Chapter 168: The BUG Jutsu of Infrastructure
Dana didn't waste any time. He got straight to the point.
"Gentlemen," he said, "I have a few questions for you. With your current knowledge and experience, if you were to use a combination of ninjutsu for construction, how would you go about it?"
He didn't give them a specific direction or any limitations, wanting them to have complete freedom in their answers.
The three of them exchanged a look. They hadn't expected this question. Though they worked for United Iron & Steel, they had never been involved in construction. Or rather, they had subconsciously thought of it as a job for craftsmen. They had never even considered it.
But as ninja who had been involved in industrial production for a long time, they were better equipped to handle this kind of question than a combat-focused ninja.
They thought for a while, and then the older of the three spoke. "Lord Dana," he said, "I don't know what kind of housing you're referring to. We sometimes use Earth Release to create temporary structures when we're mining or in the field, but those are very crude and don't last long without a continuous supply of chakra."
"I don't want to limit your thinking," he said. "You can think of all types of housing: residential, courtyards, two-story, three-story, or even higher. I'm talking about construction in general."
They discussed it among themselves for a long time. Finally, one of them said, "Lord Dana, have you heard of the 'Earth Release: Tectonic Shift'?"
He shook his head. He had never heard of it.
"It's a high-level Earth Release ninjutsu," the man explained. "It's usually used to divide enemies, set up obstacles, or even create a maze. Its special feature is that you can first design a blueprint, and after activating the jutsu, a large area of terrain will be transformed to match it. But it requires a large amount of earth and rock and can only be used on relatively flat terrain. It has a lot of limitations, and the chakra consumption is not small. It's probably a B-rank, maybe even an A-rank. It's said that this jutsu can cover a considerable area, hundreds of meters in radius."
Dana's eyebrow twitched. That jutsu... isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? A radius of a hundred meters is over ten thousand square meters. And hundreds of meters... several football fields? And it could be formed according to a pre-designed blueprint.
You have a jutsu like that, he thought, and you're using it to build mazes and divide enemies? And you're complaining that it can only be used on flat terrain?
This was basically a BUG in the field of infrastructure.
If a ninja with a particularly large-scale ninjutsu like Hiroto were to use it, couldn't he just create a small town in one go? Or at the very least, the main structure of one.
No, no, calm down. The man's description had been filled with uncertain words like "it's said" and "probably." Maybe it wasn't that powerful.
"I'm guessing you haven't mastered this jutsu," he said, steadying himself.
"My lord," the man said, scratching his head, "we've only heard of it. The village doesn't have this jutsu. It's a unique technique of the Fire Temple in the Land of Fire."
Of course, he thought. A jutsu I've never even heard of. Of course the village doesn't have it.
"Then I have another question," he said. "In an Earth Release ninjutsu, can you use cement and steel rebar instead?"
This was also an important question. Pure earth and rock structures had too many limitations. If he wanted to use stronger materials, he might as well skip bricks and go straight to steel-reinforced concrete.
The older ninja suddenly looked a little embarrassed. "To be honest, my lord," he said, scratching the corner of his eye, "when I was young, I wasn't very good at fighting, so I studied cement. I wanted to incorporate its hardness into my Earth Release jutsu, like the Earth-Style Wall. But in the end, it wasn't very practical. I couldn't directly transform earth into cement, so I had to bring my own cement into battle. It was a bit... stupid. But for construction, changing the material to cement wouldn't affect the effectiveness of the jutsu. At most, it would just consume more chakra, because cement is heavier. But as for steel rebar, I don't know."
"It shouldn't be a problem, my lord," another ninja added. "When I'm assisting with casting, I sometimes use Earth Release to directly shape the mold and then control the mold to change its shape. Though I don't have Magnet Release and can't directly control the steel, I can control it by controlling the mold. I think the principle is the same as what you're asking."
Dana nodded. He was beginning to understand that the "Tectonic Shift" was, in principle, the same as the "Earth-Style Wall" and the "Mobile Core." It was a modification and shaping of the concept of "earth." The biggest difference was the strange ability to follow a blueprint.
But there were many strange things in the world of ninjutsu. Was the Earth Grudge Fear not strange? Was the Flying Thunder God not a BUG?
He talked with the three of them for a long time, not just about construction, but also about their daily work.
After they had left, he thought about it. This "Tectonic Shift" that he had never heard of could be a key. Even if it wasn't as miraculous as they had said, he couldn't let it go.
But the Cloud couldn't do this themselves. It was not necessary. He would have to leave it to his old friend.
He immediately sent a message to the nearest underground exchange.
"Kakuzu, come quick! There's money!"
In the days he was waiting for a reply, he was not idle. He launched the second phase of the Communication Snail distribution. This time, the coverage was the village's Jonin and Special Jonin.
At the same time, he activated the new building next to the slug breeding ground as the "Communication Snail Management Department" and pulled some manpower to handle all related matters.
Ninja could go to the department to apply for their own Communication Snail. If they ran into any problems, or if their snail was damaged, or if they had a falling out with their slug, the department would handle it.
Having a "falling out" was a serious matter. The little slugs were intelligent, special individuals with their own thoughts. Though they had all inherited Katsuyu's good nature, there were all kinds of ninja. Some were hot-tempered, some were gloomy, and some might even be assholes. Since the relationship between a ninja and a slug was defined as a partnership, not a pet, this possibility had to be considered.
But he thought it would be difficult to make a little slug, with its inherited good nature, dislike someone. But the rule was still clearly communicated to all the slugs and applicants, as a sign of respect for Shikkotsu Forest.
Many in the Cloud had already heard rumors of the Communication Snails. But before, they had only been equipped by the high-ranking leaders. Many of the Jonin were very curious about this miraculous new thing, and when they got the news, many of them immediately lined up to apply.
Ryosuke Kuroki held his newly acquired Communication Snail, feeling a sense of wonder. He wanted to try it out immediately, but he soon realized that he could only call someone if he knew their ninja registration number. He wasn't sure which of his acquaintances had one.
But it was something from the village, so it had to be real.
He thought for a moment. He wished he could have gotten two, so he could give one to Amemaru. Then he could talk to him whenever he wanted. But Amemaru had just become a Genin. It would probably be a while before he could apply for one.
Since adopting Amemaru, he had been constantly worrying about him. He had never even been married, but he was already an experienced father.
As he was lost in thought, the little slug's voice echoed in his mind. "Kuroki-kun! Ninja registration number ### invites you to a call. Do you accept?"
He was taken aback for a moment. He knew that number. It was a junior he had worked with before.
He was surprised, but he accepted. A female voice echoed in his mind.
"Hello? Kuroki-senpai, can you hear me?"
He unconsciously cleared his throat and replied in a voice three octaves lower. He didn't know why.
"I can hear you, Yuu Mihara. What is it?"
"I knew you had one too, senpai!" the voice on the other end said excitedly. "The first thing I did when I got it was to try and call you."
Kuroki, who had been single for thirty years, blushed, but he tried to act serious. "Yuu," he said, "if you have something to say, just say it."
"Can't I just call to chat, senpai? Hey, are you free for dinner? I'm about to become a team leader, and I've never had a student before. I have a lot of things I want to ask you."
"Actually," he said honestly, "I've never been a team leader either. I probably don't have much experience to share."
"Oh, is that so?" the voice on the other end said, a playful tone in it. "What a shame. I really don't know what I'm doing. I'm afraid I'll mess up and ruin my students' careers. I remember one of the three Genin is named something like... Ninomiya... Amemaru? I think I've heard you mention that name before, senpai. Oh well, it's not important. See you next time."
"Ahem," he said quickly, "actually, I do have a lot of experience with children. We can... exchange ideas tonight. Do you like barbecue or sashimi, Yuu?"