Chapter 70: When You Write a Program Full of Bugs but Find That It Unexpectedly Runs Normally
What did it feel like to hand roll a thermobaric bomb?
Kenichi had never known the answer before. Now that he did, he had to admit it felt incredible and, disturbingly enough, exciting.
Watching a thermobaric bomb take shape from nothing was deeply satisfying. The only drawback was how rough it looked. He had no professional machine tools here, no proper production line, and chasing perfect precision was almost impossible.
Fortunately, chakra and the Sharingan made the impossible merely annoying. In the end, Kenichi still managed to build a thermobaric bomb successfully.
"High altitude bombing is hard," he muttered, staring at the bomb in his hand. "Jumping that high with this thing is even harder."
This thermobaric bomb weighed at least five tons. The number alone was ridiculous.
Still, sealing scrolls existed. That was the best news he could ask for. Carrying five tons became carrying a light scroll, and suddenly the world felt much friendlier.
He had also installed a fuse system. It was crude, handmade, and undeniably unsafe by the standards of any sane engineer, but it worked. A simple button trigger. Once pressed, the bomb would detonate ten seconds later, blooming into what would likely become the first truly dazzling "firework" the ninja world had ever seen.
"All I need to do is get away as fast as possible after dropping it," Kenichi said, stroking his chin. "The explosive mass is only about 4.5 tons, but with thermobaric output, it should be roughly equivalent to forty tons of TNT."
He carefully sealed the thermobaric bomb into the scroll, then weighed the now light scroll in his hand and nodded in satisfaction.
This could barely be called a successful replica. By industrial standards, it was the kind of product that would make an entire weapons workshop scream, faint, and then try to beat the designer to death with a wrench.
There was no quality inspection. No certified manufacturing. Even the metal casing had been shaped by his own hands, which meant it looked rough no matter how he tried to smooth it out.
But in a world where industrial production lines were not fully developed, this was already close to the limit.
If anything, the fact that it had been built without exploding proved Kenichi's skill. Of course, the Sharingan, which could function like a microscopic inspection tool, had played a massive role.
This was a thermobaric bomb with ninja characteristics through and through.
As for full industrialization and millimeter level manufacturing precision, that future would probably have to be dragged into this world by Kenichi himself.
Right then, his ring grew slightly warm.
A familiar sensation followed, and Kenichi understood immediately.
Nagato was pulling him into that strange space again.
"A meeting?" Kenichi scratched his head. It had been a long time since the last one. He wondered what Nagato was planning this time.
The thought barely finished forming before his surroundings shifted.
When Kenichi opened his eyes again, he was standing in that same mysterious space.
He looked around first.
His teacher was there, slightly to his left.
To his right stood a figure he recognized instantly. The other person raised a hand in greeting, and Kenichi immediately confirmed it.
Sasori.
Then there were three more figures.
Nagato.
Konan.
And one person who did not look special at first glance, yet Kenichi recognized him from his build alone.
Kakuzu.
"Let's summarize the group assignments," Nagato said once everyone had arrived. His tone was steady, as if he wanted to finish quickly before Kenichi found a way to derail the entire meeting.
"This new member will work with Ku from now on."
"Oh?" Orochimaru glanced at the newcomer. The newcomer glanced back. Their eyes met for a breath, then both turned away as if nothing had happened.
"Gyoku, you and Jade will be in the same group," Nagato continued.
This had clearly been planned. Akatsuki members operated in pairs.
Nagato had originally considered assigning Kakuzu to Kenichi, since Gyoku seemed to get along with Kenichi fairly well. But after a moment of serious reflection, he abandoned the idea.
Kakuzu was a normal person.
Pairing him with Kenichi would be like throwing a calculator into a bonfire and hoping it came out smarter.
Better not let Kenichi drag anyone else off a cliff. The organization would not survive that.
"Okay, Pain," Kenichi said with a bright smile.
Konan immediately covered her face.
Here he goes again.
If Akatsuki were not so short on manpower, and if every member were not so valuable, Konan was convinced Nagato would have kicked Kenichi out a long time ago.
Kakuzu glanced at Kenichi, then at Nagato beside him, amusement flickering in his eyes.
He remembered Nagato had once insisted that members should address each other by their ring code names as much as possible. Kakuzu had been curious why it was only "as much as possible."
Now he understood.
"Kenichi Amamiya," Nagato said, not angry so much as exhausted beyond the point of emotion. "I look forward to your research results."
Kenichi's smile stiffened slightly.
Oh, Sage of Six Paths, he really had forgotten. He swore he did. On his neighbor Uncle Sam's leather shoes, even.
"Ahem." Kenichi coughed twice, awkward. "I was researching something else before, but I'll start on that as soon as possible."
The truth was simple.
He had been buried in thermobaric bomb development. The good news was that it was finished. The bad news was that the hybrid rice research had not even truly begun. He had not even made the necessary preparation, not even the initial organization of materials.
Nagato did not comment further. After distributing tasks, he dismissed the meeting.
The assignments were straightforward.
Orochimaru and Kakuzu were responsible for making money, preferably by taking bounty missions. Akatsuki could not afford to become a target for the ninja world's intelligence networks right now, and bounty work was the most convenient route.
As for Kenichi and Sasori, Nagato gave them a different task.
They were to head to the Land of Water and observe a rogue ninja named Juzo Biwa. Their job was to determine whether he was qualified to join Akatsuki.
If he was, they would bring him back to Amegakure in the Land of Rain.
If he was not, they would kill him and collect the bounty for the organization.
"Juzo Biwa…" Kenichi scratched his head. "I think he was one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."
He had heard the name, but he did not know much about the man's abilities.
He had not expected to be assigned recruitment work. Still, Kenichi vaguely remembered that Juzo Biwa was not among Akatsuki's later members. That probably meant he was not accepted.
Or he joined and died later.
Either way, it was not Kenichi's concern. His job was simple.
Go.
Find the target.
Observe.
A complete industrial system was too difficult to establish right now, so for the moment, everything could only remain crude, manually developed, and assisted by external tools.
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