Haruki did not feel discouraged. He calmly began explaining the second sealing scroll.
"Inside is a special ninja tool I created myself. Its power is sufficient to kill a jōnin."
"A ninja tool capable of killing a jōnin—and you made it yourself?"
A couldn't help speaking up, his tone filled with disbelief.
He had only recently become a jōnin himself, yet a ten-year-old kid was claiming he had built a weapon capable of killing one.
That was simply impossible.
The Third Raikage and Dodai, however, showed more curiosity than doubt. With the one billion ryō already proven real, they were inclined to take this boy more seriously. This clearly wasn't an ordinary child, and he didn't seem the type to boast recklessly.
"I need an open, secluded location to demonstrate it."
Haruki offered no further explanation—he went straight to the point.
At times like this, words were meaningless. Only real performance mattered. He had full confidence in the weapon he'd created.
Though limited materials had prevented high precision, its raw power was unquestionable.
"Then we'll use my training chamber."
The Third Raikage glanced once more at the chests of money, stood up, and headed out—granting Haruki's request.
Haruki quickly followed. Dodai sealed away the one billion ryō, then took the two scrolls and went along with A.
Before long, they arrived at a training chamber carved into the mountains beneath the Raikage Building. This was the Third Raikage's private training room, filled with equipment designed for physical conditioning.
It suited Kumogakure perfectly—especially the Raikage's style.
Despite being called a "training room," the space was enormous: over a hundred meters long and wide, with a height of nearly fifty meters. The surrounding structure was reinforced entirely with steel—exceptionally sturdy.
The Third Raikage and the others said nothing, quietly waiting for the boy's demonstration.
Haruki wasted no time. He took the second sealing scroll from Dodai's hands and unsealed it, revealing three massive weapons.
"These three weapons were inspired by blowguns and fireworks I experimented with," Haruki explained.
"They use explosive tags as propulsion, driving a metal projectile through these steel barrels. The power depends mainly on the quality of the explosive tags and the strength of the metal used.
"Because of my status, I can't purchase high-grade explosive tags. So the ammunition only contains the lowest-grade ones. Their power is limited—each round contains ten explosive tags rolled inside.
"This one here, I call the Fire God's Spear. It's designed for ultra-long-range precision strikes."
Haruki picked up the smallest of the three weapons—a rifle—and a single round, introducing them briefly. He then loaded the thumb-thick projectile into the chamber and locked the rotating bolt in place.
He raised the nearly two-meter-long sniper rifle and aimed it at the opposite wall—but hesitated.
This weapon was modeled after a firearm he had seen in a World War II movie in his previous life—one the Soviet army used to destroy tanks. The structure was crude, little more than a reinforced steel tube, but the kinetic energy required to pierce tank armor made its recoil terrifying.
And his ammunition used ten explosive tags per round.
Even if they were low-grade, ten at once was no small force.
Even if he could withstand the recoil, injury was almost guaranteed. Worse, there was no certainty the barrel wouldn't rupture.
"This Fire God's Spear requires an extremely strong physique to operate. My body probably isn't enough."
Haruki turned toward the three men, his gaze finally settling on A, whose muscular build was unmistakable.
"How do I use it?"
A didn't refuse. He stepped forward and took the Fire God's Spear—looking faintly excited.
Though impulsive by nature, he wasn't stupid. Haruki's explanation had been simple, but the underlying principle was clear: explosive force pushing a metal projectile forward. The result would be devastating.
"Channel chakra here to activate the explosive tags inside the round," Haruki explained.
"Be careful. I've built it, but I haven't field-tested it. The materials aren't ideal—there's a risk it could explode."
After giving the warning, Haruki decisively retreated—so decisively that he hid behind Dodai.
Dodai glanced at the boy using him as a human shield, feeling utterly speechless. Still, he didn't object, focusing intently on A as he raised the steel barrel.
The Third Raikage watched with keen interest. He had already grasped the principle—it was novel and clever. Now, the real question was its power.
Without keeping them waiting, A took aim at a steel pillar ten meters away and activated the explosive tags.
BOOM!
A deafening blast erupted as flames burst from the muzzle. At the same instant, a walnut-sized crater appeared in the steel wall.
All three rushed over to inspect it, their expressions turning serious.
The crater was small—but the walls here were made of solid steel, ten centimeters thick.
If it could leave such damage on reinforced steel, its lethality against the human body was unquestionable. A direct hit—even to the torso—would result in instant death.
Even defensive ninjutsu would require elemental enhancement to withstand such an attack.
Dodai pried the severely deformed projectile from the crater with a kunai, examined it, and commented:
"The projectile's material isn't strong enough. If you replaced it with a harder alloy, penetration would improve significantly."
This was far more powerful than thrown kunai or shuriken. Even a kunai thrown with full force would struggle to pierce deeply, but a hit from this round would shatter limbs instantly—and a torso hit would be fatal.
"The accuracy is terrible."
A looked toward the pillar ten meters away, clearly dissatisfied. The Fire God's Spear in his hands had partially deformed, and the spent casing was jammed—warped by the violent discharge.
The material could be upgraded, but the accuracy problem was a major flaw.
Facing A's criticism, Haruki knew it was his turn again.
"I've already thought about that," he said.
"I can carve spiral grooves inside the barrel to make the projectile spin—stabilizing its trajectory and improving accuracy. But the manufacturing difficulty is too high for me to handle.
"Another approach is to integrate ninjutsu. For example, using Earth Release to reinforce the barrel and projectile, increasing durability and penetration. Lightning Release and Wind Release could also improve penetration and accuracy—Wind Release could even reduce air resistance during flight.
"Water Release could rapidly cool the barrel for sustained firing. Fire Release could be sealed into the projectile for a secondary detonation, or miniaturized explosive tags could be embedded to detonate on impact—like fireworks…"
As Haruki laid out his ideas, Dodai's eyes lit up.
This was a genuinely promising path.
If realized, the destructive potential of this weapon would increase dramatically.
More importantly, its range would be terrifying. One hundred meters was clearly not its limit—one thousand meters or more was entirely possible. With higher-grade explosive tags, the range could increase even further.
What ninjutsu could strike effectively from over a kilometer away?
A stroked the Fire God's Spear without fear of the heat, looking as though he wanted to kiss it. He was clearly enamored with the weapon and eager to possess a fully realized version.
The Third Raikage turned his gaze to the other two massive weapons. Judging by their size alone, their power would be formidable—and his anticipation only grew.
Dodai and A followed his gaze, equally eager to see what the other two weapons could do.