Chapter 167: Regarding Construction
After pulling an all-nighter, Dana took a long nap, sleeping from seven in the morning until four in the afternoon. When he woke up, Maki was sitting by his bed, gently fanning him.
"You're awake, Young Master," she said. "The rainy season is coming. I was worried you would feel stuffy, so I was fanning you."
"Thank you," he said with a smile. "You've worked hard."
She smiled back, her eyes crescent moons.
Though he was awake, he still felt groggy. By the time he was fully awake, it would probably be close to bedtime again. So, pulling an all-nighter was not a good idea. And if you did, it was better to just push through.
So that's why Dad chooses to electrocute himself.
He decided he couldn't just waste the day. He had to do something. If he couldn't sleep tonight, he could just go to Shikkotsu Forest to train. He wondered how Katsuyu was doing with her functions and coordinate systems, if she had been studying hard.
He told his mother he wouldn't be home for dinner and left the Yotsuki compound. But it was already dusk. He decided to go and check on the little slugs.
Before he had left the village, he had ordered a new building to be constructed next to the breeding ground. It was almost finished now, but still empty. A ninja was feeding the slugs.
"Come on, everyone!" a kunoichi in a short white robe shouted from outside the fence. "Dinner today is spinach and bamboo shoots! Come and get it!"
A number of the little slugs emerged from the enclosure and gathered around. She placed a bowl of fresh vegetables and bamboo shoots inside, and they swarmed it, eating greedily.
The scene was a little... unsettling.
The kunoichi turned and saw him. "Lord Dana!" she said, greeting him. "Good evening."
"Rimui, right?" he said with a nod. He recognized her. She was from the "Special Strategy Division." "Are you in charge of taking care of the slugs now?"
"Yes, Lord Dana!" she said, excited that he had remembered her name. "The plants in the enclosure are limited, so I bring different vegetables every day."
The slugs were well-cared for. They weren't just mindless creatures. They would even say what they liked and didn't like to eat. And they didn't get sick. So they were easy to take care of.
He had originally summoned a thousand of them. The high-ranking leaders had taken some, but there were still at least seven hundred left. The Communication Snails had become an indispensable part of the village's communication system, but they had not yet been widely distributed. That was a matter he had to deal with now that he was back.
But the supporting building next door, after a month, was only just finished, and the inside was still empty. He had thought it would have been ready by now.
Compared to the situation in the Eastern Archipelago, the efficiency here was much lower.
He learned from her that there were two main problems.
First, the common perception in the ninja world was that construction was a job for craftsmen, not for ninja.
Second, and more importantly, although ninja had many abilities to transform nature, the main structure of the houses in the ninja world was still wood, similar to the traditional architecture of his previous life's Japan. Ninja were not well-suited for that. Even if they were to build a house, it would be in the realm of the legendary Wood Release. A certain three-bedroom, one-living-room ninja was still nowhere to be found.
So, when he had given the order, his subordinates had just followed the conventional method: hire craftsmen, approve the blueprints, and supervise the progress. At the speed of ordinary craftsmen, it would take that long.
There was nothing wrong with that. It was how things had been done for years. But he had just been amazed by the terrifying productivity of ninja. He had felt that a beautiful future was just around the corner for the Cloud. And then, he had discovered that in his own village, they were still having ordinary people dig foundations, drive wooden posts, and assemble planks.
It was a bit of a letdown.
An ordinary ninja couldn't handle wood construction. But cement already existed in this world. Many of the buildings in the Hidden Rain, to deal with the humidity, were made of concrete.
But even with concrete, there were many other things involved in building a house, such as aesthetics, and structural support.
He felt there was a lot of potential here.
And the next phase of the Communication Snail distribution plan also needed to be pushed forward.
That night, unable to sleep, he reverse-summoned himself to Shikkotsu Forest and spent the whole night supervising Katsuyu's elementary math homework. He could feel that their relationship had grown much closer.
The next morning, he used his Communication Snail to summon a few "technical experts" from United Iron & Steel, who were proficient in Earth Release and had experience in production. He was going to hold a seminar.
He was told that there were three ninja who met his requirements, and they had recently returned to the village to report. He had them wait for him at the "Special Strategy Division" headquarters.
After breakfast with his mother, he went to deal with this matter.
They were called "technical experts," but ninja tended to be young. Two of them were in their early twenties, and one was in his thirties.
He had already received their files. Though he was no longer directly involved in the company's daily operations, and was just a decision-maker, this was still his creation. They knew him, but he didn't remember them. So he had asked for their files beforehand.
All three of them were Chunin. The thirty-something, to still be a Chunin at his age, was clearly not very good at combat. And the two younger ones were of average talent and would probably never make Jonin. But with the advent of United Iron & Steel, they had found a place to shine.
The older one was skilled in Earth and Fire Release. The two younger ones were skilled in Earth and Water Release, and their Wind Release was also not bad.
From this, he could see that the most useful elements for production were Earth and Water, followed by Fire. Wind was not very useful, and Lightning was completely useless.
The three of them had come back to the village to report and to rest for a few days, and now they had been summoned by him.
"Lord Dana!" The three of them stood up and greeted him the moment he entered.
"Sit, sit," he said, waving his hand. "Don't be nervous. I've just called you here today to ask for your advice on a few things. To get the opinion of the professionals."
The word "professionals" was like honey to their ears.
With their talent, in the old system, they would have had no future. But they had been lucky to be born in a good era. The village was changing every day, and even those who were not good at fighting could find a way to contribute. And with the recent reforms to the ninja system, they were all thinking of switching to the research-type track. That would be a different set of evaluation criteria, and they might even have a chance to become Jonin.
"Ask whatever you like, Lord Dana," one of them said. "We will tell you everything we know."