This place was likely one of Sunagakure's puppet material production bases.
An hour was more than enough time for gathering.
The real challenge would be in the puppet-making phase that followed.
Two hours was a very tight window for building a puppet. Though many materials here were high-quality, most of them required extensive processing before they could be used.
In other words, he needed to find materials that were easy to work with—or ideally, materials that could be used immediately—while also ensuring a certain level of quality.
The best option would be animals that possessed chakra since chakra-conductive materials were most effective when chakra already flowed through them.
Just like the most powerful puppets in Sunagakure were human puppets, all of which had been crafted by powerful ninjas when they were alive.
But human puppet crafting was complicated—requiring dissection, chemical soaking, and preservation—all of which took time. Not to mention it required deep knowledge of a specific organism's anatomy. It wasn't the optimal option for Shimizu right now.
"Still… that doesn't mean I won't use them."
He flicked a kunai with a snap of his hand—it flew precisely and struck the weak point of a venomous snake hidden in the bushes.
All he needed were parts from such creatures.
Walking up, Shimizu snapped off a branch and prodded the snake's mouth.
Sure enough, it wasn't fully dead yet. Its brain was dead, but the nerves still had some activity.
After confirming it couldn't attack, Shimizu swiftly extracted the venom fangs and poison sac, then turned and left.
The rest of the snake had some value, but he had a strict 15-kilogram weight limit, so he could only carry the most valuable pieces.
"If I'm limited to 15 kilograms of materials, that means I can only make micro or small-sized puppets. The puppet's frame can't be made of heavy metal—and I don't have the time to harvest and smelt it anyway. Ideally, I need bones from small chakra-infused animals—they conduct chakra better. Otherwise, I'd have to use substitutes like bamboo."
Shimizu controlled his Fatty puppet, extending the serrated blade from its wrist to rapidly cut down a tree.
At the same time, he collected the tree's seeds and planted a few around the area.
People from Sunagakure were always mindful of replacing any tree they cut down.
This tree species was called White Ironwood. Its timber was solid and hard like iron, yet relatively light and flexible—commonly used to make weapon handles or puppet components. Shimizu planned to use it as the main material for his puppet.
He opened the storage compartment on Fatty's back and began loading in the gathered wood.
Fatty had originally been a transport-type puppet used for teaching, so it naturally had storage and carrying functions—though normally, it carried bandages, disinfectants, and other life-saving supplies.
It also had a secondary compartment linked to its arm launchers for storing poison needles and kunai.
"Next, I need to find something to serve as the puppet's skeleton."
Shimizu moved out, heading toward a low-lying area in the terrain.
If there was water, it would likely be there.
Larger animals couldn't survive without a steady supply of water.
And any creature that could dominate a water source would naturally be powerful—and likely possessed chakra.
Other puppet users from Sunagakure clearly had the same idea. When Shimizu reached the riverside, there were already traces of others passing through.
Fortunately, the Emerald of the Wind oasis was huge—its status in Sunagakure was comparable to the Forest of Death in Konoha. As long as he moved around a bit, there was more than enough space for all seventy-nine puppet masters to gather materials without conflict.
After all, this was likely one of the village's strategic puppet material sources.
"There are no signs of large animals here. Mostly creatures like sand foxes or river otters—this must be the territory of some powerful beast."
Following the upstream path, Shimizu quickly found what he was looking for:
Feces.
And the smell of urine under the trees.
This was clearly a territory marker left by some kind of animal.
That gave Shimizu a trail to follow.
Tracking animals was far easier than tracking ninjas. Any trained shinobi would instinctively leave no trace and might even mislead trackers—but animals didn't.
"So… that cat, huh?"
Shimizu stood on a tree trunk, gazing at a large feline sprawled on a rock in the distance.
It was a lynx, with tufts of black fur on its ears that looked almost like horns. Its fur was a mix of tawny brown and white, and it was significantly larger than a typical lynx—nearly 1.5 meters long.
"That's the one."
He narrowed his eyes, reaching for his waist and pulling out kunai, shuriken, and wire, quickly setting up a few traps. Then he spread his fingers wide, shooting out chakra threads that attached precisely to Fatty's limbs and torso. Under Shimizu's control, the puppet began to creep toward the lynx.
As it turned out, stealing with a puppet was much harder than sneaking personally.
When the lynx was still over twenty meters away, it suddenly perked up, crouched low, and let out a low, guttural growl—typical of big cats.
This wasn't the purring sound of a kitten—it was a warning.
"Sand Secret Technique: Thousand Poison Needles!"
Fatty's face opened to reveal a dark panel covered in firing holes. Rows of poisoned senbon needles shot out toward the lynx. Simultaneously, its serrated blade extended from the left arm as it charged in with heavy steps.
"Roar!"
The lynx let out a sharp cry and leaped sideways to dodge the needles. It tried to circle around, aiming for the puppet's weak points like its neck.
Shimizu smirked.
That lynx's screech reminded him of a certain blue cartoon cat.
The thought vanished as quickly as it came—just as the lynx pounced on Fatty.
While Fatty had decent offense, speed was its main weakness.
Fortunately, it was a puppet—its neck wasn't a weak point, and Shimizu had also prepared control-type tools just for fast opponents like this.
"Sand Secret Technique: Auxiliary Mechanism Maneuver!"
Fatty's arms are detached, revealing thick ropes that shoot out and wrap around the lynx.
"Rrraah! Rrraah! Rah!"
The lynx thrashed wildly, letting out panicked howls.
Footsteps rustled—Shimizu stepped out from the bushes. From his tool pouch, he pulled out several senbon needles soaked in the juice of desert poison cacti and threw them at the lynx.
The toxin was a neurotoxin, designed to paralyze.
As the poison took effect, the lynx's cries grew weaker, and eventually, it stopped struggling.
(End of Chapter)