Amenominaka Space.
"Tsk! That old man's reaction was actually quite fast. If we had waited just a few more minutes, we could have seen Konoha Village's fireworks!"
Hancock smacked her lips and spoke with some dissatisfaction, seemingly regretting not seeing the modified Ninja's self-destruction.
Mei Terumī, who had been burying her head in Vegapunk's chest, said with a flushed face, "Destroying Konoha isn't that simple. Although Ninjutsu with that kind of destructive power is rare, every Ninja Village has a few trump cards, but the actual likelihood of them being effective isn't very high!"
After she finished speaking, Mei Terumī saw Hancock looking at her. She immediately became even more flustered, lowered her head, and buried herself entirely in Vegapunk's embrace.
Recalling what she had been controlled to do by Hancock just now, even with her mature and composed demeanor, Mei Terumī was shy to the extreme. She was also filled with fear regarding Hancock's almost unbelievable charm.
Vegapunk didn't pay attention to Mei Terumī's psychological state and stroked his chin. Actually, he wasn't too surprised by this situation.
To say that there were Ninjutsu capable of directly dealing heavy damage to an entire Ninja Village with super-strong destructive power, there were actually quite a few. For example, the giant firework Deidara set off using his life, or the Tailed Beast Ball performed by Tailed Beasts, were basically Ninjutsu sufficient to destroy more than half of a Ninja Village.
However, despite the existence of such super-destructive Ninjutsu, the major Ninja Villages have remained safe and sound until now, which in itself explains some things.
Against Ninjutsu with such super-strong destructive power, the major Ninja Villages must have a certain degree of preparedness and defensive methods! If the Six Paths of Pain hadn't thrown the entire Konohagakure into chaos from the start, it probably wouldn't have been so easy to just use Shinra Tensei to flatten Konoha.
Thinking more carefully, Deidara's own self-destruction Ninjutsu had a fast activation time, was even more powerful, and the guy was desperate enough—he was much stronger than a modified Ninja.
Even so, Iwagakure never had a plan to level any Ninja Village. While this was partly due to the fear of other Ninja Villages retaliating in kind and the fact that geniuses like Deidara were truly rare, the low probability of the plan's success was likely another reason.
"It seems Konoha Village still has some skill, but our goal has been achieved nonetheless. Next, we'll see what Konoha actually does."
"But no matter what, Konoha will likely have a falling out with Kumogakure and Iwagakure!"
Mei Terumī then whispered again, "Lord Vegapunk, I don't think Konoha will truly fall out with them. At most, they'll just bicker with the other two Ninja Villages, right?"
"Hmm..." Vegapunk thought about Konoha's performance and felt that Mei Terumī's words made some sense. Konoha, currently facing a gap between generations, didn't really have the confidence for war, not to mention that the Third Hokage had already changed from a moderate to a compromiser.
"At least the three Ninja Villages can no longer work together with one heart... The other two Ninja Villages never had any trust to speak of in the first place. The only one with a bit of credibility, Konohagakure, after experiencing this kind of thing, won't be able to cooperate with the other two either..."
Although the other four Ninja Villages are all eyeing Konoha like tigers, if you were to actually digitize the credibility of all these Ninja Villages, the one ranked first would definitely be Konoha.
While Senju Hashirama certainly did many foolish things, he did indeed leave a good reputation for Konoha. Most of the time, this reputation doesn't do much, but when sincere cooperation is truly needed, the name Konoha still has a bit of an effect.
And since the establishment of the Ninja Villages, although Konoha's internal affairs have been a mess, it has never actually broken its word in terms of international credibility—at least it has never torn up a contract on its own. While this is more likely due to its own political environment, no matter how you look at it, its trustworthiness is much stronger than other Ninja Villages.
As long as Konohagakure resists, the alliance between the three Ninja Villages is basically dead in the water. At that point, they'll at most act independently, while still having to guard against backstabbing from each other. Internal friction alone will shave off a lot of the three villages' combat power.
"Actually, I think, darling, you're overestimating them a bit! With my strength alone, I could flatten all the Ninja Villages."
Hancock spoke with some disdain, and Vegapunk nodded. "What you say isn't wrong, but if I did that, I wouldn't be able to carry out many of my experimental data collections that require war."
"In fact, compared to quickly unifying this world, what I truly want to do is use war to continuously verify my experimental subjects and improve technology! As for unifying the Ninja World, that is already a foregone conclusion."
Vegapunk spoke very easily, yet at the same time, he revealed a hint of coldness. Hancock didn't mind at all, but Mei Terumī's body trembled slightly.
Sensing Mei Terumī's trembling, Vegapunk reached out to embrace her. "Don't worry, a full Ninja World War won't actually be ignited. At most, there will be some localized wars!"
Vegapunk didn't think he was someone with truly outstanding schemes. In the One Piece World, it was because everyone's average intelligence wasn't very high that he could fool the World Government. While the Naruto World had many lunatics, at least their IQs didn't have major issues.
The reason he was confident in controlling the situation lay in the dimensional reduction strike of his own technology. With the technological progress made after acquiring the chakra system, Vegapunk's infiltration into the Land of Fire and the other two countries had already begun.
At least for now, many noble officials in the Land of Fire have gradually been replaced. If it weren't for the Daimyos of the three countries having their own Ninja guardians, they would have been replaced long ago.
Mei Terumī gave a muffled 'mm'. She knew in her heart that while Vegapunk seemed very gentle, he was actually very indifferent to human life. He wouldn't murder others innocently, but if it were truly necessary, he wouldn't have any psychological burden.
Actually, among the Ninjas of the Naruto World, Vegapunk could already be considered decent. Compared to the groups of Ninjas where lunatics appeared in every generation, his moral standards were quite high.
And Mei Terumī also knew very well that although she had entered into a relationship with Vegapunk, she couldn't sway his thoughts at all. If it were Hancock who had an opinion, Vegapunk might listen, but she didn't need to waste her breath.
As for expecting Hancock to oppose Vegapunk... Mei Terumī felt that possibility was even smaller than the possibility of her winning a fight against Hancock.
She even suspected that given Hancock's obsessive love for Vegapunk, if Vegapunk told Hancock to destroy the world, she would happily agree... If the Ninjas of Konohagakure truly became ruthless, they were actually quite formidable.
What even Vegapunk didn't expect was that the other party actually chased them out of the Land of Fire, all the way into the territory of the Land of Lightning, and even directly engaged in several fights with the Ninjas of the Land of Lightning before finally giving up.
Even the Third Hokage almost came to blows with the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, but in the end, they still retreated.
In the end, the Ninjas modified by Vegapunk actually managed to make contact with Kumogakure!
Although Vegapunk had modified those Ninjas, their memories had long been input into the Quantum chip. Furthermore, these Ninjas who did dirty work had been brainwashed to appear very mechanical anyway. Aside from their pale complexions and somewhat swollen muscles, those Ninjas looked quite normal.
As for these changes in appearance, for Ninjas who frequently used all sorts of messy Ninjutsu, it actually didn't matter at all. One only needed to make up a reason about using some kind of secret medicine.
Ninjas have a very high sense of secrecy regarding their own Ninjutsu and secret medicines. Although it looked a bit strange, the Ninjas of Kumogakure didn't really have much suspicion.
As for the Ninjas from Iwagakure, they were directly detained by the Cloud Ninjas. However, before long, even before everyone returned to Kumogakure, these Ninjas died one after another.
"So, even you, Dr. Vegapunk, don't know what happened? How our Kumogakure Ninjas died, even you, who were present, don't know!"
The tall, muscular, and super-buff Fourth Raikage frowned as he asked.
In front of him was a handsome Blond Youth with a face full of curiosity, looking left and right. Upon hearing the Fourth Raikage's words, he said without looking up, "Of course. I was knocked unconscious and taken away by your Ninjas. What do you expect me to know?"
"However, while I don't know what happened, I do know how your Kumogakure Ninjas died. Their life force was exhausted. Who knows what secret medicine or Ninjutsu they used?"
"Exchanging life force for short-term great power—I've seen plenty of that! Although not something I've seen in person... but don't tell me your Ninja Village doesn't have this kind of technology!"
The Fourth Raikage snorted and didn't continue questioning. To be honest, in his heart, he also felt it was likely an imperfect Ninjutsu developed by his own village's Ninjas. A Ninja's Ninjutsu is their highest secret; if the Ninja themselves are unwilling, even the village leader cannot forcibly take it.
Just like Konoha's Scroll of Seals, it couldn't possibly record the unique Ninjutsu of secret technique families, nor could it record special brainwashing Ninjutsu from Root or techniques like the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing.
Probably... it was some special drug developed by a certain Ninja... but he hadn't expected them to actually capture Vegapunk. Unfortunately... it's already very difficult to recover the drug formula now.
The Fourth Raikage thought with some regret. Although among all the Kage, the Fourth Raikage could be called the most upright, this didn't mean he was a purely righteous figure. The character of Kumogakure, which was closer to that of barbarians, never considered using dark or extreme methods to be a problem.
Of course, it wasn't ruled out that Vegapunk had used some tricks... but even if these things were truly orchestrated by Vegapunk, the Fourth Raikage couldn't possibly pursue it.
Soon, the Fourth Raikage threw the matter of that Ninja team to the back of his mind and looked at the youth before him with some excitement:
"Alright, what's past is past. Dr. Vegapunk, I now solemnly invite you to join our Kumogakure. As long as you are willing to join, I can establish you as my successor right now, and you can definitely become the Fifth Raikage in the future!"
The Blond Youth raised his head, his mouth curling into a half-smile. "Let's set the Fifth Raikage thing aside for now... First, you should confirm my true identity. After 'Vegapunk', you should add the three words 'Clone'!"
Crack! The Fourth Raikage was stunned. Then, he slammed his fist onto the table. Immediately, the poor table was smashed to pieces, and a large amount of wood chips flew. Vegapunk frowned and reached out to block them, but a few chips still poked into him, making him look somewhat disheveled.
This physical body didn't have as many resources invested in it as the main body. Although it could be called strong and far beyond ordinary people, and had undergone training in a training chamber to possess a decent amount of Chakra, it could at most trade blows with a Jonin.
This was only because this Clone possessed a Quantum chip receiver and could use the Quantum chip's combat programs. Otherwise, with Vegapunk's combat talent, he might not even be able to defeat a Chunin.
"Damn it, then doesn't that mean this plan was completely meaningless? A Clone... what kind of mad scientist technology is this!"
Looking at the angry Raikage, the Vegapunk Clone frowned slightly. "Cloning technology can hardly be considered madness. If we don't conduct Android experiments, how can genetic technology progress? Do we have to kidnap people for experiments every time? Kidnapped people might not even have matching genes!"
The Fourth Raikage rolled his eyes. "You, a Clone, are actually lecturing me on principles!"
"Wait, you're not lying to me, are you?! Actually, you're not a Clone at all, you're just using this method to trick me so you can escape from here!"
The Vegapunk Clone sighed. "Forget it, it's hard to get through to a guy like you with a head full of muscles. But I am indeed a Clone. The original Vegapunk is still in the original laboratory. You can go ask around yourself after a while!"
"However, even if I am a Clone, it doesn't mean I am any worse than the original! Possessing all the memories of the original, I can still develop technologies that far exceed the imagination of you muscle-bound barbarians!"
Hearing this, the Fourth Raikage looked suspicious. "Oh? Possessing all the memories? Why would Vegapunk create a Clone like you? Isn't that just looking for trouble for himself?"
"Also, we in Kumogakure are indeed muscle-bound barbarians, but that doesn't mean our technology isn't advanced! In fact, among the Five Great Ninja Villages, our Land of Lightning has the most advanced scientific technology!"
"Don't look at me like this. I have actually read through the entirety of physics and electromagnetics, and even studied some magnetic field principles. Among all the Kage of the Five Great Ninja Villages, whether past or present, my scientific literacy is the highest!"
"Uh... that really is unexpected..."
Even Vegapunk showed a caught-off-guard expression upon hearing this. This really was unexpected—a Raikage with the appearance of a muscle-bound barbarian actually had decent scientific literacy?
As for the question the Raikage asked at the beginning about why he would look for trouble for himself... this body was actually just a remote-controlled vessel, completely controlled by Vegapunk's own Quantum chip. The so-called Clone itself actually had no consciousness of its own.
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