"Bang!"
A puff of white smoke erupted, and Shimizu quickly transformed into a completely different appearance.
With a square face, sharp eyebrows, and a high forehead—he now looked like a white man. If he wore a suit and sunglasses, he'd perfectly resemble the classic "suit-wearing gangster" image.
This face belonged to Keanu Reeves.
Shimizu had considered taking on the look of someone like Beckham or Leonardo DiCaprio, but unfortunately, Beckham already existed in this world and had been famous for over a decade, currently playing for a club in the American Major League Soccer.
DiCaprio wasn't present, but his level of handsomeness was so dazzling that it would draw far too much attention.
Keanu Reeves, with his more average kind of handsomeness, was just right—and his vibe fit Gotham better.
Penguin was startled by the sudden movement, thinking for a second that Shimizu was about to attack. Even after realizing otherwise, he kept one hand resting on the handle of his high-tech umbrella, eyes fixed warily on Shimizu.
"An astonishing ability. I didn't expect someone other than Clayface to have such a trick up his sleeve."
Clayface, real name Basil Karlo, had mutated after exposure to toxic radioactive chemical waste. His entire body could turn into mud-like matter, transform into any weapon, become soft enough to slip through anything, hard enough to be indestructible, and could mimic anyone—even down to their genetic code. Since Clayface's body no longer resembled any typical carbon-based lifeform, he didn't even have genes in the traditional sense.
It was a transformation ability far superior to the basic Transformation Jutsu.
"Use this face. Get me an identity."
"Understood. I'll just need a passport-style photo and your height, so it all matches the ID record. It'll be ready in a day. Uh... where are you staying now?"
"I'll come back and pick it up in a day."
Three days later.
With his new identity secured, Shimizu also acquired a house and a box of books.
The house wasn't for flipping—it was because Shimizu wanted to build puppets in peace, which would involve a lot of noise and modifications. Renting would be too inconvenient.
No landlord would be okay with a tenant converting an entire floor into a puppet workshop.
A legal identity was essential for buying high-value assets like real estate.
The location didn't need to be fancy—fancy meant expensive.
Luckily, Gotham wasn't Metropolis. While both cities were based in New York, Metropolis had much higher property prices.
After all, Metropolis had sunshine… and Superman. Crime was much lower there than in Gotham.
Even so, the neighborhood Shimizu bought into wasn't cheap. The average price was over $6,000 per square meter—roughly 30,000 to 40,000 yuan per square meter.
So Shimizu pulled another job and borrowed money from another gang boss. Then, he paid a 50% laundering fee to Penguin to get the funds cleaned.
After buying this 70-square-meter apartment, and purchasing the remaining materials for puppet-making, as well as a computer and tools, Shimizu was left with less than $20,000.
Given Gotham's living costs, this was enough to live on for a year or so, as long as he didn't spend recklessly.
"Well then, time to study and build puppets at the same time!"
Shimizu picked up a book titled "Microcontrollers and CNC Electronics" and began to study.
Meanwhile…
While the Gotham version of Shimizu was now living a relatively relaxed life—spending his days studying and working on puppets—the original Shimizu back in the Naruto world was extremely busy.
Normally, the 6th Division of the Puppet Troops didn't have this much work.
But these weren't normal times—it was wartime.
Shimizu had only recently withdrawn from the battlefield of the Ninja World War.
His squad's task was singular: repairing and processing puppets retrieved from the frontlines.
If a puppet was still usable, they would fix it. If not, they'd strip it down and salvage usable parts.
There was potential for corruption in this process—after all, determining whether a puppet was usable was a subjective call. You could easily call a good part "junk" and keep it for yourself.
Unfortunately, Shimizu wasn't in a position to do that.
Not because he was some paragon of virtue—but because Sunagakure was just too poor. Every resource had to be squeezed for maximum value.
Getting caught stealing would lead to a miserable end. Elder Chiyo had implemented management systems to prevent this sort of thing.
Each batch of puppets would be randomly re-checked by three puppet squads. If something went wrong, the team leader would investigate.
If they couldn't find the culprit, ANBU would be sent in to investigate further.
Anyone who managed to embezzle would have to be protected by someone powerful—someone at the top. But high-level Jonin wouldn't bother with low-tier puppets anyway, and wouldn't even get a chance to handle them.
Maybe there were still ways to exploit the system, but Shimizu wasn't going to risk his bright future for some short-term gain.
At least the job paid decently.
Better than a regular ninja mission—and a lot less dangerous.
Also, since the puppets came in batches, finishing quickly meant downtime in between.
"Whew... finally done with this batch."
At the puppet corps base, Shimizu sprawled face-down on a couch, completely drained.
Jianxue was lying on the other end of the couch.
Sasori had finished his tasks too, but was still sitting at his workbench, tinkering away at something.
"Hey, Sasori! You're just a kid—you should rest more or it'll stunt your growth!"
Seeing Sasori still grinding, the exhausted Shimizu immediately tried to drag him into slacking off with them.
"Keep this up, and next time we spar, I'll beat you. And then there won't be a next time."
Sasori continued working, following notes he had inherited from Ishito, crafting puppet components.
"Tsk, don't say that! I do train hard! It's just that lately I've been focused on other stuff—not puppet-building."
Shimizu waved it off.
His Gotham counterpart had been studying diligently, trying to incorporate modern engineering into puppet techniques.
Meanwhile, Shimizu's main body had been using spare time to practice black secret techniques.
After all, his puppet-handling skills were the weakest on the team. Of the only two Genin in the squad, Sasori's puppet skills were half a level above his.
After about ten minutes of lying there, Shimizu—feeling guilty from Sasori's productivity—flipped off the couch.
"Forget it, I'll train too."
He extended ten chakra threads from his hands, connecting them to Fatty and Tom, and began practicing the black secret techniques.
"Tsk, you're just a kid too. Why is everyone so intense? Don't you worry about stunted growth from lack of rest?!"
Jianxue, seeing this, joined in as well.
Otherwise, with both of them training and her still loafing, she'd look out of place.
(End of Chapter)