Although Mei Terumī was not captivated by Hancock's charm, she was currently gritting her teeth with a terrible look on her face.
After all, it would be strange for her to be in a good mood after being completely crushed in terms of feminine charm.
Seeing Mei Terumī's exasperated state, Hancock proudly lifted her head like a victorious little peacock.
Suikazan Fuguki ignored the behavior of the Ninjas below and continued speaking:
"That was the first thing I wanted to tell you. Now for the second: after consultations between the Daimyos, both sides hope that we can peacefully merge with the Sea Ninja Village to form a new Ninja village!"
As soon as this bombshell news was announced, the crowd below fell into chaos. All the Ninjas ignored everything else and hurriedly began to ask questions.
"Is this true, Mizukage-sama?"
"How can those guys from the Sea Ninja Village stand on equal footing with our Kirigakure? Just because of a bunch of ragtag rogue Ninjas? It's ridiculous!"
"Merge? Who will be in charge after the merger? Who will be the new Kage? What will happen to the high-ranking officials of their village?"
"A merger might actually be okay. At least there are one or two thousand Ninjas who can replenish our current strength. After years of the blood mist policy, our lower ranks have suffered heavy losses, but Kirigakure must definitely be the primary party..."
"After the merger, what about the village's operating funds? And how will mission assignments be managed?"
"Enough!"
Suikazan Fuguki spoke sharply, instantly silencing the voices below, then pointed his hand toward Vegapunk:
"Dr. Vegapunk, please explain the situation to these Ninjas!"
Vegapunk smiled:
"Leave it to me then. But before that, let's head to the training ground and let you Jonin open your eyes and gain some insight!"
...At the edge of the training ground, the group of Jonin who walked over had sour expressions. Every Jonin's past was legendary enough, and being treated like a frog in a well was naturally not something to be happy about.
Yet, because of Vegapunk's status, these Jonin found it hard to complain. However, they had already made up their minds: if Vegapunk didn't have anything substantial to impress them, he could forget about merging the villages.
The status of a Daimyo was indeed higher than a village leader to some extent, but this balance was very fragile. The Ninja village, which wielded the ultimate force, was the one that truly had the power to flip the table. Therefore, a Daimyo could not truly ignore the village's opinion.
After the group of Ninjas arrived at the training ground, they saw dozens of unfamiliar Ninjas. These Ninjas had youthful faces and small builds, appearing to be academy students who had just graduated.
They wore forehead protectors with a pattern of three horizontal wavy lines. These Jonin were quite well-informed and knew that this was the forehead protector of the newly established Sea Ninja Village.
Honestly, Vegapunk had wanted to use a skull pattern for the village's forehead protector, since he came from the One Piece World! However, due to unanimous opposition from the Ninjas under him, the idea was dropped.
With the Mizukage giving the green light, it was naturally not difficult for these young Ninjas from the Sea Ninja Village to enter Kirigakure.
"What is this? Dr. Vegapunk, are you planning to show us the strength of these Genin from the Sea Ninja Village to intimidate us?"
A Kirigakure Jonin said somewhat mockingly, but suddenly felt his arm being grabbed. Turning his head, he saw Ao, whose veins were bulging as he observed with his Byakugan.
"What's wrong, Ao? Is there something wrong with those brats?"
Ao's lips trembled. "Th-the Chakra of these brats is already... already very close to our level!"
Blinking, the Kirigakure Jonin looked like he hadn't heard correctly. "What did you say? You must be mistaken, right?"
"Do you think I'd be mistaken?!" Ao turned his head and pointed at his Byakugan. "The Chakra of those brats has definitely approached, or even reached, the Jonin level!"
Hearing Ao's shout, the expressions of all the Jonin changed. Many gasped, and the way they looked at those youths completely shifted.
Although Chakra volume isn't the only factor in determining a Ninja's strength, it is definitely the most important one. A Ninja with a large amount of Chakra, even if they only know a few Five Elements Ninjutsu, is enough to function like a human turret.
Having Jonin-level Chakra doesn't necessarily make one a Jonin, but at the very least, having Jonin-level Chakra clears the biggest hurdle to becoming one!
Especially since these youths are only at the age of graduating from the Ninja Academy. Over the next ten or twenty years, their Chakra levels will continue to grow. As long as they aren't too terrible in other areas, becoming a Jonin is practically a certainty.
This kind of young Ninja would be considered a so-called genius in Kirigakure. Although geniuses aren't rare in the Ninja World, only two or three pop up each year at most. To suddenly produce forty or fifty genius Ninjas of this level—did everyone in your Sea Ninja Village eat Jin Kela?
Vegapunk glanced at Ao, not expecting to be found out right from the start. He had wanted to try the standard "showing off and slapping faces" routine.
These young Ninjas were products of Vegapunk's initial enhancement experiments. They were first modified to possess Zoan-type abilities, then had most of their physical potential developed through Training Pods.
In terms of Chakra volume, they were already close to the Jonin level. Their physical constitution could also compete with Chunin proficient in Taijutsu or Special Jōnin. After their Zoan-type transformations, they even possessed Taijutsu capabilities nearly at the Jonin level.
"Alright, Kirigakure Jonin, please take a look at the Sea Ninja Village's latest technological invention!"
After Vegapunk finished speaking, he looked at the young Ninjas. "Show these Jonin from a major village what you can do!"
The group of young Ninjas looked incredibly excited. These were all the youth Ninjas the Sea Ninja Village had. After all, the Sea Ninja Village had been established for less than a year, and there was no Ninja Academy system to train them. These young Ninjas were those who came from the original Ninja organizations, so their numbers were naturally not very large.
Not only were they few in number, but their quality was also inconsistent. Ninjas trained by small organizations might have unique tricks in certain areas, but they often lagged behind in basic strength. After all, no other organization liked kidnapping child geniuses as much as Orochimaru did.
Consequently, these young Ninjas used to feel somewhat inferior when facing Ninjas from major villages. It wasn't until they underwent Vegapunk's enhancement and felt their strength skyrocket that their confidence swelled. Now, seeing those Kirigakure Ninjas, their faces were full of eagerness to test themselves.
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