"Father, the Clay People Project went perfectly. What that mysterious Onmyoji provided really can be used to create something like puppets-no, semi-living beings stronger than puppets.
"If we deploy these semi-living beings in the war, they can spare many of our comrades from being sacrificed! Father, I propose mass production!"
The moment he mentioned the Clay People Project, wild delight appeared on Kitsuchi's face.
As Ōnoki's son, he naturally knew what Iwagakure was going through.
But whenever he thought of the fighting strength of those clay people in the laboratory, Kitsuchi could not help feeling reassured.
With every one of them at least as strong as a Chunin, combined with the ability to mass-produce them, Iwagakure might well be able to defeat the other ninja villages.
Their only flaw was that these artificial semi-living beings would not exist for very long, which was a major limitation.
However, their extremely low cost made up for that shortcoming.
Production required only some soil, specially cultivated chakra, and the cell clusters containing special life force provided by that mysterious Onmyoji.
"Try incorporating my cells into the clay people. The strength of the other ninja villages... is not as simple as you imagine.
"We cannot survive this war merely by relying on large numbers of clay people. If Konoha does not act as I expect...
"We will need to prepare for the worst. If clay people created using my cells can inherit my Dust Release... then Iwagakure might yet continue to exist after this war."
Ōnoki's gaze was deep. He had said exist, not win.
He was not as naive as Kitsuchi. As a veteran Kage, he clearly understood the actual strength of the other ninja villages, as well as the power of Hanzo of the Salamander, the man called the Demigod of the