Puppeteer and the Seven-Tails

Yayoi's expression went blank for a moment when he heard the name Black Steel Forest. He frowned, seemingly recalling something.

In fact, this was not the first time he had dispatched search parties to look for the Seven-Tails.

The immense reserves of pure Chakra possessed by the Tailed Beasts were something he desperately needed at the moment.

Thus, one night several months ago, he had gone alone to Black Steel Forest to search for traces of the Seven-Tails.

The good news was that he had successfully found the Seven-Tails back then.

The bad news was that someone had gotten there first.

It was a black-haired man dressed in black shinobi attire, with layered red armor over it.

The back of his clothes bore a fan crest, and he had a pair of striking red eyes—the Sharingan.

There was no doubt that he was a shinobi from the Uchiha Clan.

Yayoi had hidden far away at the edge of the battlefield, watching the Seven-Tails fight that male Uchiha shinobi with the Sharingan... no, that was wrong. He had simply watched the Seven-Tails get brutally beaten by that man.

A giant warrior formed from Chakra wielded a Chakra sword. The flying sword slash easily cleaved through several mountain peaks miles away. Another sword strike split the center of Black Steel Forest in two, and the final slash sent the Seven-Tails fleeing for its life.

Perhaps because he found the Seven-Tails too weak and unworthy of his status, the Uchiha man merely watched its pathetic retreating figure. He did not pursue it, instead turning away and leaving in disappointment.

The Chakra sword's immense range and the terrifying shockwaves it caused had even sent Yayoi flying and tumbling at the edge of the battlefield.

Left with no choice, Yayoi had expended a massive amount of Chakra and used an Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall beyond his limits, barely managing to block the tsunami-like shockwave at the battlefield's edge.

Then, without a second thought, he turned and fled, terrified that even one step too slow would cost him his life.

After returning, Yayoi remembered feeling utterly dazed. He felt certain that he had watched a fake Naruto in his previous life.

Whenever he thought of that Uchiha man casually using basic attacks that night to carve the forest into pieces, collapse mountains, reverse rivers, split canyons into the earth, and send the Seven-Tails fleeing with a single sword strike...

Yayoi felt that this Warring States Era was complete garbage.

He later learned the identity of that man with the Sharingan.

One of the two future founders of Hidden Leaf Village, and the current head of the Uchiha Clan—Madara Uchiha.

A man famed alongside Hashirama Senju, the head of the Senju Clan.

"..."

Over the years, Yayoi had remained entrenched within the territories of the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Iron. His knowledge of the outside world had almost entirely come through information carried by traveling merchants.

Who knew how many hands that information had passed through? It had long since become distorted.

He had only heard that the wars in the Land of Fire were incredibly intense, but he had no idea exactly how intense they were.

Moreover, he had once fought shinobi from the Hyuga Clan. Though the Hyuga Clan was powerful, if he developed further on his side, it was not as though he could not fight them. At the very least, they had not driven him to despair.

But Madara Uchiha... faced with that towering figure like a demon god, Yayoi could not muster even the slightest will to fight.

Compared to him, the Susanoo used by the future Uchiha Itachi was as fragile as a baby.

Yayoi recalled the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, fighting the elderly Third Hokage in the story while in an Impure World Reincarnation body... even if he had been weakened, was that not an absurd degree of weakening?

Wasn't the Third Hokage supposed to be the strongest Hokage?

How many versions would the First Hokage need to be buffed through before he could fight Madara Uchiha, who could split several mountain peaks apart with one sword strike?

And how exactly had Kakuzu fought Hashirama Senju and still not been beaten to death?

Could it be that, just like when Yayoi faced Madara Uchiha, he had cast a ninjutsu at the edge of the battlefield to block the aftershock of his opponent's attack, then fled at full speed? Did that count as officially fighting him?

"Lord Yayoi, should we act now? The Seven-Tails has not recovered from its severe injuries and is extremely weak right now. This is the best time to capture it, with the greatest chance of success."

Kakuzu's suggestion interrupted Yayoi's thoughts.

"Mm. But only you need to come with me."

Yayoi came back to his senses and nodded.

The shogunate of the Land of Night now had several thousand samurai who had mastered Chakra techniques, while there were only six or seven hundred shinobi.

Among them, there were only around twenty samurai and shinobi combined who possessed Jonin-level strength.

Kakuzu was one of the strongest among them and could be rated as elite. (Equivalent to Kakashi's level at the beginning of the story.)

As the leader, Yayoi's strength was roughly equal to three of the current Kakuzu.

If his naturally gifted special Active Chakra was included, he could heal himself without hand seals in terms of healing ability.

When it came to medical ninjutsu, he believed that there were no more than a few people in the Ninja World who could rival him.

So, on that basis, perhaps another Kakuzu had to be added.

After the final calculation, his full explosive power was equivalent to four Kakuzus.

"We do not need the others?"

Kakuzu was slightly stunned.

There were still several shinobi in the Land of Night who were only a level below him. Against a Tailed Beast, they could provide some restraint and would not be defeated in a single strike.

"No. Too many people will only create chaos. Against a Tailed Beast, it is best to rely on elites."

Yayoi shook his head in refusal.

He knew the power of Tailed Beasts. Such existences were absolutely not something ordinary Jonin could restrain.

He had too few elites under his command. Even losing one Jonin-level combatant would pain him for a long time.

Black Steel Forest.

It was located within the former territory of the Land of Waterfalls and now naturally belonged to the Land of Night.

From afar, dark mountain ranges could be seen stretching around the vast forest.

Trees dozens of meters tall were everywhere here.

It was a primitive paradise where venomous insects and fierce beasts ran wild.

Yayoi wore a black, form-fitting shinobi outfit beneath a black coat-like cloak. Along the hem of the cloak was a red pattern of red spider lilies—the flowers of death and rebirth.

The aura naturally leaking from his body was filled with mystery and danger.

When he and Kakuzu arrived, they could vaguely see enormous fissures stretching along the forest's edge deep into its interior, as well as a mountain in the distance split open by a massive wound.

A huge artificial canyon had been created just like that, in the most unremarkable manner.

Yayoi recalled that night several months ago, and the man named Madara Uchiha.

It was here that the other man had shown him what true "power" meant.

It was also the first time he began to doubt whether he had transmigrated into a fake Naruto.

Now, he had to painstakingly obtain something that man had considered worthless "trash." For a moment, his heart felt rather complicated.

After settling his complex emotions, Yayoi flashed forward and sprinted into Black Steel Forest.

Kakuzu likewise sprinted after him.

Cool sprays of water splashed beneath both their feet as they simultaneously used Water Release: Water Body Flicker to increase their speed.

"We're here. It seems to be just ahead."

Though they had not yet seen their target, as they continued deeper, they sensed malicious energy permeating the air around them. Seeing the various beasts and poisonous insects scatter away, they knew their target was close at hand.

Sure enough, when they arrived beneath a tree with dense foliage, the two used it to conceal themselves and saw the enormous creature resting in the clearing ahead.

It was a massive creature that looked like a fusion of a beetle and a dragonfly. It had one tail and six huge, transparent cicada wings.

Its beetle-like blue shell looked incomparably hard, reflecting dazzling metallic light beneath the sun. Ordinary attacks would never be able to break through it.

"Judging by its size, it has shrunk quite a bit."

The corner of Yayoi's mouth curled upward.

This enormous creature was precisely the target of his trip—the Seven-Tails.

Though it still looked huge, compared to the Seven-Tails he had seen several months ago, it had shrunk by far more than just one size. Even its aura seemed significantly "weaker."

Several months had passed, yet the Seven-Tails had not fully recovered its strength. It likely possessed only sixty to seventy percent of its peak power.

So this battle was in the bag.

Yayoi calmed himself and took a scroll from his ninja tool pouch. He unrolled a small section, revealing densely packed black incantations surrounding the character "I."

Poof.

With a soft sound and a cloud of white smoke, a humanoid figure emerged from within the smoke.

She was a young girl.

The girl's skin was snow-white and bloodless. Her neat, silky silver-white hair was carefully arranged, while pale violet light swirled within her lifeless pupils.

She wore a blue slit kimono that exposed her slender, snow-white legs, so delicate that they seemed as though they would snap at a bend. She wore white tabi socks and black wooden sandals.

Her appearance was as flawless and beautiful as a fairy's, yet because it was too perfectly refined, she seemed less like a human.

If he had to describe her, she was a living work of art.

There was no doubt that she was a puppet.

Yet there were no mechanical joints at her mouth, eyes, knees, elbows, or other parts, making her look like a real living girl.

Yayoi spread the five fingers of his left hand, and five solidified Chakra Threads immediately extended through the air, connecting to the girl puppet's body.

The girl puppet's previously lifeless eyes immediately revealed a trace of human-like radiance, as though life had been injected into her.

Kakuzu, standing nearby, revealed an amazed expression.

"No matter how many times I see it, it still feels like a real living person."

Oda Yayoi, the shogun of the Land of Night, was known as the "Puppeteer" and was one of the top puppet masters in the current Ninja World.

In the fields of puppet creation and control, he undoubtedly stood as the strongest in the Ninja World.

"Not yet. But as long as we successfully capture the Seven-Tails this time, we can use that enormous Chakra to automate this puppet. Speaking of which, the Yin-Yang Release fragment I obtained from the Hagoromo Clan I destroyed also gave me considerable inspiration."

Yin-Yang Release was an ancient Chakra technique passed down from a bygone age.

Legend said that it could create all things and define life and death.

Though it was not complete Yin-Yang Release, the fragment was still immensely helpful. In particular, its ability to inject life characteristics into formless things worked perfectly with his special Active Chakra, producing an effect greater than the sum of its parts.

Yayoi licked the corner of his mouth, his eyes blazing with eagerness as he looked at the Seven-Tails.

Once he obtained the Seven-Tails, he could use its immense Chakra to further elevate the puppet's capabilities and complete its automation. Not only would that free his hands, it would also add a powerful combatant to his side.

So-called puppet automation meant allowing a puppet to act and fight autonomously without being controlled by Chakra Threads, completely freeing the puppeteer's hands.

Yayoi had named such puppets Chakra-Automated Puppets.

In an era like this, personal strength was the only correct answer.

If he himself did not possess powerful martial strength, he would never have been able to secure his position as the shogun of the Land of Night.

Furthermore, his strength equivalent to four Kakuzus did not include his puppets.

And under normal circumstances, puppets were far stronger than puppeteers themselves.

"It is practically a revolution for puppeteers. Still, aside from Lord Yayoi, there probably is not another puppeteer who can grant life to puppets."

Yayoi calmly accepted Kakuzu's praise.

The Chakra he extracted contained rich life characteristics and could directly achieve healing effects comparable to medical ninjutsu in the form of energy. This had long been spread throughout the underground black market and was no great secret.

It seemed very similar to the Chakra of the Uzumaki Clan, but its practical applications were broader and more comprehensive than the Uzumaki Clan's Chakra.

That was because the Uzumaki Clan's special Chakra could only be applied to animals and humans, whereas his Chakra could grant life activity even to inanimate objects.

That was precisely why he could create puppets so close to humans.

After obtaining the Yin-Yang Release fragment, the process had accelerated even further.

It was even more outstanding than the human puppet technology that would only appear in the future.

"Go, Irori."

Yayoi moved his fingers and softly called the girl puppet's name.

The girl puppet Yayoi had named Irori lit up with violet light in her eyes. Her small wooden sandal stepped against the ground, and her body shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.

Her beautiful fairy-like figure slipped through the dense foliage. The instant she entered the Seven-Tails' vision, mist surged all around her, and pale vapor flowed from her slightly parted, rosy lips.

Then, Irori clapped her hands together, and her violet eyes glimmered faintly.

Pale frost breath poured from her gently opened rosy lips.

Ice Release: Ice Flower Pillar!

Boom!

Ice pillars several meters in diameter instantly erupted from the ground, crashing crosswise into the Seven-Tails' body with a deafening roar.

The Seven-Tails, still caught off guard, had no time to react. It let out a pained howl as pillar after pillar of ice burst from beneath the ground, battering its body and sending it rolling backward.

Irori's figure swept forward like the wind, giving the Seven-Tails no time to react. Her hands remained pressed together.

Pale cold air surged from Irori's body like a flood, sweeping across the earth and sky and plunging this section of forest into the biting season of winter.

Ice Release: Thousand Killing Array!

Cold starlight filled the sky as two-meter-long ice spears transformed into endless silver meteors, shooting toward the Seven-Tails on the ground.

Boom boom boom boom!

Every ice spear exploded with the force of a cannon shell, mercilessly raining down upon the Seven-Tails' body.

The earth cracked apart, and the resulting impact blasted even the surrounding trees from their roots, hurling them into the distance.

A deafening, enraged roar came from within the smoke created by the explosions.

It was the Seven-Tails' agonized bellow.

"Damn humans!"

Several months ago, it had barely escaped disaster. Before its injuries could even fully heal, humans had come after it again.

Were these humans dogs? Why did they keep coming one after another?

Fury and killing intent filled its chest.

Because the surrounding ground had been devastated by Irori's Ice Release ninjutsu, Yayoi's figure was inevitably exposed.

Facing the enraged Seven-Tails, Yayoi merely pulled the Chakra Threads, bringing Irori back to his side. His expression was indifferent and calm.

"Seven-Tails, your power is too dangerous for shinobi. I will suppress you."

Following Yayoi's words were shuriken and kunai flying toward the Seven-Tails.

Clang, clang, clang.

They produced metallic sounds like mosquito bites against the Seven-Tails' body, and every shuriken and kunai was deflected.

Seven-Tails: "..."

Yayoi: "..."

Yayoi turned to look at Kakuzu, who had come to stand beside him.

"It is a tactic, Lord Yayoi."

Kakuzu answered without changing expression or skipping a beat.

Before Yayoi could respond, the Seven-Tails flew into a rage once more, roaring again and again as its emotions completely boiled over. It suddenly opened its enormous mouth.

Tiny solid black and red Chakra spheres gathered within its mouth.

A terrifying, violent aura surged wildly through the air.

Having completely lost its reason, the Seven-Tails wanted only to use the most absolute power to destroy every living thing before it.