Naruto: Talent Entry Perks

At this moment, Yang Nine-Tails was both furious and bewildered.

As a being formed by chakra materialization, it sensed the return of its other half, Yin Nine-Tails, to the real world almost instantly.

Logically, it should now be functioning like an upgraded Wood Clone—capable of multitasking, sharing visual perspectives, and spiritual communication with its other half.

But now, while it could clearly sense the presence of Yin Nine-Tails, it couldn't see what the other half was seeing, nor could it establish mental communication.

This meant Yin Nine-Tails wasn't just dormant or inactive—it was under someone's control.

Yang Nine-Tails immediately recalled the masked man who had once used Genjutsu to manipulate it into attacking Konoha more than ten years ago.

That man had the power to control it.

In the entire ninja world, aside from the deceased Sage of Six Paths, there was only one other person capable of that feat.

"Madara?"

Yang Nine-Tails laid down again and snorted coldly, "So that guy didn't die in that battle after all. But since he didn't restore my consciousness, that must mean his body's no longer in good shape. Tch, what a shame—I didn't get a chance to mock him."

With a mix of schadenfreude and disappointment, it soon grew serious again, recalling the information it had gleaned from the boy it resided in.

"The old man's eyes have appeared again… The guy who controls the Outer Path Golem will come for us sooner or later. Should I warn the others?"

Yang Nine-Tails hesitated for a few seconds, then scoffed, "Hmph, the whole ninja world's aware of what's coming, and none of them contacted me. Why should I be the one to reach out? If I do, that sand raccoon idiot will definitely laugh at me."

Thinking about Shukaku's annoying face made it even more determined to stay silent.

"Also… what is the Rinnegan of the moon? Did the old man have a brother? Why don't I remember anything like that?" Yang Nine-Tails muttered, puzzled, but quickly let it go and closed its eyes to nap.

Meanwhile, in the Land of Water, Izayoi forged a summoning contract and had Yin Nine-Tails sign it.

With the addition of the Rinnegan's soul sphere and the Yin-Yang Black Rod, even if Uchiha Obito appeared and tried to summon the Nine-Tails, there was no way he could wrest control from Izayoi.

After securing control, Izayoi instructed Orochimaru to cancel the Impure World Reincarnation of Minato Namikaze and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to send him back to the base.

He then returned to the Land of Water and used teleportation to bring Yin Nine-Tails to a cave covered in spell seals.

This cave was actually a small, remote island far from the ninja continent.

Upon closer inspection, the cave walls were made entirely of wood.

Although it was called a cave, it was more like a cage formed by Wood Release.

On a wooden platform sat a clone in Sage Mode, maintaining the Wood Release chakra and keeping surveillance of the surroundings.

After handing off Yin Nine-Tails to the wooden clone, Izayoi released the Wood Transformation Technique and returned home via teleportation.

"Sage Mode, the unexpected Sage Body, the divine power of the left eye, and the crucial Yin Nine-Tails are now all in hand. It's time to ramp up the firepower. Let's see who's better prepared," Izayoi grinned.

Nagato, who had returned to his prime, did make Izayoi feel a faint sense of pressure.

The butterfly effect had triggered a series of developments.

After acquiring the Afei armor, Nagato's mental faculties improved. He discovered Uchiha Obito's true identity, regained his vitality through the Gray Stone, and even mastered Sage Mode.

Though he didn't have a complete Susanoo and couldn't pull down the Chibaku Tensei satellite moon, Nagato's current strength wasn't inferior to Impure World Madara—especially with Sage Mode.

Once he donned the Afei armor and activated the Wood Golem Technique, he could even surpass that version of Madara.

He had strength, improved intelligence, and the help of Obito's Kamui and Black Zetsu's Mayfly Technique. Izayoi was sure Nagato was secretly planning for round two.

Izayoi didn't know what Nagato's preparations entailed, but as long as he held Kamui, he would always have the initiative.

Before the final battle, Izayoi had only one goal—

Farming points!

From the Konoha Crush, to the Rain Village incident, and the battle between Akatsuki and the Cloud Shinobi forces, Izayoi had gained a lot of points.

But not enough to push his balance past 410,000.

During that time, he hadn't been idle. He had his Wood Clone control human puppets to hunt down lone powerhouses throughout the ninja world.

Just as he'd told Orochimaru, all notable shinobi were being monitored by his clone. As soon as the opportunity arose, the clone would use the Heaven's Sent Technique to drop a puppet in and either defeat or kill the target.

Izayoi had already figured out the cooldowns for entries.

Entries below purple typically had cooldowns of less than a year, varying slightly. Purple ones took exactly one year.

As for gold entries, he hadn't gotten one yet, so the cooldown was unknown.

Red entries, however, had a two-year cooldown.

Both Uchiha Sasuke and Hinata had two-year cooldowns—down to the second.

Previously, without Yin Nine-Tails, he had to keep a low profile, picking off lone ninja to avoid draining his own chakra and drawing attention.

After all, he had run two test battles and confirmed that the puppet army couldn't match an entire major village.

But now, with the wooden clone being powered by Yin Nine-Tails—a literal nuclear generator—the puppets equipped with Yin-Yang Black Rods effectively had unlimited chakra.

No matter how chaotic things got, his main body remained unaffected.

"Now I can do whatever I want!" Izayoi smirked like a hick entering the city. "Hunting season... begins!"

And so, after six months of relative peace, the ninja world began to stir again.

…

"Orochimaru-sama, are you alright? Orochimaru-sama…"

Kabuto Yakushi's voice gradually brought Orochimaru back to consciousness.

Looking at Kabuto's worried face, Orochimaru, still groggy, muttered, "Kabuto, are you dead too?"

"What are you saying, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto asked, baffled. "I just buried Guren. When I came back, I found you standing there in a daze. What happened?"

Orochimaru snapped awake, looked around, and recognized the familiar base with joy in his eyes. "I'm not dead?"

Seeing his master looking like a fool, Kabuto said seriously, "Was it the Akatsuki again?"

"No… not Akatsuki. Someone much more dangerous," Orochimaru replied, recalling how "Otsutsuki Toneri" had easily drained his chakra. "My chakra was emptied in an instant… even my physical and mental energy. But now I've recovered? Was it all an illusion? No—it felt too real. And what was that green orb of light? Why did I black out?"

Still confused, Orochimaru said, "Kabuto, give me a full check-up."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama."

Just as they were heading for the lab, they both suddenly felt a shift in the air. Their expressions changed.

The two exchanged glances and rushed out of the base.

Outside, they saw four towering red translucent walls shooting into the sky, sealing in all directions.

"The Four Red Yang Formation!" Orochimaru's face darkened.

Kabuto's eyes widened. "Isn't that the barrier technique that requires four Kage-level shinobi to perform?"

The last time this technique was used, Izayoi had prevented them from even seeing it.

Now that it was before their eyes, the difference between this and the Four Violet Flames Formation was painfully clear.

"Why would someone need four Kage-level shinobi just to trap us?" Kabuto murmured bitterly.

Suddenly, two figures silently descended in front of them.

Recognizing the technique, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "Heaven's Sent Technique."

"Those black rods—are these Akatsuki's Six Paths of Pain?"

But upon seeing their eyes, Kabuto corrected himself. "No… they're human puppets!"

"These two were made from the corpses of Cloud Shinobi," Orochimaru observed grimly. "Sir Toneri… if you wanted to kill us, you could have done it already. Why toy with us like this?"

"If you defeat us, you live. If not… depends on my mood," one puppet said, drawing a blade infused with Lightning Chakra.

With that, both puppets launched their assault.

A fierce battle at Kage and Ace-level broke out instantly.

…

In Kirigakure's Mizukage Building, Mei Terumi and the others also felt something shift.

Running to the window, Mei Terumi saw the red translucent walls forming from all four directions—east, west, south, and north.

In a blink, the formation was complete.

"The Four Red Yang Formation," she muttered grimly.

Though technically only an A-rank technique, it required four Kage-levels to activate. The implications were terrifying.

This meant four such powerhouses had entered the Hidden Mist—and their target was only the Mizukage Building.

"Lady Mei! The ones casting the jutsu are puppets," Ao reported. "They resemble the Rinnegan puppets from Akatsuki, but their eyes aren't the same."

"How many enemies are inside the barrier?"

"None—only our people."

"They're using space-time ninjutsu then…" Mei's face paled. "Otsutsuki… Toneri!"

As if in response, hundreds of white-robed puppets with black rods and rebel headbands appeared out of nowhere.

Konoha, Suna, Kumo, even villages like Otogakure and Kusagakure—ninja from all over were turned into puppets.

Ao's eye twitched. "Their chakra… is Kage-level!"

Mei and the gathered Anbu froze in shock.

Before they could react, the puppet army charged.

Oddly, their chakra signatures weakened mid-fight, possibly due to deceptive rods. But there was no time to dwell on it.

The battle raged.

Not just Kirigakure—similar scenes unfolded at the Kazekage Building, Tsuchikage Building, the newly-built Raikage Building in the new Kumo village, and the Hokage Building in Konoha.

"Damn it! He even stole the Scroll of Seals!" the Fourth Raikage cursed at the attacking puppets.

One puppet, clearly a former Cloud ninja, activated the Lightning Chakra Mode, blue lightning dancing over its body.

The battlefield erupted.

Meanwhile, in Cloud Gorge, next to New Kumo Village, the Four Red Yang Formation rose once more. Aburame Togen appeared, made four clones, and each expelled a different elemental chakra.

They merged into a blinding multicolored orb—

Five Element Great Linking Bullet Technique!

The mountain exploded into dust.

Then—

"Rooaaarrr!!"

A wild roar scattered the smoke, and the fully-transformed Eight-Tails appeared.