Money Release Secret Technique

"Then again, being a Konoha Chunin wasn't so bad."

Given his current status and income, compared to his previous life, he was basically a senior workhorse at a major corporation in one of the Five Great Rogue Nations.

The kind of senior workhorse a major corporation would not casually lay off, who would keep working until he died.

The only downside was that, like those workhorses, he faced the risk of sudden death—and the risk was absurdly high.

"But I don't want to die young."

No, he still had to work hard to master several advanced ninjutsu. The ninja world was simply too dangerous.

Knowing only the Three Basic Jutsu and one C-rank Water Release: Water Prison Technique gave him no sense of security at all.

This body had only Water Release as its innate chakra nature. Thanks to his strong mental strength, his chakra control was decent. If he could develop a second chakra nature, it should solve his severe shortage of chakra.

But the question was, how could he develop other chakra natures?

He had absolutely no idea. Damn ninjutsu monopoly.

No matter where he went, he could not escape monopolized paths of advancement and rigid social classes.

After going in circles, it all came back to risking his life for Konoha, diligently completing all kinds of high-level missions, earning enough Mission Merit Points, and exchanging them for ninjutsu.

Wasn't that just selling his blood for scraps, then seizing a slim possible chance to pass the civil service exam? Even more frustratingly, plenty of people did not even get that chance.

Damn ninja world. Damn Hiruzen Sarutobi. His top-level design for civilian ninja was so airtight, and he even monopolized everything. Why not design those ninja clans into the system too? Civilian ninja were just easier to control, was that it?

He knew all too well about the various open and covert preferential policies granted to Konoha ninja clan disciples.

His squad had an Inuzuka Young Master named Inuzuka Ryo, born into a branch family of the Inuzuka Clan.

The Inuzuka Clan was not a Konoha magnate like the Uchiha or Senju, nor was it even one tier below those great ninja families. It was a Konoha Second-Rate Ninja Clan.

A second-rate ninja clan was not large, but neither was it small. It enjoyed every benefit a ninja clan ought to have.

Leaving aside everything else, Inuzuka Ryo had no worries whatsoever about obtaining ninjutsu. He could easily learn all manner of Clan Secret Jutsu perfectly suited to him from his own clan.

He had no need to risk his life for Konoha, stockpile Mission Merit Points, and exchange them for ninjutsu.

Moreover, aside from their respectable combat strength, the Inuzuka Clan's secret jutsu also granted extremely powerful sensory ability.

Ninja were often fragile glass cannons with high offense and low defense. There were countless counters and unexpected situations; even a Kage-Level Expert could be stabbed to death with a kunai. Naturally, intelligence was crucial in ordinary ninja battles.

Grasping an enemy's intelligence basically meant grasping their lifeline.

Not just in ordinary ninja battles—even in large-scale ninja wars, key victories were often achieved because someone had obtained critical intelligence.

Born into the Inuzuka Clan, Inuzuka Ryo naturally possessed excellent sensory ability and was unquestionably a skilled hand at intelligence gathering and reconnaissance.

It was precisely because Inuzuka Ryo was there that his cannon fodder squad's cannon fodder pedigree no longer seemed so pure.

Logically speaking, a sensor ninja like Inuzuka Ryo, who came from a ninja clan and was so highly sought after, should not have appeared in his squad.

It had to be said that the wisdom and philosophy of his ancestors from his previous life remained useful everywhere.

He had only managed to get Inuzuka Ryo transferred over after spending a Land of Wind tanto and having a friendly exchange with Shikaku Nara.

That Land of Wind tanto was not particularly valuable. It was not even a fine piece in the eyes of a Konoha Jonin. But Sunagakure was poor. Though the Land of Wind mined so many minerals, the blades and swords issued to Suna ninja were the shabbiest among the Five Great Ninja Powers.

Konoha cannon fodder bled on the battlefield. Even if they died, at least there was basic compensation, and as long as no one targeted the war orphans left behind at home, they could still live reasonably well.

Those Suna ninja who went to the battlefield, on the other hand, bled and cried alike. Even Sunagakure itself was like a stepchild; there was no need to mention the circumstances of its lower-ranking ninja. It was enough to make anyone who heard of it sad and anyone who listened weep.

Capturing a custom Sunagakure ninja blade was already no easy feat. The honor value it carried went without saying.

Even if it were traded on the Black Market, it could sell at quite a premium, especially with the small nick he had deliberately added to the edge.

That was the finishing touch, adding considerably to its honor value.

Of course, thinking he could establish connections with Shikaku Nara through one Land of Wind tanto alone would be underestimating the value of a Konoha magnate jonin.

Even if an ordinary cannon fodder Chunin took the initiative to grovel, those Konoha magnate jonin might not spare him a single glance.

The Nara Clan's ninja might seem amicable toward everyone, but in truth, their political awareness was extremely high, and they were exceedingly pragmatic.

If he had not come from the Sarutobi Faction and thus been naturally close to the Ino-Shika-Cho clans, how could an ordinary civilian Chunin like him possibly have established a connection with Shikaku Nara?

As one of the Konoha ninja clans in the ninja world with the greatest political wisdom, the Nara Clan's discreet support for ninja from the Third Hokage's faction—

Was everywhere.

And as subtle as rain nourishing the earth.

His being sent to the Land of Rivers battlefield and assigned a sentry patrol mission rather than being sent to fight and kill on the Land of Rain battlefield involved, to some extent, political considerations stemming from his background as an affiliate of the Sarutobi Clan. Believing it was luck would be less credible than believing Shikaku Nara had taken a liking to him because he found him handsome.

It could not be because his subordinates had already been replaced two and a half times, yet he had not gone blind or lost an arm or leg, so his survival ability had caught Shikaku Nara's eye, could it?

For Shikaku Nara, temporarily assigning a sensor ninja like Inuzuka Ryo to his squad was merely a matter of lifting a hand.

Just an idle move on the board.

But for the Umino Patrol Squad, it was an event capable of changing their fate.

To keep Inuzuka Ryo, that somewhat simple-minded ninja clan young master, permanently in his squad, he had put considerable thought into it. Unfortunately, though Inuzuka Ryo was not as arrogant as most ninja clan disciples, he shared some of their rigid and unpleasant habits.

His conduct was exceptionally ninja-like. Everything followed the arrangements of his clan and his superiors.

The good part was that, as Captain, he did not need to establish any authority at all. He merely had to issue orders, and Inuzuka Ryo would obey. He was extremely useful.

The bad part was that the moment the Inuzuka Family or a superior officer summoned him, he could be transferred away at any time.

There was no way to win him over. He had thought Inuzuka Ryo would soon be transferred away, but unexpectedly, Xiao Xiao, the least noticeable new member of the squad, easily captured that Inuzuka Young Master's heart and kept him in the squad for good.

Xiao Xiao was not some great beauty. She was only a twelve-year-old round little girl, one meter three tall and nearly two hundred pounds. Her innate chakra nature was quite good—she had the rare Lightning Release—and aside from the Three Basic Jutsu, she had also mastered a D-Rank Lightning Style.

The little girl had decent ninja talent, though nothing extraordinary. She was a standard Konoha Civilian Ninja without even a surname. Apparently, her ancestors had not left behind any hidden bloodline either.

The little girl was optimistic, kind, and mentally strong, with an extremely approachable nature. She could even turn the shortcomings of her figure directly into an advantage of personality. Less than half a day after joining the squad, she successfully captured the heart of Akitaru, Inuzuka Ryo's ninja hound brother.

Perhaps the Inuzuka Young Master had grown tired of rich food and delicacies and genuinely preferred plain cabbage soup. In less than a week, he had fallen for Xiao Xiao, and another week later, he had turned into a complete simp.

He had quite a bit of Akitaru's style.

If he had not believed that kind-hearted, mentally strong Xiao Xiao truly possessed such charm, he might have thought turning into a simp was a side effect of the Inuzuka Family's Beast Mimicry Secret Jutsu.

Unfortunately, falling blossoms had feelings, but flowing water had none.

Xiao Xiao liked another member of the squad instead—Tejudo, who was even larger and heavier than she was.

Tejudo was also one of his old subordinates. After another batch of his men had been wiped out by Sand Puppeteers, Tejudo was a capable man he had carefully selected.

Of course.

Ninja from clans and those with talent naturally were not his to choose.

Tejudo's ninjutsu talent could only be called average. His chakra natures were Fire and Earth Release, making him a dual-nature chakra user, so his innate attributes were fairly decent. As for elemental ninjutsu, he only knew the Three Basic Jutsu.

The reason he had caught his eye and been selected was entirely because Tejudo had mastered a powerful secret technique: Money Release.