Chapter 123: The True Raikage's Return and the Treasure of the Sea
The Communication Snail experiment was a success. The twenty initial test subjects had all given their little slugs names, and because the slugs had inherited Katsuyu's good nature, they all got along well with their new partners. Some of the more creative ones were already decorating their snail shells, painting them new colors, drawing symbols on them, and filling them with all sorts of strange things that their little slugs liked.
The test subjects could now chat with each other from anywhere in the village. After a few days, the twenty of them were talking non-stop, some of them staying up all night. They had even managed to produce one new couple.
Their constant chatting had also revealed a problem: the little slugs could distinguish each other, but not necessarily their corresponding ninja. For example, if A wanted to talk to B, A's slug couldn't connect B with B's slug, and A couldn't describe which slug was B's.
And so, a numbering system was born. It was simple: just use their ninja registration numbers. This ensured that every person and every slug was accounted for and that there would be no confusion.
The relationship between these clones and Katsuyu was a special one. Out of respect for her, and to ensure a long and fruitful partnership, the relationship between a test subject and a clone could not be defined as one of master and property. At the same time, they were not contractors.
After much discussion, Dana made the decision: from now on, the relationship between a ninja and a little slug would be defined as "partners."
The partner was responsible for the little slug's safety. Though the death of a clone would just mean it returned to the main body, in the future, when there were a large number of them, Katsuyu wouldn't have the time to store every clone's memory. For the former partner, it would be a real death. If they applied for a new one, they would get a new little slug, and there would be some kind of punishment.
Dana had a section of a vacant lot in the northern part of the village developed. It was not large, only a few hundred square meters, but it had a small forest, a grassy area, and a stream running through it. "Developed" just meant he had fenced it off.
He then summoned a thousand little slugs and released them into the area. This way, he wouldn't have to summon them every time. Before they were taken by their partners, the little slugs would live happily here. Considering they were only the size of a finger, the space was more than enough. At most, they might run out of food, but someone would come to feed them regularly. But these little slugs could not reproduce, so when they ran out, he would have to come and replenish them.
Next to this area, a new building was planned. In the future, all matters related to the Communication Snails would be handled here. He wanted to establish a new functional department. For now, he had just pulled a few research-type ninja who weren't working on anything important to handle the related affairs.
After the first phase of the experiment was over, he planned to first equip the village's high command and the ANBU with the Communication Snails, as a second test, and then gradually roll it out to the entire village.
Just as the first phase of the experiment was about to end, he received some good news.
His father was finally back.
It had been nearly a month since the "Night of the Purple Moon," twice as long as he had initially estimated.
The Third Raikage had come ashore on the coast of the Land of Hot Water and had returned through the Thunder-Hot Water border. He had arrived at the village in the middle of the night. When Dana was woken up and saw him, his father and his brother were both ravenously eating.
It wasn't that they were starving. With a ninja's survival skills, that was unlikely. They could have caught a shark and roasted it. But they had had no vegetables or fruit. They were sick of fish.
"Dad," he asked, "where in the world did you fly to?"
"The far south," the Raikage said, taking a huge bite out of an apple. "It was all ice and snow. Not a soul in sight. Just a bunch of strange creatures."
Dana was shocked. Had they gone to the South Pole?
"We walked north, but we were a bit off course. We ended up behind the Land of Water, in what Dodai called the 'deep ocean.' It's a place that's not on any map. No land, just a bunch of small islands. We rested there for a bit and then headed west, and finally came back through the Land of Hot Water."
"Those islands were interesting," Arashi added. "They had very little contact with the outside world. Very primitive. They would occasionally trade with the people from the Land of Water, but the people from the Land of Water treated them like savages. But we found something good on one of the islands. That's why we were delayed."
He then took out a piece of dark, shimmering ore and placed it on the table.
Dana picked it up. It was heavier than he expected, but he didn't see anything special about it.
"Oh, you've probably never seen the raw ore before," Arashi said. "This is chakra metal."
Dana's heart skipped a beat.
"There were so many islands," the Raikage said, peeling an orange. "We only explored a few of them, and we found two chakra metal veins. The people on those islands have no ninja, no concept of chakra. To them, these ores are just useless rocks that are hard to work with."
This was... a stroke of luck? A blessing in disguise?
The value of chakra metal was self-evident. In a world dominated by chakra, it was incredibly expensive. The production was extremely low. A sword with even a small amount of it was a luxury. A weapon infused with chakra metal could open up a world of possibilities for a ninja, allowing them to develop a variety of new abilities. It might not be a complete transformation, but it would be a significant upgrade.
Usually, only unique weapons were made with chakra metal, and only by the wealthy. These weapons were also very durable and were often passed down as heirlooms.
"We left three men behind to guard the veins and to continue to scout the other islands," the Raikage said. "We have to make sure this information doesn't leak. We don't know how large the reserves are. We'll need some specialists to go and take a look."
Dodai had also stayed behind. He was like that. When he discovered something of great value to the village, he never trusted anyone else to do it. He had to do it himself. It had been the same with the "blacksmith's shop" project.
"I've always been focused on the ninja world," the Raikage said with a sigh. "But this time, I've discovered that there are great treasures in the sea as well. The people on those islands said that if you sail further east, there are even larger islands. If I wasn't worried about the village, I would have gone to take a look."
This was a matter of great importance. The very next morning, the Third Raikage announced his return and met with all the leaders of the village, to reassure them. It also marked the end of Dana's tenure as Acting Raikage.
A small-scale meeting was then held among the high-ranking leaders. The matter of the chakra metal veins was of the utmost importance. Even if the reserves were small, it would be a valuable strategic asset. And if they were large, the impact would be immense.
With a ninja's water-walking ability and the Cloud's mature super-sized sealing scroll logistics, developing these veins would not be difficult. They didn't even need a boat. They didn't have to go through the trouble of mining and smelting there. They could just use Earth Release to dig it up, pack it in a sealing scroll, and run back across the water.
When a ninja focuses on developing productivity, they are truly formidable. Every one of them is a minor superhero.
Three days later, a team of thirty set out across the sea.
Among them were research-type ninja from United Iron & Steel, who were familiar with mineral veins and chakra metal, as well as combat-type ninja who were skilled in Earth Release, and some sensory-type ninja who could help with the prospecting.
They would go to the place that had been temporarily named the "Eastern Archipelago," rendezvous with Dodai and the others, and begin to survey and preliminarily mine the veins.
And this team would become the prototype for the future "construction-type ninja."