Strange!
Absolutely strange!
Jiraiya pulled his hat low over his face, carefully avoiding the gazes of nearby shinobi and civilians as he stealthily slipped into the strange settlement.
According to his memory, this place should still be some distance from Sunagakure.
But… why were there so many ninja, civilians, and bizarre buildings gathered so close to a hidden village?
[Evil experiments!]
The thought instantly popped into his head.
As the man who considered himself the dream of countless kunoichi across the ninja world, a messenger of peace, the Toad Sage—Jiraiya knew he had to investigate thoroughly. And if this place really was conducting some kind of twisted research...
Then he'd have to destroy it immediately!
This visit to Sunagakure served two purposes:
First, to investigate the situation of any remaining members of the Uzumaki Clan.
Even if that brat had dragged him into a mess, Jiraiya had never forgotten his mission.
Second—and more importantly—was his greatest, most noble task: gathering material!!!
He was, after all, determined to become the greatest author the shinobi world had ever seen. How could he not travel, see the world, and draw inspiration from life itself?
He had never once forgotten these two mission. And since this area was along the way, it was only natural that he'd stop by Sunagakure for a bit of reconnaissance.
As for what happened with Minato…
By the time he received the news, it was already over.
Even though shinobi were always prepared for sacrifice, learning that both Minato and Kushina had died... it still weighed heavily on his heart.
And their child, left orphaned at birth…
He believed the Third Hokage and the village would look after the boy well, especially under the name of the Fourth Hokage's legacy.
But still...
An orphan is still an orphan.
Even so, it wasn't time for him to return yet. If he went back now, he'd probably get buried under a mountain of problems again.
As the future greatest author of the ninja world, how could he let something like the Hokage's seat tie him down?
Losing a man of letters like him would be a massive loss to the ninja world!
Jiraiya kept his body low, avoiding detection as he slipped past ninja and civilians alike, heading toward the building with the most smoke pouring from it.
"Damn, it's hot!"
The Land of Wind was hot enough on its own, but inside here? Even worse.
He frowned and pressed a hand to the wall.
"Tch—hot as hell, just like I thought."
What kind of secret experiments were they conducting in Sunagakure?
After scanning the room and confirming there weren't many people around, he reached out to open the door—
"Huh? Not even locked?"
Without hesitation, he slipped inside.
The room was filled with boxy iron containers. In the center stood two long benches that were clearly crafted by Sunagakure's puppet artisans.
Impressive craftsmanship, really~
Jiraiya quickly scanned the surroundings, then pulled open one of the iron boxes, revealing…
"Clothes?!"
He picked one up and unfolded it.
"Looks just like what those people at the entrance were wearing."
At that moment, as if something occurred to him, a sly grin spread across his face.
And then... he immediately took off his own clothes.
"Oi! What are you still doing here, you rascal?"
Just as Jiraiya finished changing and stepped outside, ready to explore deeper, a middle-aged man walked up and—without even waiting—grabbed him by the arm, sounding mildly annoyed.
"New guy? Don't you have any sense? Lunch break's over already and you're still in the break room?!"
"???"
Jiraiya looked at the man with a confused expression, frowning slightly.
Not a ninja.
Seemed like he understood now.
Looks like I won't have to search for a way in myself.
After a short walk filled with turns and twists, they arrived at another area.
"That section over there… should be for civilians," the man said seriously, glancing at Jiraiya. "And remember—don't go near the furnace."
Jiraiya, however, was frozen in place, staring at the massive furnace before him.
"You've gotta be kidding me… it's just a glass factory?!"
Why would Sunagakure go out of its way to build a glass factory outside the village?
...
"Did it really work?"
Rasa looked curiously at the miniature four-wheel drive car being handed to him by one of his shinobi. He flipped the switch at the back, intrigued.
"Huh. It really is just like I described."
Vrrrrrr—
As the familiar whirring sound kicked in, he placed the car on the sand...
And the whole thing immediately sank into the desert.
"…"
An awkward silence filled the air.
A moment later—
"Ahem!" One of the staff coughed twice to break the silence, then smiled awkwardly as he picked the toy car out of the sand. "Since this is the first version, it can't run on sand yet. My apologies, Lord Kazekage—I should've explained that first."
As he spoke, he brought the car over to a flat area, shook off the sand, and set it down again. With a soft whoosh, it shot forward in a straight line.
"Not bad." Rasa nodded with satisfaction. He looked over at the shinobi beside him. "Can it be voice-controlled? Like—turning, jumping—based on vocal commands?"
"We're… still working on that," the staffer replied with an awkward smile, wiping cold sweat from his forehead. He had no idea where the Kazekage came up with these weird ideas. But seeing Rasa's pleased expression, he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
He frowned thoughtfully. "If we want manual control, though, that would involve our village's puppet techniques. Of course, we could design a kind of interface—something that lets us operate the vehicle remotely through it."
"A remote-controlled car, huh? But that's not very immersive, is it?"
You were supposed to strap on rollerblades and chase after it—that was the proper experience!
Rasa frowned, thinking hard.
"What if we modified the puppet techniques—stripped them down so they're only capable of controlling the car and nothing else?"
"I'm not sure yet. We'd need to run some tests," the staffer said. "But if we're only talking about a few simple functions… it shouldn't be difficult. After all, our puppet arts focus more on modification. When it comes to chakra-based control, there are plenty of ninja villages capable of similar feats."
"In that case… I'll leave it to you." Rasa nodded, satisfied. He stood up and patted the man on the shoulder. "Do your best. If you succeed—once Ebizō retires, you'll be the new head of the toy division!"
"Yes, sir!"
The staffer saluted excitedly.
Meanwhile, back at the glass factory—
"What am I even doing?"
Jiraiya stared blankly at the lifelike glass toad sculpture he had just blown and muttered to himself.
"Shouldn't I be getting out of here already?"
He looked up with a face full of mixed feelings… just in time to see the foreman coming over again to urge him back to work.
"…I wonder if they even pay for this."