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Sunagakure was poor.

Especially in recent years—it had grown even poorer.

No one knew what was going through the Daimyō of the Land of Wind's head, but he had ordered a reduction in military forces and pushed for a "streamlined elite force" strategy. He would only allocate 150 million ryō per year to the village. At this rate, Sunagakure could barely keep the pot boiling.

And yet, the reward for a single S-rank mission usually ranged between 5 to 8 million ryō. For just a puppet toy, Akio was ready to spend 10 million.

Faced with such a staggering amount of money, the Third Kazekage—without a shred of pride—put aside all his tasks and amicably started chatting with Akio. Anyone who could casually throw out 10 million ryō had to have at least ten times that amount in their coffers...

At that thought, the Kazekage suddenly sensed something was off. He'd met all the renowned wealthy merchants in the Land of Wind, and Akio clearly wasn't one of them. But his attire unmistakably resembled that of a local.

"What should I call you?"

The question caught Akio off guard. He hadn't even thought of a name for this false identity.

"Call me Hamura," he said after a beat. After the Sage of Six Paths, now even his younger brother couldn't escape Akio's grasp.

"Hamura? Where are you from?"

Akio blinked. "Do I have to explain where I'm from, where I'm going, how many family members I have, and how many cows are in my field just to make a toy?"

The Kazekage took a deep breath. What a bunch of nonsense...

After frowning in thought for a moment, the Third Kazekage decided not to overthink it. The man across from him clearly looked like an ordinary civilian. How much trouble could he cause? And if he was here to hand money over to Sunagakure—so much the better.

"Ten million ryō as a commission. I'll make an exception and classify this as an S-rank mission. We'll assign one of our best puppet masters to create the toy."

Akio frowned. "Ten million isn't guaranteed to be yours. If the work is good, I'll pay more. If it's bad, I'll deduct from the fee."

"Oh?" The Kazekage's eyes lit up with joy. He completely ignored the "deduct" part and only heard "pay more."

He waved his hand, and an Anbu agent instantly appeared.

"Go call Elder Chiyo."

Akio's expression darkened slightly. He was quite familiar with Chiyo—if she recognized him, the news would spread fast. Uzumaki Akio disguises himself to buy a toy for a kid... yeah, that would be embarrassing.

"Elder Chiyo is one of Sunagakure's top puppet masters and a brilliant designer."

In truth, the village's best puppet designer now was Sasori, but Chiyo was a better fit for this commission. After all, ninja missions were split between the shinobi and the village. Chiyo was "more selfless," meaning the village would receive a larger portion of the reward.

"I've long heard of Elder Chiyo's name in Sunagakure. I'll be counting on you," Akio said, playing along.

In less than ten minutes, Chiyo arrived. She had been working with Sunagakure's elite puppet masters, researching ways to give puppets life—a fact even the Kazekage was aware of. When she received the urgent summons, she thought something serious had happened.

"A puppet toy?" Chiyo looked stunned, barely stopping herself from saying Are you joking?

"Yes. This guest, Hamura, is willing to spend 10 million ryō—or more—for a toy for his grandson. The mission is classified as S-rank."

"I see." Chiyo quickly understood. She was well aware of the village's financial woes. Clearly, they had stumbled upon someone who didn't value money.

"Hamura, was it? What kind of toy do you want?" Chiyo turned to Akio.

That question stumped him. How was he supposed to explain it?

"If I say Optimus Prime, you probably won't get it, right? Autobots? Transformers?"

Chiyo shook her head, confused. The Kazekage had the same expression.

"Okay, how about... something that goes ka-ka-ka-ka-ka, and can transform?" Akio started making sound effects and even jiggled his body for emphasis.

Chiyo's face stiffened. She glanced at the Kazekage, her expression saying, Is this guy really good for 10 million ryō?

The Kazekage merely spread his hands, equally exasperated.

If it weren't for the precedent it would set—to rob a mission client—he'd have already taken action. He'd been chatting with this mysterious "rich lunatic" for far too long.

"Alright," Chiyo sighed. "I'll take the mission."

She immediately upgraded her difficulty estimate several levels and began treating it as a true S-rank assignment.

Akio didn't say another word. Afraid of blowing his cover, he simply handed over the silver bills and watched as the Kazekage started filing the paperwork.

Just as he was about to write down the assigned shinobi, Chiyo stopped him.

"Add Sasori's name as well. We might need his help on this one."

The Kazekage hesitated but complied. After all, Akio had said he would dock pay for shoddy work.

With the commission complete, Akio followed Chiyo to Sunagakure's "Puppet Research Facility." Of course, that wasn't its official name—Akio made it up after seeing the room full of abandoned puppets.

The facility consisted of many rooms, big and small, each belonging to different puppet masters. Based on size, they were divided into three tiers.

The largest three rooms included Chiyo's.

"Who are the other two for?" Akio mentally ran through a few candidates.

"One belongs to my younger brother, and the other to my grandson," Chiyo said, a hint of pride in her tone.

"Sasori is only fourteen or fifteen and already holds such status in Sunagakure. If he hadn't gone astray, he'd probably be the next Kazekage," Akio thought, genuinely impressed.

Inside Chiyo's workspace, she turned around and said, "Hamura, please describe in detail the puppet toy you want."

Akio frowned, unsure where to begin.

"Let's see... a humanoid puppet, about two meters tall. It should be able to disassemble and reassemble. And it should transform—ka-ka-ka-ka-ka—into a car. No, a truck."

He started squirming again, drawing another frown from Chiyo.

"What's a truck?" she asked, ignoring the onomatopoeia and bizarre body language.

"You know what a carriage is, right?"

Chiyo nodded.

"A truck is like that but with four wheels and the ability to carry a lot more."

"I see." Chiyo frowned in thought. She roughly understood what he meant.

"It's a clever design. I wonder who came up with it."

"Me, of course," Akio declared confidently.

Chiyo obviously didn't believe him. From his jumbled explanation alone, she could tell he wasn't the designer.

But she didn't call him out. With a flick of her finger, she released her chakra threads, and a puppet flew into the room.

"About this tall?"

Akio glanced at it—surprised that Sunagakure actually had puppets that large. It was about two meters tall.

"Yeah, close enough. But the key is the transformation. Ka-ka-ka-ka-ka, you get it?" Akio was back to his antics again.

"I got it," Chiyo replied with a blank face.

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