The Kannabi Bridge mission... This was the mission where everything changed. Where Obito would awaken his Sharingan, and set in motion events that would reshape the entire shinobi world. Where Kakashi would become "Copy Ninja Kakashi" by receiving his teammate's eye.
"That explains why I haven't sensed Kushina practicing with the Nine-Tails chakra lately," he said aloud.
The Wood Release puppet he'd created for her training maintained a spiritual connection to him. Whenever she summoned it to practice her partial tailed beast transformation, he could feel the feedback through that link. It was how he tracked her progress without being directly present. And her progress had been remarkable. She could now maintain consciousness while transformed up to six and a half tails. That level of control was impressive, even accounting for her Uzumaki heritage and natural chakra reserves.
In the original timeline, even after her death, the remnants of her chakra sealed inside Naruto had been strong enough to suppress Kurama and help Naruto master the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode. Seeing her achieve this level of control while still alive made perfect sense. Ever since Kenji and Minato had started deploying to active combat zones more frequently, she had stopped pushing herself to attempt higher transformation levels. Instead, she'd focused on mastering and stabilizing the forms she could already achieve safely. And during this recent period when both he and Minato were away from the village, she'd paused her training entirely.
Hence, no summons for the Wood Release puppet.
They continued eating and talking as the sun gradually set outside Yakiniku Q's windows. Kenji shared a few stories from the Suna front lines, editing out the parts involving infiltration, and "theft" of forbidden techniques. Honoka filled him in on village gossip and recent events he'd missed. By the time they finished eating and paid the bill, full darkness had fallen. They wandered through Konoha's evening streets for a while longer, just walking and talking about nothing in particular, before finally heading back.
---
"Kenji, I'm heading out!"
The next morning, Honoka stood at his door waving goodbye. She was dressed casually, clearly planning a relaxed day.
"Have fun," Kenji called back. He was still working through breakfast, a simple meal of miso soup. "I'll be at the workshop if you need anything."
Honoka had made plans with Kushina today. They were going shopping with a few other friends from the village. Ever since Kushina had achieved sufficient control over the Nine-Tails' power, the restrictions on her movement had been significantly relaxed. She no longer needed to stay confined within barrier-protected areas. As long as she remained within Konoha's borders, she was free to go where she pleased. During her free time, she'd been spending a lot of it with Honoka, and through that friendship had met several other women in the village. Some were mothers of what would eventually be the Konoha 12. Others were people Kenji had never heard of in the original timeline, civilians or clan members who'd never been relevant to the main story.
After finishing breakfast and cleaning up, he formed the hand seal for the Flying Thunder God Technique. After two second, space twisted and he vanished from his kitchen.
He reappeared instantly inside his puppet workshop. The familiar smell of wood, metal, and various chemicals greeted him. Afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating dust motes floating in the air.
On the main workbench lay a male puppet body that the Wood Release puppet had constructed over the past several days. The face bore a strong resemblance to Enma, roughly seventy percent similarity. Close enough to be recognizable, but with enough subtle differences that it wouldn't be mistaken for the real person at a glance. The materials were identical to those used in the Wood Release puppet's own construction. That was deliberate. Wood Release contained Yang Release chakra, which had a documented synergistic effect with the Yin Release chakra of the Sharingan. According to his research and what little information existed from the original timeline, the Hashirama cells could even counteract the blindness that came from overusing the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Using Wood Release material for this puppet body wasn't just practical, it was optimal.
He moved the body to a secondary workbench, clearing space on his primary work surface. Then he laid out specialized surgical instruments, sealing equipment, nutrient solution containers, and the sealed preservation unit containing Enma's Sharingan.
This was it. The promise he'd made to a dying friend. Turn these eyes into a puppet and deliver it to Hazuki. Give her something of her brother to hold onto, some way to feel like part of him still existed in the world.
He opened the preservation unit. The two Sharingan floated in specialized nutrient solution, their three-tomoe patterns still visible and their tissue showing no signs of degradation. Good. The preservation had worked perfectly.
Next came the cultured tissue sample he'd been growing in the nutrient tank. He extracted the tissue mass and examined it under magnification, confirming cellular health and viability.
Then came the tricky part.
He added a small amount of Hashirama cells to the mixture. The proportion had to be exact. Too much would overwhelm the Sharingan's natural properties. Too little and it wouldn't provide the benefits he was aiming for. The purpose was twofold. First, the life force inherent in Wood Release chakra would help nourish and maintain the Sharingan's activity level. The eyes would function more efficiently and require less active chakra input to operate. Second, and more speculatively, if Hazuki ever found a way to evolve these eyes to the Mangekyō, the Hashirama cells might counteract the blindness side effect.
That second purpose was a long shot. But planning for low-probability scenarios was just good sense.
He'd already created Sharingan puppets before, so the process went smoothly. His hands moved quickly, integrating the organic components with the mechanical systems, establishing chakra pathways between the puppet core and the ocular structures, calibrating the feedback loops that would allow mental control. The most complex part was the chakra pathway network around the eyes. In living Uchiha, these pathways were significantly more intricate than in normal humans. Extra micro-pathways existed specifically to channel chakra to and from the Sharingan, allowing the user to activate and deactivate the bloodline ability at will.
That was why non-Uchiha who received Sharingan transplants couldn't turn them off. The incompatible chakra pathway structures meant the eyes remained permanently active, constantly draining chakra whether the user wanted them active or not. But puppets didn't have that limitation. He could construct whatever pathway network he needed. As long as he replicated the proper Uchiha structure around the eyes, the Sharingan would function exactly as it would in a living body. On and off at will, no constant chakra drain.
The work took hours. Delicate adjustments, careful chakra flow testing, multiple rounds of calibration and recalibration. But finally, the puppet core was complete.
"Mind Clone Switch Technique."
He formed the seal and a portion of his consciousness split away, flowing into the puppet. The puppet body on the workbench twitched. Its eyes opened, revealing brilliant scarlet eyes with three tomoe spinning slowly in each pupil.
The puppet sat up smoothly, then stood and stepped off the workbench to stand beside Kenji's real body.
He examined his work through both sets of eyes simultaneously. The dual perspective was disorienting for a moment before his brain adapted to processing both visual feeds.
"I'll call you Puppet Enma," he said aloud, establishing the designation.
The puppet nodded acknowledgment. The movement was fluid and natural, indistinguishable from a living person.
"Let's try deactivating the Sharingan."
Puppet Enma closed its eyes. Kenji felt through their shared connection as the puppet carefully adjusted chakra flow through the ocular pathways, restricting the energy supplied to the eyes themselves. When the puppet's eyes opened again, the Sharingan had reverted to ordinary black pupils.
Kenji felt a wave of bittersweet satisfaction.
"Alright, let's run full tests before delivery."
He dressed Puppet Enma in dark, nondescript clothing and placed a wide-brimmed hat on its head to conceal the face. Then they moved to the training room attached to the workshop.
For the next two hours, he put the puppet through testing. Speed trials, strength measurements, chakra efficiency calculations. Then specialized Sharingan tests: perception range, detail resolution, motion prediction, technique copying capability.
Everything checked out. The Sharingan operated flawlessly, providing the full suite of benefits the bloodline was known for.
Satisfied, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique to return home.
---
Evening had fallen by the time he materialized in his living room. Honoka was already back, sprawled on the couch reading a book. Kenji glanced at the cover as he walked past. Romance novel. He resisted the urge to comment.
She looked up at the sound of his arrival, then her eyes widened as she noticed the figure standing behind him.
"Kenji, you're back?" She stood up. "Who's that?"
Puppet Enma reached up and removed the hat, revealing a face that looked remarkably similar to someone she knew.
"Enma?" She was clearly sensing chakra that felt similar to Enma's signature, but not quite identical.
"It's a puppet I made," Kenji explained quietly. "Enma died in combat a while back. Before he died, he asked me to create this. I'm taking it to Hazuki. It's what he wanted."
Honoka's expression crumbled. Shock and grief flooded across her face in rapid succession.
"He's dead? Enma died?"
She'd known him. Not well, but enough. A friend of Kenji's, someone she'd met at gatherings and talked with occasionally. He'd been kind and patient, unusually easygoing for an Uchiha. The kind of person you assumed would stick around forever.
"I'm coming with you," she said suddenly, already turning toward her room. "Wait here. I need to change."
She disappeared into her bedroom and emerged a few minutes later wearing somber dark clothing appropriate for delivering tragic news. Her earlier cheerful mood had evaporated completely.
"Ready," she said.
Kenji nodded. He didn't particularly need her company for this, but he understood the impulse. Enma had been his friend. She wanted to pay respects in whatever way she could.
Together, with Puppet Enma walking silently between them, they headed out into the evening streets toward the Uchiha district.
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