Naruto: The Scientific Ninja

Lord Torifune, with all due respect, even if we deduct the cost of the supplies from the loot, I'm afraid it won't be enough to cover our losses," Sasuke said, a tone of careful and worried deliberation in his voice.

"How could it not be enough?" Torifune replied, adopting a scholarly air to instruct his ignorant subordinate. "Although common Sand ninja don't have valuable loot, there are three puppeteers here, and their puppets are very valuable." With a gesture of bold generosity, he added, "And if it's still not enough, then we'll follow the rules. All the loot will be considered as a loss to cover your expenses!"

Aburame Shibi, at his side, hastily tugged at his captain's sleeve and reminded him in a low voice, "Captain, we should clean the battlefield first and then make a decision."

"Yes, clean the battlefield first," Torifune agreed, realizing he had perhaps said too much. But the words were already spoken, and it was difficult to take them back.

"Tekudō, come here and report the loss of supplies," Sasuke said, gesturing to his subordinate.

Thus, the group of Konoha ninja began to clean the battlefield. The work was simple: use sealing scrolls to collect the useful ninja corpses and gear, and at the same time, cross-reference the accounts to ensure there was no outrageous fraud in the loss report.

"What? Did you say you used one hundred and fifty exploding tags?" Torifune, who was sitting, leaped to his feet, his eyes wide. "One hundred and fifty? That's not 'losing some supplies'!"

Slightly increasing the reimbursement was customary, but this seemed excessive. The price of exploding tags had more than doubled; 150 of them would cost over 600,000 ryo. That almost equaled the reward for a peacetime S-rank mission.

"Lord Torifune, look at the effect of the explosion. I truly haven't exaggerated," Sasuke said, pointing with a distressed look at the location of the trap.

"You think I have no experience? There are eighty or ninety tags there at most."

"Look over there," Sasuke continued. "I used more tags to detonate two Fūma Shuriken. Those two were custom-made in the Land of Artisans. Each one cost 50,000 ryo. It's too expensive... It seems I'll have to eat frugally for a good while."

"Well, alright," Torifune nodded. According to that statement, the loss was only inflated by about 30%, which was reasonable. Other clan ninja would have reported two or three times as much.

The problem wasn't the reimbursement rate, but the enormous base figure.

Sasuke, seeing his superior yielding, quickly added, "The tools from Tekudō's Tsurugi no Ranman can mostly be recycled, so I won't report that loss."

"Good, not bad," Torifune nodded, satisfied. Those blades were excellent products, and even if recycled, the repair costs would amount to tens of thousands of ryo. For him not to claim them showed this subordinate was sensible.

However, before Torifune could feel relieved, Sasuke pointed to the two huge, shattered iron gates. "And then there are these... they're broken, just scrap copper and iron. It seems they'll have to be remade. I'll just charge you for the repair. You can tell me the price."

"I could reimburse you for an S-rank mission. How about that?"

"Great."

"You're dreaming!" Torifune snapped. "Forget it. No need to report further. I'll give you all the loot from this battle. The merit points for stopping these Sand ninja will also be yours. That way you can recoup some money."

Toribō, the Akimichi, observed the two iron gates. The raw steel alone was worth over a million ryo. Adding the production cost and the sealing spells, it would cost several million ryo. An S-rank mission only paid over a million. These two gates alone were worth several S-rank missions' worth of merit points. It was impossible to reimburse. This victory had been won, literally, with money.

"Sasuke," Torifune said, his tone now a mixture of compassion and deep respect, "take it easy from now on. I know you do everything for the village, but it's not a good idea for you to keep funding the war out of your own pocket. Manpower will always run out. In the future, when you have a wife and children, you'll know how expensive everything is. Oh, forget it, I'm not going to nag you."

He looked at Sasuke, who possessed an iron Will of Fire, with some pity. "Although your loss this time is great, it's not all for nothing. The information that Kagejirō and the others brought back is extraordinary. When the merit points for that intelligence mission are divided, after Shinnosuke and the others get their share, you'll be able to recoup some of your losses."

"Lord Torifune is generous! But 30% is enough," Sasuke said, knowing not to be too greedy.

Getting 30% of a high-level intelligence mission was already a huge achievement, possible only thanks to Torifune's support. Without him, he'd be lucky to get 10%.

"Alright, 30% then," Torifune nodded, his knowledge of Sasuke's interpersonal skills further improved, valuing him even more. There were many ninja with the Will of Fire, but it was rare to find one who possessed it and was also shrewd.

"I also want to thank you for your support, Lord Torifune," Sasuke continued his praise. At the end of the compliment, he discreetly slipped two bags of homemade dried fish into Torifune's hands.

"Huff! Huff!" Torifune quickly sniffed the air, and his eyes suddenly lit up. Besides the salty flavor, there was also a curry flavor, and it was a secret recipe. In Konoha, this item wasn't so expensive, but on the front lines, it was a scarce commodity. Faced with the assault of food diplomacy, Torifune immediately gave in and promised that if Sasuke suffered any injustice in the future, he should just report it, with the attitude of an older brother protecting his younger brother.

"Captain, your water bat hasn't been reported yet," Tekudō reminded him, approaching with a small notebook.

"Yes, my water bat," Sasuke remembered. His summoning beast had been cut in two and had fallen into the river. At that moment, a large swarm of black parasite insects flew by. Inside it, a cluster of blackish-blue things could be faintly seen: the two halves of the water bat's body.

Obviously, Aburame Shibi had been paying attention to the entire process. Before cleaning the battlefield, he had already used his parasite insects to retrieve the water bat's body from the river.