"Whew~Whew~"

Asuka had just stepped into the store when he heard a purring sound in his ears.

He glanced at the sleeping shopkeeper, then looked up.

The whole shop is quite tidy, there is no trace of floating soil on the floor and furniture, as if it has just been wiped, and rows of dolls are neatly hung on the walls, according to the fineness of their carvings, it is very likely that they were made by famous teachers.

"Puppet?"

Suppressing the curiosity in his heart, he bent his fingers and knocked on the table, "Hey, wake up, your things have been stolen!" ”

Scold!

As soon as the words fell, the shopkeeper, who was still drooling just now, opened his eyes suddenly, although there was still a trace of confusion in his eyes, but he did not hesitate to pick up the weapon beside him and shouted:

"Leave the stuff behind!

Lao Tzu hasn't opened for eight days, and I didn't expect to meet the first order that didn't give money. ”

Call~

At this time, a gust of wind blew into the shop, bringing in half a catty of sand, and at the same time, it also completely sobered up the shopkeeper.

He looked at the tall young man in front of him, and then at the neatly arranged small puppets on the wall, and suddenly said in a somewhat uncertain tone, "Little brother, you said that someone stole my things?" What is it? ”

"I didn't lose anything just now, but now?"

Looking at the lollipop in the shopkeeper's hand, Asuka rubbed his chin with one hand and thought, "Boss, did you lose your weapon. Lollipop is unlikely to be a thief-proof thing, right? ”

Hearing this, the boss looked at the rainbow-colored lollipop in his hand, and the whole person fell silent instantly.

There was a hint of embarrassment in the air.

The next moment.

I saw him slap the lollipop in front of the bird, and said arrogantly, "You are the first customer in our store in eight days, whether you buy anything or not, this lollipop is your prize for stepping into our store." ”

After speaking, I saw the boss wipe the sweat on his forehead, and after the afterglow swept to the increasingly sparse pedestrians on the street outside, his eyes couldn't help but darken.

"Thank you!"

Asuka kicked the lollipop directly into his arms, and then brought a puppet and put it on the counter, and before he could ask, he saw the owner enthusiastically introduce him.

"It's a toy car!"

As he spoke, the boss released two chakra lines from his fingers and connected them to the toy car, and performed on the spot, "Don't look small about this thing, but it runs very fast, as for how far it can run, it depends on how far the chakra line can be released, if the line is broken, you have to run to pick it up."

It can run sideways from side to side, spin in place, and can climb trees with skillful control, which is very suitable for children. ”

“.”

Looking at the chakra line released by the boss, Asuka looked at the toy car spinning in place on the counter again, frowned and asked, "Boss, are you sure that the child can accurately release the chakra line and control this toy car?"

I'm afraid that children who specialize in puppetry, can play like this, right? ”

"Ahem~"

The boss retracted the chakra line, coughed lightly, and then lowered his voice vigorously, "Adults can play first, and then hand it over to children when they are proficient, ninja-sama from Konoha, do you know why the puppeteer is so powerful?" ”

Asuka fiddled with the toy car and shook his head.

He had seen puppeteers, but the strength of those puppeteers was somewhat unsatisfactory, and the weakness was too obvious, the strong ones could directly blow up their puppets, and those with similar strength could use the chakra knife to cut the chakra line released by the puppeteer.

As for the weak facing the puppeteer

The weak are unlucky even in the face of other ninjas, let alone puppeteers.

At this time, I saw that the shopkeeper glanced at the Konoha forehead guard on Asuka's head, and two flames suddenly appeared in his eyes, and he said excitedly, "Because the puppeteer's inspiration comes from the first Hokage."

According to rumors, the second generation of the Kazekage, Shamon, witnessed the demeanor of the first Hokage when he was a child.

The first Hokage slapped his hands, the chakra in his body exploded, and a large piece of wood rose from the ground, and he was even able to pass his chakra to the trees, causing the trees to grow rapidly, and a giant wooden man appeared, comparable in size and combat power to a complete body Susa Nenghu. ”

Then, I saw him excitedly holding the hands of the Uchiha Asuka, and his voice had a hint of trill, "Later, the second generation of the Wind Shadow - Shamon imitated the Thousand Hands Pillar, he made a wooden figure himself, and then followed the example of the Thousand Hands Pillar and passed the chakra to the wooden man.

The puppeteer, born!! ”

it?

Hearing this, Asuka's pupils dilated instantly, and he stared at the shopkeeper with a shocked expression.

"This is a version I've never heard of!!"

"The birth of the puppeteer is actually related to the Thousand Hands Pillar!!"

As if knowing what Asuka was thinking, the shopkeeper nodded lightly and said with emotion, "I didn't expect the birth of the puppeteer to be related to the first Hokage.

Why are puppeteers powerful? Because the first Hokage was powerful.

Why is this toy fun? Because it was made of wood that I bought from Konoha and is said to have been left behind by the first Hokage many years ago.

This toy children played, and they could feel the will of fire of the original purpose, and the adults played with it. Adults can collect it and keep it for their children, so that they can feel the will of fire in the future. ”

Hearing this, Asuka carefully observed the puppet toy in his hand.

"The workmanship is fine and handsome, the wheels are extremely sleek, and the body has no burrs, which belongs to the boutique of the best." After a fierce compliment, he fiddled with the wooden wheels and gave the shopkeeper a thumbs up and asked.

"Can adults play?"

The shopkeeper laughed at Asuka's praise, but he couldn't hide the smugness in his eyes.

Then, he took out another slurry puppet from under the counter, and said in an extremely low voice, "It's not recommended for adults to play, but adults can study it in advance."

When you get tired of studying, give it to the child, let him practice how to control the chakra more finely, and feel the will of fire in his face. ”

"Is this thing easy to control?"

"It's okay, I've been studying for my son for eight years."

"Boss, how old is your son?"

"Eight years old!"

"Boss, your craftsmanship is very good, bring me five, I'll go home and cough. Do your own research first. ”

Seeing this ninja-sama from Konoha constantly playing with the toy car, the shopkeeper sitting on the chair couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

How did he know the true origin of the puppet, it was just a gimmick.

If it's a ninja from Iwakuin Village who is here today, he can say that he got this thing as inspired by the "Earth Escape: Light and Heavy Rock Technique".

I think that at the beginning, the second generation of the wind shadow -—— Shamen had seen the demeanor of the first generation of the earth shadow.

He is very interested in the first Mekage Nohchi, and then follows the example of the first Mekage and passes the chakra to the stone

"Ninja's money is so good!!"

After sighing in his heart, the shopkeeper looked out through the window, a hint of gloom flashed in his eyes, and muttered, "I just don't know how long I can make money?" ”

Capturing the boss's anomaly, Asuka put away the five toys and wondered.

"What is the boss feeling?"

The shopkeeper didn't mean to hide it, he leaned back in his chair, and his voice revealed melancholy, "In the past few years, Loulan was very lively, and there was an endless stream of tourists.

When there are many tourists, I capsize in the gutter every day."

"Capsized??"

Looking at the puzzled look of the ninja in front of him, the shopkeeper didn't mean to explain.

He can't say that he just introduced the will of fire contained in this puppet, and then a wave of ninjas from Sand Hidden Village came, and he introduced the will of wind contained in the puppet, right?

"It was so lively. Everyday trouble"

Looking at the look of remembrance on the shopkeeper's face, Asuka leaned back in his chair and asked.

"What happened to Loulan?"

"Whew~"

The shopkeeper exhaled a puff of smoke, he looked at the smoke that gradually dissipated in the air, and his voice became low, "Ten years ago, a minister named "An Lushan" came to Loulan, and under his leadership, Loulan's military power gradually became stronger, plundering a lot of water resources around it.

This has also become the basis for the prosperity of the country and an important reason why the oasis has been maintained for a long time.

Later, "An Lushan" was defeated by the Queen's United Ninjas.

People always think about how to defeat the ultimate demon, but they don't think about life after defeating the demon. ”

He turned his head and stared at the forehead guard on Asuka for a long time, and his face showed a hint of complexity.

After the demons were defeated, Loulan became embroiled in wars due to their past grievances over the water resources of others, and the oasis gradually declined due to population growth and water scarcity.

The ninja adults of Sand Hidden Village can live in the desert because of their great strength, but ordinary people cannot survive in the desert.

After the oasis was gradually eroded, the residents who once lived here slowly left, and those of us who held on chose to wait and see because of the unwillingness in our hearts and the deep attachment to our homeland. ”

Speaking of this, the shopkeeper smiled self-deprecatingly.

He looked out the window at the yellow sand, but in his mind came up the scene when Loulan was at its most prosperous, when Loulan was the wind and rain, but the sand could not enter.

"There's no chance, Loulan is finished!!"

"Hey, boss, I listen to what you mean, it seems that I still miss An Lushan a little?"

Asuka directly pulled him out of his memories and said, "I have heard what happened in Loulan back then, and the residents of An Lushan have all captured a place to help him make a puppet army.

In the end, he used a puppet army to act as the country's subjects and deceive the king of Loulan. ”

Hearing this, the shopkeeper stared at the eyes of the ninja from Konoha and nodded sincerely.

He then stretched, and continued, "At first, An Lushan only sent people to arrest people other than Loulan, but as his puppet army was discovered by Shayin Village, he began to panic.

In order to fight against the five great powers, An Lushan turned to capturing his own residents to create puppets.

Otherwise, based on what he did for Loulan and his prestige in Loulan, we should have embraced him. ”

Asuka's brow furrowed slowly.

I don't know if it's his delusion, but I always feel that the shopkeeper's words are mixed with a hint of inexplicability, as if he is missing the original person.

At this time, I saw the shopkeeper's eyes fall on Asuka's arms, or the toy car in his arms to be exact.

He stared at the toy car for a long time, the corners of his mouth rose slightly, revealing an inexplicable smile, and said softly, "I have always believed that no one who can appreciate my craftsmanship is a bad person."

Ninja-sama from Konoha, you'd better leave early.

Loulan is no longer the Loulan it once was, and there is nothing to be nostalgic about here. ”

With that, the shopkeeper pointed to the door, then closed his eyes and ignored the birds.

"Strange people!"

Asuka gave him a deep look and got up to leave the shop.

Call~

A breeze carried half a pound of sand into the shop, and the ground was once again covered with a layer of yellow sand, and the sand scattered everywhere in the store, and many grains of sand fell on the shopkeeper's face and his elaborate toy car.

He slowly opened his eyes, looked at the back of the bird that had gone away, and muttered to himself.

"I've always believed that no one who can appreciate my craft is a bad person, in fact, I'm not a bad person, and the worst thing I've ever done in my life is to drown a scorpion with a soak of urine when I was a child."

"We were just born in different circumstances, and the interests we pursued were not the same, I was born in a small country, and I witnessed the prosperity of the country with my own eyes, but I was forcibly interrupted by external forces."

"We don't know whether An Lushan's plan is right or wrong, and we don't know if An Lushan's plan is followed, whether Loulan will be doomed in the future.

But we know.

His strength is not as good as yours!! ”

Then, he slowly closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually became even.

I don't know how long it took, as if he had dreamed of something, the corners of his mouth turned slightly, and he muttered.

"Anyone who appreciates my craft is not a bad person! There are good people in the eyes of small countries in big countries, and bad people in the eyes of big countries in small countries, and I really hope that we can become friends in the next life. ”

(End of chapter)