#1

Thirteen years have passed since the Third Great Ninja War.

But time feels meaningless in the Land of Wind.

The Village Hidden in the Sand remains barren, struggling with poverty.

The Devil's Desert looks the same as it always has—endless dunes of golden sand, whipped into storms by the scorching wind.

For thousands of years, the sky has been painted yellow with swirling dust. The air itself is fire, searing every breath taken.

A lone figure worked tirelessly in the desert heat.

Twelve-year-old Gaara stood inside a deep pit, his chakra molding the surrounding sand into a massive hand that scooped away the grains beneath his feet. With every motion, he sent sand flying into the air, his concentration unwavering despite the sweat pouring down his face.

He had already dug more than thirty meters deep.

To keep the sand from collapsing back in, he maintained another technique, Desert Wave, reinforcing the pit's walls with tightly packed sand.

Despite his near-limitless chakra as a Jinchūriki, the work was exhausting. And this wasn't some mission or training from the ninja academy.

This was child labor.

Above him, a voice rang out, lazy and amused.

"Come on, Gaara! Keep going! Once we strike oil, the village is set for life! HAHAHA"

Gaara looked up, eyes narrowing at the man floating effortlessly in midair.

The sun blazed high, making the air shimmer. Yet the man showed no signs of discomfort. A cigarette dangled between his lips, an easy smirk on his face.

Gaara knew better than to underestimate him.

Mufasa.

The wealthiest man in the Sand Village.

The owner of Faraday Ninja Company.

A substitute teacher at the ninja academy.

And one of only three ninja in the village capable of using Magnet Release.

But Mufasa claimed his abilities weren't just Magnet Release.

No.

He called it Electromagnetic Release—something completely beyond conventional understanding.

His physical prowess was just as absurd.

There was a rumor that he once knocked Shukaku halfway across the desert with a single punch. Even the tailed beast inside Gaara feared him.

Feeling frustrated, Gaara clenched his fist and sent a handful of sand flying toward him.

Thousands of tiny grains surged forward, only to collide with an invisible force. A faint bzzt crackled in the air as the sand disintegrated into green sparks, scattering harmlessly to the ground.

Gaara scowled, shielding his face with a layer of sand.

Mufasa chuckled. "Didn't I tell you? Scientifically speaking, an electromagnetic force field neutralizes both physical and chakra-based attacks." He grinned down at the boy. "If you wanna break through it, you'll have to work harder."

Gaara clenched his fists, his patience wearing thin.

"Mufasa-sensei," he muttered through gritted teeth, "shouldn't 'working hard' mean training? Not digging for oil?"

Mufasa laughed. Seeing Gaara genuinely annoyed was a good sign.

Ever since the villagers had shunned him as a monster, the boy had withdrawn into himself, becoming emotionless and distant. Mufasa had promised Gaara's mother, Karura, that he would protect him. And that included helping him develop a stronger mind and body.

"The ancient sages said, 'Before granting a man great responsibility, the heavens will first test his will.'" Mufasa smirked. "And scientifically speaking, digging sand is excellent physical training."

Gaara's scowl deepened. "You just make things up."

"Doesn't matter. Just keep digging." Mufasa flicked away his cigarette. "Once we hit oil, the whole village will be rolling in wealth. And I, of course, will be the richest ninja in the world."

Gaara let out a long sigh and turned back to his work, too exhausted to argue.

Mufasa took another slow drag from his cigarette. The smoke crackled against his force field, vanishing in tiny flashes of light.

Right.

He was a transmigrator.

Somehow, he had ended up in this world, waking up in the endless desert of the Land of Wind.

The heat, the thirst, the dehydration—he had nearly died wandering through the dunes.

Until Karura found him.

She saved him. Brought him to the Sand Village. Gave him a place to start over.

And in return, he had sworn an oath to her.

"Mufasa, if you wish to repay me, then protect my child."

She had passed away soon after. But her words remained with him.

And so, he stayed.

Through relentless study and training, he had pushed his abilities beyond the limits of standard Magnet Release. He combined Wind and Lightning chakra, using the scientific principles from his old world to refine his techniques.

Now, he had developed a whole new form of ninjutsu—Electromagnetic Release—capable of manipulating energy, magnetic fields, and even bioelectricity.

But it wasn't enough.

The Akatsuki would come for Gaara. They wanted the Tailed Beasts. And when they did, he had to be ready.

At the same time, the village was on the brink of economic collapse. They needed money. Resources. A future.

That's why he had Gaara digging.

Oil could change everything.

Just as he was lost in thought, a strange vibration rumbled through the ground.

Mufasa immediately snapped to attention.

Sand dunes in the distance began to shift, rolling like waves across the desert. Something massive was moving beneath the surface—heading straight for Gaara.

Gaara froze.

He knew that sound.

A sandworm.

A creature hundreds of meters long, armed with monstrous fangs capable of devouring anything in its path.

Even a Jōnin wouldn't dare fight one alone.

Gaara looked up at Mufasa, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

Mufasa-sensei raised sandworms.

Mufasa grinned, excitement flashing in his eyes.

"Finally," he murmured, adjusting the electromagnetic field around his body as he floated forward.

This was exactly the kind of living raw material he needed for his next project—an automated ninja weapons factory.

In three years, he had only managed to catch three.

And now, another one had appeared.

Perfect.

With a flicker of electricity dancing around his fingertips, Mufasa surged forward.

Time to get to work.

Mufasa took his time, adjusting the magnetic field around him to slowly lift himself higher into the air.

His current altitude: 800 meters.

Below, the eyeless sand beasts leaped blindly, frantically chasing after the scent of flesh and blood. They moved without thought, driven purely by instinct.

Gaara watched from a distance as one particularly massive sand beast pursued Mufasa, launching itself nearly a hundred meters into the air.

Then, inevitably, it began to fall.

Mufasa stretched out his hands, fingers splayed wide.

"Electromagnetic Release: Magnetic Control."

The sand beast suddenly froze mid-air, an invisible force locking it in place. Its body thrashed wildly, but its movements were no longer its own.

Mufasa's blue and white eyes flashed with crackling electricity, his entire being exuding a terrifying aura, as if he commanded the very force of thunder itself.

With a loud shout, he commanded, "Rise!"

His hands lifted, palms flat. The magnetic field surged in response.

The current weight limit for his control: 10 tons.

A deep rumble shook the desert.

The ground trembled violently. A colossal sandworm, over 120 meters long and nearly 3 tons in weight, was ripped from the earth as if it were nothing more than a weed.

The creature shrieked in panic as it was flung high into the air.

"Summoning Jutsu: Twin Electromagnets!"

High above, two enormous, horseshoe-shaped electromagnets—each the size of a two-story building—flashed into existence.

An instant later, they slammed down from above.

One struck from the front, the other from behind, sealing the sandworm's head and tail between them like a pair of iron gates shutting tight.

The sandworm crashed to the ground, writhing violently. It rammed against the electromagnets, desperately trying to escape, trying to burrow back into the desert.

Mufasa wasn't about to let that happen.

"A hundred and twenty meters long? Hah, that's still a juvenile."

Might as well put it to good use.

"Electromagnetic Release: 20,000 Volts!"

A thick bolt of electricity shot from Mufasa's palm, striking the electromagnets.

The charge surged between the twin magnets, bouncing back and forth in an endless loop. The crackling arcs of lightning formed a chaotic grid, lashing against the sandworm's tough hide, scorching it with searing heat.

Sizzling sounds filled the air. Smoke rose from the creature's writhing body as the electricity burrowed into its skin, paralyzing its muscles and nerves.

After a few agonizing moments, the beast stopped moving.

Gaara, floating slightly above the ground, had watched the entire battle unfold.

He had always heard people refer to Mufasa with that strange title:

'The Unscientific Ninja'.

He had seen the sandworms nesting near the his factory.

Yet, despite all that, he had never actually seen Mufasa fight.

Mufasa spent most of his time holed up in his Faraday Ninja Company, more interested in crafting ninja tools for profit than completing missions for rewards.

Now, watching his teacher effortlessly subdue a sandworm, Gaara couldn't help but feel overwhelmed.

"Yeah, that... that doesn't seem scientific at all."

Still hovering, Gaara flew over to join Mufasa, who had just landed on the ground.

The sandworm's removal had revealed a massive hole in the earth. From its depths, a thick, dark brown liquid oozed to the surface.

Mufasa knelt down and scooped up a handful of the viscous substance.

He sniffed it. A pungent, sulfuric stench filled his nostrils.

He flicked his fingers.

A concentrated spark of high-temperature electricity shot from his hand, striking the dark pool below.

With a whoosh, the liquid erupted into flames.

Mufasa's eyes gleamed with satisfaction.

"Three years... I've been searching for this for three years, and only now did I finally stumble upon it."

Oil.

With this, he could develop an oil industry. He could build an entire economic empire around it, right here in the Sand Village.

If done right, Sunagakure could rise from poverty and become the wealthiest village in the ninja world.

Mufasa threw his head back and laughed heartily.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA FINALLY!"

Gaara stared at the dark liquid in his teacher's palm, then at the flames still burning in the pit.

"Sensei... is this the oil you mentioned?"

Mufasa handed him the sample.

"This is oil. Black gold. Liquid gold."

He grinned. "With this, our village can become the most powerful and wealthiest in the entire ninja world."

Gaara examined the substance closely, inhaling the acrid scent.

"Is that... even possible?"

Mufasa's gaze sharpened.

"Gaara, you have to believe in science."

Gaara blinked, nodding slowly, still not entirely sure what to make of it.

For now, the sandworm had to be transported.

The oil would have to wait, it won't disappear itself.

Mufasa raised a hand. "Rise!"

The surrounding sand spiraled into the air, forming a twisting tornado. The swirling mass compressed inward, condensing into a tall, solid pillar over 20 meters high, standing as a marker beside the oil pit.

"That should make it easy to find next time."

Now, for the transportation.

Mufasa clapped his hands together.

"Iron."

Electromagnetic Release allowed him to manipulate any metal at will.

Across a hundred-mile radius, iron and other metallic elements began to stir, drawn toward him like moths to a flame.

Tiny flecks of metal swirled together, forming a steadily growing cluster between his palms. What started as a speck soon grew to the size of a grape, then a fist, then a boulder.

Finally, Mufasa spread his hands apart.

In an instant, the collected metal reshaped itself into a massive, thin iron plate—100 meters in length.

He gestured, and the sandworm was gently lifted onto the plate. With a final push, he activated magnetic levitation, preparing to drag the creature back to his lab.

Gaara watched the whole thing in disbelief and sigh.

He had seen Mufasa craft tools using his jutsus countless times before.

And yet, every time, it left him in awe.

Unable to hold back his curiosity, he finally asked, "Sensei... why do you never use hand seals?"

Mufasa glanced at him and smirked.