Chapter 193: Soma's Kenjutsu Level!

"Understood."

Entering the forging room, Soma glanced at the reputation column numbers.

There were no intense battles.

No new Zanpakuto had appeared.

As a result, the speed of reputation growth slowed down significantly.

Compared to the previous days, it had only increased by a few dozen points.

As for the Cold Dome and Ranshoto, Soma currently hadn't thought of anyone in Hidden Mist Village who would be suitable users.

As a result, entering the Dungeon Instance to obtain Materials and forge a Ninjato probably won't bring much of a reputation boost for Soma, just like it was with Pioggia before.

Soma was initially hesitant.

He was considering whether to use the 2000 reputation points for a twenty consecutive draw.

Or, perhaps, recruit a Blacksmith, forge a Skillful Grade Sword, accumulate 3000 reputation points, and then do a thirty consecutive draw.

But now, Soma has a better idea.

That is, to upgrade the "Stable Rock Style."

The appearance of the circuit gave Soma many new ideas.

Currently, Ryukame is just using Stable Rock to build momentum, and when enough is accumulated, he slashes forward with a single horizontal strike.

It's called the Raging Tide.

Its power is significantly stronger than Ryukame's true strength.

But this is not enough.

"If my circuit concept can succeed on the Broad Sword, then the Stable Rock Style will be much stronger than it is now."

"If it forms on a larger scale, it would be quite astonishing."

"And it would undoubtedly bring me a lot of reputation."

"Much more than simply holding a Sword Forging Competition."

"It might even push my reputation to 4000, or even higher."

Soma looked toward the corner.

There was a large amount of Materials placed there.

Among them was a small piece of Chakra metal.

Chakra metal is very rare.

Even Asuma, with his status in Konoha, couldn't obtain much of it.

However, Soma, being the Chief of the Hidden Mist Village's forging department and a Great Blacksmith who has forged numerous ninja tools, could still procure a small amount of Chakra metal.

"Earth and Fire Chakra Smelting Technique!"

The effect of the Lightning and Fire Combined Smelting Jutsu, which Soma called Lightning Transformation, could increase the durability of the Materials.

Soma's idea was to use the Chakra metal to forge a circuit.

Afterward, he would forge the ordinary Materials into two blade sections.

The circuit would be sandwiched between the two blade sections, combining them into a Broad Sword.

Since there was only a small amount of circuit Materials in the middle, Soma was concerned that the impact and vibrations during battle might affect the circuit.

So the more solid and resilient the circuit, the better.

"Breath Forging Technique!"

Repeated hammering made the Chakra metal even tougher.

Then, it was just a matter of shaping it into a circuit.

No need for quenching, annealing, or polishing.

Before long, Soma had forged the Chakra metal into the shape of an Energy Storage Circuit.

It looked like a twisted wire.

Soma grasped the circuit directly.

Chakra input.

"Bang!"

A burst of impact energy erupted.

Soma's eyes flickered slightly.

"Because there's so little Chakra metal, this Energy Storage Circuit can only last for a short time. It can't store energy as long as the Blade of Destruction."

In other words, while it can unleash a burst of energy, the amount of Chakra released won't be as much as the Blade of Destruction.

"However, combined with the inherent momentum of the Stable Rock Style, it won't be too bad."

If conditions allowed, Soma would naturally prefer to use more Chakra metal.

But there's only so much Chakra metal available.

"Let's forge the blade, assemble it, and give it a try."

Soma went back to the corner and retrieved a large piece of ordinary metal Materials.

First, the Chakra Smelting Technique.

Then, the Breath Forging Technique.

While shaping it, Soma decided to go for a fully integrated design, using the same piece of material for the blade, guard, and handle to maximize the Broad Sword's strength.

He didn't go with the method of fusing two swords into one.

Instead, he bent a single iron plate.

A gap was deliberately left in the blade section.

Soma also carefully crafted a groove corresponding to the shape of the circuit in the middle.

After placing the circuit inside, he hammered it again to make the gap completely disappear.

Next, he hammered the blade area.

Gradually, he worked the piece of iron, slowly shaping it into a Broad Sword.

"Quenching!"

A large amount of Water Mist spread out.

Soma placed the quenched Broad Sword into the flames, slightly heating it to reduce brittleness and enhance toughness.

"Sage's Polishing Technique!"

As the polishing finished, the Broad Sword was officially completed.

This process almost took Soma an entire day.

However, this was because it was the first time forging it, so Soma spent some time thinking and making adjustments during the process.

If the test results are good, the efficiency of future forges will undoubtedly be much higher.

Additionally, not all parts of the process need to be done by Soma alone.

Arafuni and others can also participate.

Currently, the forging department, besides Soma, has three other Blacksmiths.

The production capacity for simple surgical tools is already somewhat abundant.

Since the profits are decent, the forging department isn't under much pressure.

However, it wouldn't be right if the forging department only ever focused on producing surgical tools.

If the Land of Iron breaks into the surgical tool market, even if their tools are of lower quality than those made by the Hidden Mist Village's forging department, they could still drive out better products by offering lower prices, achieving a situation where bad money drives out good.

Soma had seen many such examples in his previous life.

The Broad Sword is Soma's planned second project.

"The circuit is my creation; the people in the Land of Iron have no idea how it works."

"But I need to make some modifications to the circuit."

"Make it so that when the Broad Sword is broken, the circuit automatically destroys itself."

"Otherwise, if someone else picks up a Broad Sword, they could easily copy my circuit."

"It's like a Ninja getting their hands on a Uchiha's Sharingan, and being able to use it directly."

"I need to add this limitation to the circuit."

"Just like the Hyuga Clan's Caged Bird Seal Cursed Seal."

Soma brought the newly completed Broad Sword to the training ground.

He gripped the handle tightly with both hands.

Then, he swung the sword forcefully toward the target in front of him.

At the same time, he input Chakra.

"Bang!"

In addition to the slash, a significant impact burst forth at the moment of the strike.

As a result, the target in front of Soma didn't just split in two; it was completely shattered.

"Not bad."

Soma nodded.

"It's better than just the circuit effect. With the blade as a carrier, the circuit's performance has improved somewhat."

"This impact is comparable to Ninjutsu."

"Originally, the Broad Sword's momentum and power were already very strong; with this addition, it only gets stronger."

"For the defensive part, aside from the Broad Sword, it depends on the user's skill."

"As for the offensive part, for now, it's the best ultimate I can achieve with the limited Materials."

Soma set the Broad Sword down.

"But there are still a few minor areas that need a little tweaking."

"Ryukame mentioned that during a counterattack, it's important to be aware of what's behind."

"In that case, we could slightly extend the Broad Sword's handle."

"However..."

Soma suddenly realized a problem.

If the Chakra power were to explode from the handle as well, it could very likely cause friendly fire and harm the user.

The user obviously wouldn't point the handle at themselves.

But the problem is that in a battle, the situation is not always under one's control.

There will be many unexpected circumstances.

"If I increase the handle's explosive power, it might be better to forge it in the shape of a Zhanmadao instead of a Broad Sword, extending the handle significantly."

"This way, it would be harder to accidentally injure the user."

"But with that, another problem arises."

"Members of Kisame's team are working with him, so there will definitely be allies behind them."

"In this case, while extending the handle would solve the issue of not injuring oneself, it could very likely harm allies."

The next day.

Early in the morning, Kisame arrived at Forging Island.

"Soma."

"Kisame."

Kisame took out a piece of paper.

"My team members have been selected."

Soma took a look and saw that Ryukame's name was not on the list.

"No Ryukame?"

Kisame explained, "Initially, I had included my cousin Ryukame's name."

"But later, Ryukame voluntarily came to me. He is willing to unconditionally teach the Stable Rock Style techniques he researched to my guard members, but he doesn't want to be one of my guards."

Soma's brows slightly furrowed.

He quickly guessed the reason behind Ryukame's decision.

As Kisame's cousin, Ryukame couldn't accept being part of his younger cousin's guard team.

Even though Ryukame knew that it would be a great promotion channel within the village.

In the future, even if Kisame cannot become the Mizukage, he will inevitably become one of the village Elders.

But Ryukame chose to give that up.

"Kaguya Domaru."

"Karatachi Umiushi."

"Ryuji."

Soma was somewhat amazed by the uniqueness of these three names.

One could say that the meanings they represent might be somewhat chaotic or even inexplicable, but they are very memorable—easy to remember and hard to forget.

One is a member of the Kaguya Clan.

One is a member of the Karatachi Clan.

One is a common Ninja.

"The result after Mizukage-sama and my family discussed."

Soma nodded.

"Let's go with your choices."

Ryukame not being one of Kisame's guard members directly resolved Soma's issue with upgrading the Stable Rock Style. Kisame's guards would continue to use the Broad Sword, while Ryukame would use the Zhanmadao.

...

Two days later, all four Skillful Grade Swords were completed.

"Ryukame!"

Ryukame arrived in front of Soma.

"This is the new Ninjato I've forged for you."

Soma pointed to the Zhanmadao beside him.

"This Ninjato, called the Zhanmadao, is of the same origin as the previous Broad Sword. They share similarities, but compared to the Broad Sword, it has enhanced Chakra explosion capabilities."

"Give it a try."

Ryukame's eyes lit up slightly upon seeing the Zhanmadao.

"Yes, Chief-sama."

He then picked up the Zhanmadao.

After examining it carefully, Ryukame was very satisfied with the new Ninjato, feeling that this long-handled heavy blade seemed even more suited to him than the previous Broad Sword.

"Chief-sama, let me call someone over. I can't test it alone."

"You need someone to attack you?"

"Yes."

Soma reached for the Broad Sword he had previously forged for testing.

"No need to find anyone. I'll do it."

Ryukame hesitated for a moment.

"Chief-sama, this might not be appropriate."

"There's nothing inappropriate about it."

Soma said, "Are you worried about hurting me or do you doubt my abilities? Besides being a Blacksmith, I'm also a Ninja. Having forged Ninjato, I naturally have some expertise in Kenjutsu."

"I need to personally handle it to better feel the effects of this Zhanmadao."

"Come on, you won't hurt me."

"I also have practical combat skills."

"With my position, there are countless Ninja villages that want to deal with me. Do you think that if I face attackers from other Ninja villages, they'll just stop if I ask them to?"

"Don't worry."

Hearing Soma's reassurance, Ryukame nodded.

"Yes, Chief-sama."

"Well then, be careful when I counterattack."

Soma swung the Broad Sword and struck at Ryukame.

Soma really didn't think that Ryukame would be a match for him.

Setting aside the Hydrification Jutsu, he still had Jonin-level base attributes, Skilled-level Kenjutsu, and extremely strong defensive capabilities with his Earth Release: Earth Spear Jutsu.

It would be very difficult for Ryukame to hurt Soma.

"Ding!"

Ryukame instinctively raised the Zhanmadao and pushed it forward.

"Stable Rock!"

Soma continued his assault.

Ryukame adjusted the position of the Zhanmadao to block all of Soma's slashes.

A certain force accumulated around Ryukame.

Soma could clearly feel that sense of oppression.

"So this is what it feels like to face Stable Rock Style."

It was a very unique feeling.

It felt like no matter how he attacked, his blows were being blocked, and the opponent's force exerted a strong sense of pressure that made him hesitate to stop.

Stopping could lead to some frightening counterattacks from the opponent, which would keep him mentally on edge.

"Dare not stop."

"But continuing will only allow the opponent's force to keep accumulating."

"In terms of Kenjutsu, this should be quite good."

"I wonder how the Kenjutsu of Gekko Clan's Konoha Style, Kakashi's Hatake Style Kenjutsu, and the Kenjutsu of Land of Iron compare to Stable Rock Style. Which is stronger and which is weaker?"

Ryukame, enduring Soma's attacks, was deeply shocked.

"Chief-sama's Kenjutsu is unexpectedly powerful?"

"This impenetrable assault."

"This tricky angle of slashes."

"With each strike, it feels like a torrent of waves."

"Without Stable Rock Style, I am completely inferior to Chief-sama."

"But Chief-sama should also know Stable Rock Style."

"Could it be that Chief-sama's Kenjutsu is even above mine?"

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