The battle tops…
Rasa stared at the two small spinning tops colliding in front of him.
Both were being controlled by Wind Release shinobi, and based on the chakra projections they'd generated, each one had summoned a Kamaitachi—probably because they were most familiar with that beast. After all, the Kamaitachi was a staple of Wind Release jutsu.
As for dragons or white tigers? Yeah, forget it.
But…
These Kamaitachi projections, barely larger than a hand, made the whole battle scene look less like a fierce showdown and more like two screeching prairie dogs yapping at each other.
Honestly? It was kind of cute.
Still, since both tops were being controlled with Wind Release, the area was filled with small wind blades slashing about. The clashing sparks were rendered beautifully.
In terms of atmosphere, tension, and spectacle—the battle tops were delivering. But…
"Can the projections be made bigger?" Rasa asked, frowning slightly.
At least the size of a house.
Otherwise, from the stands, the audience would need a damn sniper scope just to see what was happening.
And bigger visuals meant better immersion. More hype. Bigger crowd reactions.
This tiny stuff? Not exactly thrilling.
The lead researcher pushed up his glasses with a helpless look. "This is the current limit of our tech, Kazekage-sama. The projection requires condensed chakra, and maintaining the top's spin also drains chakra. If we scale it up too much, the tops stop spinning within seconds."
He added, "So right now, projection size, spin speed, and runtime are all tied to the user's chakra reserves."
Rasa rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
So the bottleneck… was the controller's chakra?
His gaze returned to the Kamaitachi projection as it whipped its tail toward its opponent.
After a moment of consideration, Rasa muttered, "Looks like we'll need a projection screen."
Sure, TVs existed now, but the resolution on those clunky old sets? Atrocious.
For a true competitive event, they needed something big—bright, high-resolution, full-color displays. And that meant they'd need to develop new recording and projection equipment too.
Because what—were they going to hold the match and then give everyone a DVD to watch afterward?
What would even be the point?
Might as well just sell Blu-rays directly.
He sighed and rubbed his temple.
"Looks like we'll need to wait a bit longer…"
Still, the battle top concept was essentially complete. Time to start promotion.
The rest—screens, projection gear, etc.—could wait until the tech caught up.
Currently, the arcade team was the furthest along in screen tech. He'd have to check in with them soon.
Rasa turned to the sweating researchers, whose chakra had clearly run dry. The tops had already stopped spinning.
So… a single mid-level puppet master could keep a top running and projecting for about an hour?
And that's without any big attacks.
If someone started throwing ultimates around, that runtime would drop significantly.
Which meant that, compared to the 4WD races, battle top matches would open hard and fast. No warm-up. Full send.
Defeat your opponent quickly—or burn out.
Plus, after each round, contestants would need rest time to restore chakra.
Which gave him an idea…
Maybe they could sell some soldier pills?
After all, Sunagakure's soldier pills weren't just the standard, bitter junk anymore—they were now made with the Ultimate Flavor Spice. Delicious. Addictive. Pop one and you'd want another.
No more "one isn't enough, two is too many" nonsense.
Granted, soldier pills still had limits—eat too many and you'd get bloated—but still.
Mentally drafting a marketing plan, Rasa looked at the developers.
"Alright then, I'll leave the rest of the tooling and production to you. Follow the model we used for the 4WD cars. Let buyers customize their tops however they want."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama. Do you want us to set up a regular top production line too?"
"Same procedure as the 4WD cars." Rasa nodded. "First we market the civilian-grade battle tops. After that, we roll out the ninja-exclusive models."
Even though the civilian versions were cheap, volume was the key. Regular folks would buy tons of them. That alone would eclipse ninja sales.
Only issue? Civilian products were easier to pirate.
And the shinobi world had… little to no concept of copyright.
Right now, Sunagakure could only rely on the prestige of the Five Great Shinobi Villages to deter copycats.
As for the ninja models, those were made using rare chakra black rods. Even if someone figured out how to make them, odds were they couldn't get the materials.
Besides—
Compared to those clunky, knock-off 4WD cars, players would always rather pay for the real thing.
Sunagakure's official merchandise had reputation.
And when it came to high-speed motors, no other village could match Sunagakure's engineering.
So for now, piracy wasn't a serious threat.
With all instructions given, Rasa left the toy factory and headed for the research lab.
It was time for "Manga Artist Tobi" to return.
Meanwhile — in Konoha.
"Manual labor? Carrying bricks? Hauling water? Construction? Farming?"
Nono stared blankly at the man sitting across from her—Danzo Shimura.
Her mind froze. She couldn't even process what she'd just heard.
As someone aware of Root's existence—one of its spies, no less—she knew what kind of man Danzo was.
Letting the orphans work for this black-hearted bastard?
She'd rather break herself to keep the orphanage afloat. At least then, the children could grow up happy—alive and untainted.
"This 'manual labor' stuff… it's probably just a cover," she thought.
"There's definitely some dark agenda hiding underneath."
Her expression hardened.
"I won't allow it. Absolutely not. I will never let those kids walk into the darkness! Their futures belong to the light!"
No matter what Danzo threatened—no matter what he did to her, or to the orphanage—even if he killed her, she would never give in.
She…
She would protect her family.
"Please, Danzo-sama… let them go. Don't hurt them."
"..."
Hurt them?
Who said anything about hurting anyone?
Did this woman even listen to a word I said?
Danzo's face twitched.
Where is carrying bricks even "dark"!?
He'd been very restrained.
He hadn't sent Root operatives to seize the orphanage. He hadn't sealed it off. He hadn't even brought many people with him—just two Root guards.
He'd specifically chosen the orphanage because, ever since the last funding dried up, the village had offered them no support.
And with merchant caravans needing more hands—people to farm, to rebuild—it made sense. The orphanage kids were the only group he could trust to work without drawing attention from Hiruzen.
It wasn't even his first choice.
He didn't want to be here.
Danzo stared at her coldly.
"Are you defying my orders?"