Just as Qingshui was still deep in thought, the laboratory door suddenly swung open.
A remarkably handsome red-haired young man walked in from outside.
Sasori's eyes swept over the twenty or so busy Shadow Clones in the lab, finally landing on Qingshui, who was staring blankly at the table. Without even checking if it was his main body, he directly slammed a document he was holding down in front of Qingshui.
"This is..."
"The Sand Hidden No. 1 Large War Puppet Project Plan. You can take a look. Once it's built, both you and I will have the necessary technique and Chakra reserves to pilot this large Puppet. I sent people to survey the place where you fought the First Hokage. If this Puppet can be successfully built, it could defeat a First Hokage who's half-dead and only at half his strength."
Qingshui took the plan and opened it to the first page, which showed the design blueprint of this large war Puppet.
This Puppet wasn't humanoid; it had six transformable metal long legs and four arms that could also change into various weapons.
Its body was slender, with three long tails extending from its rear. Each tail had two movable barbed hooks, with a cannon muzzle in the center of the hooks.
The entire thing looked like a giant, deformed scorpion. When scaled up, it would be nearly two hundred meters tall and over eight hundred meters long.
However, half of that length was made up by its tails.
Even so, it was still enormous.
The document also contained various parameters calculated by Sasori. Although it hadn't been built for actual testing, its power shouldn't be weak.
At least in Qingshui's estimation, based on a Reanimated Hashirama with 40% of his peak power, this thing could likely possess over 60% of peak Hashirama's strength before its energy ran out. Even if it couldn't necessarily beat the Wood Golem Buddha and complete Susanoo, it was at least in the same league.
Beyond that, it would probably be very difficult.
According to Tobirama Senju's statement during the Fourth Great Ninja War in the original timeline, Hashirama had already displayed 90% of his peak living strength when he activated True Several Thousand Hands and clashed with Rinnegan Madara.
A Senju Hashirama with 80-90% of his power, once True Several Thousand Hands was unleashed, would be considered top-tier among Kage-level fighters.
And if it were a truly full-strength Hashirama, then virtually nothing below Six Paths Level could defeat him.
As for Qingshui...
He couldn't say for sure how strong he was now, or what level he was at.
Because since the last Great Ninja War ended, although he had improved significantly, he hadn't truly gone all out in a fight with anyone.
But upon careful thought, he should at least be able to climb another step. The giant Puppet Sasori planned to build probably wouldn't be able to do anything to him.
Once he had fully digested the insights gained from the Yi Ren World Avatar and organized them into usable combat skills, and then broke through a few easier-to-break Limiters, he should be able to usher in another wave of significant enhancement.
Perhaps, at that point, he could directly achieve Six Paths Level combat power?
At the very least, general Kage-level experts probably wouldn't be his opponents.
"These expenses... one unit would cost at least ten billion ryo, which is equivalent to the village's entire annual financial revenue back then. You're planning to build two. Although the entire country's tax revenue is now in the village's hands, and the economy is developing rapidly, the village's annual disposable funds have increased almost tenfold. However, there are many places throughout the country, including the village, that need money. If we're going to build them, there's no need to build two at once; one is enough."
Qingshui quickly flipped through Sasori's proposal and spoke.
"One? Two would be safer. I'm already the Five-Tails Jinchuriki, and your Chakra reserves are vast, surpassing even a Tailed Beast. With this large Puppet, either of us alone would have the ability to confront a major ninja village. Ordinary ninja armies could be wiped out with a single hand; even if there are tens of thousands, they're just a number. Even if there are three to five Kage-level experts, they would be difficult to stop.
By then, with our combined efforts, even if Senju Hashirama truly recovers his former strength, we could still defeat him outside!"
Could two such ultra-large Puppets defeat Senju Hashirama?
If it were Madara with Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan before he awakened the Rinnegan, Qingshui felt they could win. One such Puppet would be hard to say, perhaps it might be at a disadvantage, but with two, they should have a sure victory.
But if it were the monster that was Senju Hashirama, it might not be the case.
If a Puppet broke, it couldn't easily be repaired on the battlefield, whereas a Wood Golem and Susanoo, if damaged, could be repaired as long as there was enough Chakra.
At his full strength, with Sage Mode activated and True Several Thousand Hands unleashed, Senju Hashirama might truly not be defeated.
There was a chance of victory, but probably not a very big one.
"Don't be in such a hurry. This thing is suitable for you, but for me, it's not really needed. Besides, what I mean is, let's build one first, improve it, and then build the second one based on the technology of the first, and then the third one, which would be perfect for Master Chiyo and Master Ebizo."
Sasori frowned slightly, clearly thinking that Chiyo and Ebizo didn't have the ability to control such a large Puppet by themselves.
Their spiritual power might be up to par, as they were experienced Kage-level Puppet Masters, but their Chakra reserves were simply not enough.
"Grandma and them, I'm afraid..."
"Remember that Arc Reactor I showed you last time?"
"That energy source? The power is indeed strong. Theoretically, it's not impossible to use, but the energy section would definitely take up a lot of volume, and we'd have to consider energy transmission loss and heat dissipation. Moreover, with that thing's power, I'm afraid the destructive force would decrease significantly, not to mention that using external force to drive Puppets is ultimately different from Chakra. No matter how exquisite the mechanisms or how skilled the technique, it can't be as intuitive as Puppetry. All things considered, it's still a net loss.
In fact, it would be better to use the Arc Reactor as a secondary energy source for conventional Puppets, as we planned before, to improve output efficiency and mobility... Hmm? What are you doing?"
Sasori looked at the Arc Reactor Qingshui suddenly pulled out, feeling a bit puzzled.
"This is an upgraded Arc Reactor. It has higher energy density and output efficiency. Although the manufacturing difficulty will be much higher and the cost will also be higher, making large-scale distribution impossible, building a few large ones should be enough to power it. Even if the power isn't as good as directly using Tailed Beast Chakra, it's enough to reproduce 70-80% of it."
That wouldn't be worse than the current Reanimated Hashirama with over 40% of his power.
Sasori's eyes lit up. He snatched the second-generation Arc Reactor from Qingshui's hand, immediately summoned the Salamander Puppet, removed its old reactor, and installed the new one. He then saw a bunch of overloaded data on the display screen in the Puppet's head.
"With this thing, my designed war Puppets can improve their mobility and secondary firepower to the next level. The war tools within the village can also be upgraded, and we can even create a batch of high-level Puppets. Even if the number isn't large, it's equivalent to adding a powerful elite Jonin force, used for targeted strikes against enemy experts. Ten people could equal one Kage, and twenty people, with proper tactics and a willingness to accept some casualties, could even ambush and kill one!
Also, this thing's energy efficiency is so strong. Since it can power our large war Puppets, it can also be used to create a large fortress that can fly in the sky for a long time, just like the Sky Ninja Village that was wiped out by Konoha's White Fang during the early Second Great Ninja War. It's just that theirs was too slow, too fragile, and too weak. If it were ours..."
"Alright, alright, alright. Do you think I haven't thought of what you're saying? But we're not building them now. If we don't prepare anything and just blindly rush into it, how many things can we actually accomplish?"
Sasori paused slightly, then reacted and looked at Qingshui warily.
"Are you trying to trick me into doing your work again?"
"What do you mean, 'trick'? This is a direct order from your superior, the Fourth Kazekage. Besides, don't you want to learn all the new things I've come up with, including this one?"
Qingshui gestured to the second-generation Arc Reactor in Sasori's hand.
"This… you're not going to ask me to teach these things to those guys below, are you? Their brains aren't very bright. Simple things are fine, but for anything slightly complex, I have to explain it repeatedly, breaking it down piece by piece, before they can grasp it. That takes too much time. I still have puppets to build; I probably won't have that kind of time."
Sasori frowned again.
In Sasori's eyes, humans in this world fell into several categories.
He himself was a genius; he could learn anything after one go, had strong self-study abilities, and could even invent things.
Qingshui was a genius among geniuses; he didn't need to learn anything, he just knew, and could invent a whole host of things.
Exceptional Puppet Masters like Chiyo and Ebizo were ordinary people; they learned quickly, and even though they were older and their learning abilities had deteriorated, they still surpassed everyone else.
As for the rest, they were all idiots.
Little did he know that those who had the opportunity to receive the latest Puppetry techniques from Qingshui and Sasori were already outstanding among Puppet Masters.
The total number of Puppet Masters in Sand Village currently was at least three thousand, if not five thousand. While the Puppet Force couldn't claim every single member was a one-in-a-hundred prodigy, their total number was only a little over a hundred, all true elites.
And whenever Qingshui and Sasori brought out something new, those selected to learn were either recognized as having strong learning abilities within the Puppet Force, or they were Jonin-level ninja Puppet Masters like squad leaders or vice-captains, usually numbering around thirty people.
"Just tell me if you want to learn. Even if your current body can't compare to mine, you're still a Jinchuriki, with sufficient Chakra and mental energy. Creating a Shadow Clone wouldn't be a problem, since it's just teaching. Although it takes some time and is a bit troublesome, it doesn't require too much effort.
Anyway, you don't have a girlfriend, so this little bit of effort is no big deal."
Qingshui said to Sasori with a grin.
Sasori sneered:
"Hmph, aren't women just distractions from training and puppet research? They constantly try to flaunt themselves and draw your attention. Childish and boring."
"Oh, so you can be distracted by women!"
Qingshui shifted, crossing his legs, and looked at Sasori, whose face had darkened, with a teasing expression.
Speaking of which, Sasori was now fifteen years old, which, in the precocious ninja community, was considered an adult ninja.
Given that his body hadn't been replaced by a Puppet, it was perfectly normal for him to experience physiological urges towards attractive members of the opposite sex as he naturally developed and his hormones regulated.
He was strong, handsome, from a prominent family, and held a high position. There was no better catch in the entire Sand Village, or even the Ninja World, than Sasori.
When he was younger, it wasn't an issue, but as he got a little older, a bunch of women who thought they were good catches started hovering around him.
"Don't change the subject. I'm not talking about women with you."
Sasori tapped the table, his face, even more handsome than a woman's, etched with seriousness.
"Tsk, fine, but I still need your help with this. Aside from setting a clear general direction for the village's development, most of my energy will probably be focused on improving my strength. And some things, only you have the ability to do for me. No one else can, because you are irreplaceable."
Upon hearing this, a subtle curve unconsciously formed at the corner of Sasori's mouth, then quickly flattened. He then seemed to remember something and looked at Qingshui:
"Improve your strength. I recall you saying earlier that this large-scale war Puppet I designed is no longer useful to you? So, can I assume your strength has already exceeded my estimated upper limit for this war Puppet?"
Qingshui smiled slightly, a hint of smugness showing, and nodded gently, saying to Sasori:
"That's right. And this isn't even my limit. Next, I'll be dedicating a lot of time to training, and it will be my main body. Shadow Clones will have a very limited role in this process, and the more Shadow Clones I create, the more obvious the side effects might become."
The work of summarizing and organizing the gains from the Twenty-Four Solar Terms Valley could be handed over to Shadow Clones.
However, whether it was cultivating Sage Art or breaking the Limiter, it had to be done by the main body, and it would consume a lot of energy.
In this situation, if he didn't want to become weak or even have an accident that caused the Limiter breakthrough to fail, it was not suitable to create so many Shadow Clones.
"Then hurry up and organize the knowledge, and then go do your thing, lest you stagnate and I surpass you. I won't be polite then."
"I guarantee I won't be surpassed by you, little brother. Here, I've already organized all the data, and all the necessary equipment is in this lab. Hey, Shadow Clone, are you done with what you're doing? If you're done, take Sasori to teach him. I'm going to hurry and prepare for my training."
Qingshui called out to a Shadow Clone who was still tidying up equipment.
He would first cultivate Sage Art, then try his best to summarize and organize a safe and effective cultivation method to promote within Sand Village. After that, he would create Magic Tools for training, honing his limits, and breaking the Limiter.
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