"Masui, you've worked hard."
"Chief-sama, you're too polite. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."
"Take care."
Masui left on his own, feeling very good. After this battle, Masui knew that he had entered the core of Soma's camp.
That means the Kaguya Clan will no longer face the same situations as before.
"However, I also need to properly manage the people within the clan."
"The reason those radicals appeared in the past was that the clan was too lax."
"Now, the people in the Kaguya Clan have good temperaments."
"But if I'm too lenient and let them be, it's possible that changes will occur."
"Neko has sacrificed so much to preserve the current Kaguya Clan; I must be more cautious."
"I can never betray his sacrifice."
Taking action against blood relatives, bearing all the sins, being despised by countless people…
Masui knew that Neko was actually not in the wrong; he simply chose to bear these mistakes on his own.
Hozuki Izumo also left.
As Yagura's staunch bodyguard, Hozuki Izumo spent most of his day following Yagura.
In the Hidden Mist Village, everyone in the ninja world saw Hozuki Izumo as already belonging to Yagura.
But in reality, Hozuki Izumo's true loyalty lies with Soma.
His loyalty to Yagura is merely a facade.
He also bears part of the responsibility for monitoring Yagura.
Daida returned to his post.
The forging department's guard team consists of a total of six squads.
Thus, they operate on a rotating schedule of three shifts.
When the first and second squads are on guard duty, the third and fourth squads handle patrols, while the fifth and sixth squads rest.
This way, they can comprehensively oversee the situation on Forging Island, be ready to provide support, and avoid excessive fatigue.
It allows the members of the guard team to maintain a good condition.
Usually, if Soma has other matters requiring the help of the guard team members, such as during the Sword Forging Competition or when making contracts at the Contract House, he would draw some from the patrolling squad.
"Let's begin the forging."
After a night of rest, the next day, after breakfast, Soma entered the forging room.
He took out the blueprint for the Soul Reaping Sword.
In half a day, Soma completed the calculations in his mind.
"The difficulty isn't too great."
"However, compared to the Ninjato I forged before, there is an additional inlay process."
"I need to inlay the dragon scales from the dragon man onto the blade."
"Therefore, when forging, I need to finalize the pattern on the blade."
"This pattern doesn't seem suitable for the Water Drop Hammer, Water Flow Hammer, Water Fall Hammer, or River Flow Hammer."
"In terms of shape, it comes in wave after wave, just like the tide."
Soma's eyes flickered.
"Perhaps I should observe what the tide looks like."
Soma moved quickly to the shore.
A stretch of reefs came into his view.
Waves crashed one after another against the rocks.
"But it's not vigorous enough!"
Soma stepped forward and arrived above the sea.
Chakra gathered at his feet, allowing him to walk as if on flat ground.
Then, he formed hand seals.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave Jutsu!"
In the next moment, the sea surged violently, as if a volcano had suddenly erupted beneath the ocean, with water continuously bubbling up from below.
"This is what a great tide looks like."
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Jutsu!"
A water dragon appeared, solid and unwavering, hovering in the air nearby.
Soma stood atop the dragon's head.
He then reached out and summoned Zudomon's Hammer into his hand.
Soma imitated the movement of the waves, swinging the hammer in his grip.
One swing, two swings, three swings…
He continued the cycle repeatedly.
As night fell, he returned to the forging room and began the smelting of materials.
Using earth and fire attributes of Chakra, he smelted the metal, expelling impurities that flowed away with the molten rock. Both fire and earth Chakra permeated the metal.
He worked until midnight.
Soma finally stopped.
He returned to his room.
The next day, when Soma woke up, it was already close to noon.
Yesterday, he had overexerted himself to complete the smelting of materials.
"Chief-sama."
Kaguya Izumi brought over the porridge prepared in the kitchen.
"Thank you."
Soma took it and had a small sip.
The aroma of fish and shrimp filled his nostrils.
Immediately, Soma felt that the fatigue throughout his body had eased significantly.
"Chief-sama."
Kaguya Izumi hesitated for a moment but couldn't help saying, "The situation in the village is not that bad right now, Chief-sama. You don't need to work so hard; you should pay more attention to your health."
The situation is good?
From the perspective of others in Hidden Mist Village, the situation indeed seemed quite good.
Zanpakuto had created a group of top-tier ninjas.
However, Soma was clear that the situation was far from optimistic.
The Akatsuki Organization's Infinite Tsukuyomi plan aimed to trap everyone in an illusion, turning them into beings like White Zetsu.
On the moon, Otsutsuki Toneri wants to reset the world.
And the Otsutsuki Clan from beyond the heavens sees the entire ninja world as nutrients.
These events will not happen so quickly.
That's why Soma had let his guard down a bit recently.
However, the changes in Konoha made Soma worry again.
A fallen version of Konoha could truly become very strong.
At that time, if Konoha sought revenge against Hidden Mist Village, the pressure Hidden Mist Village would face would be immense.
To say nothing of anything else, just the Impure World Reincarnation version of Senju Hashirama would be difficult to deal with.
At first, due to the imperfections of the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, Senju Hashirama's strength might not be very formidable,
just like in the original plot during Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha, where the resurrected Senju Hashirama was not very strong.
Orochimaru, Senju Hashirama, and Senju Tobirama could not take down Sarutobi Hiruzen, despite teaming up against him.
However, the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu can be perfected.
"Orochimaru's research abilities are very strong."
"In the original plot, even with missing data, a lack of materials, and insufficient support, he was able to achieve quite good results."
"Now that Konoha has made Orochimaru Hokage, they will certainly provide him with plenty of support."
"Additionally, given the current situation, if Orochimaru were to conduct Impure World Reincarnation, he would most likely resurrect Senju Tobirama. That would mean two researchers collaborating on their studies."
"They would definitely make progress faster."
"Konoha has an abundance of talent."
At times like this, Soma couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder.
Konoha has never lacked talent, regardless of the era.
Even after multiple wars, Konoha has fought against several major ninja villages simultaneously.
In the First Great Ninja War, Konoha was effectively facing four opponents at once.
The same was true for the Second Great Ninja War.
In the Third Great Ninja War, Konoha had the Hidden Sand Village as an ally, but initially, they also fought against the Hidden Sand Village.
In this situation, Konoha is still able to retain many talented individuals.
Once the door to Impure World Reincarnation is opened,
the number of top ninjas in Konoha will surpass the combined total of the other four ninja villages.
Konoha will easily return to its position as the number one ninja village.
"Additionally, even in the early stages when Impure World Reincarnation is not perfected, Konoha has another ace up its sleeve."
"That is Senju Tobirama with the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags."
"Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags is an extremely lethal ninjutsu that even the user cannot escape from."
"Therefore, under normal circumstances, using this ninjutsu is akin to suicide."
"It can only be used once in a lifetime."
"However, when it becomes an Impure World Reincarnation body, the situation changes."
"Impure World Reincarnation bodies cannot die."
"Even if they suffer a 'fatal injury,' like having half their head blown off, they can still regenerate."
"Once Senju Tobirama uses the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, sealing him would be impossible."
"What kind of seal can withstand such explosions?"
"To deal with this kind of Senju Tobirama, the only way is to eliminate the caster, Orochimaru."
"But as long as Konoha stands, Orochimaru cannot be dealt with."
"Orochimaru excels at survival."
"If my Blacksmith System is considered a cheat, then the fallen version of Konoha is undoubtedly cheating as well."
"It's even a simpler and more brute-force cheat."
Soma nodded to Kaguya Izumi.
"I have a plan in mind; yesterday just happened to be the right moment, so I was itching to finish my work before taking a break. You go on with what you're doing; I'll just sit and rest a bit."
After finishing the porridge, Soma said he was resting, but in fact, he wasn't resting at all.
Instead, he took out several Ninjato.
Longsword: Sewing Needle.
Thunder Swords: Fang.
Greatsword: Samehada.
Bluntsword: Helmet Splitter.
Blastsword: Splash.
Aside from Hiramekarei, which was taken by the rogue ninja Hozuki Mangetsu, and the Sever Sword: Executioner's Blade, taken by Neko, the remaining Hidden Mist Seven Ninja Swords had all come into Soma's possession after the Hozuki Clan was "exterminated."
"This Bluntsword's materials are extremely tough."
"But because they were worried about the user's strength being insufficient, they paired it with a hammer."
"The hammer adds a secondary force to break through the enemy's defenses."
"However, if used in conjunction with Stable Rock Style, then the hammer becomes unnecessary."
"The hammer is redundant."
"Using the Bluntsword as a material to forge a Zhanmadao can exceed the Skillful Grade Sword level and reach the Great Grade Sword standard."
"If Hoshigaki Ryukame wields this, his strength will definitely see a significant boost."
"Additionally, I can design an extra circuit."
As for the other blades, Soma didn't have any good modification ideas at the moment.
In the afternoon, Soma entered the forging room.
Having completed the smelting yesterday, he could directly begin forging today.
"Breath of Water, Water Flow Hammer!"
Once he had achieved a basic shape, Soma switched to a different breathing forging technique that he had just mastered.
"Breath of Water, Tidal Wave Hammer!"
With a single strike, clear marks appeared on the blade, resembling scales of a fish in a wave.
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