A young miner stepped forward.
Beside him stood a medical ninja, who took out a scalpel and made an incision in the young miner's body. Then, he inserted the Stone of Gelel into the wound.
A gentle wave of chakra fell.
The young miner's wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The next moment, the young miner's body began to change.
With the Stone of Gelel as the center, a special energy spread outward through his body.
Where the energy passed, parts of his body began to expand. Some areas contracted. Some became incomparably hard. Some grew scales.
Very soon, the young miner had turned into a monster-like existence.
Half-human.
Half-fish.
The shinobi nearby could not help but widen their eyes.
And as the transformation completed, the aura on the young miner's body became much stronger.
Rasa gave a signal.
Immediately, an ANBU ninja stepped forward.
The young miner soon began exchanging blows with the ANBU ninja.
The old miner let out a breath of relief when he saw this.
The Stone of Gelel did not succeed every time. The old miner had discovered this by accident. But he also knew that he had no ability to protect the secret of the Stone of Gelel and keep it for himself.
That was why he had thought of relying on a powerful faction.
At first, the old miner had only wanted to exchange it for money and planned to find a merchant to trade with.
But after hearing news about Sunagakure, the old miner suddenly developed the thought of joining Sunagakure.
Sunagakure was willing to accept talented people from other ninja villages, and it would not discriminate against them.
Even the Uchiha could live well after coming to Sunagakure.
There was also Kisame Hoshigaki from Kirigakure.
As for those who made contributions, Sunagakure did not stint on rewards.
The best example was Hongshan Lie of the Hongshan clan.
Not only had he obtained the title of Hero Ninja, he also possessed two puppets made from the corpses of members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Leaving aside the identities of those two corpses, the puppets themselves had been personally crafted by Chiyo.
After thinking it over, the old miner felt that joining Sunagakure might be the best choice for him.
Only a great ninja village could protect such a thing.
For forces that could not protect it, they might very well attack him for the sake of secrecy.
"Sunagakure is very strong."
"And it is still growing stronger."
"Rasa is also very strong."
"More importantly, his character is beyond reproach. Merely because he admired Minato Namikaze, he was willing to do so many things and seek justice for him—even though Minato Namikaze was a shinobi from another village."
"This is my best choice."
After making his judgment, the old miner came to Sunagakure.
He was discovered by Ebizo's people.
Only afterward did Ebizo bring the Stone of Gelel into the Kazekage Building.
However, the old miner had been somewhat worried that the Stone of Gelel would fail to show its proper effect during the demonstration. Different Stones of Gelel did not necessarily produce identical results.
Now, seeing that this young miner had successfully activated the Stone of Gelel, the old miner finally relaxed.
Rasa began calculating inwardly.
"Before this, that person had never undergone any ninja training. He only knew a little hand-to-hand combat. But after using the Stone of Gelel, he has almost reached the level of a chunin."
A chunin was not powerful.
But that depended on who one compared them to.
Even for a great ninja village in this era, chunin could already be considered the backbone of the village's forces.
Moreover, using the Stone of Gelel did not mean one's strength became fixed.
Through training, one could improve technique.
One could improve physical ability.
…
"Tsuchihira Suna."
Hearing his name, the old miner quickly stepped forward.
Rasa smiled and said, "You have rendered merit by offering this gemstone. What reward do you want?"
"I leave everything to Kazekage-sama's decision."
Tsuchihira Suna placed his own position very low. Even though he had gained merit by offering the Stone of Gelel, he had no intention of using that merit to make outrageous demands.
This attitude satisfied Rasa.
"Are you willing to join Sunagakure?"
"Kazekage-sama, I am willing."
"Good."
Rasa nodded and said, "This object is highly valuable. You have rendered merit by offering it. I will give you the position of second-class honorary elder of Sunagakure, with treatment equal to other second-class elders."
"Thank you, Kazekage-sama."
A second-class honorary elder had no real power.
But the status was there.
The honor was there.
For Tsuchihira Suna, that was enough.
Rasa waved a hand.
"Your contribution is worthy of this. I will arrange for others to handle these gemstones. Your family may be brought into Sunagakure with you, and the village will arrange work for them."
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
After watching the unrelated personnel leave, Rasa turned toward Ebizo.
"Ebizo, have these stones been counted? How many are there in total?"
"Kazekage-sama, there are four thousand six hundred and twenty-eight in total. However, these stones seem to be divided by grade. Some contain stronger energy, while others contain weaker energy."
"According to Tsuchihira Suna, not all stones can be used directly. Certain conditions are required."
…
The situation with the Stone of Gelel was more complicated than Rasa had expected.
However, the plan Rasa had envisioned—to use the Stone of Gelel as a Devil Fruit—could still begin.
"How many completed Stones of Gelel are there?"
"Three."
"Including the one just now?"
"Yes."
Rasa nodded.
"I'll take the other two with me first. As for the rest, continue handling them, Ebizo. Your subordinates have been spreading rumors for so long that they should be quite skilled by now."
"This matter is rather important. I need you to oversee it personally."
Ebizo nodded heavily.
"Yes, Kazekage-sama."
At times like this, Rasa could not help but sigh—
Sunagakure truly lacked talent.
In terms of combat ability, it was still manageable.
Rasa alone could make up for many people.
Pakura's strength could also rank among the top in the current shinobi world, and her compatibility with Hiramekarei was extremely good.
But when it came to scientific research, Sunagakure truly had too few talents.
Chiyo counted as one.
Sasori of the Red Sand could barely count as half, because he was not in Sunagakure and did not cooperate much with Rasa's orders.
Kabuto Yakushi had yet to mature.
Rasa took out two Stones of Gelel and placed them on the desk.
"We'll call them Devil Fruits directly. The name Stone of Gelel no longer needs to exist."
"This one produces a canine transformation."
"This one produces an avian transformation."
"The one that miner used earlier produced a fish transformation."
"Then we'll directly adopt the naming method of Devil Fruits."
Rasa took out paper and brush.
"Dog-Dog Fruit, Gray Wolf Form!"
"Bird-Bird Fruit, Crow Form!"
"Fish-Fish Fruit, Imperial Beltfish!"
"Let the Sunagakure Pirate Crew display the power of Devil Fruits before the eyes of the entire world!"
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