Automated Puppet

Irori was undoubtedly a puppet Yayoi had finally created after pouring in countless hours of effort and time.

After being modified with his highly active chakra, along with assistance from part of Yin-Yang Release, her functionality made her a puppet lifeform far superior even to human puppets.

Yet compared to a puppet, her life structure actually leaned more toward that of a Tailed Beast.

That was because the materials used to construct her were not chakra-conductive wood, metal, or similar substances. She was primarily made of chakra, a chakra-based organism similar to a Tailed Beast.

The only difference was that, unlike a Tailed Beast, she had not formed a true life and needed Yayoi, her creator, to control and command her in order to unleash her full capabilities.

The reason Yayoi had conceived the idea of creating this kind of puppet lifeform was that the chakra he refined naturally possessed immense vitality.

When this vitality was elevated to a higher level, it could condense into a living chakra embryo. Using that chakra embryo as a foundation, he spent years extending and shaping it before Irori's human form finally took shape.

Combined with chakra's ability to transmit consciousness and thoughts, he highly compressed and gathered chakra before imbuing it with memories and thoughts, creating something equivalent to a simplified Tailed Beast.

During the process, he wanted Irori to possess the same ability to manipulate ice and snow as the Snow Doll from an anime in his memories of his previous life called Unbreakable Machine-Doll.

So he had specifically traveled to the Land of Water, found the Yuki Clan, secretly captured several clan members who had awakened the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai, and studied their clan's Ice Release abilities.

He then implanted the completed Ice Release research into Irori's body, forming a chakra circuit similar to Ice Release, which he specifically named the "Ice Mirror."

A chakra circuit was a simulated meridian system created through chakra.

This allowed Irori to produce chakra herself and imitate a ninja, freely using ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu empowered by chakra.

Of course, this ideal state was still only one step away from success.

Memories, thoughts, and even the wisdom necessary to survive in the world—he had already assembled all of those things inside Irori.

But everything still needed to be activated. Otherwise, she would remain an inanimate object that required manual finger control.

There were two greatest obstacles to activation.

The first was how to grant Irori even greater vitality. Relying solely on his own special chakra made it difficult to accomplish independently, so the incomplete Yin-Yang Release scroll had given him a new direction.

The second was the need for an incomparably massive amount of chakra.

Yayoi had already solved the first problem, but the second...

Yayoi could not grant Irori such an enormous amount of chakra, which was why he had always needed to control her manually with fine precision.

That was also why he had focused his attention on the Tailed Beasts, intending to seize their immense chakra.

Thinking of this, Yayoi could not help feeling excited.

"Kakuzu, keep watch nearby. Don't let anyone approach."

"Yes."

Kakuzu nodded seriously, then flashed away to keep watch over the surroundings.

Yayoi then curled his fingers. Connected to chakra threads, Irori naturally stepped forward like a living person.

She stopped before the Seven-Tails. A faint glimmer shone from her inorganic purple eyes.

Her slender, snow-white hands slowly rose and began forming hand seals with slow, fluid movements.

An unprecedented chill swept over it, and the unconscious Seven-Tails began trembling violently.

Scarlet chakra peeled away from its body like mud, rolling toward Irori as she formed hand seals.

"This... no... this... isn't sealing..."

As its life force weakened, the Seven-Tails regained a hazy awareness and let out a trembling murmur.

It felt as though something more fundamental was leaking from its body along with its chakra, being absorbed by the girl before it, who carried none of the aura of a living being.

It could sense that once the chakra flowed into Irori's body, every trace of its presence seemed to be erased. No consciousness-like entity was formed to interfere with Irori.

The Seven-Tails let out a pained groan and tried to flap its wings. Irori suddenly raised her snow-white chin, her purple eyes cold and lifeless, and opened her mouth to exhale mist-like frost.

Struck by the cold, the Seven-Tails shuddered. Its body stiffened once more, unable to move as it could only watch its chakra being stolen bit by bit.

Irori was not absorbing it quickly because Yayoi needed to erase the consciousness inherent in the Seven-Tails' chakra while she absorbed it, leaving behind only the purest chakra.

The process was like cutting a moderate wound into a human body and slowly letting the blood drain out.

As time passed, the forest sank into darkness.

Who knew how long passed before the night began to fade, and the eastern sky once again turned pale with dawn.

The Seven-Tails, once as large as a small mountain, had now shrunk several times over and become the size of a house. For a Tailed Beast, that size could be considered miniature.

After a long while, Irori released her hand seals, and Yayoi severed the chakra threads as well.

Irori's purple eyes were no longer cold and lifeless. A faint light had appeared in them, and a humanlike expression of thought surfaced on her face. But then her mind suddenly throbbed, and she frowned as though struggling.

"The absorbed chakra has reached its limit. If I absorb any more, it may cause adverse reactions in my body."

Yayoi nodded slightly and began forming hand seals.

"Secret Art: Life Creation!"

As the name implied, this was a secret art Yayoi had developed using his own chakra, which possessed life vitality, combined with incomplete Yin-Yang Release to grant life to puppets.

Using this technique, he could completely unify a puppet's memories, consciousness, thoughts, and wisdom, perfectly merging them with its body to form true life.

Irori slowly closed her eyes. The pale skin across her entire body began turning transparent, revealing glowing green lines like circuits that filled every corner of her body.

Those were the chakra circuits covering Irori's entire body.

Like an intricate network of electrical circuits, the chakra circuits eventually converged at Irori's left chest.

Through the puppet girl's transparent skin and the fabric of her kimono, one could see an ice-blue spherical core the size of a heart.

This was the Chakra Core. It had been forged from an extremely rare Chakra Crystal and could absorb and release chakra, as well as store enormous quantities of it.

It gathered the girl's will, thoughts, wisdom, and memories.

At the same time, it was the source of life. Calling it her heart or her brain would not be wrong.

The immense chakra absorbed from the Seven-Tails began merging into Irori's chakra circuits before gathering toward the ice-blue spherical core at the center.

Once this step was complete, Irori would no longer need Yayoi to provide chakra or use Chakra Threads. She would naturally become the "Chakra-Automated Puppet" he had envisioned, able to act and fight autonomously.

She would also be able to refine chakra independently like a ninja.

Without question, by the standards of the current Ninja World, this was the greatest masterpiece a puppeteer could create.

Half an hour passed. The glow of the girl's pale, transparent skin gradually faded, and the countless chakra circuits, along with the Chakra Core that served as her heart and brain, disappeared beneath flesh and blood created from chakra.

The girl's tightly shut eyes opened, and her vision connected with a brand-new world.

The fragmented memories in her mind linked together one after another like scenes from a film.

They showed the entire process of her creation, from nothing to something, by her creator.

There were also memories of being used by her creator in battle, training, and having her clothes removed so her body could be washed clean.

Instinctively, a brief flush of shy red appeared on the girl's pale face, which now held a faint hint of color.

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw a short-haired young man standing before her, dressed in black ninja attire beneath a black coat and cloak.

Intense and direct emotions made her open her mouth instinctively, and endless affection and joy welled up in her heart.

"Don't be nervous. Slowly remember how to speak."

Seeing Irori open her mouth yet fail to make a sound, Yayoi used a gentle tone to soothe her restless and bewildered heart.

Irori nodded, took a deep breath, and followed Yayoi's instructions to recall the various memories and knowledge within her mind.

Afterward, she opened her mouth again, her voice ethereal and pure.

"Lord Yayoi."

"Is there anything abnormal with your body?"

Irori shook her head.

"How are your thought processes, chakra refinement, and chakra usage?"

Yayoi continued asking.

"Everything is normal."

Irori answered obediently.

Yayoi nodded in satisfaction.

"Then do you remember your name?"

"Yes. My name is Irori."

"And your identity?"

Irori's expression suddenly became serious and earnest.

"I am Lord Yayoi's lover, wife, guard, and maid. Please use me however you wish from now on, Lord Yayoi!"

"?"

Yayoi stared at the utterly serious Irori, a blank expression appearing on his face.

Had I added such strange thoughts to her?

Unable to figure it out, Yayoi did not dwell on it.

He had been away for some time and needed to return to Nightview City quickly.

Now that the Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan had joined forces, Konoha's establishment was already unstoppable. There was not much time or room left for him to act.

He had to make certain preparations before facing the torrent of this new era.

"Lord Yayoi, how should we deal with the Seven-Tails?"

Irori pointed at the Seven-Tails nearby, which was barely clinging to life.

"Take it back. Once it recovers, we can use its chakra again to activate future puppets."

"Will they be my future younger brothers and sisters?"

Irori tilted her head, her expression filled with anticipation and curiosity.

"Yes, but it's too early to talk about that. Kakuzu, take the Seven-Tails with you."

With the experience of creating Irori, activating the next Chakra-Automated Puppets would be much easier.

However, considering the more important matters ahead, he could only suppress that thought for now. The Seven-Tails would also need time to recover its chakra.

Thus, Yayoi did not even glance at the Seven-Tails lying on the ground before turning and leaving.

Irori quickly followed, staying close behind Yayoi.

Only Kakuzu helplessly glanced at the house-sized Seven-Tails. It seemed the transport work would have to fall to him.

Fortunately, the Seven-Tails had shrunk considerably. Otherwise, even with his strength alone, transporting it would have been difficult.

Land of Fire.

On a massive rock formation in an open expanse of land lay a vast, lush primeval forest.

Towering mountains, clear rivers, fertile soil—two men stood casually atop the rock formation, gazing out at this paradise secluded from the world.

"What do you think, Tobirama? The place Madara and I chose is pretty good, right? Next, we'll build a village here that belongs to everyone. Madara and I have already chosen its name—it'll be called 'Konoha'!"

The black-haired man in his thirties gazed at the vast forest below. Excited light shone in his eyes, and he was filled with exhilaration, his delight impossible to conceal.

He was full of beautiful hopes and expectations for the future.

"The place is certainly good, but is it really wise to sign an alliance with the Uchiha Clan so hastily, Brother?"

The white-haired man sighed. Looking at his innocent older brother, he had felt a suffocating frustration he could never vent ever since the Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan had formed their alliance.

These two were none other than the current head of the Senju Clan, Hashirama Senju, and his younger brother, Tobirama Senju, famed for his godlike speed.

"What's wrong with it? We've fought for so long. Everyone deserves to rest properly. Whether it's our Senju Clan or the Uchiha Clan led by Madara, we're all exhausted by war. In the era to come, I don't think there's any need for war to exist anymore."

A relieved smile appeared on Hashirama's face.

"But wherever there are people, conflict can never be avoided."

"That is exactly why we should end that fate. So that young children can grow up without worries, I always feel we should do something. If we don't do it now, we can only leave it to the next generation. Since that's the case, why not end it in our generation?"

Hashirama's voice was filled with sincerity and resolve.

"..."

Tobirama lowered his head. Rather than deep in thought, he seemed more unsure what expression he should use to face his eternally innocent and optimistic older brother.

So he took a deep breath.

"If that's the case, do you and Madara have any concrete plans? Just from the name of this village you call 'Konoha,' I have no idea what you're trying to convey. After signing the alliance, what comes next? Are we simply developing a village here? Then how is that fundamentally any different from the past?"

It was nothing more than merging the territories of two clans to form a larger clan.

In Tobirama's view, nothing had changed.

"Have more clans in the Land of Fire join us and accept our ideals."

Hashirama gave this reply.

"..."

Tobirama, who had been waiting to hear what Hashirama planned to do next, turned to look at Hashirama, who had stopped speaking and was merely staring toward the distant sunset, admiring the scenery.

After waiting for a long time, he still did not hear Hashirama mention any further plan. Tobirama's face darkened, and his facial muscles twitched.

Wait, that was it?

What about the remaining action plan and policies?

After gathering more ninja clans, what exactly was the next step?

Would simply gathering them together solve everything?

Could they be certain those unruly ninja clans would not explode once gathered together?

Even merging the Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan would create huge problems, let alone bringing in more ninja clans.

No matter how he looked at it, this was an impossible task.

However...

Seemingly thinking of something, Tobirama fell into thought.

It was not entirely impossible to solve. So long as Hashirama was willing to step forward and offer some "reasoning," those ninja clans would surely become much easier to talk to.

Thus, a hint of hope appeared in Tobirama's eyes as he looked at Hashirama.

Merging ninja clans required more than ideals. A little violence was the key to integration.

"Tobirama, you know that I've never liked resorting to force against others. This world is already broken enough. I want to build a village where people can live and work in peace. There are some things violence cannot solve. Peace, I think, can be achieved through other methods."

Seemingly guessing Tobirama's thoughts, Hashirama responded, sighing inwardly at the same time.

As his older brother, how could he not understand his younger brother Tobirama's utterly pragmatic style?

Not only in his methods of handling affairs, but even in developing ninjutsu... in many ways, his younger brother seemed somewhat extreme.

Aside from Water Release, few of Tobirama's techniques were tricks a normal ninja could have conceived.

If he, his older brother, were not keeping him in check, Hashirama somewhat suspected that Tobirama would sooner or later create something shocking for the Ninja World.

"..."

Tobirama also felt like sighing.

What was he supposed to do with such an innocent older brother?

Hashirama neither wanted to use force to unite the ninja clans of the Land of Fire nor wanted to let them retain their prejudices... This was making things very difficult for him.

What would become of this ninja village called "Konoha," which had yet to be formally established?

For a moment, Tobirama fell silent.