The reason was simple: only Sunagakure possessed advanced puppet master knowledge.
Puppet masters were a new type of ninja profession, pioneered by the Second Kazekage and developed by Monzaemon. It had existed for less than thirty years. Other villages at most had access to some basic puppet master knowledge, but truly powerful puppet masters only existed in Sunagakure.
"He graduated from the elite class at the ninja academy. His team leader was Momi, a typical wind release ninja who probably couldn't have taught him any of this. In fact, even if someone had taught him, being able to achieve this at his age means his future prospects are limitless."
Ishido continued to speak to Ebizō.
"Mm, good. You want to transfer him to your Sixth Squad?"
"Yes, Lord Ebizō. Two years ago, White Fang wiped out over seventy percent of the puppet masters in our Sixth Squad. We still haven't finished rebuilding. So when I see a promising seedling, I can't help but…"
"All right, I understand."
Ebizō moved his hand away from his gray beard and studied the proposal again.
A genius like this was worth nurturing.
And he was only two years older than Sasori, making them peers.
Perhaps they could try letting him interact with Sasori.
After all, ever since losing his parents, Sasori had become increasingly withdrawn.
"It's impossible to transfer him directly to your squad. For this new generation of puppet masters, I will select eighty to enter the training list. As for who joins the puppet corps and which squad they enter, that will be up to you squad leaders to decide."
...
...
"Puppet Corps Training Program?"
A week after submitting his puppet repair assignment, Hardy received this notification at home.
"Yes, you must seize this opportunity. The Puppet Corps is the village's elite force. In the past decade, nearly all puppet masters who became jōnin came from here."
A ninja in his fifties, with bandages wrapped around his shoulder, placed a form on the table.
This was Hardy's previous team leader, Momi, a veteran jōnin of Sunagakure. He was getting on in years, and due to his injuries, had withdrawn from the front lines of the Land of Rain at the same time as Hardy.
Of course, Momi hadn't led Hardy on the battlefield; as a jōnin, the missions he carried out weren't ones a genin with only a year since graduation could participate in.
"I'm not a puppet master. I became a jōnin thanks to wind release ninjutsu and swordsmanship. I can only help you so much with puppet techniques. So, if you want to keep advancing, you must seize this opportunity."
Momi looked at the young man in front of him.
He was well aware of his student's potential.
Hardy's talent in ninjutsu was only above average, and his swordsmanship was decent. If he followed the usual path, he could definitely become a chūnin, and if he survived long enough, perhaps even a special jōnin in adulthood.
The chances of becoming a jōnin were there, but not high.
But in terms of puppet master talent, Hardy was so gifted that Momi was amazed. He believed that if Hardy could receive a high-level puppet master's legacy, becoming a jōnin was inevitable.
In the future, there was even a chance he could become a great figure like Elder Chiyo.
"Thank you, Sensei Momi."
Hardy took the form from Momi's hands and expressed his gratitude.
"No need to thank me. When you graduated and were assigned to your team, the fighting on the battlefield was at its fiercest. At that time, the village's best puppet masters…"
Momi shook his head.
"What happened to those puppet masters?"
Hardy asked curiously.
"At the time, Elder Chiyo had handed the puppet corps over to her son and daughter-in-law. They were both outstanding puppet masters, considered the two leading candidates to inherit the Fourth Kazekage's mantle. Unfortunately, in one battle, the puppet corps they led ran into Konoha's White Fang's team and suffered devastating losses—even those two died in action."
"The jōnin originally assigned to lead your team was temporarily transferred to the puppet corps to rush to the front lines after the battle, so they could only assign someone like me—neither top nor bottom—to lead you."
Momi patted Hardy on the shoulder and said.
Each of the Five Great Ninja Villages currently has over ten thousand active ninjas. So, of course, each graduating class of genin isn't like in the anime, with only twenty-seven students—some of whom even get eliminated.
In reality, these twenty-seven are simply those with higher innate talent or deep backgrounds. Only they, upon graduation, get to be led by a jonin.
Hardy was one of them.
His talent fell short of the top prodigies, but was still above average. Combined with an early advantage, he managed to squeeze in.
...
...
That night, at his desk, Hardy absentmindedly fiddled with his puppet components, watching the progress bar at the bottom of his interface slowly advance.
"It looks like my application for puppeteer training has been approved."
Ninety-seven percent, ninety-eight percent, ninety-nine percent...
The progress bar crept steadily toward one hundred percent, then instantly reset.
[System updating...]
[New features unlocking...]
[System update complete!]
At that moment, the interface changed.
To the left of the panel for the chubby puppet, a new sub-panel appeared, displaying a 3D image of Hardy himself.
"Is this... my own stats panel?"
Hardy stared in surprise at the changes, immediately checking his own attributes.
[Name: Hardy]
[Age: 11]
[Occupation: Ninja (primary), Puppeteer]
[Attributes: Nin: 4 / Body: 3 / Gen: 3 / Wis: 5 / Str: 3 / Spd: 4 / Sta: 4 / Seal: 5]
"These are... the eight ninja stats?"
The Eight Ninja Attributes are a way to numerically evaluate a ninja's overall ability. The ninja academy also uses this system to grade each ninja's skills.
These numbers can roughly reflect a ninja's level, but they don't tell the whole story. For example, a ninja might not be skilled at genjutsu, but could be very good at breaking illusions—so their Gen stat might not be high, maybe a six or seven, but even someone with a Gen stat of ten would have a hard time trapping them in a genjutsu.
Typical examples are Might Guy and Jiraiya—not good at genjutsu, but that doesn't mean they aren't good at resisting it.
Still, the eight stats are a useful reference.
Curious, Hardy mentally tapped the "Nin" character.
He couldn't add points, but a sub-window popped up, showing the sub-skills under that attribute.
[Wind Release Ninjutsu: LV1 / Puppetry: LV2]
"If this is all it does, it doesn't seem all that helpful to me."
Unwilling to give up, Hardy tapped every corner of the interface.
Opening Wind Release Ninjutsu showed the two C-rank wind techniques he currently knew: Wind Release: Gale Palm and Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.