Not long after eating the Nika Fruit, Naruto developed the Nika Fruit's special physique. Naruto immediately began playing around with it, having the time of his life as if his own body had become a fascinating new toy.
Kushina called it amazing after seeing it, then walked over and gently pulled Naruto's cheek. She discovered that it could easily be stretched.
Kushina's eyes lit up, and she revealed an excited smile, looking like a child who had just gotten a new toy.
Nagasawa watched this harmonious scene of mother and son enjoying themselves and smiled in satisfaction.
This was a complete win. Naruto had gained even more possibilities, Kushina had gained some happiness, and Konoha's development in prosperity now had even more potential.
Where there was happiness, there was also sorrow. Naruto's consumption of the Nika Fruit left Sasuke completely dumbfounded.
During their training battle the next day, Sasuke was stunned. The two of them were clearly three meters apart, yet Naruto's arm suddenly stretched out, and he knocked Sasuke to the ground with one punch.
"What kind of secret technique is this? Why have I never seen you use it before?" Sasuke asked unwillingly.
He had always regarded Naruto as his rival whom he had to surpass. Naruto suddenly having another secret technique made Sasuke extremely wary.
Naruto had Sun Breathing, while he had Moon Breathing. Naruto had a Tailed Beast inside him, while he would be able to awaken the Sharingan in the future. Now that Naruto had gained another secret technique, Sasuke had nothing else that could compare to it.
"It's not a secret technique. Yesterday, Nagasawa-uncle gave me a fruit to eat, and then I could do this," Naruto explained.
Naruto immediately put on a demonstration for Sasuke and proudly said, "My body is super elastic now, and it can stretch too."
"I'd believe that you ate a fruit? What a joke. This must be a Kekkei Genkai, right?" Sasuke felt that Naruto's explanation was extremely unreliable.
Although he had not yet entered the Ninja Academy, Sasuke had already received a good education. He knew that there was a special power within ninjas, and the Sharingan of their Uchiha clan was one of those abilities known as a "Kekkei Genkai."
"It's not a Kekkei Genkai at all. It's just a fruit Nagasawa-uncle brought back. If you don't believe me, go ask him," Naruto said.
Sasuke looked at Nagasawa questioningly. Nagasawa nodded, confirming Naruto's words.
"Not only has my body become more elastic, but my defense has also become much stronger. I feel like my punches are more powerful too." Naruto naturally wasn't going to waste this opportunity and continued boasting about the power he had obtained from eating the fruit.
Sasuke fell into thought. He wondered what kind of fruit it was that could be so powerful, and whether he could get his father to obtain one as well.
"Actually, it's called a Devil Fruit. As for you, Sasuke, I may have to give you one a little later." Nagasawa briefly explained Devil Fruits to Sasuke.
After buying the Nika Fruit and the Phoenix Fruit, Nagasawa had only 300,000 points left. He needed to keep them in reserve for emergencies, so he had not prepared a Devil Fruit for Sasuke.
Another reason was that Nagasawa had not decided what kind of fruit to prepare for Sasuke.
He had wanted to give Sasuke the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, but Enel had directly run off the planet, so Nagasawa had not managed to obtain it.
As for the remaining fruits, Nagasawa couldn't think of one suitable for Sasuke for the time being. If he was going to give someone a Devil Fruit, he naturally wanted one that suited them.
There were countless types of Devil Fruits in One Piece. Relying on his overwhelming strength, Nagasawa had obtained most of them, so he was still quite conflicted about which one to choose for Sasuke.
Hearing that Nagasawa had one for him as well, a delighted expression appeared on Sasuke's face. Although they were both Nagasawa's disciples, Naruto was obviously closer to Nagasawa because Minato and Kushina had such a good relationship with him. Therefore, Sasuke had never directly asked Nagasawa for one.
He hadn't asked directly, but he had certainly thought about it. He simply felt embarrassed to ask.
Now that Nagasawa had taken the initiative to say that he had one for him too, Sasuke was very happy, and his favorability toward Nagasawa increased rapidly.
"Gaara will get one too, but you'll all have to wait a while," Nagasawa said, not forgetting about Gaara.
For Gaara, Nagasawa's idea was simple: the Sand-Sand Fruit. It would strengthen his sand manipulation abilities and allow him to become a natural element.
Gaara nodded and thanked Nagasawa. He wasn't particularly concerned about such things.
Right now, Gaara felt that he was already very happy. Not only was he no longer called a monster, but he had also made so many friends.
That evening, Nagasawa guided Neji in the Six Powers and Breathing techniques while helping him establish the correct values.
...
After the Second Five Kage Summit, a completely new peaceful balance had formed in the shinobi world. The entire shinobi world appeared peaceful and harmonious.
That was only on the surface. In the shadows, the shinobi world was far from peaceful, especially for those smaller countries.
The Land of Rice Fields had established the Light Ninja Village and was vigorously developing its shinobi forces. It had even conducted military exercises near the borders between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost.
The Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water reacted quickly. He immediately allocated funds to the ninja village, allowing the steadily declining Hot Water Ninja Village to return to its former peak.
Of course, from the perspective of ordinary people, it was the Daimyo who was taking action. In reality, the Akatsuki was secretly manipulating everything.
The neighboring countries had also become restless. The Daimyo of the Land of Frost felt somewhat uneasy. Although he looked down on the Daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields and thought the other man was an idiot, the other side now genuinely had the strength to back up his ambitions.
Therefore, the Daimyo of the Land of Frost also wanted to strengthen the country's shinobi forces. He didn't expect them to become particularly powerful, but at the very least, they needed enough strength to defend themselves.
It was during this period that Konan arrived in the Land of Frost with Kisame and Zetsu and began their operation.
Although Konan and Nagato already knew that there was something wrong with Zetsu, Zetsu was simply too useful. Therefore, the two of them hadn't changed their attitude toward him much. They continued using him when necessary, though they were much more cautious.
Although the three of them still used their old methods—coercing and bribing ministers, creating public support, and finally cooperating with the Daimyo—they had to admit that although the method was hardly novel, it was effective.
Considering the danger posed by its neighbors, the Daimyo of the Land of Frost agreed without much surprise.
The Akatsuki also established itself in the Land of Frost. This was the third small country they had gained control over.
Coincidentally, the Kara Organization led by Isshiki also arrived in the Land of Frost.
Because Obito had been investigating the Land of Rivers too thoroughly, Isshiki was worried that he might be exposed and eventually surrounded by Konoha shinobi. The strength Konoha had displayed gave him a sense of danger, so he led his organization's members to the carefully selected Land of Frost.
Isshiki had chosen the Land of Frost precisely because of its excellent location. It bordered only one of the Five Great Nations, while the countries surrounding it were all small nations, and its own shinobi forces were weak.
He hadn't expected that shortly after his organization moved there, the Daimyo of the Land of Frost would announce plans to develop its shinobi forces.
Isshiki was somewhat speechless, but he didn't take any further action. After all, the Land of Frost had already been carefully selected, and it was only a small country. How much could it develop in such a short time?
Therefore, Isshiki focused on building his Kara Organization.
Isshiki first established a chakra technology company in the capital of the Land of Frost and gradually introduced some relatively basic chakra technologies.
Isshiki naturally had no intention of putting Kara in the open. He would select capable people to enter Kara, then choose the most elite among those capable individuals to become core members of Kara.
Core members could learn part of the truth about Kara. As for ordinary Kara members, they would only know that the organization they had joined was a great organization dedicated to using technology to make the shinobi world a better place.
With the black technology provided by Isshiki, the chakra technology company he established quickly became famous throughout the shinobi world. It became one of the top technology companies and gained an extraordinary position throughout the entire shinobi world.
After developing for a year, Isshiki introduced some ordinary finished chakra technology products. Certain tools could be used to release ninjutsu. Although they were not as powerful as explosive tags or the various talismans developed by Nagasawa, they were extremely practical and convenient.
Besides convenient chakra technology, there were also Scientific Ninja Tools that could enhance a ninja's combat power, such as flamethrowers capable of releasing Fire Release and gloves that could increase physical strength.
For a time, Isshiki's chakra technology company became the talk of the shinobi world. A wave of chakra technology swept across the entire shinobi world, although no one could keep up with the development speed of Isshiki's chakra technology company.
"As expected, these natives are just like this. Even such basic technology is enough to make them praise it so highly."
Although he had been forced to move his base to an even more remote small country, Isshiki still possessed the pride of an Ōtsutsuki and looked down on the people of the shinobi world.
In fact, he could have introduced chakra tools far more advanced than the current ones from the very beginning. That would not have been difficult for him.
However, for the sake of caution, Isshiki had chosen to release them step by step, making the development appear more natural.
Ever since Kinoshita Tsukasa died, Isshiki had become more proactive, but he had also become more cautious.
Before Kinoshita Tsukasa went to Konoha, Isshiki had lifted the restrictions on him. Kinoshita Tsukasa had been able to utilize a powerful portion of his Kāma, enough to pose a threat to Isshiki's severely injured body.
Kinoshita Tsukasa never returning meant that Konoha possessed power capable of threatening him, forcing him to become even more cautious.
Isshiki could barely accept losing to Kaguya because of his carelessness and being ambushed. After all, Kaguya was also a member of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
But if he were killed by natives from this planet, Isshiki felt that he would die with his eyes open.
Since Isshiki was so cautious, he naturally wouldn't step into the spotlight himself. The chakra technology company was controlled by one of his clones.
"Lord Jigen, this is the latest list of people coming to the chakra technology company for training."
Nagi knocked on Jigen's door and entered the room, beginning his report.
Isshiki had Nagi place the list in front of him and casually glanced over it.
Isshiki wasn't interested in who had come to study. He only looked at the forces behind these people.
Isshiki had not created the chakra technology company and released Scientific Ninja Tools for the sake of advancing technology in the shinobi world. He merely wanted to use the opportunity to infiltrate his forces into the Five Great Ninja Villages and carry out his plan.
Seeing that none of the Five Great Ninja Villages were missing from the list, Isshiki nodded.
The chakra technology Isshiki had introduced could not be said to be a hundred years ahead of the shinobi world, but it was certainly technology that would take another twenty or thirty years for the shinobi world to develop naturally.
Since they couldn't develop it themselves, the obvious solution was to join in.
They used every method available, from poaching talent to inviting people for technical exchanges, all for the sake of developing Scientific Ninja Tools alongside the chakra technology company.
Anyone with insight could see that this was a huge opportunity. If they failed to keep up, the consequences would not be pleasant.
This was exactly what Isshiki wanted to see. Therefore, he directly announced that people could come to their company to study chakra technology, provided that they paid tuition fees and offered support in other areas.
"Lord Jigen, the investigation into the Frost Ninja Village has also produced results. There is something very wrong with this ninja village," Nagi said.
Of the three executives, one had gone to Konoha and died, while another was undercover in the Light Ninja Village. Nagi was the only executive remaining within the organization.
In fact, to protect himself, Isshiki had also created several other "failures" similar to Nagi and Kinoshita Tsukasa.
However, Isshiki did not intend to use those people as executives. He planned to use them purely as combat forces and suicide soldiers.
After all, having too many executives wasn't a good thing.
"Go on," Jigen said indifferently.
"The Frost Ninja Village somehow obtained a large number of secret ninjutsu and techniques. Anyone can easily obtain them by spending a little money or making a contribution," Nagi said.
"That's abnormal for a small ninja village. First, there's the source of such a huge number of ninjutsu and secret techniques. Second…"
Nagi himself was a ninja from a small country. Although he now worked within the organization, he wasn't ignorant of what the ninjas of the small countries were normally like.
Where would they get so many ninjutsu and secret techniques for everyone to learn? Such techniques were all controlled by ninja clans.
Therefore, in Nagi's eyes, the newly developing Frost Ninja Village seemed to be going crazy with military expansion.
"Moreover, the leader of this Frost Ninja Village is no ordinary person. With such strength, why would he come to a place like this and cooperate with the Daimyo to develop a ninja village?"
Isshiki's eyes flickered as he fell into thought.
"What's more strange is that these small countries have been unusually eager to establish ninja villages. Besides the Frost Ninja Village, the Land of Rice Fields also has a Light Ninja Village, which appeared somewhat earlier. Not long ago, the Land of Birds and the Land of Waves also established new ninja villages. Some small countries whose shinobi forces had declined are also redeveloping their shinobi strength."
Nagi gave his analysis.
One new ninja village appearing was nothing special. But when they kept appearing one after another, along with other small countries rebuilding their shinobi forces, Nagi had the feeling that a storm was approaching.
"Which one appeared first?" Isshiki asked.
"The Light Ninja Village in the Land of Rice Fields," Nagi replied.
"Light Ninja Village? Isn't that the ninja village where Darcy is undercover?" Isshiki frowned slightly.
Previously, he had sent an executive to investigate the strength of the ninja village and determine his next plan. The results he obtained could not be described as being completely different from the intelligence. They were practically unrelated.
Both were executives, yet Nagi had crushed the Fourth Kazekage and nearly beaten him to death, while Darcy had been beaten badly in a small ninja village. He frequently reported to Isshiki about how terrifying the shinobi world was and how deep its waters ran, urging Isshiki to act cautiously.
"Go to the Light Ninja Village and investigate the situation. While you're there, test whether Darcy has betrayed us," Isshiki ordered after thinking for a moment.