Shu Shiraishi leaned against the cold, steel door frame.
He pressed the half-smoked cigarette butt between his fingers against the wall and stubbed it out forcefully.
The fire died out, leaving only a small, charred spot.
"Oh?"
Shu Shiraishi tossed away his cigarette butt, stepped on it with his military boot, and crushed it underfoot.
"Lead the way."
Orochimaru turned around.
The rubber-soled shoes made a sticky sound as they stepped on the sterile ceramic tiles.
The two left the biohazard zone. The heavy, airtight door slid shut behind them, cutting off the sour smell of formaldehyde.
Follow the dimly lit corridor down to the third basement level.
The incandescent light bulb flickers occasionally and emits a buzzing sound indicating poor contact.
The smell in the air has changed.
The stench of rotting raw meat was gone. In its place came a rusty, coppery smell and the odor of ozone.
At the end of the corridor was a double iron Gate of Opening.
Orochimaru reached out and pushed him away.
The door hinge was low on lubrication, and it emitted a screeching sound like grinding teeth.
"Buzz--"
A dull, low-frequency vibration hit me like ocean waves, piercing my eardrums.
This physics lab is significantly larger than the biochemistry lab.
There were no culture jars; only thick copper wires.
Hundreds of cables tangled overhead, resembling a giant, chaotic spiderweb.
Several oscilloscopes, each about half a person's height, were stacked in the corner.
On the green fluorescent screen, wavy lines jumped wildly up and down.
In the very center of the room, there was an iron chair welded on.
Dan Katō sat on it.
He wore a heavy metal helmet on his head, which looked like an inverted iron pot.
The helmet's edge was padded with a layer of sponge, which had turned yellow from being soaked in sweat.
More than a dozen black main cables extend from the top of the helmet.
Like black pythons, they connected to the computer case behind him, which was as big as a wall.
The hundreds of vacuum tubes on the chassis emitted a faint blue light, and waves of heat rolled in.
Duan's face was as white as a piece of waterlogged toilet paper.
Sweat dripped down his chin, soaking his clothes and leaving a large water stain.
He heard the Gate of Opening and opened his eyes.
"H... Lord Hokage."
With his severed hands, he braced himself against the armrests of the iron chair, trying to stand up.
His legs buckled and he fell heavily back down.
The metal chair back slammed against the metal with a loud clang.
Shu Shiraishi pulled over a round stool with wheels.
sit down.
"Sit down and talk." He looked at Dan Katō.
He leaned back in his chair, panting heavily.
He raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead haphazardly with the back of his hand.
" Lord Shu, it's done."
He pointed to the heavy iron helmet on his head, his finger trembling slightly in mid-air.
Shu Shiraishi leaned forward slightly. " Spirit Transformation Technique, no longer needed for killing?"
"I won't kill them." Duan grinned weakly.
"Going out to kill a few people would be a waste of the essence of this technique."
Orochimaru walked to the computer case.
The hem of the white lab coat got dusty from the computer case.
He reached out and patted the metal casing. It made a "bang, bang" sound.
"The essence of the Spirit Transformation Technique is the separation of the soul from the body," Orochimaru said in a hoarse voice.
"Ignoring physical distance, ignoring walls that obstruct the view."
"But this technique has a fatal weakness. The body cannot move, and the soul floats outside, making it vulnerable to being strangled by advanced Sealing Jutsu."
Orochimaru picked up a black box with an antenna from the table next to him.
"We've changed our approach."
"Don't let his soul go out and become an assassin."
"The human soul is inherently a special kind of wavelength."
Shu Shiraishi looked at Orochimaru, waiting for him to continue.
"We intercept and shatter the severed soul wavelengths using this machine."
Orochimaru pointed to the row of glowing vacuum tubes.
"Transformed into a specific quantum entangled signal."
Dan Katō the conversation.
"In the past, intelligence was relayed using Ninja Hawk. They could fly for a whole day and night, and were easily shot down by Explosive Tag."
"A secret technique of the Yamanaka Clan; short range. Too many people and their brains will explode."
He swallowed hard, his mouth dry.
"This equipment, as long as the receiver is also tuned to my soul frequency..."
He tapped the helmet shell, which produced a dull echo.
"No matter how many mountains separate us, no matter underwater or in the sky."
Even with the Four Violet Flames Formation covering the outside.
"The signal arrives instantly. There's no delay. It can't be caught or stopped."
Shu Shiraishi leaned back in his chair.
A monster without Chakra pathways, coupled with instant communication that ignores distance.
The final piece of this war machine has been completed.
"Talk is cheap."
Shu Shiraishi raised his chin. "Show me."
The breakpoint nodded.
He placed his hands on his knees, interlaced his fingers, and formed a mudra.
Close your eyes.
The red indicator light on the helmet snapped on.
The wall-sized machine behind him emitted a roar like a tractor starting up.
The exhaust fan spun wildly, blowing out a pungent, burnt smell.
Hundreds of vacuum tubes shone brightly.
A few wisps of white smoke rose from the seams along the edge of the helmet.
He clenched his teeth, and a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
The First machine placed too heavy a burden on the caster.
Orochimaru opened the drawer.
He took out a pair of black over-ear headphones and handed them to Shu Shiraishi with both hands.
A coiled telephone cable was attached to the bottom of the headset, leading all the way to the computer case.
Shu Shiraishi took it.
Put the headphones on your ears. The sound-dampening foam blocks out the machine's roar.
There was only a faint hissing noise at the bottom.
"What?" Duan asked, his eyes still closed, his voice weak.
Orochimaru opened the record board.
" Black Rock Coal Mine, Northwestern Border of the Land of Fire."
"I sent someone over there the day before yesterday to install a receiver box."
"Receive."
The severed finger tapped lightly on the knee.
The gauge needle on the chassis panel suddenly swung towards the red zone on the right.
The rustling sound in Shu Shiraishi's ears disappeared instantly.
Instead, a clear background noise was heard.
"Clang! Clang!"
The sound of the pickaxe slamming into the hard rock was deafening.
Immediately afterwards.
It was the whooshing sound of the bellows drawing air in.
The sound of coal chunks being poured into a metal mining cart.
It felt so real, as if he were standing at the bottom of a mine pit hundreds of kilometers away.
"Hurry up! Didn't you eat lunch?!"
A gruff voice exploded in the headphones.
"Smack!"
The cracking sound of the whip striking flesh.
"Ah--!"
A scream.
His voice sounded old, like a broken duck with its neck being stepped on, leaking air.
"Stop hitting me... I'll dig... I'll dig!"
Shu Shiraishi listened to the commotion.
That old voice, he knows it all too well.
Former Konoha High Command, Mitokado Homura.
This old man was stripped of his Chakra and forced to mine coal. Right now, he's being whipped by the overseer until he's crying for his parents.
"Crack!" Another lash of the whip.
"There were three pounds of stones mixed in with that truckload of coal yesterday! You old dog, you're asking for it!"
Mitokado Homura was wailing in the headphones, his coughs echoing throughout.
The image of him crying with his face covered in soot is so vivid in my mind that it's like watching a movie.
Hundreds of kilometers from Konoha, deep underground in a coal mine.
The sound was precise, not a second off. Not even the slightest crack of the whip breaking the skin was missed.
It was transmitted to this basement in perfect synchronization.
Shu Shiraishi's fingers, gripping the earphone casing, slowly tightened.
"Change the channel," he said.
Dan Katō his teeth, changing his finger seals once more.
The gears inside the computer case rattled and creaked, emitting an even stronger smell of burnt wood.
"East China Sea, Shipyard No. 3," Orochimaru reported a coordinate.
The background noise flickered briefly.
The deafening sound of ocean waves flooded into the headphones.
Water lapped against the manganese steel dock.
The sounds were mixed with the sizzling of welding and heavy breathing.
" Chojiro Akimichi! Stand up straight! Even a millimeter off-center, and I'll deduct three days' worth of your meat tickets!"
The Uchiha overseer's harsh curses were clearly and distinctly pronounced.
That's the east coast, spanning half of the Land of Fire.
There was also no delay of even half a second.
Shu Shiraishi listened to the sound of the waves.
The plastic earphone shell creaked under the weight of his hands.
"Cut it off," he ordered.
A rustling sound flashed by.
Silence returned to the headphones.
Orochimaru took a wet towel and covered Dan Katō's smoking helmet.
Steam rose from the ceiling. Duan slumped back in his chair, utterly exhausted, panting heavily.
Shu Shiraishi took off his headphones.
He casually tossed it onto the table, knocking over a metal box full of screws.
Screws were scattered all over the floor with a clatter.
He stood up.
My breathing was half a beat faster than usual.
His gaze was fixed intently on the massive, roaring computer case.
This thing is more terrifying than ten thousand chimeras combined.
The four great ninja villages still rely on human legs to deliver intelligence.
They commanded troops by firing signal flares.
With this thing, Konoha's million-strong army can move like a single person.
This is a case of dimensional reduction attack.
Shu Shiraishi strode to the front of the computer case.
He raised his right hand.
He slapped the metal workbench hard.
"Bang!"
The control panel shook violently. Several circuit diagrams were shaken to the ground.
Orochimaru was startled and took half a step back.
"This equipment is too bulky!"
Shu Shiraishi pointed to the server racks that took up half the room.
"Carrying this lump of metal around on the battlefield is impossible; how can you command mobile forces like that?"
He turned and stared at Orochimaru.
"Immediately involve the artisan department in the entire operation!"
"Cut off those useless vacuum tubes! Miniaturize the terminals!"
Shu Shiraishi's fingers tapped on the sheet metal, making a clanging sound.
"Make it a mobile device that you can hold in your hand! As big as a brick!"
Within a week.
He spoke slowly and deliberately.
"I want to see the finished product!"