Naruto: Tenseigan Eye

"Mito-sama wants to see me?" Shinki asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yes," Tsunade confirmed. "She said you should come with me after work. I'm not sure what Grandma wants, but it might be about Kushina. Be careful when you go."

Tsunade hurried off, the weight of her responsibilities in the medical department pressing down on her.

Strange, Shinki thought. If it was urgent, he could have gone to the Senju ancestral house now rather than waiting to go with Tsunade after work. It seemed bound to create unnecessary confusion.

Meeting with Uzumaki Mito was significant. Her status in the village meant that every move she made sent ripples through the Hokage's office. 

But why dwell on it? It was Mito who requested the meeting, not him. No use overthinking and causing himself stress.

In the hospital lounge, Shinki worked diligently, assembling materials until a new puppet was completed. It was his first attempt, and the result was… less than appealing.

"This is hideous," he muttered, scrutinizing the odd-shaped creation in front of him.

Though he had succeeded in crafting a puppet, it was a subpar effort. It didn't look quite human or animal-like—just an unrefined figure.

Shinki sighed, unwilling to tolerate an ugly product. He quickly disassembled the puppet. The materials were inexpensive, so it didn't bother him much to start over. It was better to waste a few resources than to let an unattractive puppet exist.

As he deconstructed the puppet, Shinki reflected on his process and realized his mistakes.

Puppeteers were rare in Konoha, as rare as giant pandas in his past life. Resources—books and scrolls—about puppet-making were scarce and mostly acquired from the Sand Village through various means.

Sand Village puppets were utilitarian and equipped with an array of functions for combat, which often made them look strange and unfriendly. Shinki wasn't a traditional puppeteer and didn't need to adhere to Sand Village conventions.

Thanks to the Tenseigan, he didn't need to manipulate puppets directly; he could imbue them with life and command them from a distance.

There was no need for numerous functions or excessive parts.

With renewed determination, Shinki began assembling another puppet. Soon, a 50 cm tall humanoid figure stood on the table. It wasn't perfect due to limited materials, but it was better than before.

I need to gather more resources, Shinki thought. And there's no need to limit myself to humanoid forms. Strong animal corpses could make excellent puppets.

The idea seemed promising. 

Ninja corpses were taboo in Konoha; using them for puppets would instantly mark someone as dark and suspicious. Shinki had no interest in such practices. Instead, using powerful animal corpses was a much more acceptable approach, providing versatility and even the potential for mounts.

Having made up his mind, Shinki resolved to start collecting animal corpses.

After a quick lunch, he went to the Hokage's office building to submit a mission request. The task was to gather the corpses of powerful creatures, with rewards linked to the strength and type of the animal.

The ninja world was filled with formidable creatures due to the influence of chakra.

There were wild boars as large as houses, giant serpents resembling trains, and birds with wingspans as wide as fighter jets. Such creatures were common, and Konoha regularly assigned missions to reduce their numbers.

Despite their size and power, these animals were not considered delicacies. Ninjas often killed them, collected proof of their completion, and discarded the bodies.

Apart from some minor research value, their corpses were mostly ignored.

Having issued the mission, Shinki returned to work at the hospital.

---

"Hokage-sama, here are today's mission requests from the Mission Department."

The Mission Department compiled daily mission requests and sent them to the Third Hokage for review. The Hokage would personally assign important missions to suitable teams, while simpler ones were left for any available ninja to take.

For many ninjas, the income from missions was crucial for their livelihood. If Konoha ever faced a shortage of external commissions, most ninjas would be unemployed and starving.

Ninjas weren't involved in production, and the village couldn't support so many of them without consistent mission income.

Failing too many missions hurt credibility, and fewer commissions would be disastrous for those reliant on this income. That's why, even during wartime, Konoha allocated some ninjas to handle missions.

The fall of the Sand Village's economy after the Second Ninja World War was due to the daimyo's disappointment with their performance. Believing his investment was wasted, he cut funding and redirected tasks to Konoha. This left the Sand Village impoverished and struggling.

This made the Third Hokage pay close attention to the Mission Department's commissions. Every day, he would carefully sort through the tasks, assigning those with low rewards to the Mission Department and choosing teams for more important ones.

Today, the Third Hokage's routine pause came when he read one specific request.

"A task to collect the corpses of powerful creatures… with rewards based on their strength. The task is marked as ongoing."

He frowned slightly, holding his pipe as he read the name of the requester: Hyuga Shinki.

Why would Shinki issue such a request? Was it for research purposes?

Shinki's request to join the Medical Department was motivated by his desire to treat blood-related diseases, as noted in his reports. Researching for that reason made sense.

Many ninjas, like Orochimaru, conducted experiments to study and improve techniques.

Long-term missions were beneficial for the village and its ninjas, and a task to collect powerful animal corpses had its merits.

After a moment's thought, the Third Hokage instructed, "Send this document to the Medical Department for Tsunade to review. Also, confirm the reward details with Hyuga Shinki."