Tsunade frowned and subconsciously wanted to stop her, but was stopped by Senju Chen's reassuring look.
"Seriously?!" Tatekura Gento's eyes burst into ecstasy. In his opinion, Senju Chen is seeking death! How can a young boy compare with the secret forging skills he has inherited for generations?
"I, Senju Chen, stick to my word in front of Fifth Hokage and the whole village." Senju Chen smiled and looked at him, as if looking at a prey that has fallen into a trap, "But, what if I win?"
"If you win..." Tatekura Gento hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "If you win, we will be disbanded immediately. From now on, we will never mention the word 'no' again!"
"Not enough." Senju Chen shook his head.
"Then what else do you want!"
The smile on Senju Chen's face, at this moment, was as bright as the noon sun.
"If I win, all of your families and shops that participated in today's 'petition' will, starting tomorrow, join the 'Konoha Industrial Federation' I founded and receive unified technological upgrades and transformations. Your workshops will be the factories of 'Konoha Industrial Federation' in the future. Your people will be my first batch of industrial workers."
"I want you to contribute to me and Konoha's 'science'!"
As soon as these words came out, the whole place fell silent.
Everyone looked at Senju Chen like a madman.
This is no longer a simple competition, it is a huge gamble! What is at stake is the fate of two completely different paths for Konoha in the future!
Tatekura Gento stared at Senju Chen. He could see no joke in those clear eyes, only bottomless self-confidence and a desire for control that made him shudder.
"Okay! I'll make a bet with you!"
In the face of huge interests and glory, Tatekura Gento chose to risk everything.
"Come here! Bring up the 'heavy armor' that I built for my son to wear when he is promoted to Chunin! I want to see what you are trying to do with your so-called science!"
Soon, two members of the Tatekura Clan tribe struggled to carry up a large box. The box was opened, and a full-body armor that was completely black and shone with cold metallic light appeared in front of everyone. The armor was simple and heavy in shape, and every joint was engraved with defensive runes. It was extraordinary at first glance.
"Great armor!" The knowledgeable ninjas in the crowd couldn't help but admire.
But Senju Chen just glanced at it, then withdrew his gaze, and said to Yamato behind him, "Yamato, bring up my 'sample' too."
"Yes, Minister."
Yamato responded, turned around and took a... suitcase from the hand of Anbu who was accompanying him?
Amid everyone's puzzled looks, Yamato opened the suitcase and took out a piece of... an ordinary-looking metal plate, about thirty centimeters square, with a matte gray color.
This is the "alloy steel plate" developed by Senju Chen and Xie. The forging of this "alloy steel" is based on Senju Chen's previous memories of forging and adding some rare metals. Finally, it was finally successfully forged by Xie through repeated trials.
It can be said that the overall strength, hardness, toughness, wear resistance, etc. are all very good, much higher than the current weapons forged by Shinobi World.
There are no patterns, no runes, not even a trace of Chakra on the metal plate, just like a piece of scrap just picked up from the construction site.
"Pfft--"
Some people in the crowd couldn't help laughing.
"What the hell? Is this what he calls 'science'? A broken piece of iron?"
"I thought I could come up with something earth-shattering, and that's it?"
Tatekura Gento laughed so hard that he pointed at the metal plate and almost burst into tears, "Senju Lord Chen! Are you humiliating me, or are you humiliating yourself? With this thing, do you want to compete with my black iron heavy armor?"
Senju Chen ignored his ridicule and simply said to Yamato, "Fix it."
Yamato used Wood Release to make two brackets, and stood the dark iron heavy armor and the "broken iron plate" side by side in the center of the square.
"Alright, Clan Chief Tsukura." Senju Chen looked at him, "For the sake of fairness, it is up to you to choose the ninja for the test. Ninjutsu is also up to you. As long as it is a regular Ninjutsu that can be released at the Chunin level, it will be fine."
"Humph! That's what you said!" Tatekura Gento sneered, looked around, and finally locked his eyes on a Uchiha member of Konoha Military Police Force Unit, "It's you! Uchiha's! Use your best Fire Release for me, burn it hard! Let me see how long this broken iron plate can last!"
The Uchiha member who was called was stunned for a moment, then looked at Senju Chen, saw him smiling and nodding, and then stood up.
His eyes were cold, with the usual arrogance of Uchiha. As one of the first people to support Minister Chen, he knew better than anyone else that today's "competition" was simply a "teaching" through and through.
He walked to the center of the square, took a deep breath, and quickly Hand Seals with his hands.
"Fire Release·Great Fireball Technique!"
A huge fireball with a diameter of more than three meters, roaring with scorching wind, hit the black iron heavy armor and the gray metal plate at the same time!
Boom--!
The flames exploded and the heat wave billowed, causing the audience in the front row to step back.
Everyone's hearts were in their throats.
The flames dispersed.
In the center of the square, a jaw-dropping scene appeared.
The surface of that majestic dark iron heavy armor had become completely charred black at this moment, and the defensive runes engraved on it were also dim and dull. Even the center of it had been burned slightly red and was emitting green smoke.
And the plain gray metal plate next to it...
Not to mention it burned red, it didn't even change color.
It still has the same matte gray appearance, and the surface is as smooth as new, but... the temperature seems to be a little higher than before, that's all.
"This... how is this possible?!" The smile on Tatekura Gento's face completely froze.
"Impossible! Your Fire Release must not be powerful enough!" He roared at the Uchiha ninja like crazy, "Come again! Use a stronger one!"
The Uchiha ninja frowned, but he still followed the instructions and Hand Seals again. This time, the Chakra in his body burst out without reservation!
"Fire Release·Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
Dozens of fist-sized fireballs, like a goddess scattering flowers, hit the metal plate overwhelmingly.
Crackling!
After a burst of intense banging, the result was that nothing changed.
The metal plate still stood there unharmed, as if silently mocking their ignorance.
"I don't believe it! I don't believe it!" Tatekura Gento lost his composure completely. He rushed forward, grabbed the hammer from the hand of a tribesman next to him, and smashed it against the metal plate with all his strength!
"Crush it for me!!"