If they did not inflate the military budget accounts, why would the Daimyo of the Land of Fire allocate so much funding to Konoha? It would have been good enough if he did not cut the military budget.
If they did not take such a ruthless cut, where would those ordinary lower-ranking ninjas find the motivation to work hard on missions?
And if they did not risk their lives, how could they awaken their Ninja Will, improve their strength, and keep contributing to Konoha?
This policy was quite beneficial to Konoha. The only ones hurt were the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and those ordinary lower-ranking ninjas.
Unfortunately, when frontline officers saw the village doing this, they followed suit. They learned from the Logistics Department and took cuts from their lower-ranking ninjas. Those who did not understand the rules were given suicidal orders as warnings. Those who dared refuse could clear minefields, dismantle traps, or serve as bait—there was always an option for them.
Over time, the superior officers did not even need to bring it up. The lower-ranking ninjas would proactively offer up this so-called battlefield guidance fee under all sorts of pretexts. The most common method was for them to spend their own money buying Explosive Tags and bladed weapons for their superior officers to use. That way, even Shimura Danzō would not be able to find any evidence against them.
Thus, after a ninja war, Konoha would suffer countless casualties, yet a whole pack of fat rats would be enriched. The ninja clan disciples with connections in particular acted with utter impunity.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, later realized there was a problem and finally thought of reform. Yet he never found a good solution. This culture had already taken root, becoming too deeply entrenched and