Compared to Vacuum Wave, its fellow B-rank jutsu, Vacuum Sphere, felt somewhat redundant—more trouble than it was worth.
While the learning difficulty was identical, Vacuum Sphere lacked the sheer lethality of Vacuum Wave, which could slice through chakra itself. Its accuracy was also a matter of luck. From a tactical standpoint, one was a sweeping horizontal strike like a swinging staff, while the other was a series of rapid-fire point attacks.
To effectively kill an enemy, Vacuum Sphere required the user to spit out hundreds of "bullets" to create a suppressive "danmaku," saturating an area to ensure a hit. In a chaotic skirmish, this was useful; no matter how many enemies there were, the damage was uniform. In fact, the denser the enemy ranks, the more effective the jutsu became.
However, against a single opponent—especially one with the heightened kinetic vision of the Sharingan like a certain "Sasuke" in the future, or an enemy capable of tanking a few hits—the effectiveness of Vacuum Sphere was severely limited. Most of the chakra and bullets would be wasted on empty air.
For someone like Hatani, who had a limited chakra pool, this inefficiency was intolerable.
Naturally, his mind turned to Windranger's ultimate skill: Focus Fire.
As the name implied, Focus Fire concentrated a barrage of attacks onto a single target, unleashing a massive amount of damage in a very short window. While the game achieved this through mechanical stat boosts, it gave Hatani a significant spark of inspiration.
He could use the wind itself as a guide.
Relying on his Windranger traits, he could use the wind to lock onto an enemy and then "tether" the Vacuum Sphere bullets as they exited his mouth, guiding them directly onto the target.
It was a great theory, but there were two major hurdles to overcome.
First: Enemies aren't stationary target dummies. Shinobi combat is fluid and ever-changing. While he could lock on and guide the bullets with wind, if the enemy moved rapidly, he would have to adjust his guidance just as fast while maintaining a lock. This would be a massive drain on his mental and physical stamina. Currently, he could only effectively guide wind within a three-meter radius; anything beyond that was a struggle.
Second: The lethality of Vacuum Sphere relied entirely on its high muzzle velocity. If he used wind to "pull" or guide the bullets, the velocity would undoubtedly drop. The wider the angle of the guidance, the more speed—and thus power—he would lose.
Loss of speed meant a loss of piercing power. Against ordinary enemies, it might suffice, but against the "turtle shells" of the Iwagakure—who all knew at least one version of the Hardening Technique—the bullets might not even leave a scratch.
How could he solve these two problems?
Hatani plunged so deep into thought that he even forgot his daily routine of farming "discount gold" from the system.
Iwagakure, Land of Earth.
As the most populous of the Five Great Nations, the Land of Earth had always struggled with the paradox of having too many people and too little arable land. The vast, craggy mountain ranges that dominated their territory only worsened the crisis.
Securing more fertile land to sustain their population had been the long-standing ambition of the Land of Earth and Iwagakure. Naturally, the Land of Fire—with its fertile plains and perfect climate—was their primary target.
When the war first broke out in the Land of Rain and Konoha and Suna were drawn into the fray, Iwa had been tempted to intervene. They wanted to take a bite out of either Suna or Konoha while they were distracted.
However, man proposes, but God disposes. At that critical juncture, the Earth Daimyo died of illness. His sons fell into a bitter, chaotic succession struggle that left the country in turmoil.
Although Iwagakure managed the nation's military affairs, Onoki—the Third Tsuchikage—knew that internal instability was a recipe for disaster. To be safe, he had suppressed the calls for war from his subordinates to focus on stabilizing the Daimyo's seat first.
Now, over a year had passed. The new Daimyo was finally secure in his position, but the war in the Land of Rain was drawing to a close. If Iwa wanted to intervene now, it wouldn't be a sneak attack; it would be a head-on collision.
Because of this, even with his prestigious background as the grandson of the First Tsuchikage and the disciple of the Second, Onoki was facing a wave of internal criticism. Many felt he had been too timid and had squandered a golden opportunity.
Onoki, a man of formidable strength and stubborn will, had managed to silence the vocal dissenters through sheer authority. But suppressing words was easy; suppressing resentment was another matter entirely.
With the latest news from the Land of Rain, that resentment showed signs of boiling over again.
The Land of Rain was a vital buffer state between Fire, Earth, and Wind. Now that Suna had been defeated and Konoha had emerged victorious, Amegakure—out of fear—was choosing to align itself with Konoha. To Iwa, this was an intolerable thorn in their side.
In the eyes of many Iwa shinobi, this was the direct result of Onoki's "cowardice" and hesitation. The backlash was becoming so intense that even the veteran Tsuchikage was starting to feel the heat.
"What are your thoughts on this?"
In the conference room of the Tsuchikage Building, Onoki sat on a specially raised stone chair, his gaze sweeping over the assembled council. He knew the rumors flooding the village were being fueled by someone, and the most likely culprits were the very men sitting before him.
Like Hiruzen Sarutobi, even though he had been hand-picked by the Second Tsuchikage and held the lineage of the First, he still couldn't win everyone's approval.
"The stone has already been carved into a statue," a shinobi with an afro and bronze skin—looking more like someone from the Land of Lightning than Earth—spoke up. His tone was heavy with poorly veiled dissatisfaction. "Unless we clear away the guards surrounding the statue, we have no hope of breaking it."
"Are you suggesting we just stand by and watch Ame and Konoha sign a treaty? Watch as they place a blade right against our throats?" a young shinobi countered. He wore a tan headwrap over a round face, and his nose was nearly as prominent as Onoki's.
"Hmph! And do you have a better plan, then?" the afro-wearing man sneered.
"You—!" The round-faced youth bristled, but he had no rebuttal. Clearly, he didn't have a plan.
"If you want my opinion," a burly man with explosive muscles sitting just below Onoki rumbled, raising a fist the size of a sledgehammer. "We should just march the border units into the Land of Rain and show them exactly where we stand!"