Tool Reimbursement

"Huh?" Sarutobi Kagejiro quickly hushed himself, then said softly, "Shinnosuke, I didn't mean it like that."

Despite being extremely arrogant, Sarutobi Kagejiro was now like a mouse encountering a cat, completely suppressed by Sarutobi Shinnosuke.

Although they were of the same generation, and Sarutobi Kagejiro was ten years older than Sarutobi Shinnosuke, he was the one being suppressed. This showed that the Sarutobi Clan's reputation for having the worst among their peers was not unfounded.

"You're not going to apologize, huh? Fine, when we get home, we'll spar one-on-one."

"No! Shinnosuke, please spare me! I was just speaking carelessly."

Upon hearing the words "spar one-on-one," Sarutobi Kagejiro immediately shook his head desperately, his eyes filled with fear. It was clear that the so-called one-on-one spar was not friendly to him at all, and he even had psychological trauma related to it.

However, Sarutobi Kagejiro, considering his noble status, would never apologize to a lowly fishmonger. Thus, under Sarutobi Shinnosuke's overwhelming military pressure, Sarutobi Kagejiro stubbornly refused to back down.

Seeing that the two were at an impasse, Umino Sasuke interjected, "Shinnosuke, an apology isn't necessary."

"Hmph!" Sarutobi Kagejiro was overjoyed upon hearing this, looking like a petty person who had achieved a small victory.

But as soon as Umino Sasuke finished speaking, he continued, "However, deserting before battle and being inconsistent with mission intel cannot go unpunished. Otherwise, wouldn't that be encouraging Konoha Ninja to break the rules?"

"Indeed! You're right, it cannot go unpunished."

Sarutobi Shinnosuke repeatedly nodded, expressing his strong agreement. "Senior, then how should he be punished?"

"Then let him stay here to fill the void in the Aoba Squad's defense zone and take on this sentry patrol mission. As for the intel, Shinnosuke, you can take it back in Kagejiro's place."

After speaking, Umino Sasuke looked at Akimichi Toribo, clearly wanting him to make the decision.

"Oh?" Akimichi Toribo's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he quickly calculated. This proposal was excellent; it was a great opportunity to earn mission merit points.

The only problem was, doing so might seem like stealing credit.

No, this wasn't stealing credit at all.

Even if it was stealing credit, it would be Shinnosuke stealing from Kagejiro. Shinnosuke was the young clan head of the Sarutobi Clan, so this was entirely an internal matter for their clan. If arranged this way, the Sarutobi Clan might even thank him for being considerate.

Umino Sasuke, very appropriately, added, "Yoru, let Shinnosuke accompany you to deliver the intel. What do you think?"

"This..."

Gekko Yoru carefully considered the situation. From Shinnosuke and Kagejiro's conversation, he figured Shinnosuke's strength was clearly superior to Kagejiro's. Having Shinnosuke accompany him to deliver the intel would definitely increase their chances of success.

Moreover, the outpost wasn't far, and it was a suggestion from his savior. There was no reason to refuse.

Seeing that Gekko Yoru agreed, Akimichi Toribo had nothing more to say. It was definitely decided that Shinnosuke would deliver the intel in Kagejiro's place. As for safety on the way, they could simply have Maruboshi Kosuke leave a shadow clone. Since the outpost wasn't far, it would only take half a day to travel back and forth.

And so, it was happily decided, with only Sarutobi Kagejiro being the one who was hurt.

He could only stand there, bewildered in the wind.

Akimichi Toribo patted Umino Sasuke's shoulder with great satisfaction and chuckled, "Sasuke, what about the mission merit point distribution?"

"Everything will be according to Toribo-sama's arrangements. However, we did consume some explosive tags and tools while intercepting these Sand Ninja. I wonder..."

Umino Sasuke's words had a hidden meaning.

Before Umino Sasuke could explain, Akimichi Toribo immediately understood and laughed, "Reimbursement for battlefield tools and supplies, I understand the rule. It will be deducted from the spoils of war. The excess will be submitted to the village at seventy percent, and the remaining thirty percent will be distributed among us."

Konohagakure's regulations clearly stipulated that seventy percent of all spoils from a mission must be submitted, with only the remaining thirty percent considered personal spoils of war.

However, there were always countermeasures for every policy.

This spoils distribution method had a fatal loophole: the issue of tool and supply reimbursement.

For example, if a team encountered enemies during a mission and used ten kunai, then captured one hundred kunai from the enemy, theoretically, seventy percent should be submitted, which would be seventy kunai.

In reality, however, to maintain the team's combat effectiveness and deal with potential dangers at any moment, ten kunai could be taken from the spoils to restore combat power. The actual captured amount would then become ninety kunai, and seventy percent of that, or sixty-three kunai, would be submitted.

And so on, the same logic applied to the consumption of explosive tags, shuriken, and other tools.

This became an unspoken rule among ninja: tools and supplies consumed during a mission could be reimbursed from the spoils, and only the remainder would be submitted to the village.

Of course.

Regarding the spoils of war, most lower-to-middle-ranking ordinary ninja without a background dared not to hide anything. However, in terms of tool and supply reimbursement, there was still considerable room for maneuver. It was common for ordinary ninja to inflate their reimbursements by thirty percent.

For ninja clan descendants with deep backgrounds, inflating reimbursements by several or even ten times was commonplace, and extremely outrageous.

It was so outrageous that the village eventually enacted a policy stating that tool and supply reimbursements could not exceed the spoils obtained. If the spoils were insufficient for reimbursement, the excess had to be borne by the individual, thus preventing large-scale false reporting of consumption by ninja and even collusion with tool merchants to exploit the village.

Although the policy was good, there were problems in its execution.

Ordinary ninja on missions would still meticulously submit some spoils. However, ninja clan descendants with backgrounds generally did not submit anything, claiming it was all for tool consumption reimbursement. If pressed further, the image of them personally covering the village's losses with lengthy bills, bleeding and crying for the village, could easily arise.

This sort of thing had happened before, otherwise, the village would not have explicitly stipulated the policy that battlefield reimbursements could not exceed spoils, with any excess to be handled personally.

Clearly, the ninja clans had been too greedy in the past, which led the village to enact this reimbursement limit.

However, this further exacerbated the wealth gap between ninja.

Ninja clan descendants who were not short on money would go on missions and claim full reimbursement for their consumption, essentially submitting no spoils.

Middle and lower-tier ordinary ninja, who were not well-off to begin with, had to submit at least eighty percent of their spoils.

Why at least eighty percent, not seventy percent or less?

That was naturally because the right to evaluate the value of captured goods was not in the hands of these middle-to-lower-tier ordinary ninja without backgrounds.

The price of a kunai from a local workshop and a kunai from the Land of Artisans could differ by more than tenfold.

It's the Logistics Department's brass who decide the value of captured goods, not me.

To get a fair assessment of captured loot, shouldn't we give our Logistics Department colleagues a small appraisal fee? Charging only ten percent is already quite generous.

The Logistics Department of Sunagakure is directly controlled by the Elder Council, and their appraisal fee is a whopping thirty percent. Coupled with the seventy percent handed over to the village, it means all war spoils are surrendered, leaving almost nothing for themselves.

Do you know how the Daimyo of the Land of Wind suppresses the sand bandits within his country?

If all war spoils must be surrendered, who would bother pretending to be a sand bandit and risk their necks robbing merchant caravans for no reward?

The Daimyo of the Land of Wind might not be impressive externally, but internally, he's an absolute master. The fact that he can suppress the impoverished Sunagakure shows how high his political acumen is.