Ten minutes later.
Caesar, holding the design drawings, floated around the church several times, his legs turning into gas, scratching his head in frustration.
"This is not scientific!"
After Caesar returned, he pointed to the design drawings and said...
"The mechanical structure here is simply not capable of supporting such a large church!"
"Hey! Sissy, is it because you're impotent?"
Enel looked at Caesar with a look of disgust.
"Damn it, what did you say, long ears?!"
"Sissy!"
"Long ears!"
"Sissy!"
"Long ears!"
The two Logia Devil Fruit users started arguing like elementary school students in the open space, completely oblivious to everyone else.
"Could it be that this isn't a design at all? Caesar just said that the building depicted in this drawing doesn't conform to structural mechanics..."
Koala, chin in hand, held up the design drawings he had snatched from Caesar and spoke.
"No, this is the design drawing."
After surveying his surroundings for a while using his Transparent World, Meikyō spoke.
As a ninja and the leader of the Konoha Intelligence Division, he was very good at deciphering these things.
Meikyō quickly took out a pencil and a piece of white paper, and with the Transparent World, used plain paper to draw out the design of the cathedral.
"The original design drawings did not conform to mechanics because they were incomplete."
Meikyō superimposed the two design drawings together.
"Yes, this is in line with the principles of mechanics! Moreover, according to this design, this church is strong enough to withstand earthquakes of up to magnitude 10. No wonder it has stood here for over a hundred years!"
Caesar suddenly appeared from somewhere and commented.
"When the two design drawings are superimposed, they form a complete design, which points out all the secret passages and mechanisms inside the church, as well as the location of the secret chamber. Adoya, if your grandfather or father had inherited your great-grandfather's skills and become an architect, perhaps it wouldn't have taken them so long to unravel this secret. It seems they didn't."
Adoya was stunned for a long while before shaking his head and smiling bitterly:
"My grandfather didn't want to be a bricklayer; he focused all his energy on finding the treasure. My father, after learning about Roger's exploits, was determined to become a pirate. And I'm just an ordinary innkeeper..."
Without giving Adoya much time to wallow in self-pity, Meikyō took the lead and led everyone into the church.
There is no switch at the entrance to the secret passage. You have to dig down four or five meters to reach it, which is why no one has been able to find the treasure for so many years.
Because the treasure originally had no entrance.
This level of depth is no challenge for Meikyō.
Although the ground here is paved with a very sturdy stone, it's just a matter of one punch for Meikyō.
The tunnel was very deep and long, and there were countless traps inside, but none of them could trap Meikyō who had the blueprints. They walked forward for more than a thousand meters, and then the space in front of them suddenly opened up.
We've arrived at the secret room.
Two luminous pearls are still embedded in the dusty stone gate to provide light.
Seastone was added to this stone gate, making it more solid and capable of defending against those with defensive abilities.
But the blueprints showed a way to open the stone door—a hidden combination lock in a corner.
The stone door opened smoothly, unveiling the mystery of the secret chamber.
Like most other pirate treasures, this place displays various jewels and jade, and even a crown inlaid with an enormous diamond, which was probably taken from this group of pirates by some unfortunate king a hundred years ago.
However, the most eye-catching feature is the crystal box in the center.
Through the transparent water mirror, one can clearly see a purple Devil Fruit with swirling cloud patterns.
Bat Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Vampire Form!
Adoya's breathing became rapid, and her eyes kept darting around.
"I have already given you the reward; the things inside do not belong to you."
Meikyō turned around and looked at Adoya.
A hint of resentment flashed across the latter's face, but it quickly faded away.
"I know that, and as an ordinary person, I don't have the ability to guard so many treasures, do I?"
Meikyō expressed satisfaction with Adoya's clarity of mind.
"I'll allow you to take any treasure from here except for Devil Fruit as a final gift, but afterwards I'll erase some of my memories related to today. What do you say?"
Can I choose first?
"Certainly."
Meikyō politely gestured for him to proceed.
After wandering around the secret room for a long time and thinking it over, Adoya finally chose the largest gold artifact in the room.
It was an art sculpture made entirely of gold.
"Could I ask you to melt this down into gold bars for me? Many of the things inside have a history, and melting them down into gold bars would be the best thing for me, even if it would reduce their value considerably."
Adoya said, holding the golden statue with great effort.
"I'm really starting to admire your rationality more and more. If you can gain some strength, you might actually make a name for yourself on this sea."
"Make a name for yourself, and then what? Like my father, end up perishing on this sea? Successful pirates like you make up less than one-thousandth of all pirates."
Adoya shook his head and said.
Meikyō smiled and then looked at Enel.
"Help her melt this stuff down."
Enel nodded, releasing high-temperature Lightning from his hands to melt and reshape the golden statue.
Meikyō walked up to Adoya, raised her finger and cast a Genjutsu Hand Seals on Adoya's head, sealing a part of her memories with Sealing Technique. Afterwards, she had Kuina take her back to the inn.
"Pack everything up, then it's your turn to get to work, Caesar. Sabo, you keep an eye on this guy."
"Mission accomplished!"
Sabo and Caesar spoke in unison.
The Naruto World, the Land of Fire, Konoha.
The Hokage's Office.
"During Tsunade's pregnancy, you'll need to keep Meikyō eye on the Medical Department, Akekage."
Dan Katō poked his head out from behind a thick stack of documents and spoke to Meikyō.
"Ah, I understand, Master Dan."
Meikyō sat opposite Dan Katō, peeling an orange and casually remarking.
After years of Dan Katō, Tsunade is finally pregnant, with her due date in June next year.
With no one in charge of the Medical Department during this period, Meikyō, whose Medical Ninjutsu is second only to Tsunade, is the most suitable candidate to take over.
Meikyō didn't seem to care much about this.
Just kidding. Tsunade spends all day at the casino being a big fat sheep and all day exploiting Dan Katō. She hardly cares about the Medical Department. How much can the Medical Department possibly do?
As the leader of the Medical Department, Tsunade is well-versed in the art of letting things slide. She delegates most of the affairs to Yakushi Nonō and other senior members of the Medical Department early on. Only when there are some matters that require Tsunade's approval, or when there are difficult cases that interest Tsunade herself, will Tsunade personally take charge.
Meikyō only needs to follow the established rules and continue the system from Tsunade's time.
"By the way, does the Intelligence Analysis Unit have any information about that mysterious masked man who is suspected to be Uchiha Madara?"
Dan Katō finished processing the documents and straightened his posture before speaking.
"Not yet. We've gathered information from Root, Anbu, and other mission ninjas on missions, but we haven't found any information related to the mysterious person. If it's a legendary ninja like Uchiha Madara, even if you and I were to take action, we might not be able to find any clues, let alone other ordinary ninjas."
Meikyō shook her head.
"However, there are two things worth noting. There isn't much intelligence in either the Land of Rain or the Land of Water. What we have are just some trivial things that can be passed on through caravans. In a sense, Amegakure and Kirigakure have become intelligence black holes. If the mysterious person is hiding, then these two places are the most likely places. Even if not, I think it's possible to find other intelligence that he doesn't want us to know."
"So what do you think we should do?"
"If Fudō doesn't want others to know, then those ordinary intelligence ninjas will have no chance of finding out the information and will only throw their lives away. If we are to take action, given Madara's strength, we must deploy all the high-end combat forces we can, and to do so, we must ensure a fatal blow! So before that, we must do everything possible to increase our chances of winning."
"Accumulate strength, plan carefully before making a move..."
Dan Katō understood what Meikyō meant.
"Orochimaru has made a breakthrough in his research on Sage Mode. Although there is still a long way to go before he reaches the complete form he mentioned, I think his research results are already worth using. Next, I plan to select elite Orochimaru of Jonin level or above from within the village, including all the village's high-ranking officials, to learn the Breathing Technique you invented and see if we can find an outstanding ninja who can master Sage Mode."
The Breathing Technique is still only being taught on a small scale, but people close to Meikyō, such as Dan Katō and Tsunade, have already been taught it.
If we could have more experts who master Sage Mode, or if the current high-ranking officials of Konoha could learn Sage Mode and further enhance their strength, it would indeed greatly strengthen our side.
"Yes, Kakashi, Guy, Nohara Rin, Genma Ebisu Obito all young Jonin who have made significant achievements in Breathing Technique. They can serve as instructors. With Senior Orochimaru as the leader, we can take this opportunity to train Breathing Technique ninjas while collecting more relevant data to improve the system of the New Sage Mode."
In just a few words, Meikyō and Dan Katō settled the matter.
Dan Katō and Tsunade have already mastered the Breathing Technique to a level close to that of ordinary practitioners. Kato Dan has also signed a contract with Shikkotsu Forest and is currently learning Senjutsu Mode.
Thank you for the 500 Qidian coins!
I have a lot of graduation-related materials to write tomorrow, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to update on time. I might just write 4,000 words to cover the minimum attendance requirement.