Uchiha Ren's words were not exaggerated in the slightest.
The world of Naruto was a very peculiar one. Shinobi who possessed extraordinary power were generally high in offense but low in defense.
Even the strongest representatives of shinobi—Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha—could suffer fatal injuries from something as simple as a kunai or shuriken if they were caught off guard.
In other words, aside from their supernatural abilities, the physical durability of shinobi was not much different from that of ordinary people.
Across the entire shinobi world, the total number of ninja probably did not exceed one hundred thousand.
More than seventy percent of them were genin who could barely use a few ninjutsu. Their fighting style was essentially close combat.
Against opponents like those, ordinary people armed with modern weapons would not necessarily be weaker.
In fact, if civilians formed organized combat squads, they might even hold a decisive advantage.
Meanwhile, powerful weapons such as tanks, artillery, armored vehicles, and rocket launchers could easily be considered equivalent to the power of chūnin or jōnin.
As for missiles or even nuclear weapons, their destructive power would not be inferior to attacks unleashed by Kage-level shinobi or even Tailed Beasts.
More importantly—
The cost of equipping a fully armed soldier was far lower than training a high-level ninja.
Therefore, when Uchiha Ren spoke of replacing shinobi with modern weaponry, he was not speaking metaphorically.
As for whether Orochimaru could actually manufacture these weapons—
That question was almost laughable.
After all, Orochimaru had once created things like Mechanical Naruto and even a Giant Nine-Tails combat construct. Compared to those feats, producing a few firearms was trivial.
Hearing Ren's explanation, Orochimaru picked up the document again and began reading it more carefully.
"Ren-kun," he said slowly, "are you certain you're not joking with me?"
Ren smiled.
"Did you see the design concept for the weapon called the AK-47 assault rifle?"
"I'm confident that every bullet fired from its barrel will carry no less destructive force than a kunai thrown seriously by an experienced jōnin."
"It has an effective range of 300 meters, a maximum lethal range of 1,500 meters, a firing rate of 600 rounds per minute, and a muzzle velocity of 710 meters per second."
"And an ordinary civilian could master this weapon after only basic training."
"Under such circumstances…"
Ren spread his hands slightly.
"Do you still think shinobi are necessary?"
Orochimaru did not respond immediately.
His gaze lingered on the estimated cost listed in the AK-47 design document.
10,000 ryō.
For only ten thousand ryō, an ordinary civilian could gain combat power comparable to a genin—or even a chūnin.
If that were true, the existence of shinobi might indeed become unnecessary.
"I will study this matter carefully," Orochimaru said at last, closing the document.
Then he looked at Ren with curiosity.
"However… I'm curious. Why are you pushing this project forward so urgently?"
Orochimaru had no strong opinions about the concept itself.
What intrigued him was Ren's unusual sense of urgency.
Ren gave a helpless smile.
"In my original plan, this project wouldn't have started for at least another year or two."
"But plans can't keep up with changes."
"I have no choice but to move it forward."
Orochimaru's eyes flickered.
"You mean… because of the Battle of Kikyō Mountain Fortress?"
After thinking about recent events, that battle was the only major incident that could have forced Ren to alter his plans.
Ren nodded.
"That's correct."
In Ren's original strategy, the first step had been to unify Konoha's internal power.
The second step would be to liberate productivity, gradually shifting the role of shinobi away from warfare and toward construction and production.
Finally, weapons would be manufactured to arm the common people, leading to the final war—a war of liberation.
It was obvious that every stage of that process would involve struggle and bloodshed.
But the sudden outbreak of the Battle of Kikyō Mountain Fortress presented Ren with an unexpected opportunity.
That battle had inflicted severe losses on several of the Great Shinobi Villages.
If a war of unification began now, the resistance would undoubtedly be far weaker than it would be several years later, once the Five Great Villages had recovered their strength.
As long as the Five Great Shinobi Villages were defeated, the smaller villages and minor nations of the shinobi world would be far easier to deal with.
Ren intended to launch a lightning war.
As for soldiers—
He had already thought of the perfect source.
White Zetsu.
The combat ability of an individual White Zetsu was already comparable to that of an ordinary ninja. Their main weakness was the lack of powerful offensive techniques.
The introduction of modern firearms would perfectly compensate for that flaw.
Armed with such weapons, White Zetsu could easily fight with the strength of chūnin or even jōnin.
One hundred thousand White Zetsu—one hundred thousand soldiers.
And if those one hundred thousand soldiers were fully equipped with modern weapons, they would become a force capable of sweeping across the entire shinobi world.
Furthermore, White Zetsu possessed the ability to travel underground, allowing them to appear almost anywhere in the shinobi world at a moment's notice.
This capability perfectly suited the principles of blitzkrieg warfare.
At present, Obito Uchiha had already been dispatched by Ren to consolidate the White Zetsu forces.
Meanwhile, Ren himself was working to unify Konoha's internal power.
Within half a year at most, once Orochimaru completed the weapons, the final war could begin.
And after conquering the shinobi world through overwhelming force, true reforms could begin.
Ren did not explain all of this aloud.
Instead, he simply said:
"The full explanation would take too long."
"Let's wait until Minato becomes Hokage. Otherwise, everything we say now is meaningless."
Orochimaru did not press further.
"Very well."
"I'll return and study these designs."
"In three days, I'll show you a batch of finished prototypes so we can observe their performance."
In Orochimaru's view, the principles behind the weapons described in the document were actually quite simple.
Producing a few prototypes by hand would not be difficult.
The real challenge would be achieving mass production.
Since Ren clearly valued this project so highly, Orochimaru didn't mind prioritizing it.
Ren added a reminder.
"If you want this project to develop long-term without consuming too much of your time, I suggest you train a few capable assistants."
"That should be far easier than cultivating assistants proficient in biological science."
Orochimaru considered this and nodded.
"Actually, for this sort of work, you'd be better off recruiting puppet masters."
"Compared to me, they're the real professionals."
"You should consider recruiting talent from Sunagakure."
"In terms of assembling complex mechanical components, puppet masters are experts."
In Orochimaru's opinion, the weapon designs Ren had provided were essentially mechanical assemblies of various parts.
That kind of work aligned perfectly with the expertise of puppet masters.
A master puppeteer would probably adapt to the task just as quickly as he could.
Ren nodded.
"I've already thought about that."
"In fact, I already have a few specific candidates in mind."
"So don't worry—I won't dump everything on your shoulders."
"Good," Orochimaru replied.
"In that case, I'll take my leave."
He had no intention of staying any longer.
After all—
Orochimaru's time was extremely valuable.
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