Of course, it's a bit premature to say the times have changed.
They say, beyond seven paces, the gun is fast!
Within seven paces, the gun is both accurate and fast!
This statement is a truth on Earth, but in the Ninja World, it's not entirely established and still needs verification.
After all, due to the existence of Chakra, the bodies and reactions of ninjas generally far exceed those on Earth.
But, that's only when the ninja is prepared.
When it comes to surprise attacks, the destructive power of a gun is undeniable. Facing a bullet, even Naruto would get bruised if hit in the head, let alone an ordinary ninja.
If shot in the head, everyone kicks the bucket.
It could be said that the emergence of the gun directly put ninjas and commoners on the same level.
As for whether firearms can truly change the balance of power?
At most, they can only make everyone below the rank of Jōnin equal.
For ninjas at or above the Jōnin level, it's not necessarily true.
At the Jōnin rank, whether it's raw strength, perception, or especially the detection of killing intent, it's extremely rare for them to be targeted and ambushed without noticing.
Unless the attacker is also a Jōnin capable of suppressing their own killing intent.
All in all, the appearance of firearms will definitely change this era.
In terms of destructive power alone, a gun can instantly give a commoner the lethality of a ninja.
It must be remembered that this world, if you disregard the existence of ninjas, is basically still in the cold weapon era.
To kill someone, even a veteran has to slash/stab them several times face-to-face.
Yet, Naruto glanced at the revolver in Gou-dan's hand. This thing only requires a gentle pull of the trigger.
It is foreseeable that this world is about to change, and quickly.
Should they really become arms dealers, dump light artillery into the Ninja World, and make it sprint into the age of line infantry and firing squads?
Naruto thought: He had to consider it more carefully.
How many people could possibly die in a cold weapon war?
But if they entered the age of trenches, cannons, and barbed wire, hundreds of thousands wouldn't be enough to fill the lines. Could it even be called a World War if fewer than ten million died?
It was truly against the laws of nature.
Back in the CEO's office, Uzumaki Gou-dan was scolded by Naruto for not using the main entrance, instead opting for the Flying Thunder God Technique.
A moment later.
The CEO's office floor was covered in red threads—all Gou-dan's hair—and there was a pair of shoes that had burst their seams. As for Uzumaki Gou-dan himself?
He was bald, bruised, and swollen, yet standing there with a sycophantic expression.
In front of him, Naruto lay back in the CEO chair, his legs propped up on the desk, hands casually folded.
"Boss, just give the order." As Gou-dan spoke, a line of nosebleed ran down, making him look particularly miserable.
Naruto couldn't bear his tragic appearance. "Enough, stop acting pitiful!"
"Heh heh."
Uzumaki Gou-dan gave an honest smile. With a thought, he stopped restraining himself. His Sage Body instantly healed his injuries, and his thick red hair grew back.
In the blink of an eye, he was completely refreshed, with no trace of his previous misery.
"Haha, nothing escapes your discerning eyes, Boss."
Gou-dan's smile was too fawning, even for Naruto.
"Stop messing around. Hurry up and hand over the intel." Lifting his eyes to look at him, Naruto urged him, extending his fist.
Uzumaki Gou-dan's location, deep within the Land of Grass, was right in the middle of the continent, making it a place of strategic importance since ancient times.
Given such a prime geographical location, Naruto naturally established the intelligence center of the Ninja World here.
In addition to his city-building task, Uzumaki Gou-dan was primarily in charge of intelligence work for all routes. A total of over a thousand mobile intelligence spies across the entire Ninja World would report their findings to Uzumaki Gou-dan.
One of Naruto's purposes for coming here this time was to check the intelligence on the Ninja World.
Gou-dan met his fist.
Instantly, a massive flow of information surged in. Much of the recent intelligence on the Ninja World flooded Naruto's mind.
Naruto quickly summarized the information with his sharp mind.
First up was the Land of Lightning, which had been making frequent moves recently.
Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) was, on one hand, recalling all its ninjas abroad to deal with the 'power vacuum' caused by the death of the Raikage Ai and the capture of the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails. On the other hand, they were frantically buying all kinds of supplies, particularly huge quantities of Carefree Pills (Xiaoyao Pills).
The Land of Lightning truly lived up to its name as the wealthiest nation in the Ninja World; they had money. The sheer quantity and funds involved in the procurement were astronomical.
Facing their difficulties, their solution was: If they lack top-tier fighting power, then compensate with quantity!
One red Carefree Pill is one extra life, even for a Jōnin. This was likely the reason the Land of Lightning was purchasing such a massive amount of red Carefree Pills.
Although their number of ninjas was somewhat low compared to the likely 'coalition,' the Land of Lightning had money!
With this purchase, they had a hundred lives per person!
And this was only for the red Carefree Pills!
"They're rich as hell!" Naruto couldn't help but exclaim.
The long string of zeros on the procurement amount made Naruto want to just go and rob the Land of Lightning directly.
At this moment, Naruto was certainly not the only one in the Ninja World who wanted to rob the Land of Lightning. All the ambitious great nations and forces in the world felt the same.
Lacking its 'nuclear weapons,' and with its top experts gone, the Land of Lightning was like a piece of rich meat, already targeted by the major nations and forces.
Everyone wanted a piece, especially the Land of Earth.
According to internal intelligence, the Land of Earth had begun mobilization the day after the death of the Raikage Ai.
Supplies were being prepared, and personnel were being counted and trained.
Sales of the Carefree Pill in the Land of Earth were also soaring.
As for secret maneuvers?
Early intelligence sources were scarce, but according to the Akatsuki organization's internal 'Pangolin' source, they had recently accepted a major mission.
The main content was to operate on the fringes of the Land of Lightning, constantly whittling down the Land of Lightning's viable forces and creating chaos on its borders.
The remuneration was also high.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Naruto couldn't stop clicking his tongue.
These great nations of the Ninja World don't show much normally, but when it's time to show their true colors, they are richer than the last!
Wait, no, one of the Five Great Nations was dirt poor—Sunagakure (Hidden Sand Village)!
They could barely gather the ransom money.
Thinking of Sunagakure, Naruto saw the next piece of intelligence was about the Land of Wind.
Upon reading it, Naruto realized that Sunagakure seemed to be on the verge of making a move as well.
Since the captured ninjas were returned, Sunagakure had been secretly preparing.
First, training personnel and preparing equipment. Second, sales of the Carefree Pill were also soaring.
The Carefree Pill had indeed become hard currency!
Naruto couldn't resist looking at the ledger. That long string of zeros left him deeply satisfied. Being a war profiteer really is the best!
Hahahaha~!!!
Now, back to Konoha (Hidden Leaf Village).
Emmm.
The sales of the Carefree Pill didn't seem to have changed much compared to other nations, virtually remaining stable with a slight increase.
This 'increase' was mainly because more people had found the way to purchase the pills through proxies, with most being proxy purchases.
As for other aspects?
Aside from the fact that other ninja villages were busy preparing for war, leading to a reduction in their missions and thus an increase in Konoha's mission count, there seemed to be no other changes!
Konoha actually had virtually no reaction.
Naruto was momentarily at a loss as to what Tsunade, as the Hokage, intended to do or which side she would take in the imminent war.
"Never mind."
Naruto sighed and continued reading.
There was nothing further down.
The Land of Water's Kirigakure (Hidden Mist Village)?
An isolated orphan, doing its own thing.
"Boss."
Seeing Naruto open his eyes, Uzumaki Gou-dan immediately stepped forward, blinking his big, sparkling eyes. "There's a message that just came in."
"What is it?" Naruto looked at him irritably.
"It's about the Taklamakan Desert."
"The Taklamakan Desert?" He was interrupted by Naruto before he could finish.
Naruto was confused. Had he time-traveled again? Where did that name come from?
"Well," Gou-dan stammered an explanation.
It turned out that the oil-rich desert given to them by Sunagakure as part of the indemnity was named the Taklamakan Desert.
Naruto nodded in understanding. "Oh, what about it?"
"The survey team discovered a city there."
"A city?"
Naruto was speechless.
He had seen that desolate place that was Sunagakure. A city in that broken-down region?
"Yes. The survey team heard from the surrounding indigenous people that the city's name is Loulan." Gou-dan briefly introduced the matter of Loulan.
"Loulan?"
This name was all too familiar to Naruto. It was just that Naruto (the work) was truly adept at mixing (sewing) things together.
First there was [forgotten name], then there was [also forgotten name], and something in between was forgotten too.
Never mind! The point was, it mixed things up constantly.
"Send two small teams over there to keep an eye on it. Although we're not ready to start mining yet, don't let our oil be destroyed. Coincidentally, the protection team can just live in that run-down city."
Seeing that the task was complete, Naruto prepared to leave. Before doing so, he instructed:
"Oh, right."
Naruto turned back to look at Gou-dan, who was about to sneak out the door. "From now on, you will report intelligence to Uzumaki Sun-dried Bamboo Shoot daily. He will be in command of the Ninja World's intelligence network."
"Yes!"
Swish~
Naruto instantly disappeared using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
At the same time.
In the Land of Waves, the situation at the location of the clone Minazuki Tetchu had changed slightly from the expectation.
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