The Iron Monster!

Tetsu Bakemono was once a proud shinobi of Yuki, a very wealthy one too. The young man was very successful and owned a great deal of land in the Earth country. Some say that he had the potential to even lead the country if there ever came a time to do so. In fact, it was because of his potential that some of higher seated officials who were knowledgeable in Jinton, had passed the secret of the element down to him, in hopes that he'd lead the village one day.

Unfortunately, there were some who opposed the idea of him becoming a leader. They acted against Tetsu and hired shinobi to assassinate him. They'd also aim to target his wealth and land. So on one night, the squad of assassins made their attempt on his life. Although they managed to burn his land down, they failed in taking his life. Tetsu had defeated the assassins but at a cost of watching flames devour all of his land, which gave him precious iron ore, and livestock!

In hopes of finding the one who hired the assassins, Tetsu would question the higher council. En route, however, an old female beggar stopped him, asking him for some of his money. After what had transpired Tetsu would not let her have any of his diminished wealth! The man would refuse and would proceed to shame the beggar. But this was no ordinary beggar, but an Arikura no Baba. She'd place a curse on Tetsu that would not only strip him him of his wealth, but would also transform him into a bodiless being bound to the ore that he invested in. Tetsu would lose all the signs of humanity he had and would run off after his horrible transformation.