Completely unaware that his body was already filled with a vast number of nano-robots, Kakashi finally left the Land of Snow in a pleasant mood.
Although he had been an experimental subject for a period and a large number of Ninjutsu from his mind had been stolen by Vegapunk, at least he hadn't lost any limbs. He had also significantly increased his strength and completed an S-rank mission, so it could be considered a case of gains and losses.
He had no choice but to think this way. After seeing the strength of Vegapunk's trio, Kakashi felt that he had no hope of revenge in this lifetime. Even if he brought the intelligence back to Konoha, it was impossible for Konoha to take any major action against the Land of Snow, which was located near the polar regions. Minor skirmishes would do nothing against the three of them, so he simply had to swallow this bitter pill.
Watching Kakashi Hatake leave, a smile appeared at the corner of Vegapunk's mouth: "Alright, that annoying fellow who we didn't know how to deal with is gone. It's about time to implement the plan!"
From the very beginning, the Lightning Release Body Tempering Technique was never intended for Vegapunk and the others. The reason was simple: a Lightning Release Body Tempering Technique effective for people of the Ninja World would undoubtedly have too weak an effect on people from the One Piece World like them.
Even for Nico Robin, who had the weakest constitution among the three, using this tempering method wouldn't improve her physique much. It would require specific modifications by Vegapunk to truly be effective.
Given Vegapunk's personality, rather than engaging in such troublesome cultivation, he preferred to directly manufacture a body-tempering machine, much like the Training Chambers he had built before. That was his true specialty. This way, he also bypassed the requirement for Lightning Release Chakra.
Kakashi Hatake was merely an experimental subject he used to collect data for building the Training Pod. The Training Pod he intended to create were not for his own group, but for the Ninjas under his command.
The strength of the Land of Snow's hidden village was only second-rate. Once they left the climate advantage of their home base, their strength plummeted to pathetic levels. Forget the Five Great Ninja Villages; even relatively capable medium-sized villages like the Rain Ninja or Grass Ninja could easily wipe out these Snow Ninjas.
Trying to conquer the Ninja World with such power would be fraught with difficulties, even with Vegapunk's trio carrying them. Therefore, Vegapunk's first priority was to find a way to strengthen his underlings' power—at least enough for them to maintain public order!
It would be far too embarrassing if they couldn't even beat some wandering Ninjas when the time came.
The new Training Pod were manufactured quickly. With Vegapunk's abilities and the sufficient data collected, building over a hundred Training Pod only took him a day's work.
There were only four to five hundred Ninjas in the Land of Snow. After Fukabuki Dotou's rebellion, only a bit over 300 remained. Since everyone's constitution was different and their endurance limits varied, the time they could use the Training Pod was also limited.
The stronger ones could endure five or six hours a day, while more of the weaker ones reached their limit in three or four hours. 100 Training Pod were more than enough for the Land of Snow.
Soon, after three months, the Snow Ninjas' Lightning Release Body Tempering Technique had reached great completion. These ordinary Snow Ninjas saw a massive increase in physical fitness and Chakra volume, giving them at least the combat power of an elite Chunin from a great village. About one-third of the lucky Ninjas even awakened a Lightning Release Chakra nature.
Once they awakened the Lightning Release Chakra nature and practiced the Cell Activation Secret Technique, they would firmly possess Special Jonin level combat power. And this was just the lower limit, using Konohagakure as the standard.
In reality, only a few great villages even used the Special Jonin rank. In second-line villages, let alone Special Jonin, some who would only be considered elite Chunin in a great village could be evaluated as Jonin.
Well, of course, a certain great village known for its number of Ninjas and its stubbornness also had evaluation standards similar to those of second-line villages.
Excluding that great village that lowered the Jonin bar, in a normal great village—even the strongest, Konohagakure—the number of Jonin never exceeded a hundred during its peak. Even including Special Jonin, it was only about 200 people during normal times, reaching 300 at its absolute peak.
From this, one could imagine how much the Snow Ninjas' strength had improved. After the reinforcement from the Training Pod, the Snow Ninjas could be said to have jumped from an obscure, bottom-tier village to a top-tier second-line village capable of going toe-to-toe with the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain.
In fact, if not for their small numbers, lack of cannon fodder, and relatively simple strength composition—lacking a deep foundation of high-level secret arts—these Ninjas alone would be enough to pose a threat to the bottom two of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
"But it's enough... at least as cannon fodder, these people are already qualified. Next is expanding the scale of the Ninjas, but the population of the Land of Snow is still a major issue..."
Watching the Snow Ninjas sparring excitedly on the training ground, Vegapunk thought silently. Not everyone can be a Ninja, and even fewer are willing to be one.
The entire Naruto World has a population of about five to six hundred million, but the number of people who actually possess Chakra is probably at most around two hundred thousand. This includes wandering Ninjas, samurai with Chakra, and everyone else combined.
The ratio exceeds 2000 to 1. Most of the remaining people either lack the aptitude or are simply uninterested in becoming Ninjas. Although Ninjas possess great power, their mortality rate is much higher than that of ordinary people, and they live every day amidst blood and storms. In the eyes of ordinary people, it's not actually a very good profession.
Especially since the Land of Snow is remote and sparsely populated, it hasn't been hit by the ravages of war for many years. In a peaceful environment, even fewer people desire the profession of a Ninja.
Vegapunk didn't plan to draw manpower from the Land of Snow either. The Land of Snow's population wasn't large to begin with, and they had no Bloodline Limit Clans; these people's aptitudes were very mediocre. The Snow Ninjas before him were already the group with the most Ninja talent in the Land of Snow.
Furthermore, ordinary people seek peace and safety; those who enjoy a life of excitement are a minority after all. Those ordinary people had no intention of going to the battlefield.
"Should we use Clone, Boss?"
Standing to the side, Nico Robin heard Vegapunk's words and asked. Vegapunk shook his head: "The cost would be too high. You have to realize this isn't Egghead Island or Dream Star. Whether it's hardware or software facilities, they are far behind. The resources consumed to manufacture Clone would increase at least several times over, not to mention that the Land of Snow's resources are not abundant."