"No, just a little disagreement on training."
"A puppet master and a Wind Release ninja can argue about training?" Temari asked, puzzled.
"See?" Daigan laughed. "I said I'm a Wind Release ninja, and Kankuro insists I'm a puppet master. I'm training Wind Release ninjutsu so diligently—how do I look like a puppet master?"
"Is that true?" Temari looked at Daigan, who spoke exaggerated words with a seemingly sincere face, then glanced at Kankuro, waiting for his answer.
"That's right. Daigan, this disgrace to puppet masters, is actually using puppetry as a cover to delve into Wind Release. I just find it unsightly..."
"Kankuro..." Temari patted his shoulder, smiling as she mediated. "Daigan might not be a serious person, but he chose correctly this time. Puppetry has no future; Wind Release suits us Sand Ninja better. Do you want to learn from me too? It's not too late..."
"No need. Puppetry is just fine!"
Kankuro, in a foul mood, stood up. "I have something to do. I'm leaving first. You guys continue!"
With that, he turned and left.
Watching Kankuro's retreating back, Temari wiped the smile from her face and spoke seriously to Daigan.
"You. Don't provoke Kankuro casually. Don't think just because we're familiar you can say whatever you want!"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Daigan feigned a confused expression.
"Don't play dumb! I don't care what you said to Kankuro, but if you dare bully him, I'll make you pay!"
"As if. How could I possibly bully Kankuro..."
Ignoring Daigan's defense, Temari continued on her own. "Kankuro hasn't had many friends since childhood. Being the Fourth Kazekage's child didn't bring him any benefits; instead, it got him ostracized by other kids. So he always holed up in his room playing with puppets..."
Kankuro, who maintained a "keep away" attitude from a young age, hid most of his emotions behind hideous puppet face paint. Only his close family could understand that Kankuro was also a boy longing for friends his own age.
"If you can be friends with Kankuro, I'm happy to see it happen. But don't assume you can be unscrupulous. If I discover you have any bad intentions, as his sister, I'll be the first to not spare you!"
Without waiting for Daigan's explanation, Temari turned and strode away.
"What a temperamental young master and young miss," Daigan muttered with a bitter smile.
Daigan, an only child in this life, had never truly experienced the affection between siblings.
The three seemed out of sync: Gaara was a troubled child with autistic tendencies; Kankuro was a deeply hidden, awkward tsundere; and Temari was a brave girl—shrewd and calculating, yet passionate as fire, longing to be a good sister.
Though their temperaments differed greatly, the bond between them was real. After Gaara's change of heart later, he would become a responsible man with immense charisma.
Daigan didn't take the lecture from the siblings to heart.
The struggle over ninja paths wasn't just about the Will of Fire or the clash between Daimyo and Kage. Like the conflict between Kekkei Genkai and non-bloodline users in Kirigakure, Sunagakure had similar issues with puppet masters.
Puppetry was widespread in Sunagakure, but easy to learn and hard to master. There weren't many top-tier experts. To maintain status and unity, the niche but powerful elite puppet masters formed cliques, promoting the advantages of the art while covering up the dark history of manipulating comrades' corpses. They were particularly radical about the ban on Human Puppets.
This tradition was old, peaking after Sasori of the Red Sand created the Human Puppet technique and mysteriously vanished.
"Where there are people, there is politics. I get it! But relying solely on puppetry really isn't enough."
The entire Sunagakure didn't even have the ability to stop Sasori and Deidara. The Fifth Kazekage was kidnapped in plain sight—a humiliation comparable to the Third Kazekage vanishing without a trace.
Even with Human Puppets, who could be more formidable than Sasori? He invented and perfected the forbidden technique.
In the later stages, Sunagakure's only high-end combat power was Gaara. Baki counted as half, and even Temari and Kankuro were lacking.
If Daigan developed according to his current strength, he might not necessarily be stronger than Temari or Kankuro in three years.
He could accept not beating the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki. He could accept being inferior to Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. But if he couldn't beat Temari, how would he assert his authority at home later? The head of the household needed face!
"It's good that you left. I can enjoy the training ground alone!"
Since he had decided to use Wind Release as his main combat force for the near future, his current level was far from sufficient.
He hadn't gone down the path of a pure assault ninja not only because he lacked the legacy and the massive chakra to support a Rasenshuriken system like Naruto's, but largely because he saw the potential in combining Wind Release with the atmosphere.
The Polarizing Light Killing Formation, which manipulated air density to distort light, was just one application. An ambition Daigan had never shown anyone was...
Flight. The dream that humanity can never shake after looking up at the sky!
Very few ninja in the world could fly.
Becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki allowed flight; possessing the Rinnegan or Tenseigan to manipulate repulsion and gravity allowed flight; achieving Six Paths Mode allowed flight; Fu, the perfect Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, could fly; Konan could fly with paper wings; Gaara flew on sand; Deidara flew on clay puppets; Sai, the "Divine Pen," could fly; Onoki used Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique to fly; and Sasuke could fly with wings in Cursed Seal Level 2.
Aside from these, only large flying summons could grant a ninja flight capabilities.
Daigan wanting to fly using Wind Release wasn't a delusion.
The Light-Weight Rock Technique essentially lightened the body to drift with the wind. Daigan didn't know this gravity-controlling Earth Release. One method to fly was to increase wind power to blow himself up, but that was too difficult; no amount of chakra could sustain it.
Another feasible method was using airfoil theory—utilizing lift to fly and glide in the air. This saved much more energy.
Flapping wings frequently was too exhausting. Gliding downward or soaring using updrafts saved significant stamina and chakra.
Regardless, to fly, one first needed a pair of wings. Daigan was born human and had no wings, but that didn't stop him from building a puppet that did.
Daigan brought out a strange puppet he had made long ago but never shown because he couldn't use it.
Its general shape was like a triangular shuttle fitted with slender wings, presenting an inverted V-shape overall. The wingspan exceeded six meters—the largest among all the puppets Daigan had built.
At a glance, it looked like a shrunken strategic bomber. The dual-sided structure referenced the wings of golden plovers and albatrosses, designed to maximize natural wind power to extend flight distance.
Back in the Land of Wind, Daigan had considered testing it, but without a technique like Wind Release: Gale Palm to provide initial thrust for takeoff, merely jumping from a height to glide was pointless.
"Starting today, your name is 'Phantom.' Whether I can escape with my life in a crisis depends on how fast you fly."
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