After leaving the fusion material room for the Chimera Technique.
Takuno also arrived at the cultivation room for the Gedo Statue's arm. At this moment, that arm no longer resembled an arm, and he could vaguely discern the shape of a monster.
This was the work of the meteorite.
Without the meteorite, Takuno would have needed to modify this arm himself during this step.
Now that he had the meteorite, it saved him time on research and experimentation.
Judging by the current transformation trend of the arm, it is estimated that it will completely take the form of a monster within a few years, which is much sooner than he had anticipated.
At that time, it would be practically impossible for him to gather the Chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts, so being that fast wasn't actually of much use.
Takuno shook his head; for now, the Gedo Statue's arm didn't require his attention.
Finally, he walked to the last room, where the test subjects were stored.
This room was filled with numerous incubation tanks; the newcomers inside the tanks were still struggling, but the older ones had completely abandoned hope.
Takuno looked at these test subjects. Although he could continue expanding this experimental base to accommodate more incubation tanks.
The problem was that these tanks required resources, and although this desolate land was safe, resources were relatively scarce. The resources he could bring in at one time were insufficient to support too many incubation tanks operating simultaneously.
Therefore, the current scale was already the limit.
However, Takuno considered his future plans, which might require consuming a large number of test subjects. Relying solely on the test subjects from the experimental base would certainly not be enough.
The questions then became: how would he capture a large number of test subjects in the future, and where would he store them?
He couldn't capture test subjects from around Konoha like Orochimaru; that was far too brazen. Any Hokage who was even slightly responsible would eventually discover such activities.
Furthermore, if he captured too many people in one area, it would attract the local Ninja Village to dispatch ninja for investigation.
Moreover, Takuno did not want to involve the most innocent common people, and the test subjects he needed were preferably ninja.
Therefore, the answer to obtaining a large supply of ninja materials was actually very simple: war!
Fortunately, war was still likely to break out after the Nine-Tails Attack, so he didn't need to worry too much about that point.
Right now, he needed to consider where he could imprison a large number of ninja without attracting attention, and this large group would also require supervision and adequate feeding.
The Five Great Nations were definitely out, and being too close to them was also unacceptable.
Takuno looked at the map in his hand, considering the various countries listed on it, and finally fixed his gaze on three nations.
Northern Land of Snow, the Land of Hot Water, and the Land of Artisans.
Although the Land of Artisans was geographically located on an isolated island, its unique nature made it quite popular among several nations, and many Ninja Villages purchased ninja tools from there.
Therefore, the volume of ninja traffic passing through would not be low, increasing the risk of discovery.
Takuno needed a place where outsiders basically wouldn't enter casually, so the Land of Artisans was unsuitable.
The Land of Hot Water. Takuno looked at this nation.
The anime portrayed this country very little; he only knew it was famous for its hot springs, that it was a country that had forgotten war, and that long-term peace had led to a decline in its ninja combat strength.
At the same time, this country also harbored a cult organization, where immortal beings like Hidan originated.
But this place was also unsuitable.
Because the hot springs here were too famous, they were even rumored to possess the ability to heal Chakra disorders, although that was likely an exaggeration.
However, its fame indicated how many ninja visited it, especially a certain perverted intelligence chief.
He certainly wouldn't miss this place, as he could soak in the hot springs to gather writing material and also scout for intelligence... With an intelligence agent like Jiraiya around, putting the base here would be worse than putting it in the Land of Artisans.
After much deliberation, only the last location remained the most suitable: the northernmost part of the Land of Snow.
Due to the perpetually snowy weather, virtually no one went there, and even wars mostly avoided this area.
This was because most wars were fought to seize resources. If that weren't the case, the Land of Fire wouldn't constantly suffer attacks from all four sides, as its geographic location made it the most fertile region.
The other Great Nations all wanted to tear a piece of fat from the Land of Fire!
As for barren lands like the Land of Snow, the Great Nations wouldn't even spare them a glance. Attacking would waste military strength; although the local ninja might not be strong elsewhere, they were quite formidable in the unique climate of the Land of Snow.
Therefore, conquering such a country yielded few resources, required significant troop expenditure, and might even necessitate subsidies afterward. What was the point?
It was sparsely populated, and surrounding ninja and nations were uninterested in the area; ninja rarely visited this country.
Takuno narrowed his eyes. As expected, this place was the most suitable, and he wasn't entirely unfamiliar with it.
The first Naruto movie, Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow, centered on the Land of Snow, and all the people he remembered were present at this point in time.
It was just that the protagonist, Kazahana Koyuki, seemed to still be young; her father, Kazahana Sōsetsu, should still be alive, and Kakashi had not yet brought Kazahana Koyuki back to Konoha to film.
Takuno closed his eyes, reflecting on the personalities of Kazahana Koyuki and her father, and ultimately shook his head.
Given their personalities, if they found out he planned to imprison so many ninja to use as test subjects, they probably wouldn't agree.
Although Kazahana Sōsetsu didn't appear much, he seemed to be an upright person, and he had continuously researched heating technology to change the severely cold weather for his country.
It seemed unlikely that such a person would cooperate with Takuno on something so dishonorable.
What about taking Kazahana Koyuki as a hostage?
Takuno couldn't help but consider this tactic again.
However, he eventually abandoned the idea. Even if he did take Kazahana Koyuki hostage, the arrangement would certainly be unstable if she was constantly resentful.
If she ever had a change of heart and exposed his activities, it would be troublesome.
Rather than cooperating with Kazahana Sōsetsu, it would be better to cooperate with the villain of that movie, Kazahana Sōsetsu's younger brother, Kazahana Dotō.
A person like Kazahana Dotō certainly wouldn't care about the lives or deaths of these people; he desired great power but was also extremely afraid of death.
Furthermore, judging by his depiction in the original work, the Snow Ninja Village was basically under his control. In that case, he just needed to find a way to control Kazahana Dotō.
Kazahana Dotō's status was perfect for concealing his experimental base in the Land of Snow. Thinking this way, 'cooperating' with Kazahana Dotō was indeed more appropriate.
Takuno stood up, calculating the time, realizing he needed to speed things up.
Truly... he couldn't afford to be idle!