Inside the room, Menma quickly outlined his preliminary plan.
As the largest shipping company in the ninja world, he naturally wouldn't relinquish its advantage in that arena. While shipping granted international standing, that was about it. They could only push around remote, impoverished nations like the Land of Waves, and even after spending so much time, they still hadn't fully succeeded!
To truly participate in the power struggles between nations and gain their recognition, Menma needed to focus on food and energy.
As for technological research, frankly, most of the technological products from his previous life already existed in the ninja world. However, they weren't widespread, and the technology level varied greatly from place to place. Most importantly, research took too much time. It encompassed too many projects and was too slow to yield results.
In comparison, food and energy were much faster. Between the two, he preferred food. After all, various energy mines were controlled by major nations, and he had no intention of snatching food from their jaws. Food, however, was much simpler.
He only needed to exchange for a single Wood Release Ninjutsu. Then, by crossbreeding and grafting grain seeds to cultivate high-quality, high-yield varieties, he could quickly dominate the market. Besides, very few ninjas in the world knew Wood Release, and no ninja would bother caring about people's livelihoods or researching agriculture. They only thought about increasing their combat power to kill enemies.
Furthermore, the grain production capacity and methods in the ninja world were extremely low and backward. When Naruto controlled the body and did missions with Kakashi, they had encountered manual rice planting and harvesting. Not only were the production methods backward, but the yield per acre was also low! Compared to the yield of over a thousand pounds per acre of hybrid rice in Menma's previous life, this was simply appalling.
After deciding on his development plan, Menma directly brought up the system panel in his mind.
[Exchange List]
[Wood Release: Asura (600,000 Corruption Points)]
[True Several Thousand Hands: 150,000 Corruption Points]
[Wood Release: Wood Human Technique: 120,000 Corruption Points]
[Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique: 100,000 Corruption Points]
[...]
[Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence: 2,000 Corruption Points]
There were many Wood Release Ninjutsu, categorized very meticulously by the system. Unfortunately, they were all too expensive, leaving him somewhat disappointed. However, he saw a suitable Wood Release technique for exchange with a low Corruption Point cost.
"System, exchange for Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence."
[Exchange successful, Corruption Points -2,000]
[Current Corruption Points: 38,000]
Upon successful exchange, he clearly sensed a familiar chakra surging into his body. However, this chakra, which had previously suppressed him, was now at his disposal.
"Ashura's chakra. Too little, unfortunately."
Since exchanging for a character's jutsu also granted an additional chakra release, Menma wasn't particularly surprised. However, the pressure on his soul lessened a bit. If Naruto were to regain control of his body again, he could use this meager amount of Ashura's chakra to buy himself a few more seconds.
Looking at the remaining 38,000 Corruption Points, he didn't plan to save them; he intended to exchange them all for strength.
"System, exchange for Yang Nine-Tails, exchange for chunin- and jonin-level taijutsu."
[Yang Nine-Tails exchange successful]
[Corruption Points -36,000]
[Chunin- and jonin-level taijutsu exchange successful]
[Corruption Points -2,000]
[Current Corruption Points: 0]
The previous exchange for the Three-Tail Chakra Mode cost 14,000, so the remaining seven tails only required 36,000. The chunin- and jonin-level taijutsu was obtained from Zabuza, Haku, and the chunin under Gato.
After the exchange, Menma clearly felt his body become much stronger again. At the same time, the massive influx of Nine-Tails chakra caused him to momentarily lose himself. If the previous Three-Tail Chakra Mode was a pond, then this complete Yang Nine-Tails was an ocean! The two were completely on different levels!
Without hesitation, if I were to create another Tailed Beast Ball, I could create a whole bunch at once, and each one would be the size of a basketball, not those small marbles! Combined with Kage-level Taijutsu, Menma felt he could easily crush trash Kage-level figures like Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura. He had finally gained true self-defense capabilities in the ninja world. He didn't need to worry about the Akatsuki coming after him if the plot went awry.
The commotion Menma caused quickly attracted the attention of Sasuke and Sakura Haruno downstairs.
Thump, thump, thump.
The two quickly ran up the stairs and burst through the door.
"What happened?"
"Why is the whole house shaking?"
The moment they entered, Menma completely withdrew the Nine-Tails chakra that had overflowed from his body. The wooden house stopped shaking.
"Nothing. I just accidentally lost control of the Nine-Tails chakra."
Looking at the messy room, the two didn't suspect anything, but Sasuke Uchiha clenched his fists again, his expression somewhat gloomy. He sensed clearly that Menma ahead had grown stronger again! Just standing there, he felt a sense of impending doom, as if facing a terrifying monster. He had only ever felt this kind of trepidation and fear with Itachi Uchiha.
"By the way, could you guys help tidy up the room? I have to go out for a bit."
Having completed his plan and exchanged his items, Menma didn't intend to stay any longer. After informing the two, he leaped out of the window and quickly disappeared into the distance.
"It was you who messed it up… That was fast! Menma seems to have gotten stronger again!"
Sakura Haruno was about to retort when she was startled by the speed at which Menma had vanished. Hearing Sakura's words, Sasuke also turned and went downstairs with a cold face.
"You tidy up the room. I'm going to train."
Sakura Haruno: "..."
Looking at the messy room, Sakura suddenly felt like crying. Suddenly, she missed Naruto Uzumaki. If Naruto was still here, he could definitely clean this house with her—no, Naruto alone!
Night. The shipping company's base.
Zabuza Momochi, Haku, and Gato were kneeling respectfully in the room. Because of Zabuza and Haku's special identities, Menma didn't order them to kill Gato. Instead, he was used as a puppet in name only. Gato initially vehemently disagreed, but after being tortured by Zabuza several times, and shown Menma's immense power, he finally became obedient.
The three kneeling figures didn't wait long. Menma, wearing a mask with four stars painted on it, appeared before them in a flash.
After glancing at them, he scattered a pile of seeds.
"I've already cultivated the Four Star Seeds. Tomorrow, you two go and register the seed company."
Upon hearing this, Zabuza and Haku nodded quickly.
Gato, however, cautiously glanced at Menma and asked in a low voice.
"Is this the rice you mentioned that can yield over a thousand pounds per acre?"
Seemingly afraid that Menma would misunderstand, Gato slammed his head against the ground after speaking.
"No, no, no, I didn't mean to question you! It's just that the quantity is too small, and don't you need to send them to the laboratory for next-generation castration?"
---
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