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Elder Chiyo's introductory scroll was a revelation. It provided the structural logic Sayo had been missing, systematically explaining the engraving of core runes and the delicate art of condensing Chakra Threads. He devoured the data, mapping the scroll's traditional "energy flow" theories onto his own knowledge of electrical engineering and fluid dynamics.
Yet, the scroll was an entry-level manual. It left the most profound engineering challenges—high-output energy transmission and material fatigue—vague. Restless and needing more, Sayo gathered his courage. With his father's hesitant directions and a stern reminder to be polite, Sayo set out for Chiyo's residence.
The high-ranking residential district was a labyrinth of orderly stone. Sayo eventually reached an ancient courtyard and knocked firmly on the heavy wooden door.
The door creaked open just a crack. It wasn't Chiyo.
A pale, boyish face looked down at him with startling indifference. The boy's hair was a shock of red, like a dormant flame, and his deep purple eyes were as cold and hollow as a desert well. He looked at Sayo not as a person, but as a minor, uninteresting object.
Sayo realized instantly who he was: Sasori. The legendary prodigy. The boy whose parents had been cut down by the White Fang, leaving him a hollow shell in the heart of the Sand.
"Is Granny Chiyo home?" Sayo asked, maintaining his composure.
Sasori's gaze lingered on Sayo's oversized, faded uniform and his sickly pallor. "No," he said, his voice a flat monotone. "What do you want?"
"I... she gave me a scroll," Sayo held up the leather roll. "There are parts I don't understand. I came for guidance."
Sasori stared at the scroll. A microscopic ripple of emotion passed through his eyes—recognition of his grandmother's handiwork—before vanishing back into the void. "She won't be back for a while," he said. He began to close the door, but Sayo's eyes caught something through the gap.
Beyond Sasori, in a room at the back of the courtyard, was a workshop. It was cluttered with precision tools and something Sayo had never seen in the maintenance bay: half-finished puppet limbs of such exquisite complexity they made the village's standard models look like children's toys.
"Are those... yours?" Sayo blurted out, his technical obsession overriding his caution. "That's incredible!"
The praise was raw and sincere. It wasn't the pitying look of an elder or the fearful reverence of a peer. It was the awe of one craftsman recognizing a master. Sasori paused. He looked at the frail child whose eyes were suddenly blazing with intellectual hunger.
"Come in," Sasori said, pulling the door open.
The workshop smelled of pine resin, cold steel, and specialized chemical coatings. On the workbench, Chakra-Conducting Metal Plates were being engraved with runes so dense they looked like lace. Sayo was mesmerized. He walked to the bench, his eyes glued to a limb assembly.
"This joint..." Sayo moped, his mind racing. "It isn't a conventional bearing. Is it a miniature composite joint made of elastic metal sheets? That would eliminate rolling friction, but the material's fatigue threshold must be insane... And this rune, why is it in the internal interlayer? To prevent energy dissipation during high-output bursts? It's genius..."
Sasori stood behind him, his purple eyes widening in genuine surprise. This brat wasn't just looking; he was diagnosing. In seconds, the child had identified the two most difficult innovations in Sasori's current project.
"You understand it?" Sasori asked.
Sayo snapped back to reality, looking sheepish. "The scroll had basics, but this... this is a different level. I don't fully understand the 'how,' but I see the 'why.' It's brilliant." Sayo looked up at the red-haired boy. "Senior Sasori? Could I ask... about the stress analysis of this composite joint? And the energy guidance efficiency of the internal rune?"
The terminology was strange—half-ninja, half-engineer—but the questions were razor-sharp.
Sasori walked to the bench. He picked up the joint Sayo had been admiring. For the first time, he spoke with something other than complete apathy. "Conventional bearings fail in the grit of the desert. This structure uses elastic deformation to replace rolling elements. The drawback is fatigue strength..." He pointed to the rune. "External runes are easily damaged by impact or energy feedback. Internalizing them increases the resistance but improves the stability of the string connection."
The lesson lasted only fifteen minutes, but for Sayo, it was like being handed a master's degree. Sasori's explanations were cold and clinical, yet they solved dozens of problems Sayo had been struggling with for weeks.
Finally, Sasori went silent, his expression returning to a frozen mask. He had reached his limit for social interaction.
"Thank you, Senior Sasori!" Sayo bowed deeply. "I learned more than I can say!"
Sasori merely gave a faint "Hmph" and turned back to his carving knife, ignoring the boy entirely.
Sayo left the house, his heart racing with the thrill of the data he had just acquired. He didn't see the faint flicker in Sasori's eyes as the red-haired boy looked at the component Sayo had praised. For a brief moment, in that cold, silent workshop, the crushing loneliness of the "genius" had been held at bay by a child who spoke the same mechanical language.
Sayo had sought a teacher. He had found a silent, indifferent rival—and a glimpse into the future of puppet warfare.
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