As a disciple of the Second Kazekage and one of the earliest generation of puppet masters, Ebizō's collection naturally consisted of rare, high-quality puppets far beyond what ordinary puppet masters could obtain.
Puppet masters were a special class of shinobi who consumed enormous resources.
Any puppet master capable of reaching the jōnin level was definitely not poor.
Unfortunately, the materials used to create puppets were even more precious.
The truly valuable materials were monopolized by the powerful and influential.
Even jōnin-level puppet masters had difficulty obtaining them.
The materials Sasori had casually used to make puppets while playing as a child would have made countless puppet masters envious beyond belief.
And Ebizō's collection was even more impressive.
These high-quality puppets were extremely powerful.
For genin and chūnin puppet masters, they were treasures one could only dream of possessing.
Obtaining even a single one could potentially double their combat strength.
But for jōnin-level puppet masters, these puppets were somewhat awkward.
Every jōnin puppet master had already developed their own personal style.
It was a combat system they had gradually refined and stabilized from childhood, one that suited them perfectly.
Their movement habits, puppet combinations, and supporting ninjutsu all fit together seamlessly.
If they suddenly obtained an extremely powerful new puppet, it would be impossible to integrate it immediately into their existing combat system.
Instead, it might significantly weaken their actual fighting ability.
Unless they spent a very long time familiarizing themselves with and modifying the puppet, adjusting their own combat habits, learning new ninjutsu, and rebuilding a matching combat system from the ground up, they would never truly increase their strength.
That was far too troublesome.
Therefore, jōnin puppet masters generally preferred collecting materials and upgrading their existing puppets according to their own needs rather than acquiring completely new ones.
But the present situation was different.
The enemy's attacks were far too powerful and precise.
What mattered now was purely the defensive strength and quality of the puppet itself.
Naturally, the finest puppets were the best choice.
So the puppet masters abandoned their own puppets and instead took control of the ones Ebizō had contributed.
One chakra shield after another formed through the Chakra Shield Seal, tightly protecting the dozen or so remaining jōnin.
At the same time, tornadoes rose from the ground.
The Wind Release shinobi had also gone all out.
They poured every last bit of chakra into interfering with the trajectories of the fiery meteors.
Even deflecting a single one would reduce a considerable amount of pressure.
By the time the Sunagakure shinobi completed their defensive preparations, Uchiha Yoru had already landed in front of Ying.
His appearance had completely changed.
He had fully adopted the Zhurong persona, with a baboon-like face covered by a black mask.
Following Yoru's instructions, Miwa Masayo transformed into a beast-mouth shoulder guard and quietly rested on his right shoulder.
Yet on the ferocious tiger head of the shoulder guard, a pair of brilliant cat eyes continuously scanned the surroundings.
The sight was strange enough to make anyone's scalp tingle.
The children of the Yuki clan were all extremely sensitive.
Whenever those cat eyes looked toward them, they immediately reacted and instinctively retreated in fear.
Only one child was different.
He did not find those eyes frightening.
Instead, he thought they were exceptionally beautiful—
Like the clear summer night sky after rain.
In only an instant, affection turned into intense curiosity and even a faint trace of faith.
Miwa Masayo, completely unaware of this, failed to notice.
Her gaze quickly moved past that child and toward the others.
Uchiha Yoru extended a hand and pressed it against Ying's head.
Through direct physical contact, he could replenish the White Zetsu inside the Edo Tensei body with Wood Release chakra, slightly extending its lifespan.
The extension would not be especially long.
But it was enough to greatly improve Ying's condition and restore both his health and full combat strength.
Soon, amid the dense explosions of the fiery meteors, Ying's body returned to normal.
He flipped himself upright.
Yoru nodded.
"You can still use this body for another two days."
"That should be enough time for you to arrange the children's lives."
Ying froze.
"Lord Zhurong, two days is too short."
"Can't we simply replace this body with a new one?"
Yoru regretfully shook his head.
"The old plan no longer works."
"I did a few things recently and seriously offended the Sage of Six Paths, who controls the Pure Land."
"If I allow your soul to return there, I may not necessarily be able to summon you out again."
"Fortunately, I created another place called the Hall of Heroes."
"I'll arrange for you to stay there temporarily."
"Once your bond with the Hall of Heroes stabilizes, you'll be able to regain your freedom."
Hearing Yoru's explanation, Ying became even more shocked.
So this important figure of the Uchiha clan had already reached such an absurd level.
The enemies he offended were now legendary beings like the Sage of Six Paths.
And those conflicts were so serious that they even affected the fate of dead men like Ying.
Ying pursed his lips and sighed helplessly.
Although he had escaped Kirigakure, neither he nor the Yuki clan could escape the fate of becoming chess pieces.
But after thinking about it from another angle—
Was there anyone in this shinobi world who truly wasn't someone else's piece?
The Yuki clan had once wanted to become the Fourth Mizukage's pieces and had failed even at that.
Being able to become the piece of someone as powerful as Lord Zhurong could actually be considered fortunate.
Once he thought of it that way, Ying no longer hesitated.
He nodded.
"I'll follow all of Lord Zhurong's arrangements."
After speaking, he raised his head and observed the roaring battlefield.
After watching for a while, he said,
"The Suna shinobi are doing quite well."
"It looks like they might actually survive this attack."
Yoru agreed.
"Ebizō is unexpectedly capable."
"That really did surprise me."
Ying asked,
"My lord, do you need me to act?"
Yoru smiled.
He raised one finger and shook it.
"How could that be possible?"
"If I've already taken action and still need your help, wouldn't that be terribly embarrassing?"
"I already prepared something."
"Look."
Ying and the surrounding children followed Yoru's finger and looked upward.
Their eyes widened instantly.
Above the remaining small fireballs in the sky—
An enormous white sphere of flame descended with unstoppable momentum.
Wind howled around it.
Lightning flashed.
A fireball that enormous—
And glowing white-hot—
Its power was obvious.
No matter what they did, the remaining Sunagakure shinobi absolutely could not withstand it.
Yoru was so confident that he casually said to Ying,
"Let's go."
"We should hurry and deal with your affairs."
"I also need to investigate why I couldn't sense you in the first place."
Under Ying's orders, the Yuki clan children began forming up and leaving the battlefield.
Every few steps, they turned around to stare at the gigantic fireball.
When it finally exploded with a deafening roar, they covered their eyes against the dazzling white flash.
Then they cheered loudly as a massive black mushroom cloud rose from the ground.
The Sunagakure shinobi had made their lives miserable.
For more than a month, the children had barely eaten properly or slept well.
Their hearts had long been filled with suppressed anger and resentment.
Now, seeing the Suna shinobi completely annihilated—
They instantly erupted in cheers.
All the frustration and gloom accumulated inside them seemed to disappear at once.
Even their footsteps became lighter.
Uchiha Yoru merely smiled.
He said nothing.
Then he spread his arms again.
A much greater amount of Fire Spirit natural energy and Fire Release chakra surged outward.
He began constructing an even larger Sage Art structure.
This time—
It truly became rain.
The number of fiery meteors was so enormous that even Yoru couldn't be bothered counting them.
In any case, as the Yuki clan continued walking, the landing area of the meteor shower continuously expanded.
Very quickly—
It covered a region five kilometers in diameter.
A true sea of fire was created.
Within that sea of flames, the desert sand melted.
Sand dunes became lakes of glass.
Then those lakes gradually crystallized.
After being cleansed by such a disaster, every possible tracking trace was completely destroyed.
Even Ebizō's ashes were thoroughly fused into the enormous mass of crystallized silicon dioxide.
Nothing remained to be found.
…
"Here?"
Uchiha Yoru looked surprised.
"This isn't particularly close to Rōran."
Ying nodded.
"This is the place."
"As long as we dig three or four meters downward in several locations, we can reach underground water veins."
"It would be extremely difficult for ordinary people."
"But for the Yuki clan, it isn't a major problem."
Yoru shook his head.
"Ying, you misunderstood me."
"I'm not surprised about the underground water."
"I'm surprised by the distance."
Ying looked confused.
"The distance?"
"Yes."
"The distance from Rōran."
Uchiha Yoru looked toward the sand dunes before him and sighed in amazement.
"Even this far away, the aura of the Dragon Vein is still so dense."
"This place must lie directly along the Dragon Vein's path."
"And for some reason, it must also be relatively close to the surface here."
"Ying."
"I'm guessing that after we separated, you had already come here once."
Ying froze.
Then nodded.
"Yes, my lord."
"After I reunited with the children, I came here a day early to inspect the location."
"It was only afterward that we encountered Sunagakure shinobi and began fleeing."
Yoru nodded.
"As expected."
"There are faint space-time fluctuations spreading from this place."
"It doesn't take much."
"Even being contaminated by a tiny amount is enough to sever my passive long-distance perception."
[No wonder I forgot about them.]
[It was all because of these space-time fluctuations.]
[So it wasn't my fault.]
[Wonderful.]
Although he successfully absolved himself internally, Uchiha Yoru still felt somewhat embarrassed.
He looked at Ying.
"What are you planning to call the Yuki clan's new home?"
Ying smiled.
"We decided to call it Snow Village."
"To commemorate where we came from."
"Commemorate?"
"What do you mean?"
"We plan to change our surname."
"We'll choose something more suited to the desert so we can conceal our identity."
"That's why we wanted the place name itself to preserve the memory of our origins."
Yoru nodded.
"I see."
"Then let me help you begin construction of Snow Village."
"A Snow Village in the middle of the desert."
"That's actually a rather interesting idea."
"Let me make it even more interesting."
Uchiha Yoru casually took out the Heart Ape Mask.
Then, with unusual solemnity, he placed it over his face.
In an instant—
His persona activated.
The true consciousness of the Heart Ape also joined in.
Uchiha Yoru himself instead shifted into the perspective of an outside observer.
He tested it briefly.
After confirming that he could regain control at any time, he relaxed and allowed the persona to operate more efficiently.
The reason Zhurong's control over fire was actually stronger and more effective than Uchiha Yoru's own was simple.
The divinity of the Southern Fire Spirit God had already been born.
And it was bound directly to this virtual persona.
Because Yoru did not want the divinity to directly contaminate himself, the spirituality of the Heart Ape served as the substitute core responsible for operating it.
And divinity truly deserved to be called the vessel of divine authority.
Its function was almost like a fully completed version of the Mōryō computer.
Within the domain of fire, it helped a god truly achieve the state of divine omniscience.
Zhurong raised his right hand.
Amid a cluster of flames, a tiny golden seal appeared.
Following Zhurong's will, it began drawing upon divine power and operating.
Blue flames flowed from the golden seal like water.
They rapidly spread across the sand.
This was the first divine flame controlled by Zhurong.
It possessed two completely opposite properties at the same time—
Heating.
And cooling.
Wherever the deep blue flames flowed—
The sand turned crystalline white.
This happened because the sand grains experienced rapid transitions between extreme heat and extreme cold, creating countless internal fractures and producing a phenomenon of intense light reflection.
It was similar to shattered tempered glass.
The internal fracture surfaces could refract and reflect far more light.
As long as enough fractures existed—
The material would appear white.
As the blue flames continued flowing into the distance, everything within the Yuki clan's field of vision transformed into a white world.
It truly looked as though the desert had been covered by a thick layer of snow.
Uchiha Yoru was extremely satisfied with the result.
Then his attention shifted toward the underground water vein.
The white sand suddenly erupted upward like a fountain.
In the blink of an eye, the water vein roughly four meters underground was revealed.
The clear groundwater lying beneath the white sand looked almost invisible.
The fountain of white sand continued erupting.
The exposed area of the water vein grew larger and larger.
Then the white sand in the air melted and fused together into glass bricks.
One after another, the bricks fell back down.
They surrounded the exposed water and formed an enormous underground reservoir.
The glass bricks continued stacking upward.
Then gradually narrowed inward.
Eventually—
They formed a circular well opening.
A small, completely ordinary-looking well.
Next—
Centered around that well, the white sand rapidly piled together.
One desert-style rammed-earth house after another took shape.
In less than fifteen minutes—
The barren yellow sand dunes transformed into a white Snow Village town.
This was a miracle…
No.
A divine miracle!
The Yuki clan children stared dumbfounded at the impossible sight before them.
Not once did it occur to them that the flames flowing from this god might burn them.
And in reality—
The deep blue flames did not injure a single child.
Even when the flames flowed directly across their bodies, under the control of the divinity they felt only a refreshing coolness.
Work that would originally have taken more than ten days—
Was completed before their eyes by divine power.
Even the calm and highly intelligent Ying was deeply shaken.
Now—
He was truly relieved.
Part of it was because Uchiha Yoru's godlike power made Ying feel that the children had gained the greatest possible protector.
And part of it was because most of the work required to establish suitable living conditions had already been completed.
"All that remains is planting the seeds."
"Once that's done, this village will truly become stable."
Yoru froze.
"Seeds?"
He thought silently for an instant.
Then decided to carry the act all the way through.
He extended one hand.
"Give me the seeds."
After receiving the seeds carried by five of the older children, Yoru smiled.
"Plants and fire are inseparably connected."
"The fuel fire consumes is the body of plants."
"But more importantly…"
"The fire of life…"
"Is also fire."
With that, he threw five large sacks of seeds into the air.
Clusters of golden flame wrapped around all kinds of seeds.
Then—
Puff! Puff! Puff!
They shot deep into the sand.
After completing the disguise—
The Wood Release chakra that was actually responsible for accelerating their growth took over.
The various seeds rapidly germinated and grew.
Fresh green shoots broke through the surface.
Even without water—
Every plant grew healthily and vigorously.
Date palms quickly formed dense groves, casting broad areas of shade over the village and the well.
Fields of wheat flowered and formed ears.
In the blink of an eye, the fragrance of wheat spread through the air.
Of course—
Most of the plants were still drought-resistant species such as sea buckthorn, tamarisk, and cactus.
They grew densely everywhere.
Some even immediately produced red or yellow fruit, releasing a rich, sweet fragrance.
Now—
The town had completely transformed into a prosperous settlement.
Aside from everyday necessities such as pots, bowls, clothing, hats, and shoes—
The Yuki clan lacked virtually nothing.
This time, even Ying found it impossible to believe.
Without realizing it—
He dropped to his knees.
He offered his faith to Zhurong.
The other children were even more shocked.
Their entire worldview practically shattered.
Fortunately, they were only children.
Rebuilding a worldview was not particularly difficult for them.
The Heart Ape controlling the divinity received intense feedback from the people's hearts.
Its sense of order became noticeably stronger.
Even its spirituality increased considerably.
Uchiha Yoru, observing from the side, also gained something.
He could vaguely sense some kind of feedback.
He simply couldn't determine exactly what kind of existence was responding to him.
In any case—
It was a good thing.
Uchiha Yoru had basically completed everything he could reasonably do.
But the final act of divine mystique still needed to continue.
He spoke.
"That is enough."
"A god cannot complete every task for humans."
"Besides…"
"The joy of harvest is best experienced through labor performed with your own hands."
"Yes!"
"Thank you!"
"Let's go pick fruit!"
"Idiot! Harvest the wheat first!"
"When I bought the seeds, I asked about it."
"This grain is the most important, but its harvesting window is also the shortest!"
"What are you doing?"
"Cut some tamarisk branches first and make tools!"
"Oh!"
"Right!"
"We need tools first!"
The Yuki clan children cheered.
They bounced away excitedly.
Under the organization of several older children, they began cutting tamarisk branches and weaving baskets to use as harvesting tools.
Ying did not join them.
Uchiha Yoru had prepared everything too thoroughly.
Anything Ying could still contribute amounted only to minor guidance.
And he would be leaving soon.
Helping personally now would not make much difference.
It was better to let the children work for themselves and accumulate practical experience in living independently as quickly as possible.
After watching them work for a while, Ying approached Uchiha Yoru.
"My lord."
"I only have one final concern."
Yoru asked,
"Defense?"
Ying nodded.
"Yes."
Yoru answered,
"I cannot remain stationed here permanently."
"At least, not right now."
"But I can make use of the space-time fluctuations in this place to construct a special barrier."
"It will cause people to subconsciously overlook the existence of Snow Village."
"My skill is limited."
"The barrier won't last forever."
"But it should be enough to buy the Yuki clan several years."
He looked toward the older children leading the others.
"Only a few years are needed."
"By then, they'll be grown."
"And they'll possess enough strength to protect themselves."
Ying finally lost the last trace of worry.
"That is enough."
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> [email protected]/SorenSwiftTL (replace @ with a)