forging cool stuff?

It was time. Pinochio had learned the skills. He'd gotten a bit of practice and he had the tools. He'd even gotten a few jobs form ninja in the village asking to repair their own equipment, but when the time came for his own items, He'd ended up heading directly to the ninja shop to get his stuff. It was convenient, but it didn't quite feel right. As he learned and grew as a blacksmith, thoughts flowed through his mind. There was so much he could do to make this armor better. It wasn't quite as good as if he'd made it himself, but with a bit of materials, he could personalize his armor and make it much better than before!

The equipment list took some time. What would he actually want this modified set to do? THe meteoric iron was a given. The enhancement it gave towards durability was far too good to pass up, but what next? It needed a bit of pinochio flare. A bit of pizaz. It needed jewels!! Even before he'd spoken the statement out loud he rested his face in his palm. Saya had abosolutely rubbed off on him. He was going to do it anyway though. I mean, who doesn't love a bit of bling right?

With this decision made he needed to figure out what exactly made his armor pop! Gold was an obvious option. There was a small problem with that though. THe armor he had was effectively cloth that was reinforced with steel wire mesh, then enhanced with chakra. He could swap out some of the steel wire mesh with gold, and he'd actually taken several hours to try, but every attempt to do so ended up with weak points in the armor. Also the mesh was beneath the cloth on the exterior. That meant he could easily put a whole load of gold onto it, but it wouldn't be seen.

(TWC 321)

That just wouldn't do. How could he rationalize spending all the money on gold if it just made his armor weaker? There would have bene no point in all the meteoric iron he'd made. This is where the trouble came in. On one hand, he didn't want to use the gold for obvious reasons explained above. On the other, It had taken him a rediculous ammount of time to forge twenty pounds of gold bars into thin wire that could be put into the armor. What was a boy brought to life after years of being a puppet to do? The gold was turned into chains and bangles. That part was super easy. He could sell that, hopefully at a tidy profit, and fund part of his upgrades. That still left him with what the heck he was supposed to do to set up this armor. then it hit him.

Gemstones.

It was convenient that his trip to the shopping district was on a thursday night. The gemstone shop restocked every monday, and somehow they sold out quickly, so when he got to the door the problem was made easier.

"Exciuse me sir, I was looking to get some awesome gemstones to put into an armor? " Pinochio had planned ahead. Strapped to his back was a white and black stepstool that he quickly released, setting it up at the counter in the center of the shop before stepping up to the top step. The shopkeeper, A much older man with salt and pepper hair looked around for several minutes before pinochi came into view.

(TWc 583)

"Excuse me? Uh. OH! I didn't see you there little feller! What can I do for you?" He had an easy smile, that is until he saw the rage in Pinochio's eyes. THankfully the small taijutsu user was able to hold himself back. He lurched forward, tipping the step stool onto it's front two legs as he nearly jumped over the counter. He felt the balance shift, and realized his decision affected his ability to create, so he allowed the legs to tap back down against the wooden floor. If he beat this man up, there was a good chance it would at the very least mean he would have to pay more for the items. There was also that small chance that putting a shopkeep in the hospital could end with him not being able to buy at all, but like. who considers things like that?! That would just be silly. Money is money.

There was also the small chance that the higher ups in the vilalge would be very upset at the idea that a ninja of their village beat up a civilian. That would be a serious problem. Pinochio had a goal. Since he was officially made alive, many options opened up. He'd wanted nothing more than to see Saya succeed and become a powerful ninja. This is where the pair differed. Saya had gained amazing strength. She was a master of ninjutsu and puppetry, with terrifying techniques that could crush any foe, but she didn't care in the slighest about her position in the village. It was always about the arts for her. With this new body, he could prove to her that his plans were the right way.

(TWC 866)

Where Saya's goal was to ride below the radar, not actually trying to get promotions or do anything of import with her power, Pinochio knew that with rank came power. He needed to push himself to his limits, he needed to meet the ninja in the village who really made things happen, and he needed to figure out what he would need to do to get up to the anbu black ops. As far as he was aware, that was the highest rank possible. It was right? What if there was a secret higher rank. Anbu double black ops. Anbu white ops? There was so much he still needed to learn, but the first step was getting to chuunin. Getting up to a higher rank would be quite dificult if he was in jail for beating someone up.

"Sorry. I um. I am quite short, I get that, But you'll find that I am an adult, with adult money. I was looking for some really cool gemstones that I could put into my armor to give it a bit of a pop. Whatcha got? Maybe some diamonds? Oh! Blood diamonds. rubies? DOuble rubies? Money is not a factor, just let me know what the best and coolest you have is, and We'll work from there. " He was far too excited about this. The shop keeper noticed. Thankfully he was a good hearted soul who wouldn't take advantage of a young ninja with money burning a hole in his pocket. Wouldn't take too much advantage of it at least.

(TWC 1124)

"Well sonny... I'm afraid the only things i have left are a bit on the expensive side. If you've got the coin for it I have two refined jade left over, but someone came in the other day and bought everything else in my stock. I'll have a bit more in on monday, see I get all my new stock in on mondays when the materials convoy comes in. " The man placed a wood case on the counter, unlocking the padlock on the front and, in a way that was clearly just to build tension for no apparent reason at all, he very slowly lifted the lid. THey didn't look like much. It was too palm sized green stones in the shape of diamons, but tit was the only option and pinochio wasn't a fan of having to wait. His eyes sparkled at the opportunity.

"Well. I suppose those will do... But I'm definitely not sure. Maybe if the price was right I would totally consider it I mean. " Even as he tried his best to put on his negotiation face, the excitement in his eyes was too obvious. He wanted to make this armor the best armor in the entire village. It would be even better than that cool set that the unnamed ninja he did work for had. That meant he needed the best BUT, He was icredibly impatient, So these would do. There was tension in the air as the old man's demeanor shifted. The kind eyes disappeared. It was buisiness time.

(TWC 1379)

"Well sonny... I could give you these for... six thousand ryo. " The ring on his finger slid across the glass, making pinochio's eyes twitch as the metal on glass rang in his ears.

"EIGHT THOUSAND! I won't pay a ryo above eight housand. Take it or leave it old man, but know no one will ever pay what you're asking for. THis is your best bet. " Yes. Pinochio was an expert at playing hard ball. He hadn't even listened to the salesman's words before he shot off his own ammount. The fact that he'd said a higher number was completely unimportant. He knew that the power in negotiation was to jump the gun and try to take control of the situation.

"Uh... I.. Tha.. Sure, That's fi--" ONce gain he was cut off as Pinochio's excitement proved his own downfall. Negotiating was actually really fun it seemed. It was like combat. You had to find openings in your opponents form and strike quickly, shifting momentum to ensure a kill shot.

"NINE THOUSAND! NINE AND A HALF TEN GRAND! TEN GRAND AND THAT'S IT! i Won't go a penny above ten no matter what. take it or leave it. I'll walk right now if you don't accept. No need to even think it over! "For any listeners who are counting, or who have a basic understanding of how numbers work, they will realize pretty quickly that he'd managed to almost double the cost he'd been asked to pay, but that wasn't it. "And that is, and i say this with all emphasis because it will not be changed... that is per jewel, not for the pair. "

(TWC 1654)

"Well. I dunno son. That seems like a real steal, but I'll tell you what. You look like an honest person who is a bit down on their luck, so I'll agree to your total. Go ahead and take the time to gather the money and the--" Usually, being interupted over and over would be something that frusterated the old man. He wasn't a fan of people deciding they were too important to listen to the other half of a convorsation, but he had to admit, this was hard to argue with. The rude gesture had made him a handy sum. About fourteen thousand dollars over what he'd expected to get from the small kid. When they'd agreed to the number, it became quite evident that this was just some silly joke meant to waste his time. And then the bags of ryo hit the table. Now listeners, I'm not exactly sure where he'd found two cream colored bags with green money sign symbols on the front, but not only had he gone out of his way for this trip, but within each was ten thousand ryo. There was actually a small dent from the heft of the coin against the wooden counter. He'd need to get that fixed at some point, but thankfully he now had enough money to get completely new counters. Maybe he'd finally get the cool glass ones that most places had so the product could easily be seen without him having to describe everything he had, and then pull cases one by one until they found what they liked.

(TWC 1918)

"It's all there, in big bills. Feel free to count it but you can trust me!" He definitely could not trust him. When it comes to large volumes of cash, one could not ever trust someone else. It was also pretty crazy to suggest that it was all in big bills, given that ryo was uh. Just ryo. Unfortunately, counting twenty thousand ryo one by one would take absolutely forever. Thankfully he had a system. He took the large bags, lifting them one at a time with both hands. His neck bulged at the weight as he hefted the containers one by one to a machine behind him. It looked a bit like an arcade cabinet, with green vinyl wrappings and the word coinstar on the front. It was uh. A coin star machine.

The act of counting took quite some time, and the 2% fee was more than a pain, but also it was his machine so it was less about losing money and more about having to deal with two separate ammounts on screen. After about ten minutes of slowly pouring mountains of coins into the basket, the total showed on screen: twenty thousand ryo. "Alright. Well it looks like everything checks out sonny, so I can now give you your gems. I hope you enjoy your new gemsones, thank you for choosing my shop for all your needs. Pinochio didn't notice, too concentrated on rushing out the door and back to his shop to prepare the armor to recieve these new upgrades, but the shopkeep hopped up, clicking his heels in excitement the moment he was out of sight.

(TWC 2190)

The trip from the shop through the long walkways to the residential district came in a flash. by now, Pinochio wasn't incredibly strong, but boy was he fast. He held the box of jewels close to his chest as he rushed to the front door, but stopped short in the walkway halfway through the front yard. In the yard, shifting and sniffing at the unusually long grass was a group on bunny rabbits just going about their buisiness. That got him thinking. He'd read in last weeks edition of "blacksmithing regents that are really cool for building with and plot convenient to bre learing about right now" that one of the items that can be used to upgrade armor was rabbits fur. It had a number of uses, but he hadn't like read read the article. There was something about sensory, which made him think about the visual effects of his armor, and slammed the magizine closed.

There was a snap sound as he released the clasp holding his weapon at his side. All he needed to do was sneak up and capture one of these hoppy lil fuckers and he could use their pelt to... He would figure that out later. Maybe he could give it double thermal vision.. How would that even work? Could it see like. twice as many people? Maybe it showed two different colors for each of the thermal signatures. That wouldn't be helpful at all. Instead he would see if it could just increase the range of the sensory effects.

(TWC 2446)

"Alright pinochio. Keep your calm. You're a powerful genin with the strength of body to defeat any foe... .How bad could an unarmed bunny actually be? " He bounced back and forth as he tried his best to psyche himself up. His free hand thumped against his face after a small accident testing the weapon hand that ended once again with a weapon in his chest. Thankfully his skin was natrually tough. It wouldn't actually bleed this time. Dropping in his stance, he crept three meters, eyes watching the pair like a hawk. The largest bunny looked up, turning his head so their eyes met. Uh uh.

THeres not actually a way for a bunny to have murder in it's eyes right? How was there a literally fire effect in it's beady black eyes? He knew that ninja beasts existed, but this bunny definitely couldn't be a ninja. They act way different, and would have totally just said something. The plan stayed the same: he pounces on the first bunny, the second runs, he gets his rabbits fur.

He lept. Part one of the plan was going perfectly! He felt the wind in his short hair as he floated through the air. The look on the bunnies eyes was priceless. He was the hunter and they were the prey with their eyes filled with hatred and their spinning round kic--uh oh. He was helpless to stop the flurry of attacks that struck him as tiny bunny duo sent him flying into the wall beside where they were grazing.

(TWC 2703)