Chapter 264: Timeskip - Sunagakure: Puppetry Department

"And that concludes the report on the Puppetry Department Training, Lady Kazekage." The vice-leader of the said department reported to Pakura before being dismissed.

The puppetry Department was one of the very first things Pakura came up with. Sunagakure's main war tactic was simple. Puppeteers were one of the most important parts as they provided cannon fodder in the form of their puppets. The puppets were not alive, so having the enemy dispose of them was not a big deal. The puppeteer just had to pull a new puppet out of a storage scroll and the battle could go on. Moreover, the Suna puppeteers were also masters at using a wide range of poisons. One nick and the battle was usually over. And these puppeteers then were protected by Tessenjutsu Users who were killing beasts at mid-range with their Kamaitachi no Jutsu. One can't really appreciate how strong that technique was unless seeing a man dismembered out of nowhere because invisible wind blades no one noticed impacted him. And once the tessen user learned how to hide a wind blade in another wind blade?

Let's just say the Jonins of other villages rightfully feared engaging Suna on the battlefield more than they feared other villages because fighting against them could feel pointless at times with waves of disposable puppets swarming the front lines.

Suna might not have been the largest of the hidden villages but with puppetry, that was not such a big deal. Every puppet could be counted as an additional shinobi as long as the controller could keep up. When talking purely about a clash between chunin ranked ninjas... as that was the most frequent thing to happen during a war... puppets were actually superior AND disposable. They could pull a hidden blade out of anywhere on their body, disassemble into individual parts, and again reassemble, twist at angles humans could never achieve, and much more. The only limiting factor of puppets was the puppeteer and the range of weaponry in them. In the current period of cold weapons, puppets were the best war machines the world had to offer.

It was obvious Pakura would focus on improving the puppetry of her village, no?

The puppeteers of Suna were never united. The skills were passed down either in scrolls or from master to apprentice. Which was incredibly ineffective in the long run. Sure, the puppetry stayed a secret this way. Broken puppets were easy to acquire on the battlefield and yet, no village could replicate it, no matter how they tried. That was only possible thanks to the extensive secrecy around the art.

The Puppetry Department changed this aspect of the village, however.

The puppeteers were now united under one department whereas the prominent families in the craft received high positions to appease them. Other than that, however, the division was based on merit.

The vice-leader, for example, Shun Riku, was a civilian-born kunoichi. Somebody who would never be able to attain such a high proficiency in the craft to become a vice-leader if it wasn't for the common library in the department where every puppetry clan contributed some of their knowledge, making a decent base for anyone wanting to learn the craft.

Shun Riku, in only three years, jumped from an ordinary chunin into Elite Jonin who was knocking on the doors of the S-rank. That, was a pure talent for puppetry. Now that the talent was fed enough knowledge, it could flourish in full.

"The second coming of Sasori, eh?" Elder Chiyo released a weary sigh as she appeared from the shadows in the corner. "That woman is way too fanatical." She added with a sad chuckle.

Pakura raised her eyebrow at the old woman, not commenting. Riku was... one of her most loyal subordinates alongside the Suzumiya clan. The woman knew who was indirectly responsible for her sudden improvement.

"It's in the eyes." Chiyo started again after seeing the amused expression on Pakura's face, "Riku is a stern and no-nonsense type of person... well, she is basically channeling you, Pakura." Both women grinned, "But," Chiyo frowned, "the woman is really like Sasori. Cold. Detached. Focused... with a frighteningly inhuman perspective of looking at things." Chiyo said in distaste. "To think your reforms would bring to the village a person who can control hundreds of puppets at the same time while being able to fight in taijutsu with her own body..." Chiyo's face showed a glint of bitterness.

She was one of the people who believed that puppetry techniques should stay in the family. Yet, after the establishment of the Puppetry Department, the village experienced a sudden boom in the craft. More and better puppets were developed on a daily basis as more and more civilian-borns focused on the craft. Everybody could improve a puppet and register a patent, getting paid for it. With each tweak, the puppets became more unpredictable and dangerous.

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That was also one of the reasons why she compared Riku to Sasori. She was dastardly creative when creating her own puppets. She was not the vice-leader because of her skills at killing with puppets but because of her skills at creating puppets. The assortment of weaponry in the woman's puppets was... disgustingly lethal even for Chiyo's standards. Riku was Sunagakure's own one-woman-army, loyal to death to Pakura.

Pakura inwardly smirked. To be honest, the entire success of Riku could be chalked up to a mental Jutsu she gave the woman for her loyalty. Sure, her talent for puppetry was undeniable but it was that mental Jutsu that allowed her to spread her focus to so many things at once. The access to trap-making techniques of the Suzumiya clan helped Riku a lot too. Not that Chiyo had to know that.

In a way, it was disheartening for Chiyo. There was nobody who would dare to oppose Pakura at this point. Riku was not the only one whose loyalty Pakura had. Temari...

'Better not think about that.' Chiyo shuddered when she remembered her last meeting with the twelve years old girl. The Wind Mistress of Suna was downright terrifying for her age. She could do things some Jonins in tessenjutsu Corps had problems performing. No longer was Gaara the reason for concern as far as the Sabaku family was concerned.

The scariest fact about the entire matter was that not that many knew about it. Temari was in ANBU since the day she graduated two years ago. But those who knew that behind the mask of the Wind Mistress of Suna is hiding Temari... couldn't help but start comparing the girl to Itachi Uchiha for the sheer potential for slaughter the girl's invisible wind blades possessed.

Temari's record was stellar too. 42 A-rank missions finished without any difficulty in the two years of her service. By now, the girl should have been promoted to Jonin but Pakura, for some reason, kept the girl in ANBU, hence giving her access to high-level missions, while officially keeping her at the rank of genin.

Chiyo was really curious but she was not sure she wanted to know what the Scorch Princess had planned for the girl.

"Good that you mentioned Sasori." Pakura suddenly interrupted Chiyo's train of thoughts, causing her to stiffen because of the sudden shift in the topic. "I need you to recall him back." She added with such an indifferent tone, Chiyo almost choked.

"Wh-what!? What do you mean to recall him back?" Chiyo asked, schooling her expression.

Pakura just rolled her eyes, "Don't even try it. I am aware Sasori killed the Third Kazekage and became a rogue ninja on your orders. I am also aware there is a 'spy', or a connection, you two have on Suna council. The Yura guy, right?"

Chiyo was forced to take a step back from the shock she felt. No one was supposed to know about that mission but her and Sasori!

Pakura dismissively waved her hand, "Ah, I get it. The Third was a prick. I lived in this village too, you know?" She snorted, "As for Rasa... I think you simply gave up when one idiot was swapped for the other." She shrugged. "That said... I want Sasori to become the leader of the Puppetry Department. Call him back. I have a deal for him. Chop-chop."

Chiyo could only stare at her leader, for the first time in a few decades gaping in astonishment.

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