"Ku-ku-ka-ka!"
*Transformers sound effect*
An orange-yellow painted steamroller, its massive rollers stained with some cement and its windshield polished to a shine, appeared on the sidewalk of the Land of Lightning's capital.
Too bad it wasn't a forklift.
A forklift would have been smaller.
This spot was a bit cramped; the entire steamroller blocked the path, making it hard to ensure passersby wouldn't bump into it.
'If only I could drive it forward a bit.'
He tried to command Big Eyeball to move forward.
The engine roared twice.
Black smoke from incomplete combustion billowed from the exhaust pipe.
The entire orange steamroller shook and actually started moving!
Holy crap!
This transformation actually has power!
It crushed and flattened the path, tamping down the yellow earth as it went.
The steamroller drove onto the main street under the shocked gazes of pedestrians.
He cut the engine and stopped.
Feeling a bit panicked and socially anxious, Motomu forced himself to analyze the situation.
The Land of Lightning.
Cloud Ninja.
These people probably won't care too much about a steamroller on the road.
When it came to scientific attitudes, they were a solid second only to Orochimaru.
According to the plot he remembered from his past life, the Hidden Cloud Village had the most skewed technology tree among the Five Great Nations.
While others were still playing with kunai and shuriken, they had already developed wireless communication and Chakra Cannons.
It's just a steamroller; they might even find it somewhat familiar.
...Probably?
The civilians' reaction on the street came much faster than he expected.
The first to notice the steamroller was an old woman carrying a paper bag of black bread.
She had just turned the corner and ran straight into an orange iron wall.
The apple bread rolled out of the bag and across the ground. The old woman stood there with her mouth agape, looking from the massive roller up to the driver's cab.
"Oh my! Scared me half to death!"
"W-What on earth is this?!"
Her shocked voice rang out clearly in the night.
Seconds later, more bystanders gathered around.
A middle-aged fisherman with a fish basket on his back circled to the side of the steamroller. He reached out to tap the roller but pulled his hand back under the collective gaze of the crowd.
"Ahem!"
"It's probably made of iron?"
"A piece of iron this big... how much would it even cost?"
"Look at that wheel, there are patterns on it."
"Which craftsman in our Land of Lightning made this? How come I've never seen it?"
The murmurs grew louder.
Motomu held his breath, staring at every approaching pedestrian.
If someone reached out and touched it, the game of hide-and-seek would be a failure.
Regardless of whether his previous guess was correct or not.
He hadn't received the reward for the purple challenge yet, so he could only gamble on this. He didn't want to fail right at the finish line.
Fortunately, although the people of the Land of Lightning were tough, they still possessed a sense of awe for the unknown.
More and more people gathered, but no one dared to actually touch the steamroller.
A young man in a short jacket even pulled out a pen and paper, crouching by the roadside to start sketching.
Motomu: "..."
'Fine, as long as you don't touch it, have your fun.'
Just as Motomu was secretly feeling relieved.
In the distance.
The sound of rapid footsteps cutting through the air approached.
Motomu, who often used the Body Flicker Technique himself, immediately recognized the sound of ninjas rushing over.
His heart tightened as he shifted his gaze from the steamroller toward the end of the street.
Four Cloud Ninja wearing white short robes with ninja swords on their backs were walking this way.
Leading them was a middle-aged man with a blonde buzz cut, a ribbon at his waist embroidered with the symbol for Lightning.
His stride was steady, and his eyes scanned the crowd with alert caution.
'Are these the guardian ninjas of the Land of Lightning Daimyo?'
Motomu guessed their identity.
"Step aside! Move back, what are you all crowding around here for?"
The buzz-cut Cloud Ninja pushed through the crowd and stood before the steamroller.
He looked up.
Staring at this iron monstrosity twice his height, his brow furrowed into a deep knot.
"What is this?"
A young subordinate behind him stepped forward, shining a flashlight on the patterns on the roller.
"Captain, it looks like... some kind of rubber and metal?"
"Duh, I can see that!"
Slapping the young subordinate's hat down over his eyes, the buzz-cut captain walked a full circle around the steamroller.
Finding nothing unusual.
He formed a single-handed seal, releasing a sensory ninjutsu.
"No chakra residue; it's not a ninja tool."
"Then what is it? A tool for civilians?"
"Could civilians build something like this?"
Several Cloud Ninja exchanged looks.
After a few seconds of silence, the buzz-cut captain asked.
"Who saw how this thing appeared?"
The crowd went quiet; no one answered.
A merchant wearing glasses whispered.
"When I was passing by just now, it drove here by itself."
"Me too."
"Same here."
It drove itself?
That amazing?
Could it be technology developed by some scholar?
Seeing that most people said the same thing.
The buzz-cut captain's frown deepened.
He made a gesture, and the Cloud Ninja behind him immediately dispersed.
They began questioning the surrounding witnesses.
[NOT DISCOVERED]
[CURRENT STAGE 1/5]
[EXPERIENCE MULTIPLIER: 30X]
[EXPERIENCE VALUES: 0.3]
Thank goodness!
Thank goodness!
Nobody touched it.
The Cloud Ninja are quite reasonable after all.
And this multiplier is pretty decent too.
Even if it weren't for the mission, this purple transformation is quite excellent.
Now, if I can just keep this up for two more hours to complete the challenge, I can unlock the size-doubling experience bonus.
Just as Motomu was thinking this.
The buzz-cut captain snatched the drawing from the hands of the young man who was sketching.
"No sketching. From now on, this thing is a secret of the Land of Lightning."
"Until we verify the relevant patents, none of you are allowed to draw it!"
After lecturing the young man.
The buzz-cut captain turned to the subordinate coming to report the situation.
"Captain, nothing found."
The captain nodded upon hearing this, his gaze falling back on the steamroller.
"Report it. Let the Anbu handle this."
"Now?"
"Otherwise when?"
"Ever since the Daimyo issued that order two and a half years ago,"
"The status of scholars has been much higher than ninjas like us who do the dirty work."
The young Cloud Ninja shrunk his neck and stopped talking.
Just as the patrol was preparing to withdraw.
A commotion came from outside the crowd.
"Wait."
Amidst the voice, the crowd automatically parted.
A four-person team arrived.
The standard combination of one Jonin leading three Genin.
Normally, this wouldn't be anything special.
But among these three Genin, one girl caught Motomu's eye.
Motomu's pupils constricted as he stared fixedly at her.
The girl's skin was supple and fair, making her stand out like a crane among chickens compared to the dark-skinned people around her.
She wore a short-sleeved top that was black on top and white on the bottom, with bandages wrapped around her forearms.
Her beige-blonde hair was tied into a braid, covering half of her forehead protector before wrapping toward the back of her head.
Her oval face was exquisite and cold, with sharp features that gave off the haughty vibe of a cat.
"Yugito, what is your team doing here?"
The words of the guardian ninja captain confirmed Motomu's guess.
Motomu looked at her, his heart skipping a beat.
"Yugito Nii."
"The Jinchuriki of the Two-Tails, Matatabi."
"One of the Hidden Cloud's perfect Jinchuriki."
"Now that she was here, the one on Turtle Island should be Killer Bee."
"Moreover, seeing Yugito out and about so casually, she must have completed the perfect Jinchuriki process long ago and taken chakra from the Two-Tails."