An excellent leader can attract many followers. First and foremost, this leader needs to possess extraordinary abilities and exceptional personal charisma. This is the most crucial first impression. If you don't even have such an attractive image, don't talk about getting others to agree with you and follow you.
The "Accelerator" identity Menma adopted to join the Hidden Waterfall Village made a fairly good debut in front of all members of the village. The powerful stance he displayed truly penetrated the hearts of a considerable portion of the Waterfall ninja.
And in the ninja world, powerful strength is the greatest charismatic attribute.
No ninja would ever follow a weakling.
This includes Orochimaru.
If this Snake Uncle weren't strong enough, how could he attract so many followers!? Relying purely on charm and grace?
Have you ever heard the saying: if you are handsome, saving someone's life is repaid with marriage; if you are ugly, saving someone's life is repaid by working like an ox or horse in the next life. This is the difference, and it applies specifically to ninja as well.
If you don't have enough convincing strength, don't expect others to follow or acknowledge you.
This was why Menma deliberately sought an opportunity to display his power in front of most Waterfall ninja. The first impression had to be "good"! Menma wanted these Waterfall ninja to know he was a powerful ninja.
At least in terms of strength, he was an existence worthy of their recognition and following.
But this was only the first point!
Just the first step!
Making others feel you have points worth following and making them determined to follow you are two different things. Menma had to let these Waterfall ninja see that following him and obeying his commands was meaningful, valuable, and a logical course of action.
Giving benefits is the most meaningful and valuable thing.
Because 99.9% of humans in this world are ordinary beings; seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages is human nature.
Menma wanted to start from this point to strengthen his presence in the Hidden Waterfall Village, letting the Waterfall ninja led by Jun see his value, and see the meaning and benefits of following him!
"A barrier? Accelerator-san must be joking. How could our Hidden Waterfall Village possess a barrier capable of covering the entire ninja village? That is an ability only the Five Great Ninja Villages have. Our Hidden Waterfall not only lacks the corresponding jutsu but doesn't even have personnel to deploy barriers. In this aspect, we are powerless."
Hearing Menma's words, Jun revealed a bitter smile and shook his head. How could Jun not know that deploying a barrier covering the entire ninja village could improve its security coefficient? How could past leaders of the Hidden Waterfall not realize this?
But what couldn't be done, couldn't be done.
Without the resources and manpower in this area, their Hidden Waterfall Village definitely had no way to deploy a corresponding barrier.
As far as Jun knew, even during its peak period, their Hidden Waterfall Village didn't have the corresponding ability to deploy such a super-large-scale barrier, let alone now. It was simply asking the impossible. If it were any other occasion, time, or person saying this, Jun would have thought the other party was mocking their ninja village for being too weak.
In that moment, a tiny bit of resentment even faintly surfaced in Jun's heart.
Wasn't this a typical case of rubbing salt in the wound!?
But only in that moment, just after Jun finished speaking, a light flashed in his brain.
Could it be?
Just as a thought surfaced in his heart...
"Heh, of course I'm aware of that. So my meaning is that we will deploy this barrier now. I have the corresponding jutsu here. Of course, this isn't something one person can do. After all, although the scale of our Hidden Waterfall Village can't compare to the Five Great Ninja Villages, it's not small either. To cover the entire village, multiple pivot points are needed for support. I can train a batch of basic sensory barrier setup and maintenance personnel to deploy a sensory barrier large enough to cover the entire ninja village!"
Opposite him, Menma smiled slightly, looking at Jun with a confident expression.
The previous Menma didn't have such ability. Whether sealing jutsu or barrier jutsu, he had only mastered the most basic parts. The former was okay because he put in a lot of effort to break the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style within his body, but that was only targeted at the Four Symbols Seal; his knowledge in other areas was still zero. The latter was even less worth mentioning; he only understood basic knowledge and could deploy the simplest sensory barriers.
This was partly because Menma didn't have much time, and partly because he possessed the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, so there wasn't much need to understand this content. Defensive barriers were even harder than the former.
Menma was even less likely to waste time learning them.
That would be wasting his precious time.
But now it was different.
Having obtained the cores of a series of jutsu like the Flying Thunder God, sealing, and barriers from his father Minato Namikaze... Although currently they only existed as symbols in Menma's brain and still needed Menma to excavate, learn, and master them himself, he ultimately had the corresponding pathway, and it was a shortcut at that.
Specifically for sensory barriers, Minato was the Fourth Hokage and the son-in-law of the Uzumaki clan; he had his own unique cognition and understanding in this area.
In the past few days, Menma had preliminarily learned the deployment of a large-scale sensory barrier similar to the one covering the entire Hidden Leaf Village. Of course, its intensity and scale couldn't compare.
But it was sufficient for the Hidden Waterfall Village.
This could improve the ninja village's defense intensity and increase security, while also providing an excellent opportunity for him to legitimately train and master a batch of core subordinates belonging to himself.
This batch of sensory barrier ninja, taught by him and subsequently obeying his commands, would almost certainly become Menma's first batch of core subordinates in the Hidden Waterfall Village.
This was killing two birds with one stone.
"Really!? Accelerator-san!?"
Hearing Menma's words, Jun stood up with a "whoosh," looking at Menma with a look of surprise and joy, his voice raising directly in that moment.
A barrier capable of covering the entire ninja village.
That was absolutely not something an ordinary person could do.
One had to have extremely deep attainments in barriers. Once successful, for their Hidden Waterfall Village, it could greatly strengthen the village's security and further reduce the risk of invasion by external enemies.
Improving their ninja village's enemy detection and self-preservation capabilities!
Amidst the surprise, a deep trace of doubt also flowed in Jun's pupils.
Even with his disguised appearance, Menma currently appeared to be in his early 20s. Jun really doubted whether such a young man truly had the ability to deploy such a super-large-scale barrier.
"How could I lie about such a major matter? Of course, I must explain first that I cannot deploy this kind of large-scale barrier alone. I can be responsible for the core point, but each pivot point requires one or two ninja to assist in casting. Once the jutsu succeeds, future maintenance will also require a batch of precision instruments to assist!"
Menma chuckled lightly.
This was a blatant replica of the Hidden Leaf's barrier.
Even if weakened a notch, it could at least rival the precision and intensity of the barriers of the other major ninja villages.
"That's only natural! Let's go find Lord Shibuki immediately!"
Hearing Menma's affirmative words again...
A look of great joy appeared on Jun's face instantly, and he spoke hurriedly.
"Mhm!"
Menma nodded with a smile.
The two went together toward the administration hall. Before long, Shibuki received the news of Menma and Jun's joint arrival.
Inside, in Shibuki's exclusive office.
After listening to Jun's brief report, Shibuki's eyes lit up, and he looked at Menma with a pleasant surprise.
"As long as Menma-kun can successfully deploy the barrier, ask for however many personnel or resources you need. The village will do its utmost to assist!"
Shibuki spoke with a very serious tone.
Even a foolish leader could see how important a large barrier covering the entire ninja village was. This was the most direct and important means to add a sense of security to everyone in the village.
Shibuki fully foresaw that once this barrier was successfully deployed, the village's cohesion would absolutely rise to a higher level. As the leader, he would further gain the support and respect of the ninja under his command and the ordinary civilians.
A leader who can make the village stronger and safer is a leader worth following.
"Mhm, it's just that it might require a bit more time. After all, our village doesn't seem to have many specialized barrier-type ninja."
Menma nodded gently, then tactfully pointed out a key issue.
Unlike ordinary combat-type ninja...
Ninja with special jutsu like medical, sensory, and barrier types were precious talents even in the Five Great Ninja Villages.
It should even be said that apart from the Hidden Leaf, which possessed a very complete talent reserve, the other four major ninja villages—especially that pauper Hidden Sand—simply had the most basic level of talent configuration.
Needless to say for the Hidden Waterfall Village.
Barrier-type talents?
Sorry, currently the Hidden Waterfall didn't have a single one.
To train a batch of at least barely qualified barrier squads, the time required would be a minimum of several months.
Of course, the intention this time was relatively singular: purely for the deployment of this specific sensory barrier. The time required could be further shortened significantly, as they weren't truly training ninja proficient in using barrier types generally.
Moreover, some deployment tasks could be broken down and assigned to different people.
But even so.
Without two or three months, they probably wouldn't even get started.
Additionally, Menma himself needed a bit more time to figure things out. Bluntly speaking, he was currently only at a half-baked level.
"That is inevitable!"
Shibuki nodded understandingly.
Shibuki knew better than anyone what the situation in his ninja village was like. To deploy a super-large-scale sensory barrier, one person certainly wouldn't be enough, and their ninja village lacked such talents.
Right now, they could only rely on Menma alone.
Shibuki naturally understood that this wasn't something that could be achieved overnight.
"Personnel will be drawn from the existing defense staff. Ask for however many you need, Menma-kun; just discuss it with Jun-san. If other departments have suitable candidates, they can also be transferred. Regarding funds, go directly through the defense approval process. For equipment purchases, Menma-kun, just make a list of what you need, and the village's procurement staff will handle the configuration then!"
Shibuki continued.
"Mhm, not too many personnel are needed. The estimate is just twelve points, with four people rotating at each point, which is enough. As for instruments, Shibuki-san doesn't need to worry. I can obtain them from other channels, as these instruments are hard to get through general market channels anyway."
Menma smiled and nodded.
Money, instruments, and such were not problems at all. The wealth fleeced from that fat sheep Gato was enough for Menma to squander for a while longer. Orochimaru could provide Menma with the most precise and advanced instruments. Menma could solve these problems easily. What he wanted was a justified opportunity to intervene in the internal affairs of the Hidden Waterfall Village and truly gain a batch of subordinates.
The more he contributed personally, the more he could demonstrate his presence!
Shibuki was stunned at first, then immediately thought of Orochimaru. Since Menma hadn't hidden his identity from Shibuki, he had told Shibuki everything unrelated to critical secrets, whether it was the alliance with Orochimaru...
Or the special alliance with Onoki.
Shibuki knew a little bit about it all.
This was also to strengthen Shibuki's confidence in him.
After all, these were heavyweight figures.
When Menma said this, Shibuki naturally thought of Orochimaru. As a renowned existence in the ninja world today, even if Shibuki didn't know Orochimaru well, he absolutely wouldn't doubt Orochimaru's capabilities and channels.
Therefore, he nodded slowly and said, "Mhm, it is indeed most reasonable for Accelerator-san to handle this aspect. However, necessary expenses should still come from the village's finances. This is different from before; it's not for your personal use, Accelerator-san, but for the village's defense. Public and private matters must be distinct."
Hearing Shibuki's words...
Jun didn't have any doubts either.
However, unlike Shibuki who knew part of Menma's background, Jun purely thought it was a background from the Land of Fire's official side, but this connection also made sense.
With an official Land of Fire background, getting some high-precision instruments indeed wasn't a big problem.
But a problem extended from this.
That is, Jun was very afraid that his ninja village's relationship with the Land of Fire's officials would become increasingly close, leading to problems with the Leaf.
I still need to find a time to advise Lord Shibuki. The Hidden Waterfall Village cannot get involved in the disputes of great nations!
Jun thought secretly in his heart.
But this quasi-high-ranking Jonin of the Hidden Waterfall didn't know that from the moment Menma joined the Hidden Waterfall, it was destined to be dragged into the disputes of several major ninja villages, or rather, the biggest vortex of conflict in the entire ninja world.
The orphan of the Fourth Hokage, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, a rogue ninja of the Hidden Leaf!
This was solidly focusing the world on Menma.
Menma naturally didn't know Jun's inner thoughts, and even if he did, he wouldn't care. At most, in another year or so, this quasi-high-ranking official of the Hidden Waterfall would know his identity.
Integration had to rely on his true identity to work!
Now that the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style was broken, Menma only needed to further improve his physical strength, perfectly adapt to the Nine-Tails chakra, and learn the Flying Thunder God Technique. In that case, he would be enough to deal with any enemy in the current world!
Even Nagato would be nothing to fear!
By then, to deal with him, they'd have to go look in the Pure Land!
With such strength, Menma could openly launch his actions!
Strengthen himself in the shortest time, strengthen the Hidden Waterfall in the shortest time!
Then confront his enemies!
With the decision made...
Under Shibuki's orders and according to Menma's requirements, Jun drew a full eighty Waterfall ninja from the defense forces and other departments to listen to Menma's commands. Although these Waterfall ninja varied—some Genin, some Chunin—they all had one thing in common: their chakra control ability was among the better ones in the village.
This was the most basic requirement.
Although sealing jutsu and barrier jutsu didn't have the almost perverted requirements for chakra control like medical ninjutsu, compared to general jutsu, the demand for chakra control was still a notch higher.
If their chakra control couldn't even pass the passing line...
Mastering barrier jutsu would be an illusion, like flowers in a mirror or the moon in water.
Drawing so many people was also to facilitate screening and possibly keeping a portion as a reserve force.
It is worth mentioning that...
Among this group, Menma used chakra control and learning ability as an excuse to require everyone to be young people around 20 years old. The reason for doing this was simple: Menma wanted to cultivate his own confidants, so he had to start with young people. Old slickers wouldn't easily submit to a young man, especially an outsider who had just joined the village.
Of course, this didn't mean young people were truly very easy to hoodwink.
But relatively speaking, they were easier to influence and win over.
And the younger they were, the more ambition they had.
Unlike those old guys who were more stubborn about the status quo, or more accurately, had lost that ambition of the past.
If Menma wanted to control the Hidden Waterfall and even lead it to the peak of the ninja world, this batch of young people was the most important foundation!
After the personnel were gathered...
Menma held the first barrier class directly in his exclusive open space!
In terms of practical ability, Menma might be a bit weak.
But in terms of theoretical knowledge, the current Menma was solid. This special "legacy" inherited from Minato was enough for Menma to engage in "armchair strategies" with ease!