Chapter 239: Letters and the Coordinate Snail
The capital of the Land of Lightning was plunging back into chaos at a speed that left people dumbfounded.
Countless people thought they had picked the right side and were about to climb the ladder of success, only to find their backer, Jun'en Furuya, dead under mysterious circumstances. Before anyone could digest this change, several key retainers and samurai leaders also died inexplicably overnight.
Every one of these victims held significant power.
Soon, everyone in the capital felt threatened. Many hired mercenary ninja for protection, but the result was often that both the mercenary and the employer were eliminated together.
Although there was no direct evidence, it was hard not to suspect the new Daimyo. However, every time the major noble families tried to organize a "forced abdication," the leader of the movement would suddenly die a violent, unexplained death. For a time, everyone fell silent, and no one dared to discuss the Daimyo anymore.
Through these bloody means, Raihara Yukihiro "accidentally" gained a group of people willing to obey him. He was finally no longer a commander without soldiers; he held real power.
Once he had people to do his bidding openly, he began to descend into depravity at a shocking speed.
Yukihiro selected several young and beautiful maids from the servants' quarters, demanding they serve him personally. Those unwilling were beaten and coerced. He also invited his old scoundrel friends from the city into Asuka Castle, and even brought in a large number of dancers from brothels. They spent their days indulging in debauchery and wickedness within the castle walls.
Not only were the nobles and retainers in the capital panicked, but officials in other cities of the Land of Lightning also found the situation absurd. Some were thoroughly disappointed with the Daimyo's administration and wrote several letters questioning the new Daimyo. Others developed ambitions of their own, beginning to ignore orders while listening only to announcements.
The entire Land of Lightning was shrouded in dark clouds.
The bizarre changes in the Daimyo's administration naturally attracted the attention of Kumogakure.
After all, the Cloud Village was located within the Land of Lightning. Although autonomous, they were inevitably affected. If the entire country fell into decline, the Cloud could not remain unaffected.
More than half of the village's mission requests came from within the Land of Lightning, and many of the village's new economic sources, including the United Iron & Steel Company, had significant interests in the country.
After the Third Raikage wrote several letters inquiring about the situation but received no response—like clay oxen entering the sea—he decisively sent people to approach the capital's outskirts to gather intelligence secretly.
"Ninja... they really are useful tools. Whoever dares to oppose me, I just have them killed..."
During this time, Raihara Yukihiro's body grew increasingly frail, yet his spirit remained in a constant state of hyper-excitement. He even felt like he didn't need to sleep.
At this moment, with bloodshot eyes, he sat in his study, writing letter after letter.
"It's a pity that guy Kakuzu ran off for some reason. Damn it! I need more ninja. It's not just the capital that has annoying pests; there are idiots opposing me all over the Land of Lightning! I need more ninja!"
"But I can't let those annoying guys from the Cloud in... They'll interfere with me, the Daimyo. Anyway, hiring ninja is hiring ninja. What 'One Country, One Village' system! What does that have to do with me?! Ninja are just hired thugs! I'll hire whoever I want!! I'll make them bite whoever I want! They all have to work for me! Hahahaha!"
Driven by Yukihiro's madness and indulged by his "confidants," a series of bizarre letters were sent from Asuka Castle through official channels to various parts of the ninja world.
"Yotsuki-kun, about this test... what are the results?"
The Katsuyu Sage shrank her mountain-sized body into a ball, her tens of meters long tentacles twitching nervously. She felt very anxious.
Dana looked at the exam paper in his hand with a dark expression. This normal-sized paper was written by a clone that had inherited the Katsuyu Sage's knowledge, so it naturally reflected her true level.
Dana's expression made the Katsuyu Sage very nervous.
After a long while, Dana finally looked up from the paper.
"H... How is it?"
Dana's expression cleared from cloudy to sunny, and he smiled. "Congratulations, Katsuyu Sage! You finally got a perfect score!"
"YAY!"
Her massive tentacles spun like propellers, snapping several stalactites in the Shikkotsu Forest.
Dana silently dodged the falling rocks and said, "Time flies like an arrow, how quickly it passes. In the blink of an eye, it's time to say goodbye to everyone... No, I mean, thank you for your hard work during this time, Katsuyu Sage."
The Katsuyu Sage, who had been addicted to watching the ninja world in "VR," finally achieved a good result.
"Coincidentally, the Research Institute has also finalized the plan. Katsuyu Sage, do you remember the special clone I mentioned to you before?"
"Uh-huh, I remember."
As she spoke, a special slug split off from the Katsuyu Sage's body. Its stripes weren't the usual blue, nor the gold of the one in Dana's hand, but red. Its size was also much larger than the original finger-length small slugs.
The Cloud already had thousands of Communication Snails working, and there would be more in the future. Many people spent all day chatting on the "snail phone," and the small slug clones inside accumulated a lot of memories. To ensure the Katsuyu Sage wasn't overwhelmed by the massive influx of information, the current system isolated the memories and information of all small slugs unidirectionally—except for the special golden slug in Dana's hand.
That is, the Katsuyu Sage could read the memories of the small slugs and share their vision when necessary (which was the "VR" addiction she had earlier), but the small slugs could not actively transmit any information to the Katsuyu Sage.
Only the golden slug in Dana's hand had this capability. Currently, only a handful of people in Kumogakure possessed a golden slug.
So, to maximize the advantage of the "Heavenly Transfer Technique," the Research Institute, with Dana's support, designed a brand-new device to separate civilian-use Communication Snails from military-use special slugs.
The "Coordinate Snail" was born.
This type of slug was granted the authority to actively contact the Shikkotsu Forest. Its larger size also gave it an effective range far exceeding that of the small slugs. The Katsuyu Sage in the Shikkotsu Forest could act as a relay station, transmitting this information back to Kumogakure, allowing military-use Coordinate Snails to achieve real-time communication across the entire ninja world.
Moreover, after receiving a transmission from a Coordinate Snail, the Katsuyu Sage could use the unique connection between her main body and the clone, supplemented by her newly mastered knowledge, to provide specific coordinate feedback, forming a positioning capability.
Then came the Cloud's traditional art: Justice from Above.
Frontline personnel no longer needed to know where they were or calculate coordinates. It was the other way around.
The Coordinate Snail could provide positioning support and communication support for frontline ninja.
In Dana's eyes, this was the ninja world's version of a satellite phone.
Small slugs could only communicate over short distances and couldn't automatically locate themselves, like walkie-talkies or cell phones without GPS.
The larger Coordinate Snail, however, could use the Shikkotsu Forest as a relay for global communication and provide positioning functions, just like a satellite phone.
Furthermore, the Coordinate Snail itself could broadcast to other small slugs within a considerable area, acting as a command hub to form a regional network.
And its appearance was designed by Dana with a bit of wicked humor. It was shaped like a backpack, worn on the back just like the communication equipment of radio operators in his past life. The only difference was that instead of a square box, it was a large, flat, spiral snail shell.
This design accommodated the larger Coordinate Snail while minimizing the impact on a ninja's movement.
More importantly, calling for reinforcements on the battlefield with this would have a great atmosphere.
"This is Alpha Team! Requesting immediate air support! Coordinates locked! Danger Close!"