Chapter 140: The Village Reconstruction Begins

Yichiro stood silently amid the ruins of Konoha, his eyes filled with sorrow and reflection.

The home he had once known so well was now a devastated wasteland. The shattered walls and broken structures had yet to be cleared away, and the heaps of scattered construction debris were painfully conspicuous.

Yichiro was nearly sixty. As one of Konoha’s most renowned master carpenters, he found himself remembering the days when he had labored until he was drenched in sweat.

Back then, he had been filled with energy. The tools in his hands seemed almost alive, and with the slightest movement, exquisite wooden creations would emerge beneath his deft fingers.

But time spared no one. As he grew older, his strength had waned, and the rough physical labor of the trade had long since exceeded his abilities. A sense of helplessness and dejection rose within him.

Unfortunately, rebuilding the village required the construction of countless buildings, and construction could not be separated from the moving of massive workpieces.

For Yichiro, it was an enormous challenge.

He was deeply troubled. The Reconstruction Committee had ordered all the skilled craftsmen to give priority to building temporary shelters for the villagers. They had been given only seventy-two hours. The brutal deadline weighed heavily upon him.

The village had sent assistants to work alongside them, and he had heard that one of them was a ninja named Yamato who could even use Wood Release.

But seventy-two hours... It was far too little time!

What was more, the master carpenter’s health was not at its best, which only deepened his anxiety. There were plenty of other craftsmen suffering over the difficulty of restoring their home. They stood amid the ruins with worry written across their faces, their hearts filled with dread for the future.

Just as they were sinking into despair, a tremendous rumble rolled in from the distance.

The craftsmen raised their heads in terror and saw a group of enormous steam-powered iron robots slowly approaching from beyond the forest.

Their appearance resembled that of the robots that had destroyed the village before. Their cold metal bodies were covered in gears, valves, and pipes, while massive mechanical engineering arms hung beneath them, radiating immense strength and an unmistakable capacity for destruction.

Fear instantly filled Yichiro’s heart. He involuntarily backed away several steps as the horrifying scene of the village’s destruction resurfaced in his mind.

Those terrible memories surged over him like a tide, causing his body to tremble faintly.

“Hey! Which one of you is Yichiro?”

A brown-haired head appeared above the platform of one of the robots, shouting loudly:

“Lord Qing sent us here from the Land of Waves. He told us to report to a master craftsman named Yichiro... Which one of you is Yichiro?”

Yichiro hesitated, but in the end he steeled himself and stepped forward.

“I... I am!”

As one of the leaders of the reconstruction crews, he knew he could not retreat.

It did not take long for Yichiro to learn where these people had come from. They were from the Land of Waves, members of its engineering corps. Naruto had summoned them from the Land of Waves to help rebuild Konoha, which had been ravaged by war.

Yichiro was astonished. He had never known that Naruto possessed connections like these.

At the same time, however, he grew even more uneasy. In his eyes, robots covered in gears and pipes seemed suited only for destruction. Could they really help with reconstruction? Doubt filled his heart as he fixed his gaze upon them, scrutinizing them like a demanding master examining a clumsy apprentice.

Yet as time passed, Yichiro was surprised to discover that the iron robots did not cause the destruction he feared. Instead, they silently took on every task that required physical strength.

“Wood Release: Four Pillars Construction Technique!”

The ninja named Yamato brought his hands together, then slammed them forcefully against the ground.

In an instant, countless square-cut logs of uniform thickness and length burst from the earth like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

Yichiro’s eyes widened in astonishment. He had always doubted that anyone in the world could truly use Wood Release, yet today he had witnessed it with his own eyes.

A complicated mixture of emotions rose within him: surprise, admiration, and awe before an unknown power.

He had never imagined that ninjutsu could be applied to production and construction. Now, this unbelievable sight had unfolded directly before him.

“Excellent! The building materials are ready! Finishing team!”

Yichiro shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice filled with urgency and excitement. He waved his arms vigorously as he outlined the construction plan.

“Immediately mark every required measurement for each worksite onto the lumber! Move quickly—there can be no delay!”

His eyes remained fixed on the workers, as though terrified that even the slightest error might occur.

“Mechanical team!” Yichiro raised his voice again, and it echoed across the site.

“Once the markings are complete, begin cutting at once! Use that automatic calibration mode you mentioned! Make absolutely certain the cuts are precise. There must not be the slightest deviation!”

His gaze locked onto the members of the mechanical team, conveying an invisible pressure.

“Once the cutting is finished, the transport team will move all the materials to their designated areas immediately!”

His voice rang out like a great bell, lingering over the construction site.

“Each site has already given you a list of the lumber sizes it needs! Do not deliver the wrong materials! The progress and quality of the entire reconstruction depend on this!”

“Faster, faster, faster! Everyone get moving! We have very little time, and a great deal to accomplish!”

Yichiro urged them on loudly, his voice brimming with urgency. Although he shouted at the top of his lungs and the workers dashed about in a frenzy, the entire construction site remained orderly. Not a single person made a mistake. Everyone concentrated on their assigned task, like a component in a precisely functioning machine.

Each person focused on his own work, like a gear in a finely engineered mechanism, meshing with the others as they turned—busy, precise, and smooth.

Yichiro felt a sincere admiration for Naruto.

This highly efficient system of work had first been proposed by Naruto, then introduced to the construction site by the engineering corps from the Land of Waves. Under this system, everyone had clearly defined responsibilities and worked in close coordination, allowing each person to make full use of his abilities.

An old carpenter as experienced and skilled as Yichiro no longer needed to waste his strength on manual labor. All he had to do was draw upon his wealth of experience to assign tasks appropriately and provide professional technical guidance.

For an elderly man like Yichiro, it was an exceptionally considerate arrangement. It also brought his value to its fullest potential.

After producing that batch of building materials, Yamato sat down nearby to rest. His heart, too, was filled with emotion.

Yamato—also known as Tenzō.

Since the day of the mass funeral, Naruto had instructed the covert operations forces to approve the requests of many members who wished to leave. Without orders from Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura, Yamato had become utterly lost concerning the meaning of his own existence.

Although he had requested to leave the covert operations forces, he truly had no idea what he was supposed to do afterward.

At first, he had merely intended to avoid burdening the village and find some way to make a living on his own.

Later, Naruto suggested that he first choose a name for himself—to affirm the reality of his existence in this world—and only then consider what he might be capable of doing.

After he had chosen his name, Naruto proposed to the bewildered Yamato that he try helping the village with its reconstruction.

Perhaps, through labor, he might come to understand the meaning of his existence and find a direction for the future.

Yamato had never imagined that Wood Release could be used in the way it was now.

He had initially assumed that when Naruto asked him to use Wood Release to support the village’s reconstruction, he would be expected to build houses for the villagers with the Four Pillars House Technique. After all, he had often used that technique in the past to shelter his teammates from the wind and rain during missions in the wilderness.

Unexpectedly, once he arrived at the construction site, his actual task was simply to provide wooden building materials.

That made his work considerably easier, and far more efficient as well.

As he watched the busy construction site, a sense of pride rose within him. He knew that he was making an important contribution to the reconstruction of Konoha—one that could not be overlooked.

At the same time, Yamato began to ponder in silence.

Perhaps... being a ninja, and possessing ninjutsu, did not have to exist solely for the sake of killing?

The thought continued to circle through his mind, filling him with entirely new inspiration for the future.