If there's something you know will happen but are powerless to change, that is called regret.
At this moment, Uchiha Bai Yu only felt an indescribable strange taste in his mouth - so peculiar it was as if he had eaten some unspeakable object.
Fortunately, he had managed to survive by relying on this strange fruit he had eaten purely through willpower while unconscious.
Uchiha Bai Yu was an ordinary person who had been reincarnated from another world into the Naruto world.
In the bloodline-focused Naruto world, being born into the Uchiha clan was a fairly good choice.
Unfortunately, Bai Yu's talent wasn't outstanding. Without his Golden Finger activating, even at sixteen years old when he came of age, he remained just an ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan Uchiha, though his actual combat abilities were quite remarkable.
Perhaps in the eyes of other Uchiha clansmen, this would already be considered genius-level.
However, when the clan extermination night began, Bai Yu indeed lasted longer than other clansmen.
Though he fought one against two and ultimately fell, at the most critical moment, he awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan and arrived in this unfamiliar place.
What he didn't expect was that his one-against-two struggle had been witnessed by a slender figure...
"Puppet- Puppet Fruit!"
After his stomach finished churning, Uchiha Bai Yu finally understood what exactly he had eaten and where he had arrived.
What pleased Bai Yu most was that his Golden Finger, which had been stuck at one percent progress, had finally advanced to ten percent - truly something worth celebrating.
After all, the Golden Finger that had shown no movement for over ten years had made him suspect it was just a counterfeit.
Indeed, Devil Fruits were miraculous fruits, and coming to the world of One Piece made Bai Yu quite happy.
The sea was so vast and beautiful - wasn't sailing freely across the ocean far more comfortable than being confined to that narrow ninja world?
The Puppet- Puppet Fruit was indeed an excellent fruit, its practicality even exceeding Bai Yu's expectations, especially when combined with his Mangekyo Sharingan abilities.
However, he was currently severely injured. The priority wasn't pondering these miscellaneous matters, but finding a suitable place to recuperate and heal his heavily damaged body.
Fortunately, Bai Yu knew some Medical Ninjutsu. Relying on his modest medical skills, he managed to temporarily treat the injuries to his legs and arms to the point where he could walk on his own.
"So where exactly has this brought me?"
The world of One Piece was filled with various islands, and this particular island seemed unusually large.
Even after walking for most of the day, Bai Yu still hadn't managed to leave this forest.
Despite having traveled this far, the moist sea breeze still carried the salty, fishy scent that slapped against his face. Uchiha Bai Yu reached up to brush aside the stray hairs falling before his eyes, his fingertips touching the scabbed wound on his temple and sending a slight sting through him.
"Damn this jungle and its endless, stinking path."
Bai Yu cursed under his breath as he kicked aside the obstructing vines, splattering plant sap onto his already tattered trousers.
Moonlight filtered through the layered canopy, casting dappled shadows that illuminated the dried bloodstains on his cheeks.
He currently lacked the spare energy to utilize the Puppet- Puppet Fruit.
"Feels like some wilderness survival show," he muttered to himself, realizing he had somewhat misjudged the forest's expanse.
With night fully descended and his strength depleted, Bai Yu had no choice but to settle for spending the relatively mild night on the trunk of a tall tree.
For a shinobi, wilderness survival was practically routine—anyone who'd spent two years in the ninja academy wouldn't fear the wild.
Aside from its vastness, the forest was quite agreeable, at least granting Bai Yu a peaceful night's rest.
When the first morning rays pierced through the foliage, weaving golden spiderwebs among the trees, and dewdrops traced leaf veins before landing on his furrowed brow, Bai Yu was already awake.
Though movement remained difficult, he had regained enough strength to tap into his Devil Fruit abilities.
There were benefits to traversing worlds physically—at least he could wield the Kusanagi Blade he carried.
As he thought this, Bai Yu began chopping wood with the sacred sword. Had Orochimaru witnessed the scene, he'd likely have found it amusing.
After felling a tree, Bai Yu immediately set to carving.
Crouching before the stump, he used the Kusanagi's razor edge to shave delicate wood grains. With a flick of his wrist, the blade sank diagonally, amber resin seeping from the cut. The tip then glided along the wood's texture, parting fibers like a dragonfly skimming water, carving smooth arcs like a fish's tail. Dozens of varying-depth grooves gradually surfaced, forming a structure resembling a human cervical spine.
Distant rustling signaled animals moving through dry branches.
Uchiha Bai Yu narrowed his eyes, observing the gradually shaping wooden component.
Working through his injuries was agonizing. Sweat trickled down his temples, pausing at his chin before dripping onto the rough timber.
Click—
With the final groove fitting into place, Bai Yu tested the joint's rotation. The wooden arm emitted an unnerving grating sound.
"While the Puppet- Puppet Fruit consumes stamina to create puppets, such constructs lack souls and the potential to bear greater abilities—it all depends on one's mastery of the Devil Fruit."
Despite these thoughts, Bai Yu refrained from activating his Mangekyo Sharingan. His ocular power had been completely drained and couldn't withstand further expenditure.
As two wooden puppets took form, Bai Yu expended his hard-won recovered stamina to channel his Devil Fruit power into them.
Infused with his demonic energy, the small wooden puppets began expanding.
The human body is immensely complex, with all components seamlessly integrated. Even the most realistic puppet could only achieve 95% external resemblance.
As for internal structures, ordinary methods were useless. But Devil Fruits wield miraculous power—this infusion transformed ordinary wooden puppets entirely.
An unknown energy erupted from the wooden puppet, making it increasingly lifelike.
As the puppet slowly expanded to adult size, its transformation abruptly ceased.
"Hah."
Bai Yu wearily narrowed his eyes, gazing at the two wooden puppets standing beside him as he let out a sigh.
The reflection of wood grain shimmered in Bai Yu's pupils: "For now, I still can't use the Mangekyo Sharingan to grant special abilities. So I'll have you serve as entities that simply follow orders, never growing weary..."