Tamura Hao did not grow discouraged. Instead, he calmly began explaining the second storage scroll.
"Inside is a special ninja tool I personally designed and built,"
"Its power is sufficient to kill a jōnin."
"A ninja tool capable of killing a jōnin?"
"And you made it yourself?"
A couldn't help speaking up, his tone filled with disbelief.
He had only recently been promoted to jōnin himself. And now a ten-year-old brat was claiming to have built a weapon capable of killing one?
That was impossible.
The Third Raikage and Dodai, however, showed more curiosity than skepticism.
With the one billion ryō as proof, they already regarded this boy more seriously. He clearly wasn't an ordinary child, and likely wouldn't make such a claim lightly.
"I need an open and secluded area to demonstrate."
Tamura Hao didn't bother explaining further.
Words were useless at this point—only a real demonstration would do. He had absolute confidence in the weapon he'd built.
Though limited by materials and craftsmanship, its power was unquestionable.
"We'll use my training chamber."
The Third Raikage glanced at the chests of money, then stood and headed out, approving the request.
Tamura Hao followed closely. Dodai sealed away the money, took both scrolls, and—together with A—followed them.
Before long, they arrived at a training chamber carved into the mountain beneath the Raikage Tower.
This was the Third Raikage's private training room, filled with various strength-training equipment.
It perfectly matched the style of Kumogakure—and especially that of the Raikage.
Though called a "training room," the space was enormous: over a hundred meters long and wide, with a height of nearly fifty meters. The walls and supports were reinforced with steel, making it extremely sturdy.
The three men said nothing, quietly waiting for the boy's performance.
Tamura Hao didn't waste time. He took Scroll Two from Dodai, unsealed it, and revealed three massive weapons.
"These three weapons were inspired by blowguns and fireworks I used to play with," he explained.
"They use explosive tags as propulsion, pushing a metal projectile through these steel barrels."
"Their power depends mainly on the quality of the explosive tags and the strength of the metal."
"Due to my status, I couldn't purchase high-grade explosive tags. So the bullets only contain the lowest-grade ones—ten explosive tags per round."
"This one," he said, lifting the smallest weapon,
"I call it the Fire God's Spear. It's designed for ultra-long-range, precision strikes."
He picked up the rifle-like weapon and a projectile roughly as thick as a thumb.
Sliding the round into the chamber, he pushed the rotating bolt forward and locked it into place.
The weapon itself was nearly two meters long.
As Tamura Hao raised it and aimed at the opposite wall, hesitation flashed across his face.
This weapon was modeled after a firearm he'd seen in a World War II movie in his previous life—one the Soviet army had used to destroy tanks. Structurally, it was little more than a reinforced steel pipe.
But anything capable of piercing tank armor came with terrifying recoil.
And his rounds contained ten explosive tags each.
Even low-grade tags added up to frightening force.
Even if he could withstand the recoil, injury was almost guaranteed—and there was also the risk of the barrel exploding.
"Using the Fire God's Spear requires exceptional physical strength," Tamura Hao said, lowering the weapon.
"My body probably can't handle it."
He turned to the three men, his gaze finally landing on the heavily muscled A.
"How do you use it?" A asked without hesitation, stepping forward to take the weapon—clearly intrigued.
Though impulsive by nature, A was far from foolish.
The boy's explanation had been simple, but the principle was obvious: using explosive tags to propel a metal projectile.
The result would be devastating.
"Channel chakra here to trigger the explosive tags inside the bullet," Tamura Hao explained.
"Be careful. I've never test-fired it before, and the materials aren't top-grade. There's a chance it could explode."
After giving the warning, he decisively retreated—retreating so far that he hid behind Dodai.
Dodai glanced at the boy using him as a human shield and was left speechless. Still, he didn't comment, keeping his eyes fixed on A as he raised the steel-barreled weapon.
The Third Raikage watched with keen interest. He had already grasped the underlying concept—it was indeed innovative. The real question was its actual power.
A aimed briefly at a steel pillar embedded in the opposite wall and activated the explosive tags.
BOOM!
A deafening blast erupted, flames bursting from the barrel.
At the same time, a walnut-sized crater appeared in the steel wall.
The three immediately rushed forward, their expressions turning serious.
That wall was reinforced steel—ten centimeters thick.
Yet it had still been dented inward.
If this had hit a human body, even the torso would have been blown apart. Defensive ninjutsu without elemental enhancement wouldn't stand a chance.
Dodai used a kunai to pry the badly deformed projectile out of the crater, examined it briefly, and commented:
"The projectile's material is too weak. If you replaced it with a harder alloy, the penetration power would increase significantly."
This was far more lethal than thrown kunai or shuriken.
A kunai could stab—but rarely penetrate deeply. This projectile, on the other hand, would shatter limbs on contact, and a torso hit would mean certain death.
"The accuracy is terrible," A said, glancing at the pillar nearly ten meters away.
"And the weapon itself deformed."
The spent casing was jammed inside the chamber, warped by the explosion.
Still, those were solvable problems—better materials would fix them.
The real flaw was accuracy.
Tamura Hao knew this was his cue.
"I've already considered that," he said.
"If spiral grooves were carved inside the barrel, the projectile could be made to rotate—stabilizing its trajectory and greatly improving accuracy."
"The problem is manufacturing difficulty. I can't do it myself."
"Another approach is integrating ninjutsu."
His words came faster as ideas poured out.
"Earth Release could reinforce the barrel and projectile, increasing durability and penetration."
"Lightning Release and Wind Release could further improve penetration and accuracy—Wind Release could even reduce air resistance during flight."
"Water Release could rapidly cool the barrel, allowing continuous firing."
"Fire Release could be sealed into the projectile for secondary detonation—"
"Or the explosive tags could be miniaturized and detonated on impact, like fireworks."
As Tamura Hao laid out his ideas, Dodai's eyes began to shine.
This wasn't just wild imagination—it was a systematic development path.
If realized, this weapon would become a true battlefield slaughter tool.
More importantly, its range would be terrifying.
A hundred meters was clearly not its limit.
A thousand meters—or more—was entirely possible.
What ninjutsu in the current era could reliably strike targets over a kilometer away?
A stroked the still-warm Fire God's Spear without concern for the heat, looking as though he wanted nothing more than to claim the finished version for himself.
The Third Raikage, meanwhile, turned his gaze toward the other two massive weapons.
Judging by their size alone, their power would be anything but trivial.
His anticipation grew.
Dodai and A followed his gaze.
All three of them now stared at the remaining weapons—
their eyes filled with expectation.