"One is a Shonisaurus."
"One is a container, namely a box."
"One is the pattern inside the box."
Among these, the Shonisaurus does not require forging. It's already part of the existing materials.
It's Inside a crystal ball floatni motionlessly unclear if it's alive or dead, no signs of life were apparent on it.
However, this is precisely the source of Pioggia's ability.
"First, the crafting of the box. Then, inside the box, on the surface, carve the patterns."
"The Shonisaurus is the source of Pioggia's ability, but the box can influence energy transmission."
"Analogous to a machine, the Shonisaurus is the fuel, and the box is the engine. Even with good fuel, if the engine is not good, the effect won't be satisfactory. Both need to be good for it to work perfectly."
Soma looked at the metal in front of him.
"With my current Forging Techniques, combined with the developed Water Drop Hammer and Water Flow Hammer, the forging of this metal no longer needs simulation and rehearsal. It can be directly started."
Soma placed the metal into the lava.
"Charcoal Lava Smelting Technique!"
Under the high temperature, the metal gradually melted.
And its color also gradually turned red.
From a metal ingot, it turned into a metal mass.
"Now!"
Soma picked up the metal mass and placed it on the forging platform.
"Lava Forging!"
"One forge, two forges, three forges..."
"Thirty forges."
Soma changed his forging technique.
"Water Breathing, First Form: Water Drop Hammer!"
"Ding!"
"Ding!"
"Ding!"
A series of crisp strikes echoed from the forging room, Ao stood at the doorway, much like Biwa Juzo before.
However,Kisame had already left feeling unsatisfied with the arrangements of the Hoshigaki clan.
However, with direct relatives still present, Kisame still harbored feelings for the family so he couldn't refuse them directly.
Even if he didn't like it, he still went to meet the girl from the Karatachi family.
"Kisame, what do you think?"
A middle-aged man asked Kisame, his tone somewhat cautious.
"Father, I've said it before, I'm not interested in these things now. I just want to become stronger, achieve merit on the battlefield, kill those damn Konoha Ninja, and fight for the village."
"I want to become a hero of the Hidden Mist Village. Just like Juzo-senpai and the others."
The middle-aged man sighed.
"Kisame, I understand, but the situation of the family isn't good right now. If you really don't want to, it's fine..."
The middle-aged man paused.
"The family has another idea. Kisame, you have a good relationship with that young Blacksmith from Forging Island, right? The family heard he's still unmarried..."
Kisame's face turned cold.
"No!"
"Father, it's true that Soma and I are friends, but our friendship is absolutely not for this."
"To use friendship as leverage, to make Soma marry a woman from our Hoshigaki Clan? This, I cannot agree to."
"Isn't it just an alliance with the Karatachi Clan? Then let it be. As long as the other party has no objections, to me it's all the same."
With that said, Kisame turned and left.
The middle-aged man opened his mouth, but the words that were already on his lips ultimately did not come out.
After a long time, he sighed.
"This... is fine."
The news of Kisame agreeing to the alliance soon spread throughout the Elders of the Hoshigaki Clan which excited them greatly. What's more critical is that Kisame is not picky, anyone will do.
This means that as long as the woman from the Karatachi Clan agrees, it's settled.
The possibility of completing the alliance has greatly increased.
"The turning point for our Hoshigaki Clan has arrived."
"Coincidentally, with the decline of the Kaguya Clan, a large number of resources have become available. If our Hoshigaki Clan can take advantage of this opportunity and obtain a portion of it, we may not become a major Ninja clan, but at least we can become a middle-tier Ninja clan."
...
Forging Island.
Soma lifted the hammer in his hand, his arm parallel to the ground, and looked at the metal ingot on the forging platform.
"Water Breathing: Second Form: Water Flow Hammer!"
Using the Water Drop Hammer, the metal ingot had reached sixty forgings, but according to Soma's judgment, even if he were to use the Water Flow Hammer next, he probably couldn't make it reach a forging level of one hundred.
Eighty, that's about the limit.
It's not a problem with Soma's forging technique.
And it's definitely not the fault of the materials.
In fact, these materials are very good.
they are several times better than what Soma obtained from the Dungeon Instances before.
But it's because the smelting isn't sufficient.
Although each forging process seems independent, they actually influence each other. Some processes even have subdivisions.
For example, quenching and tempering, on Forging Island, these two are basically considered as one process.
But in reality, they are two distinct treatments.
Quenching for rapid cooling, followed by tempering after the temperature drops, can enhance toughness and reduce brittleness.
"Dang!"
"Dang!"
"Dang!"
The sound of the Water Drop Hammer kept echoing on Soma's forge room.
Pioggia's forging doesn't necessarily require reaching a forging level of eighty; thirty forges are enough. However, Soma feels that since it can be done better, he should do it.
Soma has forged Good-level ninja tools and Excellent-level ninja tools. But he is certain that there are ninja tools above the Excellent level and want to make one.
Soma wants to see what rewards he will get if he can forge ninja tools above the Excellent level. He is looking forward to it.
"The difficulty of Pioggia forging is not significant."
"And, there are only two requirements for the treatment of the metal box: toughness and the carving of patterns."
"For the former, I have already exceeded Pioggia's requirements."
"And for the latter, with the blessing of God's Hand, I should be able to achieve a very good level."
Soma strikes the final blow.
"Eighty forges!"
Soma releases the hammer, feeling an intense soreness in his arm.
"The Breathing Forging Method still consumes too much physical strength and has some Chakra consumption, but not too much."
"Let's call it a day for today. I'll continue tomorrow."
Soma walked out of the forging room.
Ao watched him empty-handed and thought the forging has failed, preparing to offer consolation.
"Ao-senpai, this forging will take a bit longer than usual. I'll need Senpai's help for the next few days."
"No problem, leave it to me."
After the forging is completed, the next step is shaping.
The next day, Soma took out the forged metal ingot and used a hammer to change its shape.
The entire box is divided into six sides.
Both the inner and outer sides of the six faces need to be carved with patterns.
After carving the patterns, they will be assembled.
Once assembled, although they are six separate faces, they can be fixed seamlessly. Even if dropped on the ground, they won't separate, allowing the Shonisauro Crystal to be securely fixed inside.
Carving the patterns is a meticulous and focused task. Soma deliberately didn't eat much for this, keeping himself in a semi-full and slightly hungry state. This helps him concentrate better.
With high blood sugar levels, one tends to feel drowsy.
"God's Hand!"
Soma puts on the God's Hand.
One hand holds a chisel tool, while the other holds a hammer.
"Ding!"
The chisel tip fell followed by the hammer strikes causing a depression to appear on the surface of the metal plate.
Soma frowned slightly.
"The tools aren't good enough."
Soma actually realized this problem a long time ago.
For a Blacksmith, Forging Technique and Materials are undoubtedly the most important.
However, forging tools are equally important.
During ordinary, routine forging, Soma can still mitigate the impact of inferior tools by increasing time. But when it comes to more complex procedures, the deficiencies of the tools become very obvious.
Just like now.
God's Hand was different back then, and the involved Materials were relatively soft.
Now, the metal plates are tough and strong.
"I need to come up with a plan to make a batch of better tools."
"But good Materials are hard to come by."
"I'm almost unlikely to use the Materials obtained from the Dungeon Instances to make tools. That would be wasteful, considering they can be used to make very decent ninja tools."
Soma prefered to start with the Materials that already exist in this world like chakra metal.
Chakra metal is a special type of metal that can conduct Chakra.
Because of this characteristic, whether it's made into weapons or tools, it has excellent effects.
In fact, the hammer Soma is currently forging with contains some Chakra metal.
However, the content is very low, but it's still better than an ordinary hammer.
Him being able to develop the Breathing Forging Method so quickly is related to it a little.
"Chakra metal is very rare and expensive."
"Even in the original storyline, Asuma, the son of the Hokage, only had enough Chakra metal to forge two short swords similar in size to Kunai."
Soma had a thought.
"Then can I start with existing ninja tools?"
Soma's first thought was the Hidden Mist Village's Hidden Mist Seven Ninja Swords.
First, exclude the Executioner's Blade.
Metal that easily breaks like that can't be used for tools.
Samehada and Blastsword are also not suitable.
"The Materials of Thunder Swords, Longsword, Bluntsword, Hiramekarei... are all decent, but Mizukage-sama probably won't allow me to modify them into tools. The others in the village wouldn't agree either."
"If I want to modify these Ninjatos, I'll need an even higher reputation than I have now."
Soma's eyes flickered.
"If the Hidden Mist Village's ninja tools won't work, what about other ninja villages?"
In the world of ninja, high-level ninja tools aren't exclusive to the Hidden Mist Village.
Other ninja villages have them too.
For example, there's the long-disappeared Takumi (Artisan) village, with only a few survivors wandering around.
There are also the legendary Six Paths ninja tools.
"If there's a chance, it would be great to get some of them back."
Soma finished carving the patterns on one metal plate and picked up the second.
Then the third... Soon, it was evening again. Soma had come out for lunch around noon. Still feeling half-full.
By the time he finished carving the patterns on all six metal plates, it was already midnight.
Soma walked out of the forging room. In the air, there was a slightly salty and humid smell.
"Soma."
Ao looked over immediately.
"Ao-senpai, you've worked hard."
Ao smiled.
"Compared to me, Soma, you're the one who's really been working hard. How's the progress on the ninja tool?"
"It should be finished tomorrow."
Soma said, "Ao-senpai, it's late, you should rest first."
Ao nodded.
Right at that moment.
"Bang!"
A sound of the door opening rang out.
A figure rushed out from another forging room.
"Chief Uehara, Ao-senpai."
Arafuni saw Soma and Ao, and paused for a moment.
"You two haven't rested yet?"
"Just finished up. Arafuni, what's up?"
Soma looked at what Arafuni held in his hands.
A wooden box, not small.
"Chief Uehara, since you're here, this is the surgical knife I just finished forging. Take a look."
"Alright."
Arafuni trotted over and opened the box and Soma picked it up.
The surgical knife Arafuni had forged was designed by Soma, with a detachable handle and blade design.
One handle matched with ten blades.
This was the initial configuration; if the blades ran out in the medical department, they could continue to order from Forging Island.
"Chief Uehara, what do you think?"
"Not bad."
Soma put the surgical knife back.
Except for the forging part, the rest was completed by Arafuni.
Compared to the previous batch, this surgical knife seemed to be of slightly better quality.
But the metal provided by Soma was still twelve-forged.
This proved that Arafuni's skill in forging had also improved to a certain extent.
Or perhaps he had found some way to improve the quality of the surgical knife.
"Are you going to take it to the medical department now?"
"Yes, they urgently need it."
"Go ahead, be careful on the way."
"Yes, Chief Uehara."
Arafuni was tired but looked happy because this was what he wanted to do.
The night passed quietly.
Soma entered the forging room and picked up all six metal plates.
And the crystal ball containing the trapped Shonisaurus was in the center position.
"Crack!"
With a crisp sound, the six metal plates merged together.
Immediately after, Soma saw that there was a glow emanating from the crystal ball.
But it wasn't light.
It was more like liquid emitting light.
Yet there was no tangible feeling.
Little by little, it flowed along the patterns on the metal plates until a voice sounded in Soma's mind.
---
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