Research and Development of the Railgun

After yesterday's hard fight at the Naka River, Hyuga Satoru had accumulated some metal ore.

Ideals were plump, but reality was skinny.

He had originally held out a sliver of hope that he might pan some gold dust.

But when he struggled out of the river and onto the bank, from his rolled-up thighs down to his toes, he was covered in all sorts of strange things.

There were rusty kunai and shuriken, tangled clumps of steel wire, shapeless pots, bowls, ladles...

What he had not expected was that there was even women's underwear???

Because of its metal underwire, it clung stubbornly to his butt like a slug.

Which Uchiha Clan member's masterpiece was this?

He had been panning downstream on the Naka River. The middle and upper reaches lay within the Uchiha Clan Territory, so these strange items undoubtedly all came from the Uchiha Clan.

Still, aside from that junk, Hyuga Satoru had also obtained some fairly pure metal ore.

Some of the materials seemed quite good.

After accumulating enough, he planned to ask about the purchase price at a ninja tool shop in the village.

As far as he knew, ninja tool shops consumed a considerable amount of metal every day. If one was willing to buy his ore, then even at a low price, it would at least provide him with a source of income.

His plans for future training...

Would be quite expensive!

After wandering around Konoha for a while, Hyuga Satoru settled on a ninja tool shop.

Unlike the other shops, this one had a metal smelting furnace beside it, which meant there was a good chance it bought back metal ore.

The owner was a middle-aged man with bare shoulders and a rather muscular build.

Hyuga Satoru took a breath and forced himself to approach.

"Hello, I have some metal ore. Do you buy it here?"

Hyuga Satoru handed the bag of metal ore to the man.

The man frowned slightly, instinctively intending to dismiss Hyuga Satoru. But when he saw the ore in the bag, he froze for a moment, took it, and examined it carefully.

The smallest pieces of metal ore in the bag were the size of fingernails, while the largest were fist-sized, reflecting a faint gleam.

Hyuga Satoru waited nervously for the man's response.

He did not know the value of the ore, but since he could easily attract it with Electromagnetic Force and its purity seemed high, the ninja tool shop might be willing to buy it.

Sure enough, after inspecting it carefully, the man nodded.

"These ores are quite pure and relatively easy to refine. If you have a larger quantity, I can buy some."

Hyuga Satoru breathed a sigh of relief.

"How did you get these ores?"

The man stared at him suspiciously.

"I picked them up by the river. I usually collect stones by the riverbank, and over time, I accumulated some."

Hyuga Satoru answered without a hint of panic.

He had prepared his explanation long ago.

"I see!"

The man nodded.

Though he was not a ninja, he still recognized Hyuga Satoru's Byakugan.

A member of the Hyuga Clan?

He looked very young, but he came from a powerful clan. Perhaps his parents were strong ninja as well.

There was not much ore, but its purity was good. Buying it as a favor would not be a problem.

Of course, he could never have imagined that Hyuga Satoru was an orphan whose parents had both died.

"I'll give you 300 ryo for this ore! If you find more later, you can bring it here for me to buy."

"Thank you, sir!"

Hyuga Satoru replied with a smile.

Three hundred ryo was not a small amount. After all, his monthly living expenses were only 1,500 ryo.

Rounded up, he was earning over ten thousand a month!

Could you imagine that?

He was not even seven yet.

It was still the same river.

With his pant legs rolled all the way up, Hyuga Satoru was earnestly scooping up ore.

There were two piles of things on the bank. One pile was ore, and the other pile was also ore.

The difference was that the smaller pile contained ore Hyuga Satoru had carefully selected, the kind with resale value.

The larger pile was full of strange junk—rusty pots, bowls, ladles, iron wire, and the like. Even if there was ore mixed in, it was worthless scrap that ninja tool shops would not buy.

Beside him, metal skewers holding grilled fish over a fire turned by themselves, releasing an enticing aroma.

"Time to eat!"

After gathering ore from this stretch of river.

Hyuga Satoru stretched lazily, walked over to the grilled fish, and happily began eating.

Working for himself meant no more 996!

"It's time to develop a new ability!"

After eating and drinking his fill, Hyuga Satoru muttered thoughtfully.

He pulled a coin from his pocket and tossed it high into the air.

As the coin fell, the world around him seemed to slow down.

Electricity flickered at Hyuga Satoru's fingertips as he lightly curled a finger and flicked.

Whoosh!

Wrapped in an electric arc, the coin burst forward and struck a fish in the river in an instant.

Water splashed, and the fish floated to the surface belly-up.

The famous signature move of the Railgun girl: the Railgun!

Having awakened Electromagnetic Force, if he did not cosplay the Railgun girl's signature move, he would be letting down all the anime he had watched in his previous life.

But judging from things so far, an LV1 Railgun...

Could only be used to catch fish.

Hyuga Satoru sighed.

He did not know whether his Electromagnetic Force level was the same as the Railgun girl's Electromagnetic Force level in Academy City.

But trying to develop a Railgun at LV1 was not impossible. Its power was simply rather pitiful.

These past few days, Hyuga Satoru had been thinking about how to develop an Electromagnetic Cannon.

His current Byakugan range was a full kilometer. Living creatures within that kilometer basically could not escape his perception.

If he paired that with long-range strikes from an Electromagnetic Cannon...

Sir, times had changed???

He could not do it barehanded. He would have to rely on tools.

His initial idea had been a gun-like weapon, combining a precision iron barrel and bullets to form something similar to an electromagnetic sniper rifle from his previous life.

But he quickly abandoned that idea.

First, ordinary ninja tool shops simply could not produce such a high-precision weapon. Even if they could, the price was beyond what he could afford right now.

Second, considering its power, with the strength of LV1 Electromagnetic Force, achieving his desired power level was probably unrealistic.

Once his Electromagnetic Force level increased, this method would probably become the optimal solution.

His second idea was a weapon similar to a bow and crossbow.

A long, narrow metal rail in the middle would apply Electromagnetic Propulsion, while specially made metal bolts, flat and elongated in shape, could receive magnetic acceleration to the greatest extent possible.

Furthermore, the bow's elastic potential energy could be added to the electromagnetic energy, achieving maximum killing power!

Hyuga Satoru's eyes lit up.

For his current Electromagnetic Force level, the second method was undoubtedly the optimal solution.

The first could be used in the future, once his Electromagnetic Force level increased.

The second could be used right now!

With a long-range attack method secured, he also needed to develop a close-range attack method. As the Hyuga Clan's most famous offensive technique, the Gentle Fist...

Hyuga Satoru said even dogs would not learn it!

He came to a tree as thick as an embrace, lowered his center of gravity, and assumed a Gentle Fist stance.

Hyuga Satoru took a deep breath. His gaze sharpened as a pale blue film of light gradually brightened over his right palm.

Once it had accumulated to a certain degree.

Smack!

Hyuga Satoru suddenly struck out!

With a dull boom, the pale blue film erupted from his palm against the thick tree trunk, sending bark flying.

The leaves on the tree behind it shook amid the rapidly spreading blue film of light, scattering leaves all over the ground.

If the Hyuga Clan head had been here, his eyelids would surely have twitched as he cried out, "Is this fucking Gentle Fist?"

Hyuga Satoru looked down at his hand. His reddened palm trembled slightly.

"Just as I expected, compressing magnetic flux to a certain extent and releasing it creates this kind of high-intensity electromagnetic pulse."

An electromagnetic pulse weapon!

It was also called an EMP. It appeared in many science fiction films, and its principle was not particularly complicated.

It used a rapidly expanding, powerful alternating magnetic field to strike nitrogen and oxygen atoms in the air, splitting and ionizing them. Then, through electromagnetic induction, it instantly generated a high-voltage current in circuits, instantly breaking them down.

The strike Hyuga Satoru had unleashed carried a powerful high-voltage current and possessed an extremely strong repulsive force.

That was also why the leaves on the tree behind it had fallen all over the ground.

"I'll call this move Magnetic Storm Palm! Its power is fairly decent. If I have enough chakra, I can turn every palm of the Gentle Fist: Sixty-Four Palms into a Magnetic Storm Palm! It's just..."

Hyuga Satoru frowned slightly as he looked at his trembling palm.

"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. This move demands a great deal of physical strength. With my current physique, I probably cannot even throw eighteen palms, much less sixty-four."

"Looks like I need to improve my physical fitness. Aside from catching fish and panning for ore, I can also put that Convict Conditioning routine from my previous life to use."

In his previous life, he had been a corporate slave with no time to exercise, so he had bought the complete set of Convict Conditioning books. He had accumulated quite a lot of theoretical knowledge.

Having decided on his direction, Hyuga Satoru stretched lazily, feeling incredibly refreshed.

"Then it's happily decided: pan ore to save money and develop the Electromagnetic Cannon, and use Convict Conditioning to train Magnetic Storm Palm!"