: Mere remnants of the era

Puppetry techniques from the far west.

Besides the crafting techniques for creating puppets, it also contains three secret arts:

Soul-Trapping Technique – This technique involves drawing in and capturing the souls of living beings or demonic beasts to serve as the core of a puppet's intelligence, thus giving it the basis for autonomous action.

Soul Condensation Technique – Condenses and stabilizes scattered souls, preventing them from dissipating and enhancing the compatibility between the soul and the puppet's core.

Soul Refining Technique – Refining and transforming the soul, erasing its independent consciousness, making it completely obedient to the controller's commands, while strengthening the soul's power to match the upper limit of a high-level puppet's power.

During his research, Yang Xiang discovered that spirit stones are essentially just energy mediums.

Any substance that can stably provide energy can be substituted.

In other words, the object used to seal chakra can also be replaced.

We could even consider tailed beast puppets.

Just as the initial problem was solved, a new one emerged:

He did not possess the core cultivation technique "Dayan Jue" that was paired with "The True Explanation of Puppetry".

Without the support of the Great Evolution Technique, not to mention the strength of his divine sense, the "divine thought forming a line" stage alone means that the number of puppets he can control is limited.

---

While Yang Xiang was studying puppetry behind closed doors, information about him and the unusual movements of the Senju Uchiha clan the previous night spread rapidly within Konoha Village through private word of mouth.

Yang Xiang dominated the trending topics list.

The Joint Chunin Exams? Nobody cares anymore.

---

Kurama family.

Upon hearing the news, Anma Congyun was restless and uneasy.

How come Yang Xiang has caused such a big mess after only leaving the team for one mission?

First, they killed the elite Kirigakure ninja, then defeated the Iwagakure delegation, and upon returning, they took down a bounty hunter rogue ninja...

But he had anticipated all of this, after all, he was one of the few people who knew Yang Xiang's strength, but he lacked a clear concept of Yang Xiang's specific strength.

He truly hadn't expected the massacre at the bounty office in the eastern part of the Land of Fire.

The Kurama family, a renowned genjutsu family in the ninja world, has always been involved in clandestine transactions.

Many of the ninjas in the family had taken on bounty missions, so they naturally knew who was behind them.

They were wealthy merchants and nobles.

Even the Kurama family wasn't entitled to a share of the pie; they could only be used as tools to earn the 30% bounty.

Even so, you still have to be mindful of other people's feelings.

Just a few days ago, I heard my elders speculate whether the Senju and Uchiha clans were qualified to get a share of the pie.

It seems there won't be any chance of "getting a share of the pie".

This matter will inevitably lead to the daimyo holding him accountable.

The Kurama family... which side should they stand on?

The attitudes of the Senju and Uchiha clans seem clear, but what about the Hokage's attitude?

Originally, it was thought that with Yang Xiang's strength, the team might no longer need a genjutsu ninja.

Now it's all done in one go.

The entire squad may have to disband.

For a time, Kurama Congyun was disheartened.

Without a bloodline limit, he was too weak to be qualified to get involved in these matters.

To avoid being left behind by your teammates, you must possess the true power of the Kurama family!

---

Among the various ninja clans of Konoha, there are quite a few who, like Kurama, are considering choosing sides.

Even the Senju family itself.

The gathering place, which had been closed for a long time, was once again filled with people because of Yang Xiang's incident.

Upon learning of Yang Xiang's massacre at the underground bounty office, everyone's expressions were uncertain.

"So... can anyone explain exactly what happened in the Kingdom of Shandu?"

"I don't know. You can ask Yang Xiang directly if you have any questions."

When questioned by an elder of the clan, Tao Hua remained calm.

The man was speechless.

Now the entire Hidden Leaf Village knows that Yang Xiang possesses the "Madara Stance," so sending him to ask? That's practically suicide.

"I know you're all very curious," Tao Hua said, looking at the old men opposite her with a smile. "Actually, I'd like to know too. If any of you find out, please let me know."

As one of the future development directions of the Thousand Hands clan, aligning themselves with wealthy merchants and nobles has always been a common strategy among some members of the clan.

The people opposite were the beneficiaries of this plan.

To be precise, it's about going up to someone and acting as their dog.

They all come out when their master is unhappy.

The ecosystem of the ninja world is inherently distorted: everything is based on bloodline.

Not only ninjas, but also nobles rely on bloodline inheritance.

Since their inception, ninjas have existed as tools dependent on nobles, a situation that has never changed.

The reason why underground forces can openly engage in all sorts of dirty work and offer bounties to ninjas in various villages is because they have nobles backing them up.

Even the biggest share goes to the names of the various countries themselves.

In this situation, Konoha ninjas are not only commodities on the bounty hunters' shelves, but also their "protective umbrella."

Yang Xiang suddenly flipped the table; then don't blame others for putting pressure on Qian Shou.

The Thousand Hands Descendant, who had previously worked hard to climb to the middle level, was stripped of his title and demoted to the bottom.

The Daimyo was actually quite pleased with this, because although he lost a bounty, he had caught Konoha red-handed.

During the Warring States period, he needed ninjas to maintain his strength; now that the power structure of the five great ninja nations is established, the Senju are too much of an obstacle. The same applies to the Uchiha.

What he wanted was an obedient ninja village, not the strongest clan in the ninja world.

Kyoto issued several urgent reports urging the Hokage to severely punish Yang Xiang.

---

The Uchiha clan, from the Nanka River region.

Shadows of people were everywhere.

As the saying goes, no one knows a person better than their enemy.

Therefore, at this moment, the people who fear the most in Konoha are the Uchiha.

Uchiha Kagami never expected that Yang Xiang's appearance would cause this situation.

He originally intended to use Yang Xiang's demonstrated strength to facilitate the merger of the Senju and Uchiha clans.

But the Uchiha clan was afraid.

Another Hashirama emerged from the Senju clan, the one hailed as "the second Madara."

I'm going to die.

"Jing," an elderly tribesman's voice trembled, "Yang Xiang... is he really that strong?"

He had seen Madara Uchiha with his own eyes and found it hard to believe that anyone could reach that level.

On that day, he watched the clan chief's back as he left, and was so frightened that he wet the bed every night.

Uchiha Kagami objectively commented: "He's probably not even as good as the First Generation yet. But he's growing too fast... I think he has the potential to surpass those two."

The older generation lived in Madara's shadow, while those like Uchiha Kagami, who grew up towards the end of Hashirama's reign, were relatively calm.

The new generation of young people, however, are much more active.

"What Thousand Hands genius? It's all just boasting. When it comes to true strength, you have to look to the Uchiha."

"Madara II? Just remnants of the old era. There's no ship in the new era that can carry them."

Several young people scoffed at the argument of their elders.

"A cowardly rat. A twelve-year-old Kage-level powerhouse? You believe that?"

"I don't believe it. How can something that's just talk be true?"

The group nudged the silent young man beside them—the strongest among them.

"Fugaku, find a chance to teach that Yang Xiang a lesson, let him see the power of the Sharingan!"

"Well done, Fugaku!"

"Cheer up, don't embarrass yourself!"

Fugaku frowned, his confidence in his own strength growing stronger as the three tomoe swirled in his eye sockets.

Unlike his peers, he suddenly had an idea.

That's him, the boy whom Mikoto calls her "one of our kind".

His original name was Yang Xiang.