Neji's fall from the sky caused quite a commotion.
It quickly caught the attention of the Genin standing guard outside. However, both Genin knew Neji; they were among the first group who had followed him to the Land of Hot Water, so it did not cause any disturbance.
After recognizing Neji, the two hurried over and respectfully saluted. "Greetings, Leader!"
Neji did not put on airs and directly ordered, "Show me this new base. Let me see what you've built during this time!"
The two did not hesitate and nodded in acknowledgment. They stepped forward to lead the way, taking Neji on a tour of the new base. Hayashi Ki heard the commotion and came over as well. Upon seeing Neji, he joined the group and acted as their guide.
The valley was not small, covering roughly a hundred mu. Its vegetation was dense, mostly tall trees that completely obscured the ground. That was why Neji had seen almost nothing with the naked eye while in the air.
To make the base even more concealed, Hayashi Ki had minimized damage to the trees and built the base's main facilities and areas underground. The soil excavated from below could conveniently be washed downstream and out of the valley through the river running through it, reducing the accumulation of dirt.
The underground base was divided into eight main areas: residential, recreation, training, research, supply storage, office, and several supporting areas.
This ensured that the members living here could study and work more effectively.
At the same time, Neji could not help marveling at the construction speed of the Shinobi World.
Because Natural Energy existed in the air, even though it was relatively thin, ordinary adults in the Shinobi World possessed physical attributes such as strength and speed two to three times greater than those in his previous life. After undergoing special training or becoming shinobi through cultivation, they surpassed that by an unimaginable margin.
As for top-tier shinobi, there was no need to mention them. Splitting mountains, tearing apart the earth, filling seas, and cutting off rivers were not particularly difficult feats.
As a result, even without modern construction equipment, the Shinobi World could maintain an astonishing pace of construction by digging with bare hands alone. With ninjutsu added to the mix, construction speed would practically soar.
Neji planned to place the entire underground base under closed management and raise its Natural Energy concentration. He would have these children live, study, and train year-round in an environment rich in Natural Energy, supplemented by specially formulated medicinal baths. Even if they were not born in "Rome," they would still surpass other children their age by countless times.
This made Neji think of the compression fluid he had obtained through Natural Energy Purification. Using it in an enclosed space to raise the concentration of Natural Energy in the air was remarkably similar to the effect of a Spirit Gathering Array in fantasy novels.
A Spirit Gathering Array used the power of formations to raise the Spiritual Energy concentration within its coverage, while he used technological purification to raise the concentration of Natural Energy in a certain area. The two achieved much the same result.
The underground base had already been completed, and some children had moved in. What remained was to further seal the underground base, preferably using a formation to cover it and minimize the leakage of Natural Energy.
At the same time, they needed to train a group of teachers to provide these children with ideological and cultivation education.
For the relatively underdeveloped education of the Shinobi World, Konoha's approach was indeed quite good. It took the Will of Fire as the focus of ideological education, instilling in children the core belief of burning themselves to protect future generations and the village.
If this had been in his previous life, such an approach would undoubtedly have seemed laughable. When the crucial moment came, how many people could truly sacrifice themselves for others? Especially in Konoha, where the great clans practically controlled all the village's power—why should commoners sacrifice themselves for them?
Neji had no intention of playing such convoluted games. He emphasized only one thing: exchange. The organization had taken them in and taught them how to study and cultivate. Once they became capable, they would be obligated to help the organization complete a certain number of tasks.
After repaying what the organization had invested in them,
they could choose to continue serving the organization for compensation, or they could choose to leave. The organization would never obstruct their choice. By making everything clear, with the choice to accept or give up entirely in their own hands, the likelihood of resistance later on would be much lower.
If there really were people who wanted rights but refused to shoulder obligations, the organization naturally had specialized departments to deal with them.
Neji called Hayashi Ki and several managers of the base into the conference room and explained his ideas for the Contribution Point System, instructing them to draft a relatively complete system.
The core concept was that every child who signed an agreement with the base could apply for a substantial Contribution Points loan to cover daily living, study, and consumption expenses.
The base would also regularly issue tasks, allowing trainees to earn scattered Contribution Points through their own efforts to subsidize their living and spending.
Once the orphans had completed their studies and could work for the organization or undertake missions outside it, they could earn more Contribution Points and use them to repay their earlier loans.
Once the loan was repaid, they would gain their freedom. They could choose to keep working for the organization and live within it, or choose to leave the organization and live outside.
As long as they could control the ratio between what the organization invested in the orphans and what it received in return, the organization could operate steadily over the long term, rather than merely giving without end or extracting without restraint.
The organization's managers could likewise earn Contribution Points through their work and use them to exchange for training room time and Body Reinforcement Fluid for cultivation. These were scarce goods that could not be bought outside even with money.
And those scarce goods would be the ropes that bound them tightly. If they wanted to improve, live longer, or grow stronger, they could only work diligently for the organization.
By then, Neji would only need to control the Natural Energy Compression Fluid and the Sage Jutsu Cultivation Method to command a large number of people to serve him.
Thinking of this, Neji decided it was time to put the relocation of the Natural Energy Purification Device to the Summoning Realm on the agenda. More and more projects required high concentrations of Natural Energy, and the quantities needed were growing larger and larger. Whether to improve production efficiency or keep the technology confidential,
moving the production equipment to the Summoning Realm was absolutely necessary!
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