Zhao Yufeng as a talking scarecrow that occasionally turns into a mouth on Xie’s arm is the kind of weirdo sidekick that makes urban fantasy novels memorable. Their dynamic screams lifelong friends forced into ridiculous circumstances. The dialogue between them is gold — “You look like braised beef. Get down.” / “Isn’t that disgusting?” It’s the perfect blend of deadpan annoyance and deep fondness. I love that Zhao Yufeng is technically the knowledgeable one, the actual Puppet Master by upbringing, but he’s stuck in a scarecrow body and has to teach his messy friend to do the work. The desperation in his voice when he laments saving for a body a hundred years at a time feels genuine. But he’s also a little shit, openly mocking Xie for the school scandal even though his parasitic mouth is the reason he lost his pants. These two really bring out each other’s chaos. I ship them as brothers-in-arms, but the whole “parasitism” method is… something else.
He Wenhui’s phone apology to Chen Cheng felt genuine. He admits he’s at a dead end and appeals to responsibility. That’s mature. But then Chen Cheng’s silence before agreeing was a bit dramatic. I half expected him to demand money immediately.
The setting of the Senju clan grounds and the Hokage building feels vivid. The author puts effort into describing the atmosphere — the moonlight on the coffin, the coldness of the laboratory, the bustling village. Those small visual details help me picture the world better.
The description of Chu Qiu's sleep – "an Unknown Space forming in his Sea of Consciousness, black and white light condensing into a Taiji Bagua Diagram" – sets up his special background. He's clearly not a normal kid. His soul is marked by fate, and the book's power is already integrating with him. But I wish there was more foreshadowing of this earlier. The classroom stuff is fun, but the sudden jump to cosmic power feels a bit jarring. Still, it's a hook that makes me want to read more.