[Faced with your attack, Sakumo Hatake didn't even unsheath his blade. He simply brought his fingers together and swung a knife-hand strike.]
[You raised your arm to block, but in the next moment, your right arm was severed, and a deep wound ran across your chest, exposing bone.]
[You collapsed onto the ground, gravely injured, as Sakumo Hatake calmly walked past you.]
[From beginning to end, Sakumo Hatake never even spared you a glance.]
Shiro: What?! I lost an arm just like that?! How am I supposed to train in taijutsu now?!
[On the brink of death, you were rescued by your comrades and brought back to Sunagakure. Thanks to the village's full efforts, you survived—but your right arm had lost all vitality and could never be reattached.]
[Sasori specially crafted a mechanical arm for you. With this new limb, your strength did not diminish but instead increased.]
[Sakumo Hatake's terrifying power did not crush your fighting spirit.]
[One month later, you returned to the battlefield, determined to challenge Sakumo Hatake once again.]
[Five days later, you were carried back to Sunagakure, gravely injured once more—this time, missing your right leg.]
[Sakumo Hatake still had not drawn his blade.]
[Sasori gave you a new mechanical right leg, and once again, your strength grew.]
[Half a month later, you charged at Sakumo Hatake once more—this time, you lost your left eye and left hand.]
[Sakumo Hatake's sword still remained in its sheath, but you managed to shatter his outer cloak.]
[Sasori crafted a new left hand and a mechanical eye for you…]
Shiro: So this is how my power increases after every battle?!
[As you continued fighting, a creeping sense of unease began to settle in your heart.]
[Two months later, Sakumo Hatake finally unsheathed his sword against you. The cold blade severed all four of your limbs before piercing your heart.]
[Gravely wounded by your relentless attacks, Sakumo Hatake finally spoke to you for the first time.]
"Your name?"
"Shiro."
"I will remember it. You are a worthy opponent."
[As the blade was withdrawn from your chest, an inexplicable sense of joy filled you at the recognition from your sworn enemy. Your vision faded into darkness…]
Shiro: WTF?! That's it?!
[A bitter smile tugged at Shiro's lips.]
Is this what they call a god-tier start, only to be utterly crushed halfway through?!
Even if the system rewards me with this kind of physical enhancement, I'd never choose it. What if it turns me into a half-mechanical freak?!
If that happens, what would my title be in the ninja world? Instead of being feared for my strength, people would just remember me as "Konoha's Half-Mechanical Lunatic"?!
No way! Absolutely not!
[Just as Shiro was mourning the outcome of this simulation, something unexpected happened. Instead of the familiar words "Simulation Ended," a new message popped up…]
[Five months later, you open your eyes once again.]
Shiro: Huh?! I survived?
Apparently, the strongest talent wasn't "Berserker" or "Reckless Fighter," but the lone blue talent—"A Thread of Life."
[You find yourself not in Sunagakure's hospital, but in Sasori's workshop.]
[Staring into the mirror, you see an unfamiliar body—one entirely mechanical. Yet under your control, it moves fluidly and flawlessly. A deep confusion wells up inside you.]
"Brother, do you like the new body I made for you?"
Sasori smiles as he speaks.
Shiro: Σ(д|||)!! Sasori, you bastard! You finally did it!
Great. Now I don't have to worry about being half-mechanical—I'm fully mechanical!
[Though you are furious at Sasori for turning you into a living puppet, your obsession with avenging your parents and your thirst for battle leave you no time to dwell on it.]
[The moment you regain consciousness, you rush out of the village, determined to find Sakumo Hatake and fight him again.]
[Soon, you learn that Sakumo Hatake had taken his own life two months prior, following a failed mission.]
[Rage. A boundless, burning rage surges within you.]
[Consumed by fury, you lose all sense of reason and rampage into the Land of Fire, leaving a bloody trail in your wake.]
[Eventually, you are intercepted at Konoha's borders by the "Yellow Flash" Minato Namikaze and the Legendary Sannin.]
[At the cost of losing 60% of your puppet body, you succeed in severely injuring Jiraiya and forcing the others to retreat before making your escape back to Sunagakure.]
[From this battle, you realize that your strength has grown threefold since your last fight with Sakumo Hatake.]
[Slowly, you come to accept your new puppet body, even requesting Sasori to modify it further.]
[Under Sasori's guidance, your new body grants you even greater physical prowess.]
[You believe that in another fight against Minato and the others, you could at least fight them to a standstill.]
[Year 24: In endless battles, your strength continues to grow, but your humanity slowly fades.]
[You have lost most of your emotions, becoming more machine than man. The only person to whom you still express any emotions is Sasori.]
[Concerned, Chiyo and Ebizō pressure the Third Kazekage to forbid you from fighting any longer.]
[With no battles to fight, you begin to recover some of your lost rationality.]
[Year 27: The Third Kazekage vanishes. You are assigned to investigate.]
[After ten days of searching with no leads, you grow frustrated.]
[While passing by Sasori's home, you decide to visit him.]
[Inside, the first thing you see is the corpse of the Third Kazekage lying on a worktable, with Sasori standing beside it, scalpel in hand.]
[Sasori had killed the Third Kazekage?! You cannot believe what you are seeing.]
[Unfazed, Sasori calmly completes his modifications on the Kazekage's body before sealing it away.]
"Sasori, did you kill the Kazekage?"
"Yes, brother. I plan to leave the village. Will you come with me?"
[You refuse and demand that Sasori turn himself in.]
[Sasori doesn't argue. Instead, he removes his headband and tosses it to you before escaping through the window.]
[You give chase, engaging in a fierce battle in the vast desert.]
[During the fight, you make a shocking discovery—Sasori had turned himself into a puppet as well!]
[Though you both have puppet bodies, Sasori is no match for you and is soon left broken on the ground.]
[Losing yourself in rage, you prepare to strike the finishing blow.]
"Brother, are you going to kill me?"
[Sasori's calm words snap you out of your frenzy. Overcome with grief, you collapse to the ground, wailing.]
[You let Sasori go.]
[Returning to the village, you falsely claim that Konoha was behind the Kazekage's disappearance, igniting war between Sunagakure and Konoha.]
[In battle, you become a true demon—unstoppable and merciless.]
[Minato is severely wounded at your hands. Orochimaru loses an arm. Jiraiya and Tsunade are defeated with ease. Even the Third Hokage dares not face you head-on.]
[No one can stop you. Wherever you go, the Leaf's forces tremble in fear.]
[You are given a new title—"The Sand Dragon."]
[Year 29: Sunagakure surrenders. The war ends.]
[Despite your overwhelming power, you could not change the outcome alone.]
[Two years of war have completely eroded your humanity. Without battle, you are little more than an emotionless machine.]
[Sasori is gone. The last person who could bring you back is no longer by your side.]
[Feared and respected, you become an untouchable figure in the village.]
[Year 31: You meet the one person—besides Sasori—who would change your life forever…]