Konoha: The thirty-year-old Uchiha is not motivated.

Sunagakure Village
Inside the ultimate puppet research and development technology laboratory, Sakumo Hatake, dressed in a white lab coat, had his eyes closed. On the control panel in front of him lay a crystal-clear ore emitting a purple glow.
"bass!"

After an unknown amount of time, Hatake Sakumo's eyes suddenly snapped open, and the white short sword in his calloused hand was drawn. It twirled gracefully in mid-air, followed by a burst of countless silvery-white flashes of light.
chap!
Clang!
呲!
A series of chilling cutting sounds instantly filled the entire laboratory.

"Is Hu Aqi still trying?"

Outside the laboratory, a red-haired youth stood in the corridor, looking through the glass at Sakumo Hatake, who was meticulously carving at the control panel, with a complex expression on his face.
“Master Ling Lingqi has been in the laboratory for three whole days without drinking a drop of water. If this continues, something bad will happen sooner or later.”

The researcher behind the red-haired youth spoke with concern, his eyes filled with reluctance.
"Crack!"

With a crisp cracking sound, the flashing blades in the laboratory paused.
Watching helplessly as a wisp of purple mist dissipated from the cracks in the ore, Hatake Sakumo tightened his trembling right hand, his eyes filled with despair.

"Failed again."

"Ah Qi, you should rest first. Your health is more important than anything else."

The red-haired youth pushed open the door and entered. He first glanced at the ore on the control panel, its energy depleted, then stepped forward and patted Hatake Sakumo's still trembling shoulder in a comforting manner.

"The parasite leaf is more important."

Sakumo Hatake gently shook his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the failed work on the workbench.
why,
Why can't I carve the perfect power furnace core anymore?
"Don't be discouraged, things will definitely turn around for Yoto."

“It’s too late, Xiu. Jiye’s belly is getting bigger every day. Her power unit simply can’t sustain two lives.”

Faced with the comforting words of the red-haired youth named Xiu, Hatake Sakumo closed his eyes, his face filled with remorse.

"I have submitted an application to my aunt to meet with the second generation, and it should be approved in the next few days."

"really?"

Upon hearing this news, Hatake Sakumo grasped at a straw, his eyes gleaming with hope.

The Second Kazekage, Shamon, is the strongest puppeteer in the Land of Wind, and even in the entire ninja world. He will definitely have a way to solve the YoRHa problem.

"Would I lie to you? Go back and wash up, you stink."

Seeing that Hatake Sakumo had perked up a bit, the red-haired youth Xiu breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to lose a like-minded partner like this.

Bang bang bang~
In front of a modest detached house in the wealthy district of Sunagakure, a disheveled Hatake Sakumo took out his key and slowly opened the dusty door.

The room was spotless, showing no signs of having been lived in. Just before entering, Hatake Sakumo noticed a familiar code on the threshold.

A collection?
After silently erasing it, he dragged his weary body into the detached dormitory assigned by Sunagakure.
However, Sakumo Hatake did not immediately go to the bathroom to clean himself. Instead, he went upstairs and stood in front of a door covered with sealing techniques.
"untie."

After hesitating for a moment, he raised his hand and used his chakra to break the seal. The door slowly opened, revealing a huge incubation chamber.
"Yoyo, I've come to see you."

Inside the culture chamber, crammed with countless wires of varying thicknesses, sat a delicate-looking, white-haired woman. Sakumo Hatake gently stroked the glass dome, his face filled with tenderness.

"Believe me, soon I will be able to make you feel the same as before."

As he spoke, Hatake Sakumo's gaze shifted downwards, landing on the woman's slightly protruding belly. The tenderness on his face instantly turned into deep regret.
After spending a quiet moment with the woman in the incubation chamber, Hatake Sakumo, his eyes filled with determination, turned and left.

He was determined to fix Yoruha no matter what.

But before that, he needed to see his old friends.

After a quick personal hygiene clean-up, Hatake Sakumo changed into some inconspicuous ordinary clothes, donned a cloak, and disappeared into the depths of the alley.

Bang Bang Bang!
When he reappeared, he had already arrived at the meeting point he had agreed upon with his companions.
"Sakumo! Let's have a long-awaited youthful sparring match!"

As soon as he entered, a burly figure appeared in front of him in a flash, a powerful punch aimed straight at his face.

"Bah!"

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Sakumo Hatake raised his hand, transforming his palm into a blade, and deftly deflected Might Guy's straight punch.
"Dai, you're a father now, why are you still so impulsive?"

Looking at the melon-headed boy who had collapsed to the side, Hatake Sakumo lowered his throbbing hand and shook his head helplessly.

"Phew, I admit defeat this time, but I might not be able to do it next time."

Might Guy, who had just sprung to his feet with a somersault, rubbed his swollen wrist. His face, full of a goofy smile, showed no sign of defeat.

"Sakumo, ignore him, go see who's here!"

Kato Dan's voice rang out from inside the room. Hatake Sakumo turned around curiously, only to find that the secret meeting place, which usually housed only three people, now had two pretty figures.
"Tsunade! Orochimaru?"

Tsunade is alright; apart from her bra size, she hasn't changed much from how he remembers her.
The other one is quite remarkable; Orochimaru's femininity has increased by more than double compared to when he left a few years ago.
If it were an ordinary person, when faced with Tsunade and Orochimaru, nine times out of ten they would choose this snake-faced woman with long legs in black stockings.

"Sakumo, Sasipuri~"

Orochimaru observed Hatake Sakumo's strange expression with great interest. He had just heard Kato Dan and the other man chattering away about the amusing story of how Sakumo had taken a puppet as his wife.
Now all he wants to know is what kind of puppet could possibly be pregnant with a human child.

"Sakumo, what's going on with your wife?"

But before he could even ask, Tsunade, who couldn't contain her gossip, excitedly blurted out the question first.

"Didn't I say I would keep it a secret from the village for the time being?"

With a wry smile, Hatake Sakumo glanced at Kato Dan and Might Guy, who were looking around and avoiding eye contact. These two guys' mouths were not reliable at all.

"Don't worry, we'll keep your secret."

Orochimaru chuckled and lowered his crossed legs, his fair and delicate face radiating genuine curiosity.

"Okay, fine."

Seeing that he could no longer hide it, Hatake Sakumo sighed, pulled out a chair, and sat down in front of the group.
"At first, I was just an ordinary butcher in the market. Later, because of my outstanding knife skills, I was noticed by Ebizo's son and invited to join the Sunagakure Ultimate Puppet Research and Technology Laboratory, where I was specifically responsible for carving the core components of the puppet power furnace."

"That [human puppet] cultivator?"

Tsunade and her companion had done their homework beforehand, possessing a certain understanding of the Sunagakure leadership, including information about Ebizo's son.
“That’s right, I am now his personal sculptor.”

With a dry mouth, Hatake Sakumo grabbed the water jug ​​on the table and poured himself a glass. As the cool water went down, a little life returned to his pale face.
"And what does this have to do with your wife?"

Tsunade blinked in confusion. She didn't care about that information; all she wanted to know was where Sakumo Hatake's artificial wife came from.

"How can it not be related? What do you think Xiu has been researching all these years?"

"Is he making human puppets?"

Orochimaru, who was standing to the side, suddenly realized something and his face showed a look of understanding.
"To be precise, they are human puppets with self-awareness and vibrant life, which we call..."

With a slightly unfocused look in his eyes, Hatake Sakumo nodded, then gulped down another mouthful of water from the kettle before softly uttering an unfamiliar name.

“...YoRha.” “Self-awareness? A vibrant life?”

Orochimaru frowned slightly. As a fairly competent researcher, he naturally knew just how difficult it was to create life out of thin air.

This kind of research is taboo anywhere; he couldn't even bear to think about how many innocent lives would be lost during the process.
"Don't worry, no living people were used in the earth-repair research."

As if sensing Orochimaru's unusual behavior, Sakumo Hatake shook his head, preemptively giving him a heads-up.

"How did he do that?"

"I trust my childhood friends wouldn't lie to me," Orochimaru asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Angel Heart, a legendary puppet core, is said to give puppets thought and life, making them no different from living people."

"It can't be real, how could such a thing exist in the world?"

Tsunade naturally wouldn't believe such an absurd thing.

"It is real. The Second Kazekage of Sunagakure even witnessed a puppet containing an angel's heart."

Xiu had told this legend from many years ago countless times; Hatake Sakumo was practically sick of hearing it.

Orochimaru stroked his chin thoughtfully. If, as the Second Kazekage said, puppets with self-awareness truly existed, then replicating them wasn't impossible.

"So, your research was successful?"

Since Sunagakure has even come up with the name "Yoruha," it means that the research has indeed made a substantial breakthrough.
"Yes."

As expected, Sakumo Hatake nodded in acknowledgment that the research on artificial puppets had achieved a stage of success, and that the mass production of the YoRHa Legion was underway.

"But there is only one truly successful case."

But then, his tone shifted, his face filled with dejection.

"That one...could it be your wife?"

Orochimaru and Tsunade exchanged a glance, then cautiously confirmed,

"It is my beloved wife, Kiyo."

As he spoke, Sakumo Hatake's memory returned to the day he first met the artificial lifelike puppet named Yoruha.
At that time, he had just joined the team formed by the red-haired youth, Xiu, thanks to his superb swordsmanship.
This emerging department, dedicated to creating puppets with self-awareness, has recruited more than half of the talented young people in Sunagakure.

With everyone working together and spending several years, a major breakthrough was finally achieved in the research of the puppet's core.

They discovered that the core components that kept the puppet running had to be made from energy crystals containing a massive amount of chakra.

But besides finding suitable raw materials, the most difficult barrier to overcome is how to polish and cut them, and how to inscribe countless energy-generating techniques on a crystal the size of a fingertip.

Soon after, good news came from Loulan: Sunagakure had unearthed an energy ore near the dragon vein, containing a nearly inexhaustible supply of chakra.

With the raw materials found, the next step was to carve the core, and this task naturally fell to Sakumo Hatake.

He lived up to expectations, and after two and a half years of practice and countless failures, Hatake Sakumo finally succeeded in carving the first perfect core energy crystal.

"Xiu, this puppet... it looks familiar."

On the day Angel Heart was installed, Sakumo Hatake looked at the white-haired woman lying quietly on the experimental table, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Familiar? Then it's sure to look familiar!"

Xiu, who was making final adjustments, nodded with a strange smile.

"The size and appearance of this human puppet are a one-to-one replica of your childhood sweetheart, the pig-raising girl."

"what?"

What pig-raising girl? That was just a fabricated childhood friend that Sakumo Hatake made up based on his own fantasies to appease Osamu. Unexpectedly, Osamu not only recorded it but also actually created an identical puppet.
"Once it's activated, you can keep this puppet for yourself~"

"Gulp. Isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

Sakumo Hatake forcibly pulled his gaze away from the lifelike puppet's face and asked in a strange tone,

"You are the hero of this research, so please don't refuse."

Xiu winked at Hatake Sakumo with a broad smile and added in a low voice,

"Except for its core, which is mechanical, the rest of this puppet is made of realistic silicone. Its feel, temperature, and everything else are indistinguishable from a human's, and..."

"And what?"

Sensing something was amiss, Sakumo Hatake suddenly felt a tiny bit of anticipation.
"She's amazing! Honey, don't pull my ear!"

Just as the mysterious Xiu was preparing to surprise Hatake Sakumo, a brown-haired woman covered in black mist appeared behind him and grabbed his ear.

“Master Aqi, don’t listen to his nonsense. I personally created 2B’s body. This guy was just responsible for providing some body data.”

"I've read the instruction manual!"

Xiu, grimacing, couldn't help but mutter a complaint, which only resulted in his wife pulling him even harder.

"In short, please try out this test version of the puppet for a while. If there's anything you don't like, be sure to give me feedback promptly."

After handing a thick stack of instruction manuals to Hatake Sakumo, Shu raised his hand and pressed the activation button for the puppet core named Angel Heart.

"boom!"

As a visible surge of vibrant life force erupted from the reactor, the female puppet codenamed 2B slowly opened her eyes.
"Owner confirmed."

A pair of lifeless, beautiful eyes swept around before finally settling on Sakumo Hatake, who was holding the instruction manual. A cold, clear voice followed.

"Oh, this."

Sakumo Hatake scratched his head, looking somewhat troubled. He even wondered if the Sand Village had become suspicious of his identity and had deliberately placed a puppet by his side.

“Master, I am YoRHa 2B.”

After locking onto Hatake Sakumo, the white-haired female puppet gracefully walked up to him, bowed, and her barely concealed cleavage instantly dispelled Hatake Sakumo's doubts.
It's so big, it can't be a bad puppet!
"Uh, the name 2B sounds a bit awkward. From now on, you can call yourself Yoruha."

Since the other party customized it based on their XP system, they should be able to decide the name.
The puppet, now bearing a new name, had a glint in its eyes, and the power source in its heart surged with power. A faint, almost human-like smile appeared on its cold face.
"Please give me your orders, Master~" (End of Chapter)