The modification of Little Boy went very smoothly.
Hardy even had enough energy to upgrade the puppet's mouth launcher, enabling it to not only shoot poison needles but also launch explosive kunai.
[Puppet Name]: Little Boy
[Overall Parameters]:
Height: 1.40 meters
Weight: 29.95 kilograms
Materials: Reinforced lightweight wood, lightweight composite materials, lightweight high-strength alloy
Energy Source: None
Control Method: Chakra threads
[Puppet Rating]: B
[Overall Evaluation]: Support combat-type puppet, well-designed, excellent agility, possesses standard Chūnin-level combat power.
[Detailed Data]: ...
Compared to the original, the modified Little Boy's height and weight increased slightly by a few percentage points, but its speed improved significantly. Most importantly, its aerodynamic speed and short-distance burst speed saw a dramatic increase, naturally boosting its combat power.
With Big Guy's upgrade as well, Hardy's overall strength had once again improved considerably.
At the very least, this time fighting Sasori was noticeably easier than last time.
Watching as Black Ant was sliced in half by Little Boy's toothed blade, and Salamander's shield was smashed by Big Guy's pneumatic punch, Sasori frowned.
He lost again.
And this time, the defeat was even cleaner and more decisive than before.
It showed that this guy's puppet upgrade speed was even faster than his own.
How frustrating.
But that's what makes it interesting.
"You win."
Sasori put away Black Ant and Salamander, slung his sealing scroll on his back, and quietly said to Hardy.
"So then—"
"Let's go."
Sasori decisively turned and left, his young face full of contemplation.
How should he modify his puppets next to defeat Hardy?
Hardy cheerfully followed along.
His target this time was "Advanced Design and Application of Puppet Mechanisms" by Monzaemon.
At the main entrance, Jinba watched the departing backs of Hardy and Sasori, his chin resting on his hand as he sized up his younger sister.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Jin Xue asked in confusion.
"I feel... you probably can't beat Hardy now, and maybe even Sasori might not be able to win."
"You can take out the 'probably'... or at least half of it. In a direct confrontation, I definitely can't beat Hardy, but Sasori? That's not certain, right?"
Jin Xue said, a little lacking in confidence.
"They can each only control two puppets, and Sasori's puppets aren't much worse than yours. His mastery of the Black Secret Technique is also quite good—you might not win."
Jinba shook his head.
Jin Xue's expression fell.
She graduated at eleven, joined the puppet unit at twelve, and became a Chūnin at thirteen. Among her peers, she was already considered outstanding—a little genius, even, with a good chance of becoming a Jōnin in the future.
But Sasori and Hardy were the two most talented people Jin Xue had ever seen in her life.
"What about you, brother?"
"Hardy's Big Guy puppet already has combat power not inferior to my main battle puppet. The other, Little Boy, is enough to pin down one of my puppets for a while. However, his puppet control is still a bit lacking. If I only use two puppets, he has a 20% chance of winning. If I go all out, he should be able to hold out for over fifteen minutes."
Jinba explained simply.
He was a special Jōnin, and a rather strong one at that. Besides skills in personnel command and tactical planning, he was not far from being a true Jōnin.
"Sigh, forget it. There's no need to compare with these people. Maybe Lady Chiyo was like this when she was young."
Jin Xue waved her hand, feigning indifference.
...
...
"So that's it—by upgrading the material and structure of the chakra hubs, a single chakra thread can be woven and wrapped among the various hubs within a puppet, allowing the puppeteer to control more puppets with fewer chakra threads. In fact, a single thread could control an entire puppet."
"So the core is the transformation of chakra forms? Maybe I can try this in future puppet modifications..."
The Sasori family's library contained a lot of knowledge not available to the public.
After all, this family had produced four top-tier puppet masters so far, so their accumulation of knowledge and experience was certainly the richest.
According to the inheritance left by Monzaemon in the puppet corps, the upper limit could actually reach Kage level. Typical representatives were Chiyo and Ebizō—they had successfully walked this path.
The Sasori family's collection could help a puppeteer avoid many detours on this journey.
Sasori's extraordinary puppet manipulation skills at such a young age were not unrelated to this.
"Snap!"
Hardy closed the book, stood up from his chair, and stretched.
His avatar in the DC world had already copied the entire book.
"Ah, time to eat. Sasori, want to join me?"
"No need. There's food stored in the ice cellar. I'll get some later."
Sasori shook his head, picked up his wrench, and continued repairing his puppet.
"Come on, let's go out to eat together. It's so noisy outside now, I doubt you can focus anyway."
Hardy patted Sasori on the shoulder, grinning.
This kid had a VIP card to the best restaurant in Sunagakure—probably a gift from Chiyo or another elder.
"Why is it so noisy outside?"
Sasori seemed a bit irritated too. He stood up and looked out the window.
Hardy stuck his head out as well, listening to the noisy crowds outside.
"Looks like the troops from the Rain Country front have returned, and they brought back a lot of supplies."
Sasori's expression shifted slightly.
"They brought back a lot of supplies... That suggests things aren't going well on the front lines. Otherwise, they wouldn't have rushed to plunder so much and bring it back so quickly."
Hardy touched his nose and said,
"Don't repeat this to anyone, okay?"
Sasori nodded lightly and looked toward the far end of the street.
"My grandmother is back."
Hardy followed Sasori's gaze.
There, Ebizō was walking toward them with a woman nearing fifty.
That was Chiyo, the elder of Sunagakure, second only to the Third Kazekage in both strength and status.
Because of Chiyo and Ebizō's arrival, Hardy and Sasori had to postpone their plans to go out for dinner.
"You must be Hardy, right? It's been a long time since Sasori brought a new friend home."
When Chiyo saw Hardy, her slightly aged face broke into a kind smile.
"Elder Chiyo."
Standing at the doorway, Hardy bowed his head respectfully, showing the proper courtesy of a junior.
"Good. Sasori, I've already heard—you've become the youngest member in the history of the Puppet Corps. I'm truly proud of you."
Chiyo squatted down gently, reaching out to affectionately pat Sasori's head.