Black Steel Forest’s name caused Yayoi’s brows to furrow as memories surfaced.
This was not the first time he had dispatched search teams for the Seven-Tails.
The Tailed Beast’s unimaginably pure chakra energy was exactly what he needed right now.
Months earlier he had ventured alone into the Black Steel Forest to locate it.
He had succeeded in pinpointing its position—only to discover someone else had already engaged it.
A black-haired man clad in black ninja attire layered with red armor stood before the beast.
A fan-shaped emblem and striking red eyes—the Sharingan—were embroidered on his back.
There was no doubt he belonged to the Uchiha clan.
Yayoi had hidden at the edge of the battlefield and watched the Uchiha fight the Seven-Tails… or rather, watched the Seven-Tails being utterly dominated.
A colossal chakra samurai swung a chakra blade whose energy effortlessly sliced through multiple mountaintops miles away.
One additional strike bisected the heart of the Black Steel Forest; a final blow sent the Seven-Tails fleeing for its life.
Apparently deeming the beast too weak for its station, the Uchiha simply watched it retreat in disarray without pursuit, then departed in disappointment.
The sheer range of the chakra blade’s shockwave had blasted Yayoi from his hiding spot and sent him tumbling.
With no other choice he had burned through massive amounts of chakra to erect an oversized Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall, barely shielding himself from the tsunami-like blast.
He had turned and fled without hesitation—any delay would have meant a gruesome death.
Upon returning he had been completely dazed, convinced he must have watched a counterfeit version of Naruto in his previous life.
Recalling that night, he remembered how the man had casually cleaved forests, collapsed mountains, reversed river flows, carved canyons into the earth, and with a single strike felled the Seven-Tails while sending the Uchiha into confused retreat.
Yayoi had come to view the Warring States era as utter nonsense.
He later learned the red-eyed man’s identity: Uchiha Madara, one of the future founders of Konohagakure and current head of the Uchiha clan—a man whose strength stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Senju Hashirama.
“…”
Yayoi had spent years operating from the Land of Waterfalls and Land of Crystal.
Nearly all his external knowledge came from merchants and travelers, information that had passed through many hands and grown distorted over time.
He had heard the wars in the Land of Fire were fierce, but never how fierce.
He had previously fought Hyūga clan ninjas and found them strong, yet with sufficient training he could match them—at least he had never felt truly hopeless.
But Uchiha Madara… that demonic, oppressive presence had extinguished every shred of fighting spirit in Yayoi.
Compared to him, even the future Susanoo of Uchiha Itachi would seem as fragile as an infant.
Yayoi recalled the tales of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, fighting the Third Hokage while in Edo Tensei form… Even weakened, that level of power was absurd.
The Third was supposedly the strongest Hokage—how much reinforcement would the First need to fight a Madara who could bisect multiple mountains with one strike?
And how had Kakuzu ever survived a battle against Hashirama?
Had he simply launched ninjutsu from the battlefield’s edge, blocked the aftershock, then fled at top speed without ever truly engaging?
“Lord Yayoi, now is the time to act.
The Seven-Tails is still heavily injured and extremely weakened.
Success probability is highest right now.”
Kakuzu’s voice cut through Yayoi’s thoughts.
“Then you may come with me.”
Yayoi snapped out of his daze and nodded.
Under the Night Kingdom’s current shogunate rule, several thousand samurai had mastered chakra techniques while ninjas numbered only six to seven hundred.
Roughly twenty upper-level samurai or ninjas existed in total.
Kakuzu ranked among the strongest—elite-tier, comparable to Kakashi at the story’s start.
Yayoi’s own power, factoring in his unique activated chakra, was roughly four times Kakuzu’s.
He could heal without hand seals and possessed medical-ninjutsu capabilities rivaled by perhaps only a handful in the entire ninja world.
“No need for others?”
Kakuzu looked mildly surprised.
Several Night Kingdom ninjas, though slightly weaker than him, could still restrain a Tailed Beast to some degree and would not be instantly killed.
“No.
Too many people will only create chaos.
When confronting a Tailed Beast, concentrating elite forces is best.”
Yayoi shook his head.
He knew the Tailed Beasts’ power.
They were not entities ordinary jōnin could control.
His elite unit was already small; losing even one upper-level combatant would leave a long-lasting wound.
…
Black Steel Forest
Once part of the Land of Waterfalls’ territory, now naturally belonging to the Night Kingdom.
In the distance stretched dark mountain ranges beyond the vast forest.
Towering trees dozens of meters tall grew everywhere.
Poisonous insects and ferocious beasts roamed freely in this primordial paradise.
Yayoi wore form-fitting black ninja attire beneath a black coat-style mantle whose hem was patterned with red spider lilies—the flowers of death and rebirth.
The aura he exuded was unnatural, filled with mystery and danger.
When he and Kakuzu arrived, a massive fissure running from the forest’s edge deep inward and a huge scar at the center of a distant mountain were visible—evidence of the artificial canyon casually carved months earlier.
Yayoi recalled that night and the man named Uchiha Madara.
Here the opponent had demonstrated what true power meant.
It was also the first time he had begun to doubt whether he had truly reincarnated into a fake Naruto.
If obtaining something the other party did not even want required this much trouble, it was slightly unsettling.
Regaining focus, Yayoi instantly leapt into the Black Steel Forest.
Kakuzu hurried after him.
Both simultaneously used Water Release: Water Body Flicker to accelerate, kicking up cold spray from the ground.
“We’ve arrived.
It doesn’t appear to have gone far.”
They had not yet spotted the target, but the deeper they advanced the more they sensed an evil aura in the air and watched ferocious beasts and poisonous insects flee.
This confirmed their objective was close.
Sure enough, upon reaching a clearing shaded by dense foliage, they saw a colossal creature resting in the open space ahead.
It resembled a hybrid of rhinoceros beetle and dragonfly—enormous, with a tail and six massive, transparent cicada-like wings.
Its beetle-like azure shell was incredibly hard, gleaming with metallic luster under sunlight; ordinary attacks could not penetrate it.
“Judging by its size, it has shrunk considerably.”
A smile curved Yayoi’s lips.
This giant creature was his target—the Seven-Tails.
Compared to the version he had seen months earlier, it still looked enormous, yet its size had decreased significantly—not by mere inches—and its aura had weakened substantially.
Months had passed, but the Seven-Tails’ power had not fully recovered, estimated at only 60–70% of its peak.
Therefore victory was assured.
Yayoi calmly retrieved a scroll from his ninja tool pouch, unrolled a section, and revealed densely packed black runes with the character “I” at the center.
Bang.
With a soft sound, white smoke billowed and a figure emerged.
It was a young girl.
Her skin was snow-white and bloodless.
Long, neatly combed smooth silver-white hair framed eyes containing faint purple halos—completely devoid of vitality.
She wore a blue slit kimono that exposed slender, snow-white legs that looked ready to snap.
White tabi socks and black wooden clogs covered her feet.
Her appearance was fairy-like in beauty, flawless and so perfectly crafted she seemed inhuman—like a living work of art.
One flaw: she was a puppet.
Yet there were no mechanical interfaces at mouth, eyes, knees, or elbows.
She looked exactly like a real living girl.
When Yayoi spread his left hand, five chakra threads instantly extended through the air and connected to the puppet girl’s body.
The previously lifeless eyes of the doll suddenly gained a faint, human-like sparkle—as though life had been breathed into her.
Kakuzu, standing nearby, watched with an astonished expression.
“No matter how many times I see it, it feels like looking at a real human.”
The Shogun of the Night Kingdom—known as the “Puppet Master”—Oda Yayoi was the highest-level puppeteer in the modern ninja world.
In puppet creation and manipulation he was undoubtedly the strongest alive today.
“Not yet.
But once we capture the Seven-Tails, its vast chakra can be used to automate the puppet.
Incidentally, the Yin-Yang Release fragment I obtained from the Hagoromo clan I destroyed also provided me with considerable inspiration.”
Yin-Yang Release was an ancient chakra technique passed down from distant times.
Legend claimed it possessed the power to create all things and determine life and death.
Although incomplete, the fragment had been especially helpful in breathing life into the invisible.
It perfectly complemented his unique activated chakra, producing a synergistic effect far greater than the sum of its parts.
Yayoi licked his lips, eyes burning as he stared at the Seven-Tails.
Obtaining the Seven-Tails would allow him to further strengthen the puppet’s capabilities with its enormous chakra and achieve automation—freeing both his hands while adding a powerful new combat asset.
So-called puppet automation meant the puppet no longer required chakra threads for control; it could act and fight autonomously, completely liberating the puppeteer’s hands.
Yayoi had named this puppet the “Chakra Automaton.”
In this era, growing stronger was the only correct solution.
Without formidable military power he could never have solidified his position as Shogun of the Night Kingdom.
Moreover, even excluding the puppet, his personal strength was already four times Kakuzu’s.
Puppets were usually far more powerful than their creators.
“This could be called a revolution in puppet mastery.
However, besides Lord Yayoi, no other puppeteer can breathe life into puppets.”
Yayoi accepted Kakuzu’s praise without hesitation.
The chakra he extracted was rich in life force and could directly manifest medical effects equivalent to medical ninjutsu in energy form.
This fact had long been known in the black market and was no longer top-secret.
It closely resembled the Uzumaki clan’s chakra, yet its applications were far broader and more comprehensive.
The Uzumaki’s special chakra could only be applied to animals and humans; his chakra could even grant life to inanimate objects.
This was precisely why he could create puppets indistinguishable from real humans.
Acquiring the incomplete Yin-Yang Release scroll had further accelerated the process—producing something more advanced than any puppet technology that would appear in the future.
“Let’s go, Irori.”
Yayoi flicked his fingers and softly called the puppet girl’s name.
The silver-haired puppet girl he had named Irori—purple light now glowing in her eyes—stamped the ground with her small wooden clogs and shot forward like an arrow.
An elegant, fairy-like figure emerged from the bushes and instantly entered the Seven-Tails’ line of sight.
Mist gathered around her; faint gas exhaled from slightly parted pink lips.
Irori immediately clapped her hands together, purple eyes glowing faintly.
A pale, cold breath escaped her slightly open pink lips.
Ice Release: Ice Pillar!
Boom!
In an instant, ice pillars several meters in diameter erupted from the ground, crisscrossing and slamming into the Seven-Tails’ body with a tremendous roar.
Still dazed, the Seven-Tails was knocked backward by the impact of falling ice pillars and let out a pained cry before it could react.
Irori moved like the wind, giving the Seven-Tails no time to respond.
She kept her hands clasped and assumed an attack stance.
A pale, cold aura erupted from her body like a raging torrent, covering earth and sky and enveloping the forest in the chill of a harsh winter.
Ice Release: Thousand Killing Formation!
The sky ignited with cold stars.
Countless two-meter-long ice spears transformed into an endless silver meteor shower and rained down toward the Seven-Tails at terrifying speed.
Boom boom boom boom!
Each ice spear generated explosive power like artillery shells, mercilessly piercing the Seven-Tails’ body.
The ground cracked; surrounding trees were uprooted and blasted far away by the shockwave.
From within the explosion smoke came an ear-splitting roar of rage—the Seven-Tails’ pain-filled bellow.
“Damn you humans!”
Months earlier this place had barely escaped disaster.
Before its wounds fully healed, humans had returned.
Were these humans born in the Year of the Dog?
They kept appearing one after another.
Its chest burned with fury and killing intent.
Because the surrounding land had been destroyed by Irori’s Ice Release, Yayoi’s figure was inevitably exposed.
Facing the enraged Seven-Tails, Yayoi simply tugged the chakra threads, calmly withdrawing the expressionless Irori to his side.
“Seven-Tails, your power is far too dangerous for a ninja.
I must suppress you.”
The moment Yayoi spoke, shuriken and kunai flew toward the Seven-Tails.
Ding ding ding ding.
A metallic mosquito-bite sound rang out.
All shuriken and kunai bounced off harmlessly.
Seven-Tails: “…”
Yayoi: “…”
Yayoi turned and glanced at Kakuzu standing beside him.
“This is tactics, Lord Yayoi.”
Kakuzu replied without blinking.
Before Yayoi could respond, the Seven-Tails roared again in fury, its entire body turning crimson.
It suddenly opened its massive maw.
Inside, a small black-and-red solid chakra sphere condensed.
A terrifyingly violent aura spread through the air with ferocious momentum.
The Seven-Tails, having completely lost reason, wished only to destroy every living thing before it with absolute power.