Automated Puppet

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

After being modified with his activated chakra, along with the assistance of part of Yin-Yang Release, she was a Puppet Lifeform whose capabilities surpassed even human puppets.

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

The materials used to construct her were not chakra-conductive wood, metal, or similar substances. She was primarily made from chakra, making her a chakra-based organism similar to the Tailed Beasts.

The difference was that, unlike the Tailed Beasts, she had not formed a true life and needed her creator, Yayoi, to control and command her before she could unleash all her abilities.

The reason Yayoi had conceived of creating such a Puppet Lifeform was because the chakra he refined naturally possessed tremendous vitality.

Once that vitality was raised to a higher level, it could condense into a living chakra embryo. Using that embryo as a foundation, years of gradual extension and shaping had ultimately formed Irori's humanoid prototype.

Then, taking advantage of chakra's ability to transmit consciousness and thought, he highly compressed and gathered the chakra before granting it memories and thoughts, creating something akin to a simplified Tailed Beast.

During this process, in order to give Irori the same ability to control ice and snow as the Yuki doll from an anime called Unbreakable Machine-Doll that he remembered from his previous life,

he had specifically gone 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 bestowed the completed Ice Release research upon Irori's body, forming a Chakra Circuit similar to Ice Release, specifically named Ice Mirror.

A Chakra Circuit was an artificial meridian system formed using chakra.

It allowed Irori to produce chakra herself and imitate a ninja, freely using chakra-based ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu.

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

Memories, thoughts, and the wisdom necessary to survive in the world—he had already assembled all these things within Irori's body.

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

There were two greatest obstacles to activation.

The first was how to grant Irori greater vitality. His own special chakra alone could hardly accomplish it independently, so the incomplete Yin-Yang Release scroll had given him a new line of thought.

The second was the need for an unimaginably vast 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 manually control her with precision.

That was also why he had turned his gaze toward the Tailed Beasts, intending to seize their immense chakra.

Thinking of this, Yayoi could not help feeling excited.

"Kakuzu, stand guard nearby. Don't let anyone approach."

"Yes."

Kakuzu nodded seriously, flashing away to keep watch over the surrounding area.

Yayoi then curled his fingers, and Irori, connected to Chakra Threads, naturally stepped forward as though she were alive.

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

Her slender, snow-white hands slowly rose as she began to form hand seals with slow, fluid movements.

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

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

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

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

It sensed that something more fundamental was beginning to leak from its body alongside its chakra, absorbed by the girl before it, who carried none of the aura of a living person.

It could sense that once the chakra flowing into Irori's body had its own aura erased, it did not form consciousness or anything similar that could interfere with Irori.

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

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

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

The process was like cutting a wound neither too large nor too small into a human body and slowly letting the blood drain out.

As time passed, the forest sank into night.

No one knew how much time had passed when 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 was only the size of a house. For a Tailed Beast, this size was practically miniature.

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

The cold, lifelessness in Irori's purple eyes was gone. A faint light emerged in them, and a humanlike expression of thought appeared on her face. Yet a sharp pain suddenly pierced her mind, causing her to furrow her brows as if struggling.

"The chakra I've absorbed has reached its limit. Absorbing any more may cause adverse reactions in my body."

Yayoi nodded slightly and began forming hand seals.

"Secret Art: Life Creation!"

As its name implied, this was a secret art Yayoi had developed by combining his chakra's innate life vitality with incomplete Yin-Yang Release, granting life to puppets.

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

Irori's eyes slowly closed. The lustrous white skin over her body gradually became transparent, revealing glowing green lines like electrical circuits that filled every corner of her body.

Those were the Chakra Circuits covering Irori's entire body.

Like intertwined electrical wiring, the Chakra Circuits ultimately converged at Irori's left chest.

Through the puppet girl's transparent skin and the fabric of her kimono, a round, ice-blue core the size of a heart could be seen.

This was a Chakra Core, created from an extremely rare Chakra Crystal. It could absorb and release chakra, and it could store vast amounts of chakra.

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

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

The enormous chakra absorbed from the Seven-Tails began to merge into Irori's Chakra Circuits before converging upon the ice-blue core.

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, capable of acting and fighting 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 a puppeteer's supreme masterpiece.

Half an hour later, the glow in the girl's lustrous, transparent skin gradually faded. The countless Chakra Circuits and the Chakra Core that served as both heart and brain also vanished within the chakra-created flesh.

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

The fragmentary memories in her mind linked together one after another like clips in a film.

They were the entire process of her creation, from nothing into existence, by her creator.

Besides that, there were memories of being used by her creator in battle, being trained, and having her clothes removed while her body was cleaned.

Instinctively, a brief flush of shy crimson appeared on the girl's pale, lustrous face, now faintly colored with blood.

The instant she opened her eyes, she saw a short-haired young man dressed in black ninja attire, with a black overcoat draped over it.

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

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

Seeing Irori open her mouth without being able to make a sound, Yayoi used a gentle voice 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 in her mind.

Then 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 to ask.

"Everything is normal."

Irori answered obediently.

Yayoi nodded in satisfaction.

"Then, do you remember your own 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 blankly at the utterly serious Irori.

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

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

"Lord Yayoi, what should we do with the Seven-Tails?"

Irori pointed at the Seven-Tails beside them, which was barely alive and hanging on by its last breath.

"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 face filled with anticipation and curiosity.

"Yes, but it's a little too early to talk about that. Kakuzu, carry the Seven-Tails."

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

But considering that more important matters awaited him, he could only suppress those thoughts for now. The Seven-Tails' chakra would also need time to recover.

Thus, without even looking at the Seven-Tails lying on the ground, Yayoi turned and left.

Irori hurried after him, closely following 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 been reduced greatly in size. Otherwise, even with his strength alone, it would truly have been difficult to move.

Land of Fire.

On a huge, open rock formation stood before a vast, lush forest.

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

"What do you think, Tobirama? Madara and I chose a good place, didn't we? Next, we'll build a village here that belongs to everyone. Madara and I have already chosen a name for it—Konoha!"

The black-haired man in his thirties gazed at the vast forest below, excitement blazing in his eyes. His entire body was practically buzzing with exhilaration, his delight impossible to conceal.

He was filled with beautiful hopes and expectations for the future.

"It is indeed a good place, but is it really alright to sign an alliance with the Uchiha Clan so hastily, Brother?"

The white-haired man sighed. Looking at his naïve older brother, he had felt a pent-up frustration ever since the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan had signed their alliance, unable to release it.

These two were the current head of the Senju Clan, Hashirama Senju, and his younger brother, Tobirama Senju, renowned for his incredible speed.

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

Hashirama wore a carefree smile.

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

"That's precisely why we should end such a fate. So that young children can grow up without worry, I always felt we ought to 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 bring it to an end in our generation?"

Hashirama's voice was filled with earnestness and determination.

"..."

Tobirama lowered his head. Rather than contemplating, he seemed more uncertain of what expression he should use to face this ever-naïve, 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 Konoha that you mentioned, I have no idea what you're trying to express. After signing the alliance, what comes next? Are we merely going to develop a village here? Then isn't that basically no different from the past?"

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

In Tobirama's eyes, nothing had truly changed.

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

Hashirama gave this reply.

"..."

Expecting Hashirama to explain what they would do next, Tobirama turned to look at him. Hashirama had stopped speaking and was merely staring at the distant sunset, appreciating the view.

After waiting a long time without hearing any further plan from Hashirama, Tobirama's face darkened, and his facial muscles twitched.

That was it?

What about the remaining action plans and policies?

After gathering more ninja clans together, what exactly would happen next?

Would there be no problems simply because they were gathered together?

Could he really be sure that these unruly ninja clans would not explode once assembled?

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

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

However...

As though he had thought of something, Tobirama showed a contemplative expression.

It was not entirely impossible to solve. As long as Hashirama was willing to step forward and speak some "reason," those ninja clans would surely become very agreeable.

Thus, a trace of hope appeared in Tobirama's gaze toward Hashirama.

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

"Tobirama, you know 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. Some things cannot be solved through violence. 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 fail to understand his younger brother Tobirama's utterly pragmatic style?

It was not just his approach to handling matters. Even in developing ninjutsu... his younger brother was somewhat extreme in many ways.

Aside from Water Release, few of Tobirama's techniques were special skills that a normal ninja could even come up with.

If Hashirama were not there to restrain him, he suspected Tobirama would sooner or later create something in the Ninja World that would shock the entire world.

"..."

Tobirama also felt like sighing.

What was he supposed to do when his older brother was this naïve?

He neither wanted to use force to unite the ninja clans of the Land of Fire, nor did he want to force them to put aside their prejudices... That put Tobirama in a difficult position.

What would become of this ninja village called Konoha, which had not yet been formally established?

For a moment, Tobirama fell silent.