"Damn it, that little brat."
After hearing the truth from Hana Inuzuka, Anko felt deeply annoyed.
"So, what are you going to do?" Hana Inuzuka asked, folding her arms.
"Since it'll take a month for the scent to spread, I'll just have to wait. As it happens, I'm about to go on a long-term mission." Anko shrugged helplessly.
Hana Inuzuka smiled faintly. "By then, you might not be a match for Gu Qi anymore."
"Tch, he's just a little kid. What's there to be afraid of?"
"You never know. Kakashi Gu Qi might turn out to be another genius."
Though she didn't want to admit it, Anko knew Hana was right. Kakashi Gu Qi really was a genius.
Meanwhile, the genius they were talking about was teetering on the brink of getting himself killed.
"Just as I thought, the Railgun and Explosive Rounds are the perfect match."
In the Nonexistent Laboratory, Gu Qi was using the ingredients he'd bought to prepare explosives on the workbench.
The explosive Gu Qi was making was the classic **** explosive.
It packed quite a punch, but its one drawback was that even a slight bump could set it off.
However, adding some inert ingredients could turn it into safe and powerful Dana Explosives.
"The glycerin is ready, and I've prepared the Nitric Acid and Sulfuric Acid. Now all that's left is to mix them."
At this stage, Gu Qi grew cautious.
This was his first time making ****, after all. If he accidentally blew himself up, that would be a real joke.
He carefully stirred the glycerin, Nitric Acid, and Sulfuric Acid together. Once the Glycerin Nitration was complete, the experiment was over.
"Ha, finally, it's done."
Looking at the **** in the test tube, Gu Qi felt the urge to do something stupid rising within him.
Setting off **** was easy. If he wanted to ** the test tube in his hand, all he had to do was throw it.
"Maybe I should give it a try?" Gu Qi muttered. Then his right hand began moving entirely against his will.
He hurled the test tube toward an open area in the distance. Before Gu Qi could react, a deafening explosion echoed throughout the laboratory.
The shock wave that followed shattered every glass container on the workbench.
Once the smoke cleared, Gu Qi looked at the wreckage of his laboratory and deeply regretted his actions. "Cough, cough! I shouldn't have messed around! My money!"
Most of the equipment in Gu Qi's laboratory was made of glass. Because he'd given in to that stupid impulse, nearly all of it was ruined.
After roughly assessing the damage, Gu Qi estimated he'd lost at least a hundred thousand Ryo.
"My money! That's what you get for messing around!"
On the verge of tears, he smacked his right hand and could only retrieve and replace the damaged equipment through the system.
Still, the experiment had taught Gu Qi just how dangerous **** was.
Gu Qi consoled himself. "Well, at least I saved the money I would've spent on Exploding Tags."
He'd never used an Exploding Tag before, but Gu Qi doubted one could match the power of the Dana Explosives he'd made.
And even if the Exploding Tags were more powerful, he could make up for it with sheer numbers!
A single Exploding Tag cost around two thousand Ryo. During wartime, they'd be even more expensive.
Meanwhile, making 10 kg of Dana Explosives cost him just 1,000 Ryo.
And 10 kg of Dana Explosives would definitely pack a much bigger punch than a single Exploding Tag.
That said, Exploding Tags weren't entirely useless.
At the very least, they weighed much less than explosives.
After cleaning up the mess, Gu Qi used the ingredients he'd bought earlier to make more ****.
Then he added the inert ingredients he'd prepared in advance and stirred them into the ****. Once the mixture turned gelatinous, the Dana Explosives were ready.
Unlike the highly flammable and explosive ****, Dana Explosives needed a *** to set them off.
As for the ***, Gu Qi decided to use **.
(For the sake of a harmonious society, the method for making ** will be omitted.)
With explosives and ** ready, Gu Qi made his way to the furnace.
This time, he planned to make two things: High-Explosive Rounds and ammunition for the Electromagnetic Sword.
Making a *** was simple. All it took was a spring to drive the Striker Pin into the **, igniting the explosives inside.
To delay the explosion, all he had to do was slow down the ***'s burn after pulling the ring.
He could do that by adding a strip of Slow-Burning Agent between the Striker Pin and the ***.
The *** was easy to make. In just an hour, Gu Qi had used the furnace to make twenty of them.
He planned to use some of these *** to test their power and give the rest to Kakashi to test in actual combat.
After finishing the ***, Gu Qi began making ammunition for the Railgun.
After much deliberation, he decided to shape the Railgun's ammunition like the ** bullets he remembered from his previous life.
Partly because the design felt familiar, and partly to make up for never having gotten to handle a gun before.
When the Electromagnetic Sword split open, there was a three-centimeter gap between its blades, so Gu Qi decided to make the ammunition the same diameter.
Besides, there was no point in worrying about aerodynamics. He wouldn't know how to account for it anyway. So he decided to shape the rounds like the bullets from his previous life.
Gu Qi settled on a final round size of 30 × 100 mm.
Unlike ordinary bullets, which were made of separate parts, Gu Qi's rounds were a single piece, packed with explosives and fitted with a Contact Fuze at the tip.
The rounds were a little simpler to make than the ***.
Gu Qi only needed to form the round's body, fill it with explosives, then use the furnace to join the warhead containing the fuze to the body.
Each round weighed about 0.5 kg, with most of that weight coming from the explosives.
Besides these High-Explosive Rounds, Gu Qi also made some solid cannonballs.
After working tirelessly all afternoon, Gu Qi had made a hundred High-Explosive Rounds and three hundred Solid Rounds.
He put fifty Solid Rounds and one High-Explosive Round into his Ninja Tool Pouch, slung the Electromagnetic Sword over his back, and left home.
When he reached the waterfall where he'd been training these past few days, Gu Qi took the only High-Explosive Round out of his Ninja Tool Pouch.
He drew the Electromagnetic Sword and twisted its hilt.
Carefully inserting the High-Explosive Round into the slot between the sword's blades, Gu Qi held the sword level and aimed at a large tree.
He took a deep breath, excitedly gathering chakra around the hilt.
Across his two lives, this was the first time Gu Qi had ever used a gun, so he was thrilled.
"May Sister of the Cannon bless me with her power!" Gu Qi said reverently, then pressed the button on the hilt.
A piercing sonic boom burst beside Gu Qi's ears. Then he saw a flash of light streak past, plunging straight into a towering tree beside his target.
Boom!
As if the world were collapsing, part of the tree trunk shot straight into the sky.
"Awesome!" Gu Qi whistled, thoroughly pleased with the High-Explosive Round's power.
"The power's good, but the aim's a little off."
Now that he knew where he needed to improve, Gu Qi decided to start practicing his aim.
"Shadow Clone!"
With a puff, a Shadow Clone appeared in front of Gu Qi.
"Go practice your aim! You've only got fifty rounds, so don't waste them!" Gu Qi handed the Electromagnetic Sword and Ninja Tool Pouch to the clone.
"Sure thing!"
The Shadow Clone seemed excited. It took the two items and eagerly hurried off.
With the Shadow Clone busy, Gu Qi wasn't about to slack off either.
He stepped into the water again and headed upstream toward the waterfall.
Gu Qi hadn't been idle these past few days. Thanks to his constant effort, he'd now grown used to the force of the waterfall.
He still couldn't meditate under the waterfall, but at least he could move around there freely.
So Gu Qi decided to spend some time training beneath the waterfall before moving on to the next stage of his chakra training.
After all, Gu Qi was still young, and with no threat of war, he could take his time training.
That was the great thing about being young: you had plenty of time to build your strength.
Before you continue