Chapter 064: The Dawn of Industrialization

To the people of the Land of Waves, it was just another ordinary day. Despite the thick fog, those whose livelihoods depended on the sea had no choice but to risk venturing out to fish. Once again, returns were meager, and the villagers could only resign themselves to pack up and head back to shore.

Suddenly, they all felt a distant tremor reverberate through the ground.

“Is that an earthquake? Could there be a tsunami?!”

Nervously, they watched the horizon, trying to decide whether to immediately evacuate the shore.

Then—a deep, resonant rumble echoed through the fog, shattering the usual seaside calm. Even those standing farther away could see sheets of ice stretching out steadily toward the land.

Right behind, a massive four-legged robot slowly emerged from the dense mist, striding forward atop the thick ice, drawing ever closer.

When it reached the shallow waters near the shore, the robot stepped from the ice into the sea, sending up towering waves.

With the long bridge spanning the sea as a point of reference, the villagers could clearly see it now. The steel behemoth was tall and imposing, a moving fortress of iron that radiated an overwhelming sense of power and oppression. Its four long legs, sturdy and strong, pressed down upon the seabed, causing violent tremors with every step. The roar of its engines was deafening, and each step it took seemed not only to shake the earth, but also to pound upon the villagers’ hearts, sowing fear within them.

As the robot drew nearer, it became clear that its back was laden with cargo and shadowy figures. These burdens, like bound prisoners, lay helplessly upon its iron frame. The smallness of those figures only accentuated the villagers’ own insignificance, and none could escape the crushing weight of awe and dread.

“The machine in the lead! The person sitting at the top—isn’t that Master Tazuna?”

Someone pointed to an elderly man with a head of white hair seated atop the robot and shouted.

As the robot came closer to shore, they could finally make out Tazuna and a group of unfamiliar faces seated on its broad back. Relief swept through the crowd. If this machine had returned bearing Tazuna, then at least it was unlikely to be an enemy.

Inari, standing by the sea, stared wide-eyed, fear battling with the shock and curiosity filling his heart. Never had he seen such a colossal iron creature, its four slender legs supporting its massive body—a contradiction of fragility and strength. Upon its back were piles of goods, some familiar, some not, lending it a sense of gravity and solidity.

“Grandpa!”

Inari, being closest, watched the most intently. He immediately spotted his grandfather among the group atop that vast iron beast. Though Tazuna’s face was etched with anxiety and unease, the sight of countless robots emerging from the mist filled Inari with both excitement and reassurance.

Grandpa had returned! And he had brought with him an overwhelming, invincible power!

Inari didn’t understand what made one strong, nor what a shinobi was. All he knew was that with so many colossal robots, Gato didn’t stand a chance.

Finally, the robot stepped onto solid ground and began to move inland. Those who stood nearby could feel, with even greater immediacy, the oppressive presence of its gigantic form.

In time, the robots halted in a clearing not far from the fishing village. Tazuna was the first to dismount. His appearance—both a fellow villager and a local celebrity known throughout the Land of Waves—reassured the people. It truly seemed these arrivals were friends, not foes.

“Grandpa!”

Inari pushed through the crowd, dashing up to Tazuna and throwing himself into his arms. Embracing the boy, Tazuna called out to the villagers around him:

“My friends! I have gone to the Hidden Leaf Village and brought back shinobi from the Land of Whirlpools! They have promised to help us rebuild the bridge and drive Gato away!”

“Hooray! We’re saved!” the people cheered in unison, embracing one another in tears. They did not understand why shinobi from the Land of Whirlpools had come from the Leaf, but they knew, at last, they had hope.

The children stared with wide eyes, running circles around the robots unloading cargo. Despite repeated warnings from the Uzumaki clan to keep away—lest the children be knocked or trampled—nothing could suppress their brimming curiosity and excitement. All they knew was that not even Gato could stand against so many mighty machines.

Already, they imagined themselves piloting such robots, bravely battling enemies, protecting family and friends.

The adults, understanding a little more, were left to ponder the deeper meaning behind these steel giants. Amid their shock and awe, a realization began to take root: the Land of Waves was on the cusp of change. These foreign shinobi had not come for mere scraps of payment; their ambitions must surely run deeper.

Yet the elders remained calm—not because they could discern the outsiders’ true intentions, but because they had long since surrendered to fate. The Land of Waves was desperately poor; even if the bones of every last soul were ground to dust, not a drop of oil would be wrung from them. Whatever these shinobi wanted, the villagers had nothing to bargain with. Surrendering early might at least buy them a moment’s respite.

As the elders had foreseen, whatever the people of the Land of Waves might think, Naruto’s steps would not be halted. The forces he had summoned steadily arrived at that impoverished fishing village. They used steam-powered machines to rapidly construct factories and began producing all manner of steam-driven equipment. Simultaneously, they distributed high-yield grain brought with them, stabilizing food prices.

“Stabilizing prices is vital,” Naruto explained to Sakura, who walked beside him. “In a barren island country like this, food is almost entirely imported—prices are already exorbitant. With all transportation controlled by Gato’s company, food prices are kept artificially high. I imagine both Gato and the local landowners have been eating their fill off these inflated prices.”

“For us, the key to winning the people’s trust is to bring down the cost of food.”

As he spoke, Naruto gestured toward the steam-powered machinery at work nearby. In Uzushio Village, such machines had long since been put to use in agriculture—steam-powered ploughs, harvesters, and more—greatly increasing productivity and freeing Uzumaki hands for other work.

But here in the Land of Waves, Naruto did not immediately put these machines to use in the fields. Instead, he deployed large-scale engineering equipment to carve out hills, level slopes, and wash the saline-alkaline soils, transforming previously barren land into fertile fields ready for cultivation.