Seeing all three of their gazes shift to the remaining two super-weapons, Tamura Zairo didn't waste any time. He walked over to one of them and began explaining.
"I call this one the Fire God Cannon. It uses six rotating steel barrels to alleviate overheating caused by repeated detonations, thereby increasing the rate of fire.
"The ammunition size is the same as the Fire God's Spear from earlier. Because I can't buy large quantities of explosive tags, I only made one hundred rounds.
"As long as you turn this handle, the barrels will rotate. It also requires chakra to trigger the explosive tags inside the rounds."
After giving a simple explanation, Tamura Zairo once again retreated behind Dodai.
These were all made from ordinary steel—some parts had even been filed down by hand with a rasp. Their durability wasn't great, and he honestly wasn't sure whether they could withstand over a hundred explosive shots.
Fortunately, for the sake of stability, he hadn't built it to the scale of a Gatling gun. Instead, it was a true Fire God Cannon—roughly the size of a fighter jet's autocannon from his previous life. The total length was two meters, and it weighed over three hundred jin. The ammunition chamber, in particular, had been specially reinforced and thickened.
Yondaime A couldn't wait to step forward and operate it. Before long, he had grasped the basics—turning the handle to spin the barrels while channeling chakra to detonate the explosive tags inside the rounds.
Bang bang bang…
The faster he turned the handle, the higher the firing frequency became, until the explosions blended into a dense, continuous roar.
In just a few seconds, all one hundred rounds were spent. Flames spewed out as the surrounding temperature rose sharply, and the barrels glowed red-hot. Thankfully, it didn't explode.
"That's it already?!"
Yondaime A looked utterly unsatisfied. He had only just started to get into the groove when the ammunition ran out—it was incredibly frustrating.
"If you keep firing, it'll explode."
Dodai chuckled as he spoke, clearly very pleased with the Fire God Cannon.
There was no need to even look at the opposite wall—the craters there were definitely impressive. The key point was this firing rate.
If the accuracy were improved and the projectile strength enhanced, even a Kage-level powerhouse might not be able to endure sustained fire.
And if all of the boy's ideas were realized, the resulting power would be utterly unimaginable.
No one had ever thought that something as small as blow darts, fireworks, and explosive tags—when combined—could produce such terrifying might.
Most importantly, this kind of super-weapon had a simple structure. At its core, it relied on nothing more than explosive tags, meaning it could be mass-produced.
That was what made it truly frightening.
"Is this just an enlarged Fire God's Spear?"
The Third Raikage remained calm as ever. His gaze shifted to the final behemoth. In shape, it resembled the Fire God's Spear, but it was far larger—the barrel alone was as thick as his arm.
"Yes, Lord Raikage."
Tamura Zairo nodded, picked up the single shell that remained, and removed the warhead weighing nearly thirty jin, revealing the empty casing beneath as he explained.
"This is a true cannon. The shells are much larger than bullets and can be loaded with far more explosive tags. The warhead itself can even be packed with a large quantity of explosive tags for secondary detonation. The range should exceed ten li.
"Another option is to make purely explosive shells—much larger ones—that flying-ninja-beast users can drop from high altitude onto enemy positions. You could fill them with steel pellets or metal fragments. The killing power would definitely be terrifying.
"And those Fire God Spears could also be miniaturized for close combat. You could even develop complementary taijutsu around them. Whether in close-quarters combat or mid-range engagements, they'd be extremely effective…"
The number of explosive tags a cannon shell could hold was enormous. If packed tightly, stuffing in a thousand tags wouldn't be a problem, with several hundred more in the warhead itself. If ultra-miniature sealing tags or scrolls like those seen in Boruto could be produced, even more could be packed inside—along with even greater power.
Unfortunately, explosive tags were strategic materials. Ordinary ninja couldn't purchase many of them, and all purchases had to be registered. With his status as an academy student, he could only buy a small amount at a time. The ammunition used for the Fire God's Spear and Fire God Cannon earlier had been accumulated over many years.
Moreover, weapon manufacturing was an extremely rigorous and dangerous process, requiring extensive calculations and testing. What he had made were merely simple prototypes.
The Fire God's Spear and Fire God Cannon had already deformed after a single use. If this cannon were truly packed full of explosive tags—especially high-grade ones—the chance of it exploding would be even greater.
"You said you also had an A-rank piece of intelligence."
The Third Raikage took the dismantled shell and examined it with satisfaction before asking about that intelligence.
With the one billion ryō and these three super-weapons alone, the boy had already earned his recognition. Accepting him as a disciple would not be a problem.
"That intelligence can only be revealed after Lord Raikage accepts me as his disciple."
His eyes flickered slightly as Tamura Zairo stated his condition—a layer of insurance for himself.
"You little brat, playing tricks with this old man."
The Third Raikage laughed, not taking offense. Then he asked, "How did you obtain that one billion ryō?"
Although he still hadn't heard the boy's intelligence, the fact that he had no recollection of him meant he clearly wasn't from any major ninja clan in the village. And even among the village's clans, none could casually produce one billion ryō in cash.
"That also has to wait until Lord Raikage agrees."
His eyes flickered again. Tamura Zairo still refused to answer. He had to lock in the master–disciple relationship first.
"You little rascal!"
The Third Raikage reached out and vigorously ruffled the boy's white hair, laughing as he said, "This old man will take you as my disciple. Now you can speak, right?"
He didn't really mind—but he was very curious.
"Student greets Master!"
Tamura Zairo was overjoyed. He immediately bowed deeply, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
Once he became the Raikage's disciple, he wouldn't be immediately thrown onto the battlefield as cannon fodder. Moreover, he would gain access to the Raikage's inheritance—techniques like the Lightning Release Chakra Mode and Hell Stab.
Most importantly, he would gain access to higher-level resources to support his cultivation.
This world placed great emphasis on bloodline inheritance. To become strong, one needed an excellent bloodline. Otherwise, chakra attributes and chakra quantity alone could bottleneck a person to death.
To become a top-tier powerhouse, one needed either secret techniques or the bloodline of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Unfortunately, Tamura Zairo had none of those. And with no golden finger to rely on, he could only use his imagination to create opportunities for himself. That was why he had spent so much effort crafting these firearms and cannons—using them as merit and proof of value to bypass his own poor aptitude.
After calming himself, Tamura Zairo cautiously asked,
"Master… have you ever read The Biography of Katō Bin?"
"Katō Bin failed the Chūnin Exams!"
Before the Third Raikage could answer, Yondaime A blurted out in surprise.
Tamura Zairo's expression instantly turned strange, and Dodai also cast an odd glance at Yondaime A.
Sensing their looks, Yondaime A hurriedly lowered his head.
"Katō Bin? Katō? That surname does seem to exist in Konoha."
The Third Raikage looked at his son in confusion, then thought for a moment and spoke.
He had some impression of most notable ninja and clans in the ninja world. Konoha did seem to have a Katō clan.
"Then what about That Bloodline Is No Ordinary Thing?"
"What's that?"
The Third Raikage frowned. He'd never heard of it.
"Have you read The Sorrow of Female Ninja?"
"What about Such Beauty in the Ninja World?"
"The Carefree Little Rogue Ninja?"
"The Chronicle of Kusanagi?"
"Chūnin Bai Jie?"
"The Gatekeeper: Sarutobi Grandpa's Story?"
"Have you really never read Qiongming's Naruto Records?"
…
Tamura Zairo rattled off dozens of book titles in succession, yet the Third Raikage only frowned more deeply—his confusion and bewilderment growing.
Dodai and Yondaime A, on the other hand, wore extremely vivid expressions, staring at the boy with shock and disbelief.