Chapter 94: The Clash Between Technology and Tailed Beasts
An aerial base?
Kenichi looked at Sasori in surprise. He genuinely had not expected Sasori to come up with something like that. He had to admit, though, it was an interesting idea.
After all, in the shinobi world, there were only a handful of people who could truly fly, and even then, their altitude was limited. Most could not go very high. If you could establish a base far above the clouds, the safety alone would be impressive.
The key problems would be the brutal weather conditions: thunderstorms, violent winds, and anything else that decided to throw a tantrum at high altitude. If those could be handled, an aerial base would be terrifyingly secure.
Concealment would not even be hard. Find a region covered in clouds and fog year round. Hide above the cloud layer. From the ground, there would be nothing to see.
And there was another advantage, one Kenichi cared about even more.
It would be difficult to detect.
Kenichi did not know the full details of Zetsu's Mayfly Technique, but he doubted it involved casually flying into the sky. Zetsu had never shown any ability to fly either.
"Your idea is pretty interesting," Kenichi said, nodding.
That said, solving flight was one thing. Staying aloft long term was another.
And a base was not a toy. The quality requirements would be high.
"Even if you use hot air balloons, you can't carry something too large," Kenichi added with a shrug. "The payload is limited."
A base could not be built entirely out of wood. Even a small structure would weigh several tons. Tens of tons was normal. How large would a balloon need to be to lift that?
"So how much weight can a hot air balloon usually carry?" Sasori asked, genuinely curious.
Kenichi opened his mouth and recited a formula out of habit, the kind of reflex burned into him from exam season.
"According to the calculation, if PVG equals MG, then… no, wait… here…"
Then he froze.
This was the shinobi world.
Did the air composition match his old world? What about gas density? And the biggest problem of all: what was the gravitational acceleration here?
Kenichi knew the value from his previous life.
But this world?
He would need to measure it.
"I don't have any conventional measuring tools on me," Kenichi muttered. "Maybe I can use the water droplet measurement method later."
Sasori stared at him, blank.
Piwei whatever? Water droplet method?
For the first time in a while, Sasori felt like the uncultured one.
Fortunately, Kenichi did not get stuck in that hole for long. He realized he did not even have a proper ruler with him. He could measure gravity after returning. The water droplet method was primitive, but at least it was convenient.
"For now, this balloon can carry three or four people at most," Kenichi said, giving the only answer he could responsibly give.
Sasori did not seem bothered. Instead, he eagerly pulled Kenichi closer and started discussing the concept anyway, talking about using many balloons to share the load.
Kenichi happily went along with it. They had time, and chatting cost nothing. Who knew? Maybe Sasori would actually build an aerial base in the future.
Kenichi himself had no such plan. He already had too many projects on his hands. The aerial base was interesting, but it was not urgent.
Traveling by hot air balloon was much faster than moving on foot. The shinobi world had no radar, and certainly no surface to air missiles. With Kenichi using Wind Release to speed them up, a day later they were already above a battlefield.
Dense black dots swarmed below.
"This should be it," Kenichi said, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the land.
The three tomoe Sharingan was useful, but it was not a microscope. Still, this clearly was not the Land of Fire, and the sheer number of shinobi below made it obvious.
This had to be where the Hidden Cloud and the Leaf were clashing.
The problem was that the battlefield was packed so tightly with people that Kenichi could not immediately tell which side was Konoha and which was Kumogakure.
"The main force of Kumogakure is northeast," Sasori said, casually pointing.
Kenichi turned his head, then paused.
Sasori was looking through a pair of binoculars.
Kenichi covered his face.
Right. He had forgotten something painfully basic. The shinobi world had plenty of strange technology, but telescopes and binoculars existed. Deidara would even carry a small one in the future.
Under Sasori's direction, Kenichi adjusted the balloon's position. He confirmed with the binoculars, then pulled out the sealing scroll.
With a steady breath, he reached inside and prepared to retrieve the thermobaric bomb.
"Sasori," Kenichi called before he fully drew it out.
Sasori, already familiar with the process, controlled the Third Kazekage puppet and carefully lifted the thermobaric bomb from the scroll as if he was handling a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Kenichi glanced at him, amused. "You're moving a lot more gently today."
The last time, Sasori had handled it far more casually. Kenichi had been nervous the entire time.
Sasori clicked his tongue. "You'd get nervous too if you were holding a Tailed Beast Bomb in your arms."
Then he began accelerating the thermobaric projectile with Magnet Release.
Down below, at Kumogakure's command post, an ANBU member rushed in, breathless.
"Lord Raikage! The observation team spotted something black above us!"
A slammed his hand onto the table.
The table cracked, then shattered.
But his expression was pure joy.
"Good!"
They had finally grabbed these rats by the tail.
The attack on Kumogakure had enraged A, but what infuriated him even more was the lack of traces. No tracks. No infiltration reports. Nothing.
The only conclusion was that the attack had come from the sky.
So A had prepared for exactly that.
He was certain it was not Konoha. If Konoha truly possessed this kind of power, they would have launched a full scale assault long ago. No village that strong would waste time playing games.
That meant the attackers were likely hired for a bounty.
And if someone was paying, it was reasonable to assume they might pay again.
So A devised a trap.
He brought a large force to the front lines, then ordered a special team to do nothing except watch the sky through binoculars. The moment anything unusual appeared overhead, they were to report instantly.
His suspicion was correct.
The enemy had attacked again.
The problem was the altitude. It was too high.
Ordinary ninjutsu could not reach it. Kumogakure was researching a chakra cannon, but it was not something they could casually deploy on a battlefield, and the research was not complete.
Still, A was not worried.
He turned his head toward the shinobi behind him.
"B, did you hear that?"
"Understood, brother."
A massive presence began to rise behind A, and a heavy, ominous aura spread across the command post like a storm rolling in.
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