The Third Kazekage sized up Shimizu.
His clothes were neat, his face wasn't sweaty, and his spirit was full of energy, not like someone who had just gone through a tough training session.
On the contrary, his chakra reserves seemed to have increased a lot since the last time.
Even if Shimizu was in the prime of his adolescence with the fastest growth rate, he didn't have the bloodline of the Senju or Uzumaki clans, so it shouldn't have increased so much all at once.
This phenomenon, on the other hand, was like…
"Have you awakened a Kekkei Genkai?"
A hint of surprise flashed in the Third Kazekage's eyes.
He was the one who independently synthesized Magnet Release and had also guided Rasa in developing Magnet Release, so he could naturally see Shimizu's current state.
"Yes, Third Kazekage, I have successfully fused Wind Release and Lightning Release and developed Particle Release, which possesses extremely high destructive power."
Shimizu flipped his left hand, condensing a chakra light orb formed from Particle Release chakra in his palm.
"Indeed, a chakra attribute that has never been seen before!"
The Third Kazekage stood up from his seat, carefully sensing the chakra light orb.
He understood very well what this meant.
If the development ceiling of Particle Release was high enough, it could strengthen a ninja into a Kage-level expert, just like Magnet Release.
That would mean that after Puppet Technique and Magnet Release, Sunagakure would have another top-tier inheritance, increasing the probability of cultivating Kage-level experts in the future.
Thinking of this, the Third Kazekage's gaze towards Shimizu was filled with fervor, and the balance in his heart tilted greatly at this moment.
Shimizu was already a recognized genius puppeteer. In the future, inheriting Chiyo's mantle and becoming the leader of the puppet squad would definitely allow him to become a Kage-level powerhouse.
At least in the Third Kazekage's opinion, if Chiyo were to grow old one day, Shimizu could at least take over the Monzaemon's Ten Puppets and use White Secret Technique, and his combat power wouldn't be much different from the current Chiyo.
This alone was enough to allow Shimizu and Rasa, who had mastered Magnet Release, to compete in the same tier.
And now, there was a new Kekkei Genkai.
As long as this bloodline wasn't too useless, Shimizu's future strength surpassing Rasa was almost a certainty.
In the past two years, the Third Kazekage had not been satisfied with Rasa's progress in strength. If things continued like this, Rasa would definitely not be a match for the Third Kage of this generation in the future. Then, what would Rasa use to lead Sunagakure to compete with the other four major ninja villages? How would Sunagakure defeat Konoha and rise to the position of overlord of the ninja world?
Considering Rasa's performance as the Deputy Head of the Anbu in the past two years, the Third Kazekage was not very optimistic about Rasa.
On the other hand, Shimizu first presided over the construction of the canal, improving the water source and transportation environment of Sunagakure and the Land of Wind. In the past two months, he also worked with Chiyo's grandson, Sasori, to develop new puppet techniques, greatly increasing Sunagakure's ninja tool production capacity. Even the dwarf puppets he invented had already begun to be equipped among the genin puppeteers in Sunagakure.
He had truly brought great contributions to Sunagakure in the past few years.
From the current point of view, Shimizu seemed to be more suitable for the position of Kazekage than Rasa and more capable of being his successor.
"Um… Third Kazekage?"
Shimizu reached out and waved his hand in front of the Third Kazekage, awakening him from his deep thoughts.
"It's nothing."
The Third Kazekage came back to his senses.
Although Shimizu was excellent now, he had not yet obtained enough merit on the battlefield, demonstrated sufficient strength, or shown the management ability to lead a large number of ninjas.
Ninjas ultimately had to rely on strength to speak and rely on the victory of war to speak.
If Shimizu wanted to gain the recognition of the many ninjas of Sunagakure, he would need to help Suna achieve victory in a large enough war and make unparalleled contributions in the process.
"Shimizu."
"Hmm?"
"After we finish discussing official business, you and I will spar at Training Ground Number One to let me see your current strength."
"Official business?"
Shimizu was stunned.
He almost forgot that the Third Kazekage had come to him for something, but the news of his development of Particle Release had diverted the topic.
"Do you still remember the new chakra energy vehicles that you and Sasori created before?"
When the Third Kazekage asked him if he had any good things before, Shimizu casually threw out this project.
Sunagakure already had a deep foundation in puppet techniques, so it was not difficult to manufacture industrial products like cars as puppets.
The Third Kazekage said:
"Well, when the puppet squad was test-running chakra energy vehicles on the streets of the village, they were seen by some merchants who came to the village to post requests. After hearing that these cars could travel a thousand miles a day while carrying a large amount of goods, many wanted to buy them from the village for transporting goods, and the prices they offered were not low. I wanted to ask for your opinion."
Shimizu asked:
"How much money are they offering?"
"Two million taels of silver per vehicle. I asked Elder Chiyo, and she said that the production cost of this type of vehicle is only several hundred thousand taels, but this kind of thing is only available in our Sunagakure. I think it's worth more than that, but I don't know how to do this business."
"We don't sell them."
Shimizu shook his head gently at the Third Kazekage and explained:
"Since we are the only ones who have this thing, it's best if only we have it in the future, or at most, we rent it out. There are many people in the entire ninja world who can afford cars, but there will always be a saturation point. Renting is different."
"To make the car run, ninjas have to send chakra into the chakra capacitor, right? How about this, we offer three models. When an employer posts a mission with a reward of 10,000 taels, we can temporarily rent the right to use a small car once. The other party must hire a ninja from our Sunagakure to be a bodyguard, and there must also be a puppeteer to be responsible for repairing the vehicle at any time: 100,000 taels for a medium-sized car, 1 million taels for a large car. If you want to rent more, you can add money, and you can calculate the price yourself.
With such vehicles, the mission cycle of employers will be greatly shortened. They will inevitably be more willing to post missions in Sunagakure because we complete them faster. For ninjas, they can perform more missions in the time they could only perform one mission in the past, at least doubling their income. It will also bring positive improvements to the village's economic-related aspects such as traffic and tax revenue.
This will become an important key point for Sunagakure to widen the gap between it and other ninja villages in the mission field, and all we have to do is ensure that only we can produce and use chakra cars. This way, even if they are seized by other ninja villages, they will not be able to replicate or use them."
