that beast, the Seven-Tails. At that moment, Sasori had begun to love the sport of battling against humans...

"...That's more like it! It's so much better to spend time interacting with people and growing together. Fighting that giant beetle all day is pointless. At least talking to those young men and women can improve your social skills...ヾ(^Д^*)/"

Shindou turned his head in surprise to look at the handsome Sasori. Seeing that the kid looked so eager to fight, he said with a sense of relief, "I didn't expect this kid to be so into it. I promised this kid that I would fight with Mei Chuan and the other two so that they would distract him. It's not good that he keeps getting beaten up by the Seven-Tailed Fox. I don't know who to ask for reimbursement for his medicine. Fighting with three kids will not only save him from getting beaten up, but also from losing money. Those three kids can't even move the Iron Giant no matter how hard they try. Wouldn't that save a lot of money on repairs?"

Moreover, with so much scrap metal left in the house, once Mei Chuan Neiyi's puppets show their skills and create a wave of iron puppets, he has a premonition that their house will be inundated with guests!

As for why Mei Chuan Neiyi was chosen to drive the iron golem craze instead of Handsome Scorpion... the key is that Handsome Scorpion's steel giants are not something an ordinary person can control. According to Handsome Scorpion's father's strong analysis, iron golems are several times heavier than traditional golems, and the hardness of metal is much greater than that of wood, meaning that making them is extremely difficult. Although it's possible to coat iron golems with potent poison, it's impossible to have as many fancy maneuvers as wooden golems. Puppet masters are only targeting humans. They could easily kill enemies with poison gas, senbon needles, and other small mechanisms, and even fight a prolonged battle against strong opponents, since a few chakra threads don't consume much chakra. Why go to such lengths to complicate things with iron golems when it's so simple? Finally, the ten steel giants that Handsome Scorpion created are similar to the giant golems of Shamon back then, both designed to target tailed beasts. Using them on humans is like using a cannon to bombard a bird's nest...

Furthermore, while iron golems would enhance defense, the puppeteer's control over them would be significantly different. Under such immense weight, an average puppeteer would struggle to control them. Even a puppeteer capable of controlling five or six traditional golems might only be able to effectively manage two iron golems at most. Since puppeteers typically rely on sheer numbers, the reason Chiyo was able to bounce off White Fang's father was because the Ten Musketeers worked together flawlessly in her hands, their offense and defense transitions were impeccable. Even White Fang's father couldn't close the distance to Chiyo. But with iron golems, they would be sitting ducks, allowing the puppeteer to easily enter and exit the area.

Therefore, using Sasori's Iron Giants for promotion is clearly unrealistic. Only someone with Sasori's top-tier control talent could control ten Iron Giants so perfectly. Even Chiyo couldn't do it; she might be able to in her prime, but now she's old and her looks have faded. Her consciousness is still top-notch, but her body can't keep up. Sasori's Iron Giants will only deter puppeteers; they won't even have the desire to buy the same model.

However, Mei Chuan Neiyi is different. Twenty pounds for five puppets isn't considered heavy if no hidden weapons are used to increase their weight. With his current abilities, he should be able to barely control them. Once he's mastered them, we can find an opportunity to promote them and showcase the outstanding defensive characteristics of these iron puppets. That would be quite a business opportunity. As long as we talk to the experts like Liangzai Scorpion's parents and Chiyo and don't damage the junk in Liangzai Scorpion's toy store, there will be a market for them.

As for what would happen if the puppeteer unit were replaced with iron golems, that was not within his consideration. According to his "ancient" memories, there were quite a few years between World War II and World War III. He couldn't remember exactly how many years, but he knew that during World War II, White Fang's son, Wu Wu Kai, was just a baby, but by World War III, he was already a young boy and had even been promoted to Jonin at the age of twelve during the war.

This is only the second year since the end of World War II, and World War III is still a long way off. It won't affect the overall situation much. After they've dealt with all this junk, we can just wait two or three months and have Scorpion's father point out the flaws of the iron golems and have them fix them...

Thinking of this, Masato's eyes shone with the same light as his good brother Kakuzu!

This has potential!

"....Idiot.ヽ(ー_ー)ノ"

Seeing the idiotic uncle's face, Handsome Scorpion quickly turned and left. His grandma had said that idiocy was contagious, so it seemed he should keep his distance from this jerk in the future...

......

That evening, after completing four daily tasks with his two friends, Mei Chuan Neiyi dragged his tired body home. When he saw his father, the clan chief, with his knees even more swollen and looking like he was about to die, he was instantly wide awake. After asking his father a few words of concern, he carried the heavy iron weight of more than 20 pounds back into the house to get busy.

His father, the clan chief who had just knelt in his father's room until three durians were worn out, was also very gratified to see his youngest son's ecstatic expression. As long as his youngest son could succeed and soar to great heights once again, he felt it was all worth it no matter how many durians he knelt until he was worn out.

Parents' hearts are always full of love and worry!

Mei Chuan Nei Yi's puppetry talent is so-so, but that depends on who you compare her to. Compared to Liang Zai Xie, she can't even see his taillights. Even compared to Liang Zai Xie's parents, she would be left far behind. But compared to those nobodies, she is much better.

What's most impressive is his theoretical knowledge. Compared to the veteran Chiyo, aside from not knowing any secret techniques, his knowledge and theory about puppets are just as good. And making puppets relies on theoretical knowledge, not puppet talent. So after working overtime all night and secretly working on it, five normal-sized iron puppet blanks are already taking shape. All that's left is to add skill books, and then he'll amaze everyone...

422. Is Master Shindou really going to promote him to the top?

After a month, Mei Chuan Neiyi spent his days doing daily quests with his two teammates and his nights working overtime to create his new puppet. His hard work paid off, and after a month, his puppet was finally ready. Don't be fooled by the fact that he finished the puppet blank in one night and thought making a puppet was easy. The simplest step is creating the blank; the real difficulty lies in assembly. He has to assemble the parts he's crafted according to his own ideas, bit by bit, into the shape he envisions. From large pieces of metal to small screws, everything must be assembled with extreme precision. The entire process is incredibly demanding and tests one's patience. This is why Chiyo immediately saw that Shinto wasn't cut out to be a puppeteer. Someone who could snore after playing shogi for two moves with his dead uncle would be better off swallowing excrement and committing suicide than making puppets.

In retrospect, Mei Chuan Nei Yi was able to complete five iron golems in a month because she didn't install any mechanisms or hidden weapons on them; otherwise, it would have been much more troublesome. Liang Zai Xie was able to make such large golems in a short time because his father helped him during their father-son activity time after dinner every day, and the large golem's parts were easy to distinguish.

"Hey, have you guys heard? Young Master Mei Chuan... you know, the one with the broken leg, right? He's now Master Shindou's student. I heard that with Master Shindou's guidance, he created a set of iron golems. That thing is incredibly powerful, and its defense is terrifying. Yesterday, our captain's seven golems were instantly smashed to pieces by Young Master Mei Chuan's iron golems! You guys have no idea, the scene was so shocking!"

"Impossible! Young Master Mei Chuan has only been training in puppetry for a few years. What kind of puppet is so powerful that it could smash Captain Ying's puppet..."

"Yes, yes, Captain Ying is a veteran puppet master..."

"Really! I swear...!"

The day after Mei Chuan Neiyi's new puppet was unveiled, while Mei Chuan Neiyi was showing his new puppet to his two teammates and teacher, in the puppeteer unit, a puppeteer with messy makeup was gesticulating wildly and bragging to his colleagues about some profound and amazing feat. This puppeteer was obviously used to bragging too much, and even if he pointed to the ceiling and swore, very few people around him would believe him.

"Alright! Since you don't believe me, wait until our captain arrives and ask him yourself. I saw it with my own eyes! Impressive skills! Those five iron golems from young Master Meichuan are truly something else! They're a perfect combination of offense and defense. No matter what methods our captain uses, those iron golems don't leave a single mark. And when those golems attack, wow, wow, their attack power is explosive! Our captain's golems were smashed to pieces with a single punch each. Honestly, this is the first time I've ever seen anything like it... Captain! You're here! Tell them I wasn't exaggerating this time. Didn't your golem get smashed to pieces by young Master Meichuan's iron golems yesterday...?"

At this moment, the puppeteer, who usually liked to brag, saw his captain clocking in and quickly pulled him over.

"No way! Ah Ying, is Young Master Mei Chuan really that amazing?"

Seeing that this boastful puppeteer junior had actually dragged his captain to testify, the puppeteer captains, who had initially taken it as a joke, widened their eyes in shock. Ah Ying had been in the puppeteer unit for over ten years, and was among the top three captains. Without mastering the White Secret Technique, there was no one left who could control nine puppets, and only Lady Saori could control eight. Being able to control seven puppets was already extremely rare. For such a veteran puppeteer's puppets to be completely defeated by a kid who had only been practicing puppetry for a few years, even a "trash-to-hero" story wouldn't dare to write something like this!

That's so outrageous, nobody watches it!

"...Young Master Meichuan's skills are passable, but his five iron golems are truly formidable. I don't know what metal they're made of, but they're exceptionally hard, and their agility isn't much weaker than our traditional golems. Their attacks are particularly explosive. Although it's embarrassing to admit, my golems really couldn't do anything to Young Master Meichuan..."

Captain Ying spoke with a serious and solemn expression.

Actually, he was already in tears inside. He had never had a fight with that young master Mei Chuan. It was all caused by Lord Zhen Dou!

He's been in the ninja world for over twenty years, rising to fame in the first and second battles. While he might not be the most famous ninja in the entire village, his reputation is solid. You could practically count the number of people in the village who can surpass him in puppetry on two hands. But today, for the sake of Lord Shinto's great cause and for his own future, he has to admit he's inferior to a little brat... T^T

Last night, Lord Masato summoned him to the grove... According to Lord Masato, their puppeteers' captain, Lord Jie, might be transferred to the Dark Guard, so the position of puppeteers' captain might become vacant, and the captain would be chosen from among their captains. At first, he thought Lord Masato was lying, but looking at Lord Masato's serious face, it didn't seem like he was lying. Besides, he had no dealings with Lord Masato, and Lord Masato wouldn't bother lying to a nobody like him. Plus, Lord Masato summoned him in the middle of the night—was he trying to promote him?

Upon closer reflection, he realized that ignoring it might actually be possible. After all, Lord Jie was the son of the First Hokage, the crown prince of Sunagakure. Although he might not have the ambition to become Kazekage, he couldn't stay in a lowly puppeteer position forever. No, Lord Luo Zhen had retired, and the position of Anbu chief had been vacant. From a public and private perspective, it seemed reasonable for Lord Jie to take over as the head of the Anbu. With Lord Jie gone, Lady Yusaori, who had always been part of the couple, would definitely follow suit. Then, the large puppeteer force would need someone to lead it, and these veterans who had been in the puppeteer profession for over ten years were indeed good candidates.

If that's the case, then Lord Shinto really summoned him late at night to promote him to a higher position!

As he suspected, Lord Masato himself said he thought he was upright, courageous, and capable in crucial moments... basically, he wanted to promote him. However, Lord Masato had a small condition: he had to sacrifice his reputation and let the young master Umekawa, who had recently become his student, steal the spotlight...

423. Only the true masters of combat set up barriers when they fight.

At first, he was somewhat conflicted. It would be great to become the leader of the Puppet Masters' Army, but admitting that he had been defeated by a mere brat would be incredibly embarrassing. Even if Master Shindou really made him the leader of the Puppet Masters' Army, this dark history would greatly diminish his prestige.

But thinking about how many years he'd served in the puppeteer unit, his seniority and abilities made him the obvious choice for promotion. The opportunity was right in front of him, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance; if he missed it, he'd never have another....

After much deliberation, faced with the expectant look in Masato's eyes, he finally softened. He couldn't let Masato down, so he slapped his thigh and agreed. That night, after Masato left, he immediately found one of his team members, the boastful and loud-mouthed underling in front of him. After promising to promote him if he could become the leader, the two began to discuss what to do.

First of all, I objected to the claim that he was beaten to a pulp by Young Master Mei Chuan. After all, he is a veteran puppeteer who has been famous for many years. If he was beaten to a pulp, the claim would be too exaggerated and would be easy for people to find flaws in. This claim is simply untenable and could potentially implicate Lord Zhen Dou, affecting his important matters and his future prestige in leading the puppeteer army. Therefore, we must change the claim. The puppeteer himself cannot be beaten to a pulp, but the puppet can!

As Lord Shindou said, he was just using his name to promote Young Master Meichuan's new iron golem. Although I don't know why Lord Shindou would do this, it would be much easier if he were just promoting his own iron golem. He could simply say that his own golem was destroyed by Young Master Meichuan's iron golem, wouldn't that be enough?

The puppeteer's puppet getting destroyed isn't the puppeteer himself, so at least he won't suffer too much damage to his reputation or lose too much face...

This is why he chose this boastful lackey over so many others. Although his skills and abilities were mediocre, he was quick-witted and had a smooth tongue. What boss wouldn't like a lackey like that? Those who were capable but dull-witted and couldn't utter a word, no matter how outstanding their skills were, were only suitable as peripheral lackeys and could never enter his inner circle.

Upon hearing his underling's suggestion, he immediately nodded in agreement. The two then began discussing their plan. The first step was for the underling to start boasting at work the next day when there were many people around. If anyone didn't believe him, he would then come out and testify, thus ensuring sufficient credibility. They would have perfectly completed the task assigned by Lord Masato. After that, they would wait for Lord Jie and Lady Yusaori to be promoted to the Anbu, where, under Lord Masato's manipulation, they would both rise to higher ranks...

Although I thought about how glorious it would be when I was in power, it was too painful to admit that I was beaten to a pulp by a little brat. Even being a puppet was unbearable!

Seeing the incredulous expressions on the faces of his colleagues, he desperately wished time would pass quickly. He had never lied in his life; he realized then how difficult it was to lie...

"Young Master Mei Chuan's iron golem?"

Captain Aying's words made the incredulous squad leaders grasp the key point: it wasn't that he himself was destroyed, but that his puppet was destroyed. But it was almost the same; what difference was there between a puppeteer without a puppet and one without a soul? However, to save face for him, the group didn't say it outright, but instead seized on another key point: "Iron puppet!"

This term is not common, but it is heard more or less in their long careers. Many newbies who have just come into contact with puppetry will ask a question: wooden puppets are too weak, why not make iron puppets? In fact, many newbies will even make a few iron puppets in the early stages, but they will give up this foolish idea when they find that the iron puppets they make are completely different from what they imagined.

They had gone through the same experience, so they had a deep understanding of the iron golem problem. Although the iron golem had much higher defense than the traditional golem, it was also difficult to control due to its weight and could not be as flexible and versatile as the traditional golem. The advantage of a puppeteer lies in the quantity and flexibility of the golem. The iron golem violated this most basic principle, which is why it was eliminated by the puppeteers.

But now, Ah Ying, a veteran puppet master who has been famous for many years, has been defeated by the iron puppet, and young master Mei Chuan's iron puppet has not been affected in terms of flexibility? This... is too unreal!

"It's definitely an iron golem. Young Master Mei Chuan's iron golem is different from ordinary iron golems. The iron skin is thin but exceptionally hard, and it's not as sluggish to control as ordinary golems. This is something I still can't understand. As far as I know, no other metal material has such properties..."

Ah Ying also pretended to stroke her chin and said.

"What?! No sense of sluggishness at all? And this kind of metallic material?"

The puppeteers around were quite agitated. If there were such a metal material in the world that could enhance the puppet's hardness without affecting its flexibility, wow, that would be a revolution in puppetry!

If they could all equip themselves with these iron golems, they would truly be able to take on five opponents at once, and the Uchiha would be nothing compared to them!

"I think I know something. You know my brother-in-law is in the Anbu. I remember about half a year ago, my brother-in-law said that Young Master Sasori seemed to be imitating Lord Jie's Chikamatsu Ten Puppet Masters and had created ten giant steel puppets. But at the time, I thought Young Master Sasori was just a kid playing around and didn't pay much attention. Now that Captain Uguis is saying this, it seems that Young Master Sasori's puppets might have been made of that metal. Otherwise, Lord Chiyo wouldn't have let Young Master Sasori make those useless lumps of iron..."

Just as everyone was deep in thought, a puppeteer raised his hand and spoke.

"Sigh! Now that you mention it, I remember that the Gong Lie clan has been surrounded by barriers from time to time recently. I've passed by several times and heard banging sounds coming from inside. Do you think it might be that Master Zhen Dou is sparring with Young Master Xie, and Young Master Xie is using those iron golems you mentioned? Otherwise, there's no need to set up barriers for ordinary people to spar."

At this moment, another puppeteer brother suddenly realized what was happening and slapped his thigh, saying...

"That's quite possible. In our village, only Lord Shindou sets up a barrier when he fights. If that's the case, Lord Jie and Lady Yusaori should know something about it. We can ask them when the time comes."

Aying's eyes darted around, and she continued the conversation from the perspective of the younger brother who was slapping his thigh. At that moment, she seemed to vaguely guess what big thing Lord Shindou was planning...

424. Handsome Scorpion's Dad: Bro, that's a bit much, huh?

"Pfft! Ah Ying, Mei Chuan Nei Yi can destroy your puppet? (⊙_⊙)?"

"Cough cough cough...! Mei Chuan Neiyi's puppet is indeed made of the same metal as Sasori's puppet, but... this metal is very rare, and the source is too far away. When I bought those metals for Sasori, I had already bought up all the ones on the market. But I estimate that there aren't many left for Sasori to make such a large puppet. What? You guys don't mean you're thinking of making some kind of iron puppet, do you? -_-||"

Before he even reached his office, Handsome Scorpion's father was surrounded by a group of underlings. He listened in bewilderment as they chattered on and on, but when they heard about Mei Chuan Neiyi and his son's iron golem, he almost choked. He was even more bewildered when they said that A Ying's golem had been destroyed by Mei Chuan Neiyi's iron golem. He gave A Ying a deep look, expressing his doubt.

The clan chief of Meichuan and his elder brother bought those scrap metals at exorbitant prices to make puppets for Meichuan Neiyi. He found out when he got home that day. Although he felt his elder brother was dishonest, fooling his own student's parents, he reasoned that it was all for money...

When he was little, he didn't care much about money. He could never finish the allowance his mother gave him each month, and nobody in the ninja world was richer than his family. After he got married, his mother stopped giving him allowance, but it didn't matter. The allowance he saved, combined with his and Yusaori's salaries, was enough for them to live comfortably. However, ever since this super-genius son got involved in puppetry, that money paled in comparison. Especially after the super-genius son fell for the Seven-Tails, his research into various puppets was incredibly expensive. If it weren't for his older brother's support, he'd almost be selling his body. As a father, he really couldn't bring himself to ask his mother for money. So, his older brother did this for the sake of family harmony...

However, he was completely dumbfounded when a group of underlings blocked his door early this morning, claiming that Mei Chuan Neiyi had utterly destroyed the puppet of A Ying, a veteran puppet master. He knew Mei Chuan Neiyi's puppetry skills all too well. Let alone an iron puppet, even if Mei Chuan Neiyi had several Iron Man suits, he still couldn't destroy A Ying's puppet, right? The reason he and his mother didn't stop Scorpion from creating that kind of iron puppet was because they knew Scorpion intended it to counter the Seven-Tails' violence. If it was too small and the materials too weak, it wouldn't be able to withstand the Seven-Tails' punches. But in reality, such an iron puppet was beneath the notice of these puppetry masters; it lacked any skill whatsoever. With Mei Chuan Neiyi's puppetry skills and his half-baked control of the iron puppet, he couldn't understand how A Ying's puppet could be destroyed.

Why doesn't he believe that...?

"Lord Jie, I'm not lying... Lord Zhen Dou was watching from the sidelines yesterday... -_-||"

Ah Ying, who was being watched by her superior, was also feeling quite nervous. She quickly brought up Master Zhen Dou and secretly gave a few winks to Handsome Scorpion's father.

...Oh, I see. These metal puppets are still in the research stage. If you're interested, you can ask my older brother to buy some to try them out. However... I still suggest you only use them occasionally and don't get too obsessed...-_-||

When Handsome Scorpion's father heard Ah Ying bring up his older brother and saw the look in his eyes, he broke out in a cold sweat. Good heavens, his older brother's advertising was a bit too much; he'd even bribed his own people...-_-||

However, after learning that Aying had been bribed by his older brother to run advertisements, he had a pretty good idea of ​​the situation. Who would turn down money? He could only remind his underlings not to get carried away, otherwise their Sunagakure puppetry technology would regress by more than fifty years...

........

"Hey! Have you heard? The young master of the Meichuan clan recently created a new puppet that blew up Ah Ying's puppet!"

"No way? Didn't the young master of the Meichuan clan say he only switched to puppetry a few years ago? Lady Aying is a veteran Jonin!"

"It's true! They say the young master of the Meichuan clan's new puppet is made of a special metal and is incredibly powerful. Now, many puppeteers are flocking to the Gonglie clan... Hey? Yoruichi, isn't your son a puppeteer too? He left the village a few days ago. Why don't you hurry and find Master Shinto, or everything will be sold out when he gets back..."

"Snapped!"

"You're right! I'm going right now, honey! Bring out my purse...!"

This news wasn't just spreading within the puppeteer unit. As the saying goes, you can only catch more fish by casting a wide net. How could Shinto's vision be so narrow as to only focus on the puppeteer unit? Although the puppeteer unit is full of puppeteers and has a large workload, the number of positions is limited and the selection criteria are quite high. Like the Dark Guard, only elites can enter. Therefore, there are still many puppeteers in the village who haven't joined the puppeteer unit. But even a small mosquito is still meat, and how could Shinto let it go?

After meeting A-Ying, he immediately summoned his Jonin squad's secretaries and had them spread the news throughout the village. These secretaries were all talented members of the Anbu, and spreading information was second nature to them. Overnight, the news had spread throughout the streets and alleys, and even the old lady selling tea eggs knew that a puppet army Jonin had been defeated by the young master of the Mei Chuan clan...

"Scorpion, just take your big thing apart. We're not fighting the Seven-Tails anymore, so there's no point in keeping these big things. They're just taking up space; we might as well sell them to the scrap dealers and get some cash back..."

"Damn bastard! No, those are all my creations! (▼he▼メ)"

"I know it's your work, and it's excellent, but as you can see, people are blocking the door. This is a rare opportunity. What use is this thing to you? We've recouped our funding for your research on pure gold... Aunt Chiyo, hurry up and get your precious grandson sorted out..."