On the riverbank outside Hyuga Village.
The clash just now had caused quite a commotion.
Several Hyuga jonin on night watch heard the noise.
They hurried over along the river.
After a few bounds, three jonin landed on the riverbank.
Water stains and shattered rocks littered the bank.
Only Shinichi stood by the water, holding Pale Moon.
The lead jonin strode up to Shinichi.
"Clan head, what happened?"
Shinichi put away Pale Moon.
"A masked man sneaked into the village. He just escaped."
Shinichi turned toward the pitch-black river.
He knew perfectly well that Tobirama Senju was the only person in the entire Shinobi World who could currently use Flying Thunder God.
Hyuga Village's security was far too lax.
Tobirama Senju had actually managed to sneak into the workshop where they made ninja tools all by himself.
He had probably seen everything inside the workshop.
Yet the clansmen keeping watch outside had noticed nothing.
It seemed they would have to strengthen the village's defenses next.
Ideally, they would set up a barrier inside the village.
Whenever an outsider sneaked in, it would immediately trigger the barrier's alarm.
The Uzumaki Clan was the best in the entire Shinobi World at barriers and Sealing Jutsu.
Members of the Uzumaki Clan had just visited Hyuga Village during the Distributor Conference.
They had also secured a Level Two Dealer slot at the time.
The two sides were now doing business, so they had established a relationship.
Shinichi made up his mind.
He planned to visit the Land of Whirlpools personally and ask the Uzumaki Clan to help set up a barrier for Hyuga Village.
Meanwhile, Tobirama escaped Hyuga Village using Flying Thunder God.
Without pausing for a moment, he headed straight for Konoha.
After returning to Konoha, he did not go to the Hokage Building.
Nor did he tell his elder brother Hashirama a word about where he had been.
He found a secluded clearing in the Senju Clan Compound.
Then he called over several trusted Senju clansmen to help.
Working from memory, Tobirama began recreating what he had seen in the Hyuga workshop.
First, they built a large furnace several meters tall.
Then they made rows of kunai molds.
There happened to be a small river beside the Senju Clan Compound.
He had them erect a waterwheel by the river.
A large iron hammer was connected to the waterwheel.
They also set up a row of long tables in the clearing.
They followed the Hyuga work procedures exactly, with each person handling only one task.
They spent several days working on it.
At last, they had set up the Hyuga system in the Senju Clan Compound.
Once the furnace was built, Tobirama had them load it with iron ore.
Then they filled it with charcoal and fired it up.
Several Senju clansmen took turns pumping the bellows hard.
The fire inside the furnace soon burned fiercely.
They tended the furnace for most of the day.
They added batch after batch of charcoal.
All the iron ore inside glowed red, but it simply would not melt into molten iron.
Tobirama had them add even more charcoal.
The Senju clansmen worked in shifts, pumping the bellows even faster than before.
They kept the fire going like this for quite a while longer.
The iron ore inside the furnace remained unchanged.
One Senju clansman helping pump the bellows wiped away his sweat.
"Lord Tobirama, did we fail to copy something properly?"
Tobirama looked at the glowing red iron ore inside the furnace.
"That's not right. The furnace and the molds were all made exactly like the Hyuga ones."
"Nothing is different."
Tobirama Senju was a clever man, after all, and soon figured out the problem.
The iron ore glowed red but would not melt into molten iron.
That was because the flames were not hot enough.
He did not recognize the coal in the Hyuga workshop.
It never occurred to him that the problem lay with the fuel.
But he still identified the crucial point.
The charcoal fire could only heat the iron ore until it glowed red.
Melting the iron ore required hotter flames.
Tobirama raised his hand and waved to the side.
He told all the clansmen pumping the bellows to step back.
The Senju clansmen quickly let go and moved aside.
Tobirama walked up to the furnace.
His hands rapidly formed hand seals, and he unleashed Fire Release.
A jet of flame surged from his mouth.
The scorching flames poured straight into the furnace opening.
The fire inside instantly shot much higher.
Fire Release had never been Tobirama's specialty.
His specialty was Water Release.
But as a Kage-level ninja, he could still use Fire Release.
Molten iron began trickling down around the edges of the iron ore inside the furnace.
But it was melting far too slowly.
Before long, Tobirama ran out of chakra.
He had no choice but to stop his jutsu.
Tobirama sat beside the furnace and waited for his chakra to recover.
Once it recovered, he stood up and continued using Fire Release.
He exhausted his chakra, recovered it, then used it again.
He repeated this process four or five times.
Only then did all the iron ore inside the furnace melt into molten iron.
Tobirama had several Senju clansmen pour the molten iron into the kunai molds.
They waited nearby for the molten iron to cool completely.
Once the temperature dropped, they knocked a batch of kunai out of the molds.
The clansmen carried the batch of kunai over to the waterwheel.
They hammered them with the connected iron hammer, then carefully sharpened the edges.
Tobirama picked up a new kunai and examined it.
Its quality was about the same as the one he had picked up in the Hyuga workshop.
They had finally succeeded in replicating the Hyuga's new manufacturing process.
Weighing the kunai in his hand, Tobirama thought, Hyuga Village's process really is good!
One furnaceful could produce several hundred kunai.
But if they relied entirely on Fire Release to melt the iron ore...
They would need a Kage-level expert skilled in Fire Release.
They would have to stay beside the furnace using Fire Release every day.
Just to melt this one furnaceful of iron, he himself had...
Exhausted his chakra four or five times.
Tobirama began pondering again.
How exactly did Hyuga Village melt its iron ore?
Could it be...
Shinichi Hyuga stayed beside the furnace every day.
Using Fire Release over and over to heat it?
At that thought, Tobirama could not help laughing out loud.
A full-fledged Kage-level expert!
Staying beside this huge furnace every day, using Fire Release!
Wasn't that brat Shinichi Hyuga ashamed of himself?
After laughing, Tobirama lowered his head and looked at himself.
Wasn't he doing exactly the same thing right now?
He had to hurry up and find a reliable solution.
Why not have jonin skilled in Fire Release melt the iron ore?
If there were ten jonin skilled in Fire Release...
He could have them work in shifts throughout the day.
Taking turns using Fire Release on this huge furnace.
They could easily do this job in his place.
Tobirama made up his mind.
Next, he had to start training a group of ninja skilled in Fire Release.
At that thought, Tobirama looked down on Shinichi Hyuga even more.
Such a simple way to solve the problem!
Yet that arrogant brat Shinichi Hyuga hadn't even thought of it!
No wonder.
The Hyuga Clan was nothing but a bunch of brutes who were only good at taijutsu!
With their foundation, they couldn't possibly train ninja skilled in Fire Release!
Once Konoha finished training this group of Fire Release ninja...
There would naturally be plenty of people to melt iron ore for him.
As for that Shinichi Hyuga...
He could just keep foolishly using Fire Release in front of the furnace all by himself.
Tobirama already had a plan for training Fire Release jonin.
Among Konoha's ninja clans, the Sarutobi Clan was also skilled in Fire Release.
In exchange, he would take a disciple from the Sarutobi Clan.
Then the Sarutobi Clan would tend the fire for him.
That was perfectly fair!
Before you continue