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This time, it was Sasori's turn to stand off to the side, watching Akio's dazzling flurry of movements.

Akio casually grabbed two pieces of scrap wood and, taking out a carving knife he always carried, spent just a few minutes carving them into an "Optimus Prime" and a "big truck."

"Look at how cool and imposing these look. Now look at the one you just made… what is that?" Akio muttered under his breath.

Sasori said nothing, staring fixedly at Akio.

"A ninja?"

Akio paused, shaking his head repeatedly. "No, no." His hands had indeed moved quickly just now, but he hadn't used chakra at all.

Sasori hesitated slightly, but didn't pursue the matter. Ninja or not didn't really concern him.

Taking the two wooden carvings, Sasori nodded. "Not bad work."

Akio grinned. "Of course. I'm the legendary Craft God. You don't understand what a Craft God is, do you? In carving, from bottom to top, it goes apprentice, sculptor, master sculptor, grandmaster sculptor, then great grandmaster… and the highest level is Craft God."

Sasori: I may not read much, but don't try fooling me.

He didn't say it out loud, but his expression said everything.

"This kind of appearance… I get it." Sasori decisively changed the subject.

"No sense of humor, boring." Akio muttered, watching as Sasori got busy again.

This time, he didn't stay put, instead circling around to admire Sasori's puppet designs.

"No Mother and Father puppets?" After a lap, Akio didn't see the pair.

"Don't touch anything," Sasori's voice came. Akio curled his lip.

"Just like Chiyo."

Akio stopped poking around. The real masterpieces wouldn't be displayed here anyway, and Sasori's human puppets definitely wouldn't be left lying around.

On the second attempt, Sasori spent even less time–just one hour later, a fairly decent-looking Optimus Prime was sitting before Akio.

Watching it transform, Akio's eyes showed a hint of nostalgia.

"You've seen something like this before?" Sasori sharply caught his expression.

Akio glanced at him and laughed, shaking his head. "That's more like it. A prodigy should have some pride. What, think no one aside from you could make this sort of thing?"

Sasori: "…"

He said nothing more and instead began crafting a smaller puppet toy. This time it was even easier—less than half an hour and it was done.

"Commission complete."

Akio nodded, circling the two toys with a slight frown—still not quite satisfied.

"Isn't a full-wood Optimus Prime a bit off?" Akio muttered.

Walking to the side, he patted the metal shell of a discarded puppet. "Replace the toy's limbs with this material."

Sasori pulled a small bottle from his robe and handed it over. "That part is poisoned. Here's the antidote."

Akio blinked, face stiffening. He wouldn't be poisoned, of course, but since he didn't want to expose himself just yet… he'd have to take the antidote anyway.

"Huh? It's kinda sweet… gulp gulp gulp."

He downed the whole bottle. "Pretty refreshing."

Sasori's eye twitched as he took back the empty bottle. "Antidote: one million ryō."

Akio froze. "Are you trying to scam me?"

Sasori didn't understand what "scam" meant. But he did know: he hadn't even gotten the commission payment yet, and he was already down a bottle of antidote.

Akio sighed emotionally. "The great genius puppeteer of Sunagakure, given who knows how much in research funds by the village, and you're trying to extort your client for a million ryō?"

Looking at Sasori's expressionless face, Akio laughed and shook his head, handing over a banknote worth one million. "You've contributed so many new puppets to the village and they haven't paid you? That can't be right. Must be the Third Kazekage withholding it. You planning to kill him?"

"Enemy village ninja?" Sasori squeezed out those words.

Akio shook his head repeatedly. He was just habitually trying to sow discord.

Swapping in metal arms and legs was a simple fix—in just over ten minutes it was complete, leaving Akio finally satisfied.

"Alright, I'm happy."

He pulled out another million ryō. "This is a tip. Stop pulling scam tricks—it hurts your reputation. Only with tips can you build good karma and pull an SSR."

Skipping over the terms he didn't understand, Sasori silently took the money.

"You seem quite wealthy."

"Of course." Akio struck the pose of a nouveau riche. "I'm a Craft God—I make money by skill. You could've done the same… shame..." Akio continued trying to provoke him.

"Submitting the mission." Sasori left with the two puppets, leaving Akio blinking behind him.

Once again entering the Kazekage's office, Akio met the Third Kazekage.

"Hamura merchant, are you pleased with Sasori's design?" the Kazekage asked expectantly, already thinking about the "extra payment" Akio had mentioned.

"Very satisfied. I even tipped him a million. Though he also extorted another million…"

"Extorted?" The Kazekage blinked.

"It was the antidote fee," Sasori explained briefly.

The Kazekage didn't ask further—since the commission was complete, Akio's ten million ryō now belonged to Sunagakure. As for Sasori's share…

Akio watched in shock as the Kazekage serenely persuaded and pressured Sasori, reducing the seven million he was supposed to get down to five million ryō.

Sasori didn't argue much. He simply took the five million and left.

"Forgive the embarrassment, Merchant," the Kazekage laughed. "As you can see, Sunagakure is rather strained right now. If you have more such tasks in the future, do come again…"

Akio was amused and helpless—making money off puppet toys had become too addictive.

"I don't mind… but is this really okay, Kazekage? Sasori is your most exceptional young genius. If you keep skimming his funds, he might smile on the surface but surely resent you in his heart…"

"It's fine. No need for you to concern yourself. Any other requests?" The Kazekage began seeing him out.

Akio glanced at the two puppets. If he carried them himself, he'd be exposed immediately.

"Get me a carriage so I can take these back," he said.

…

Half an hour later, Akio left Sunagakure driving a horse carriage with two Transformers loaded in the back.

"Money grubbers. Even this shabby cart cost me five hundred thousand. With greed like this, Sasori will turn you into a puppet sooner or later…" Akio muttered.

Two kilometers outside the village, Akio's expression changed. "Why is Sasori seeing me off?"

Sure enough, after another hundred meters, Sasori appeared in his vision.

Sasori's voice was calm: "Follow me, and I shall grant you eternal life."

"…Heh. Very funny."

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