the rapid development in naruto makes a lot more sense to me lwk. since it was alr neo-feudal, as more chakra techniques are discovered and developed, expansion and the village's ability to do more increases exponentially.
like just practically, what different elemental releases could be used for. also imagine like businesses using chakra. water jutsus would do reservoirs, fire release would be hella useful in steel production, and wind release could be mills? idk abt wind, but probs that, some sort of energy production. and lightning release (my fav) would js accelerate the development of electricity's presence across the elemental nations. they did have things like TVs, even in og naruto. so im iffy abt what stage of electrical powering they had. but regardless chakra creates entire industries. earth jutsus could do, like, tunneling companies. i always felt like the anbu would've used some elaborate, secret and confusing underground tunnel system as their hq.
that's another thing i felt was hella underdeveloped: the ANBU. there's all these, like, headcanons and made-up stories abt what goes on in there and what their system is like. but there's nothing official, because it's never been expanded into. though, of course, they're the black ops that handle counterintelligence, espionage, and assassinations. beyond that, however, everything else is rarely seen. i always hoped to know abt their internal investigations, infiltration cells, undercover shit, financial surveillance (this especially), and political manipulation. there's no way they weren't used for things like that, considering hiruzen and danzo's nasty plans to handle the political crisis with the uchiha's and their coup plans. mostly the anbu are js elite fighters and guards in masks.
