Neji quietly returned to Spring City without drawing anyone's attention. Counting the days, he had been gone for over twenty days. He summoned Qiumu-Duanlong and the others to the meeting room, intending to hear how far the tasks he had assigned had progressed.
Before long, aside from Hayashi Ki, who was building the new base outside the city and settling the orphans, everyone else had arrived in the meeting room. Zuo Mu-Duanlong, Qi Feng, Tenbu, and Tanaka Iko took their seats.
Neji was the first to speak. "How have each of the tasks I assigned been completed?"
Zuo Mu-Duanlong rose and answered, "Reporting to the leader, we have established twenty-five outposts inside and outside Spring City, with a total of thirty-seven core intelligence agents and one hundred twenty-one auxiliary intelligence agents. We have placed our agents within the four major powers and the Daimyo's Mansion, but because our foundation is still shallow, we have not been able to place them in core positions."
"We have also established two outposts each in the daimyo's mansions and ninja villages of the Five Great Nations, for a total of twenty. However, these twenty outposts have only been initially established recently and can obtain only ordinary intelligence. In the coming period, I will continue assigning more personnel and find ways to acquire more confidential intelligence," Zuo Mu-Duanlong said gravely.
After hearing this, Neji was quite satisfied with Zuo Mu-Duanlong's efficiency and progress. Everything was difficult at the start, and building an intelligence network was no exception, especially when they lacked both manpower and funds.
Neji nodded to Zuo Mu-Duanlong and approved his next steps before looking at Qi Feng. "How is the refinement of the Secret Body Reinforcement Fluid going?"
Zuo Mu-Qi Feng rose and answered, "Reporting to the leader, we have established a pharmacy workshop at both the new base and our current base. We have hired twelve alchemists and over thirty pharmaceutical workers. Following the method provided by the leader, we have completed the Natural Energy soaking process for nearly five tons of purchased Jingtianlian juice and its accompanying medicinal ingredients. Formal refining began five days ago."
"Because there is not much Jingtianlian juice available on the market, this is everything that could be purchased within five hundred li of the area. To further expand the refining scale, we must either produce it ourselves or expand the purchasing range."
"With both workshops operating together, we can process roughly 400 kg of medicinal ingredients every five days and produce around 100 kg of medicinal fluid. It is estimated that this batch of purchased ingredients will be used up within two months."
Neji made a rough calculation. One person needed about 300 grams of medicinal fluid for a medicinal bath every two days, amounting to roughly 55 kg per year. All the purchased ingredients could only yield 1,250 kg of medicinal fluid, enough for just over twenty people for a year.
If he had not cooperated with the Okiki Family to prepare for large-scale Jingtianlian cultivation, his plan to use secret medicinal baths to train his forces would probably have fallen through. Neji therefore looked at Tanaka Iko and asked, "How is the cooperation with the Okiki Family progressing?"
Tanaka Iko immediately stood as well and answered, "Reporting to the leader, the Okiki Family has been very cooperative. In just two days, they completed the preparation of two plots of land totaling four hundred mu, and through various channels, they purchased enough medicinal seeds. Because the Land of Hot Water has a mild climate year-round, the seeds have already been planted."
"If the harvest is abundant, we expect to obtain a total of two hundred tons of various medicinal ingredients over a cycle of ten months."
"At the same time, the Okiki Family has hired several formation masters and set up multiple formations around both medicinal gardens. As you instructed, I replenish the gardens with Natural Energy every five days. The herbs in both gardens have already sprouted and are growing faster than ordinary medicinal herbs. It is highly possible that they can be harvested in around eight months, and the yield may also exceed expectations. Since this is the first time Natural Energy has been used for catalysis, we cannot provide precise figures yet." Tanaka Iko then reported the details of the cooperation one by one.
Neji was quite satisfied with the Okiki Family's performance. So long as they did not harbor other intentions,
Neji was more than willing to have such a professional family work for him. It would save him both trouble and effort. Finally, Neji looked toward Zuo Mu-Tenbu.
Without waiting for Neji to ask, Zuo Mu-Tenbu took the initiative to answer. "Reporting to the leader, during this period, I established two orphanages in Spring City and five more in the surrounding towns. As of yesterday, we have taken in 287 orphans, including 186 children between the ages of three and twelve. After speaking with them, 124 of those 186 children were willing to join our organization, and they have been secretly sent to the new base in batches to begin preliminary training."
"At the same time, I have secretly arranged for personnel to travel farther away and continue establishing orphanages. More children of suitable age should be joining us soon."
Neji was quite satisfied with the work of all four of them. He gave them his approval and informed them that he would teach them an extremely powerful secret cultivation method that would bring a qualitative leap in their strength.
The four of them were immediately excited. They knew very well that their limited strength had severely restricted many of their efforts. If they wanted to further develop and expand their work, they needed greater strength to back them up. This had always been a shadow hanging over them.
Now that they heard their leader could increase their strength, they were naturally overjoyed.
When Neji vaguely mentioned that this was the unique ninjutsu once wielded by the God of Shinobi, the First Hokage Hashirama Senju, their faces flushed crimson with excitement.
They could not wait to begin cultivating immediately.
Ignoring their impatience, Neji rode the Black-Winged Thunder Roc alone toward the base outside the city.
Since it was nearby, they arrived above the new base in mere moments.
During the construction of the base, Hayashi Ki had not recklessly destroyed the trees in the valley. Most of the residences and training grounds had also been built underground.
As a result, it was difficult for Neji to spot anything unusual below with the naked eye from the air.
Neji was quite satisfied with this.
Without further hesitation, Neji leaped from the Thunder Roc's back and plunged into the valley. Just as he was about to land, he struck the ground beneath him with an Empty Palm from his left hand. The resulting counterforce canceled out the force of his fall, and Neji landed smoothly.
This move was certainly impressive for showing off, but in actual combat, an enemy could easily exploit it. After all, it was difficult to borrow force while in midair, leaving him nothing more than a live target.
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