Yayoi: I'll Outlive This Bunch of First-Generation Old Farts

Just as Yayoi had expected, while the various nations were making preparations against a possible Ninja World war after the previous talks had broken down, Konoha took no action afterward, as if it had completely forgotten the whole series of events.

But in Yayoi's view, this might have been Konoha's way of resolving the problem.

At this time, anything Konoha did could draw intense vigilance from the other great nations.

Since that was the case, it was better to remain still than to act. They might as well do nothing, pretend nothing had happened, and keep their heads down as they continued building their ninja village.

Once the other nations' frayed nerves gradually relaxed, they could look for another opportunity to make their move.

He just did not know whether Tobirama Senju had been the one to suggest it.

Still, this would likely cause a few setbacks to Konoha's development in the short term.

Many nations' dealings with Konoha had been forcibly cut off because of Madara's actions. The Land of Night was one of the few nations in the Ninja World that still maintained contact with Konoha.

In Yayoi's view, no matter what Konoha did, outside forces would find it difficult to intervene. Rather than overthink things, he would be better off proceeding at his own pace.

Yayoi would handle his relationship with Konoha exactly as he had in the past.

Normal diplomacy, normal trade.

Konoha had not done anything yet. If his side threw itself into disorder first, that would be utterly unreasonable.

No matter what, as the nation's highest authority, he was the one person who absolutely could not panic.

General's Residence, inner court, training ground.

The sky was gray and overcast. Snowflakes drifted down from above, gradually blanketing the earth, and many of the inner court's buildings wore white caps.

Bang!

Bang!

Each dull, trembling impact sent out a gust of forceful wind, making the snowflakes around it whirl uncontrollably through the air.

In the middle of the training ground stood a pitch-black cuboid.

It was not made of stone, but a massive cube forged entirely from steel.

Its length, width, and height all exceeded five meters.

Moreover, special chakra alloys had been mixed into the steel, further increasing the cube's weight while greatly enhancing its durability.

Yayoi wore a tight black ninja outfit. A solid Chakra Cloak, as dense as armor, flowed around him like drifting clouds and rising flames, tightly clinging to the surface of his sturdy body.

Clearly, he had entered Chakra Armament Mode. In this state, every aspect of his physical abilities had been greatly enhanced.

Every punch he threw seemed capable of tearing through the air, producing a terrifying, shrill howl.

Then his fist exploded against the steel cube with a dull bang, sending out waves of impact no weaker than a gale and sweeping the surrounding white snow into the air.

Even so, Yayoi's fists could not make the steel cube before him visibly move.

They merely made the massive cube shudder, leaving distinct dented fist marks across its surface.

With every strike against the cube, fine cracks appeared in its outer layer, followed by flakes of iron the size of fingernails breaking away.

Yayoi was not disappointed. The steel cube had cost him considerable effort to forge, and it was excellent training equipment for taijutsu.

Its ultimate purpose was to simulate the intensity of battling Susanoo.

Although he knew Madara's Susanoo possessed defenses far beyond this steel cube.

Still, if he wanted to climb such a lofty peak, he could only chase it step by step with his feet firmly on the ground.

If his attacks could not even shake and destroy a steel cube like this, then opposing Madara's Susanoo would be out of the question.

What made taijutsu more convenient than ninjutsu was that although its attacks had a smaller range, their destructive power was more concentrated.

Ninjutsu that looked vast and spectacular did not necessarily inflict more effective damage than taijutsu with a seemingly smaller destructive range.

Yayoi first intended to push his taijutsu abilities in Chakra Armament Mode to their limits before researching and developing offensive ninjutsu suited to that mode.

If his body was not tough enough, the Chakra Cloak covering him would make his body ache after too long.

Even now, three hours after entering this mode, his bones had begun to creak, and the muscles throughout his body were swollen with pain.

At this rate, in another half hour, this technique would drain his body to its limit.

That was clearly unacceptable. He had to eliminate this mode's side effects on his body.

There was no shortcut to eliminating the side effects of this mode. He could only steadily improve his physique through countless rounds of training, raising his physical strength until his body could accommodate Chakra Armament Mode.

That included the chakra nature transformation he had originally planned to inject into the Chakra Cloak. When that time came, the demands on his physical constitution would be even more brutal than they were now.

"Although I still have plenty of chakra, my stamina has already run dry. As expected, this mode still needs time for further adjustment. And I need to concentrate my strength more instead of letting it spread too much. I have to compress the destructive range into a single point as much as possible, or it'll be difficult to break through Susanoo's Chakra Armor."

Yayoi released the Chakra Cloak around his body. The crushing weight pressing down on him immediately lessened, and he let out a deep breath, as though he wanted to vent all the exhaustion that had accumulated over the past few hours.

Thanks to the extremely slow dissipation rate of his Active Chakra, as long as he did not recklessly waste it, he had more than enough chakra for a prolonged battle.

"Besides, this mode places too great a burden on the body. I can't casually use Shadow Clones to accumulate experience, or it'll inflict irreversible damage on my body. Once my physical strength has improved noticeably, I can use Shadow Clones to speed up my training.

For now, creating one Shadow Clone to handle official duties at the Tenshu Tower while my real body trains here is already the limit."

Yayoi rolled his neck and pressed on his shoulders and nape, which were nearly stiff enough to stop moving. A series of crackling sounds rang out as he concluded that he could not place excessive hopes on the experience accumulated through the Shadow Clone Technique.

For one thing, he was not like the original protagonist, Uzumaki Naruto. He did not have the Nine-Tails inside him to help bear his fatigue.

For another, Chakra Armament Mode was unlike ordinary techniques. This technique burdened his body from every angle without a single blind spot, and the fatigue it accumulated was far beyond that of normal techniques.

Third, he was not the type of ninja with exceptionally vast chakra reserves, so the number of Shadow Clones he used had to remain within a certain limit.

His chakra reserves could only be considered excellent. They were much greater than those of ordinary people, but not enough to rank among the very best.

The reason he could fight for long periods was that his chakra dissipated more slowly and was of superior quality, allowing a small amount of chakra to bring his taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu to their best possible effects.

When it came to training, he had never forced himself in pursuit of strength, only to inflict irreversible harm upon his body.

Victory or defeat between ninja should not be decided solely in a single duel or a single war.

Only the one who laughed last was the true victor.

"A healthy, long-lived body, along with time, can also be a means of defeating one's enemies."

Yayoi had absolute confidence in his longevity.

Ninja of this era did not live long, partly because the intensity of war was too high and order was too chaotic. The other reason was that ninja excessively drained their own bodies, frequently using chakra to fight beyond their limits and overextracting their physical and spiritual energy.

Once or twice might not matter. But if they kept doing it year after year, it would inevitably accelerate the body's decline.

He seriously suspected that none of the first-generation Kage had participated in the First Ninja World War because they were either too old to leave their beds, tormented by illness and utterly unable to take the battlefield.

Or because their past battles had been too frequent, leaving them with too many hidden injuries and causing them to die before their time.

This era belonged to them, but in another dozen years or so, these powerful older-generation ninja would either be bedridden and unable to move, or already lying in coffins. Meanwhile, he would be in the prime of his life, still young and strong...

Without a doubt, that would be his victory!