Naruto: I, the villain template, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 223 It's a pity, the dead can't speak.

The Sky Fortress, suspended above Dawn City in the Land of Rain, houses the Equipment Research and Development Department, second only to the main control room in size.

Figures wearing white coats and goggles occasionally jogged past, and lines as thick as a baby's arm crisscrossed on the ground.

Many researchers in white coats sat on the ground, flipping through stacks of research data and reports beside them. Most of them looked disheveled and had dark circles under their eyes.

In the experimental area in front of them, there was a row of humanoid targets made of a special material. No metal could be seen in the entire area, and there was nothing that could conduct electricity.

In front of a huge rubber table a dozen meters away from the humanoid target, a researcher had a strange device on his arm that looked like a powerful gun-shaped ninja tool.

Separated only by a glass curtain wall made of high-strength material, everyone except the figure standing at the front with his hands behind his back was watching the scene with clenched fists and tense expressions.

"【Thunder Cannon Type I】Project, Experiment 103, commence."

With a casual command from him, the researcher in the room raised his arm and aligned his right eye, which was wearing a one-way mirror, with the eyepiece.

Sizzle! Squeak!

As his chakra surged forth like a flood, countless invisible "snakes" seemed to appear in the air, and a crackling sound of azure electricity flowed into his firearms and ninja tools.

The energy bar on the cannon was rapidly filling up, but the researchers' faces gradually turned pale.

Sensing that his chakra was about to be completely depleted, the researcher's expression suddenly hardened, and the lightning stream that had been flowing into the cannon abruptly stopped.

boom!!

The chakra, concentrated to its limit, burst forth, and a sphere of azure lightning trailed a beam in the air. Its astonishing power and lightning speed created a frenzy, leaving several shocking wounds on the ground before slamming into the specially made humanoid target in the distance.

The blinding light illuminated the surroundings like a waterfall in an instant, and the temperature reached nearly a thousand degrees Celsius in that instant. Snake-like electric currents splashed and danced in the air.

"Cough! Cough cough!"

When the blinding light dissipated, the researcher had been thrown away by the recoil. His right arm, covered in lightning, was charred black, and a strange, meaty smell could even be faintly detected.

The human-shaped target he aimed at only left black ash scattered on the ground.

"It actually...it really succeeded?!"

The other researchers stared blankly at the scene, then quickly snapped out of it and burst into excited laughter, exclaiming, "Hahaha! Great! Excellent!"

"Are you already getting complacent?"

As the casual voice rang out, the previously lively atmosphere suddenly froze.

A man wearing square-framed glasses walked into the site; a nameplate on his chest displayed his name and position.

—Raimon Hikaru, chief person in charge of the [Raimon Type I] project.

The researchers quieted down, scratching their messy heads as they looked in the direction of the sound. A few of them greeted them with grins, "Hey boss, don't be so serious. At least it was successfully launched!"

"Hmph, a bunch of lunatics. If they don't succeed soon, someone will die here."

Raimon Hikaru snorted coldly, looked at the unfortunate fellow who was being ignored, and said, "Hurry up and take him down for treatment!"

"Hehe, Boss Raimon."

The researcher, who had selflessly volunteered to conduct experiments without any precautions and enjoyed the risks, was brought before him and jokingly said, "We're crazy, and you're just the leader of a bunch of crazy people!"

Raimon Hikaru glared at him irritably and waved his hand, signaling them to get lost.

Looking at the charred ground still crackling with electricity, he squinted slightly and murmured, "Is this a success or a failure?"

As I was pondering, a gentle voice with a smile came from behind me.

"It's quite lively here. Looks like I've arrived at the perfect time!"

Lei Menguang subconsciously straightened up and turned around, only to see Yun Chuan, dressed in white, walking towards him. He exclaimed in surprise, "Lord Yun Chuan, what brings you here today?"

"I'm leaving soon, and before I go, I wanted to check on the situation here." Yun Chuan looked at the charred mark and asked curiously, "How's the research on the Thunder Cannon going? It seems the power and progress are pretty good, right?"

This thing is far more advanced than the "kunai spear" used by the Land of Sky in the past. The "kunai spear" is not technically sophisticated. As long as you understand its structure and have enough materials, you can easily imitate it.

It not only has the disadvantage of slow reloading speed of kunai, but also the disadvantage of slow firing rate and insufficient power.

It is similar in power to most kunai thrown by ninjas, and its flexibility is far inferior to that of ninja kunai. No matter how convenient it is, it cannot achieve any effective results in the end, and can only catch the enemy off guard.

The development of this ninja tool by the Sky Ninja Village was actually a last resort, since they couldn't use other ninjutsu while controlling the flying ninja tool.

After the previous invasion of Konoha, the five great ninja villages must have been prepared, and the threat of kunai spears has been greatly reduced.

Such ninja tools are undoubtedly outdated by today's standards.

In order to improve this small ninja tool, it has undergone several improvements over the past few years. First, the firing speed of the kunai gun was increased, and then, in order to improve the penetrating power of the kunai, a device for attaching wind-style chakra was added.

This refers to the "Wind Gun" that the Sky Legion has already deployed and mass-produced, whose power and speed have been increased to a level that even ordinary ninjas find difficult to defend against.

Of course, this is on the premise that the other party is unaware that they are being targeted. If they are prepared, most ninjas can still barely avoid it with their dynamic vision and the speed of the Body Flicker Technique.

Furthermore, the "Wind Gun" requires the user to possess wind-attribute chakra, while the "Lightning Cannon" can be used directly as long as there is enough chakra.

Its extremely large attack range and relatively fast firing rate are enough to create a comprehensive attack that leaves ninjas nowhere to hide.

"Hmm...no, we can't say it's a success yet."

Raimon Hikaru nodded subconsciously at first, but quickly shook his head, adjusted his glasses, and said calmly, "This can only be considered a preliminary verification of the device's feasibility. There are still a lot of problems to be solved."

After saying that, he picked up the arm cannon on the table and, under Yun Chuan's curious gaze, skillfully disassembled the ninja tool and explained: "Currently, the main body of scientific ninja tools is generally divided into three parts, namely the outer shell, the inner shell, and the core."

"Because lightning chakra is the most destructive, the outer shell of the lightning cannon, as you can see, is made of the hardest and most heat-resistant metal to ensure that it will not be easily damaged during long-term use."

"The inner shell is different. Its biggest feature is that it amplifies and conducts chakra. Therefore, the inner shell needs to be made of very precious chakra-conducting metal."

Raimon Hikaru picked up the so-called "inner shell," adjusted his glasses, and said, "The Raimon is a ninja tool that consumes a lot of chakra. The better the conductivity of the inner shell material, the higher the conversion rate of the output chakra."

"However, chakra-conducting metal is a vital strategic resource for the entire ninja world. Our current reserves of chakra-conducting metal are running low, and the conversion rate can only barely reach 60%..."

Yun Chuan took the black "inner shell" and said thoughtfully, "So, if you want to use this thing, the user's chakra level needs to be very high, and it's not yet possible to mass-produce it?"

"Yes, although it is more flexible and convenient than the previous energy-gathering cannon of the Sky Ninja Village, according to our test results, if it is fully charged, even the Jonin of the Great Ninja Village can only fire two to four shots."

Raimen Guang nodded frankly, led Yun Chuan into another laboratory, and said, "Besides the limitations in materials, the core currently used by the Rai Cannon also has very demanding manufacturing conditions."

As they spoke, the two looked at several red-haired figures in the laboratory, one of whom was none other than Uzumaki Ichiya, whom they hadn't seen in a long time.

He held a blue cube, about the size of a walnut, in his left hand, which emitted a strange aura.

In his other hand, he held a long, slender knife, his eyes fixed intently on the carving.

His movements were slow, but his hands were steady. His body remained motionless like a sculpture, with only a few fingers controlling the small carving knife. Each stroke was steady and firm, without the slightest change in rhythm.

Gradually, a light appeared in Ichiya Uzumaki's eyes, and even Raimon Hikaru, who was watching from the sidelines beside Yun Chuan, slowly clenched his hands behind his back into fists.

Finally, as the last line was slowly carved, Whirlpool Yiji stopped moving, the serious light in his eyes slowly faded, and a trace of fatigue appeared on his face.

However, when he subconsciously looked up behind him and saw Yun Chuan's curious face approaching, he was first taken aback, but quickly recovered and hurriedly tried to stand up and bow: "Lord Yun Chuan, you..."

Before he could even stand up, Yun Chuan reached out and pressed his shoulder down, pulling him back into his seat.

Yun Chuan then pointed to the researchers who were engrossed in their own worlds and completely oblivious to him, and laughed, "You don't need to be so reserved in private. You should learn from those guys what it means to be unconventional."

As he spoke, Raimon Hikaru picked up the cube and placed it in his left palm, slowly injecting a gentle, minute amount of attribute-less chakra into it.

Instantly, the cube emitted an even more pronounced blue light, and the soft, pale white halo transformed into visible electric current.

"Interesting. So this is the 'core' of the Thunder Cannon?" Yun Chuan raised an eyebrow. "You've already managed to utilize sealing techniques to this extent."

Just now, he could sense that the chakra within Uzumaki Itsuki's body flowed into the carving knife like fine water, and then gradually carved intricate patterns on the tip of the knife.

This feeling is very similar to how Yangyan Village makes explosive tags, one side draws them on specially made talisman paper, and the other side engraves them on special minerals.

It now appears that the function of the technique inscribed on this "core" is to convert non-attribute chakra into lightning chakra, thus allowing those who do not possess lightning attribute to use it.

"Yes." Raimon Hikaru nodded. "Just as you can see, the core is the key of the key, and it can even be said to be the foundation of scientific ninja tools, but the process of inscribing the formula is extremely complicated and tedious."

"We also tried one by one the sealing technique manuals left behind by our predecessors in the Uzumaki clan, and finally found this technique that can transform attributes."

Uzumaki Ichiya, standing to the side, explained helplessly, "Even so, there are no shortcuts to inscribing the inscription. The inscription process takes about five hours, and there can be no errors or pauses in between."

"Among all the Vortex Clan members who have become researchers, only I have an 80% success rate in creating it."

Yun Chuan then noticed that his hands were trembling, which was clearly not an easy task for him.

Five whole hours! Throughout the entire process, you have to control your chakra like a gentle stream. If you output too little or too much chakra, all your efforts will be wasted. The requirements for chakra control are simply insane.

"Can a thousand units be produced within three years?" Yun Chuan asked after a moment of contemplation.

"This..." Raimon Hikaru pushed up his glasses, and finally shook his head with a wry smile. "Although I don't want to admit it, if we can't overcome the limitations of materials and technology, it will probably be difficult to produce a thousand units in three years."

Upon hearing this, Yun Chuan's eyes flickered slightly as he searched his hazy memories, vaguely recalling some things he had almost forgotten.

"If I remember correctly..." He slowly raised his head, his eyes flashing, and said, "The level of heavy industry in the Land of Snow is similar to that of the Land of Rain, and chakra technology seems to be developing quite well as well."

The Land of Snow is located near the polar regions, and most of the year is filled with ice and snow, with very few warm days.

Although the local agricultural industry and per capita GDP are less affected by the weather, the Land of Snow still has its own ninjas, and it seems that they also possess chakra armor that can enhance ninja chakra and allow them to use A-rank ninjutsu multiple times.

"The Land of Snow? I seem to have heard of it before, but I didn't expect they were also researching chakra technology..."

Raimon Hikaru was somewhat surprised, but quickly understood and laughed self-deprecatingly, "That's right. After all, it's a poor little country with no ninjutsu and can't train any powerful ninjas, so they can only 'take shortcuts'."

After making a self-deprecating remark, he adjusted his mindset and pondered, "If they really did create a chakra armor that can be used multiple times with A-rank ninjutsu, perhaps they really did find a chakra conduction material with a higher conversion rate."

"Alright, in that case, I'll send someone to make the trip."

Yun Chuan nodded without hesitation, then seemed to remember something and suddenly chuckled: "Speaking of which, the Sky Legion's squad hasn't been gone long. When they come back, remember to ask them about their experience using it."

"Of course, this is excellent real-world combat data." Raimon Hikaru couldn't help but laugh. "It would be even better if we could know what the Sand Village ninjas felt, but unfortunately..."

"Dead people can't speak."

This chapter is meant to supplement the existing settings, so that things don't feel too abrupt later on. There should be two chapters tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)