Operational Plans and Ninja Tool Development

Takuma threw another set of shuriken, his accuracy with curved trajectories showing significant improvement.

Tenten jumped down from the railing and brushed some non-existent dust off her pants.

"Not bad, it's barely passable now."

"Barely?" Takuma shook his aching wrists. "I've been practicing from scratch, can't you give me some sincere praise?"

"Praise is reserved for clients who have paid off their debts." Tenten remained expressionless. "How much do you owe me again?"

"...Can we turn the page on this topic?"

"No." Tenten pulled a small notebook from her ninja tool pouch, flipped it open, and revealed pages densely packed with dates and items.

"Enough, enough." Takuma snatched the notebook and closed it. "I admit it, I admit everything. You're actually keeping a ledger?"

"My dad says business is business, and personal favors are personal favors." Tenten took the notebook back and tucked it into her pouch, her tone dead serious. "Keeping public and private matters separate is the way of business."

Takuma was speechless.

It seemed there was a reason Tenten's family ninja tool shop had been in business for so many years.

The two tidied up the training ground, gathering the scattered shuriken and kunai.

As she bent down to pick them up, Tenten asked casually, "By the way, how has your chakra control training been going lately?"

"It's alright, why?"

"I've been thinking about something." Tenten put the last shuriken into her bag, turned to face Takuma, and her expression grew more serious than before. "Your recovery ability is your greatest advantage, but your current fighting style doesn't actually push that advantage to its limit."

Takuma leaned against a wooden post, signaling for her to continue.

"Look, you can withstand several times the damage of an average ninja, and your wounds heal much faster than a normal person's. This means you can use tactics others wouldn't dare to." Tenten pulled two explosive tags from her pouch and held them between her fingers. "For example, detonating explosive tags at close range to use the shockwave against the enemy, while you rely on your physical constitution to tank it."

Takuma imagined the scene, his expression subtle.

"So my tactic is to strap myself with explosive tags and charge into a pile of enemies?"

"The effect would be explosive." Tenten nodded earnestly.

"...Are you trying to turn me into a suicide bomber?"

"It's a metaphor, I'm talking about tactical strategy!" Tenten slapped the explosive tags onto his chest, annoyed. "Explosive tags are just the basics. There's also using smoke bombs for close-quarters assaults, killing enemies in a poison gas environment, or using yourself as bait for traps. These tactics are life-or-death gambles for ordinary ninjas, but for you, they just cost a bit of stamina."

It wasn't that he hadn't thought of these things.

In fact, he had done exactly that in previous battles.

But Tenten's approach was much more systematic than his own; she wasn't looking at it from the perspective of ninjutsu, but from the perspective of reinforcing him through equipment.

"How do you think we should actually do this?"

Tenten's eyes lit up. She clearly had ideas already and was just waiting for Takuma to cooperate.

"First, your ninja tool configuration needs an upgrade." She squatted down and drew a rough diagram on the ground with her finger. "A standard ninja tool pouch has limited capacity, but you can carry a large amount of backup equipment using sealing scrolls. I can handle that for you; my dad just got a batch of high-capacity sealing scrolls, I'll give you a twenty percent discount."

"...You're still trying to upsell me at a time like this?"

"This is called resource integration." Tenten continued without changing her expression. "Then, the most critical part: chakra conduction for ninja tools."

She drew the outline of a kunai on the ground and added a few lines to it.

"Chakra-conducting metal, you've heard of it, right? Attaching chakra to a weapon can significantly increase its lethality and even achieve some special effects."

Takuma nodded. He knew the concept; the katana he had seized earlier belonged to this category.

"The problem is that chakra-conducting metal is expensive." When Tenten said this, her tone carried the regret of a professional. "Very expensive. Even our shop only has a small piece in stock—it's my dad's hidden treasure."

"Then why bring it up?"

"Because I thought of an alternative." Tenten looked up, a gleam in her eyes like she had discovered a business opportunity. "You don't need the whole weapon to be made of conducting metal. You only need to inlay a small piece at the tip of the blade to achieve partial conduction. The lethality will be reduced, but the cost can be cut to one-tenth of the original."

Takuma squatted down to examine the diagram on the ground closely.

Tenten's drawing skills were much better than her taijutsu; the schematic was very clear.

If they could really make this "economy version" of a chakra-conducting kunai, then combined with his fighting style, his lethality would increase by at least thirty percent.

"Is this approach feasible?"

"Theoretically, yes. In practice, it needs testing." Tenten was honest. "And even if the cost is lowered, mass production isn't cheap. The cost of one would be about seven or eight times that of a regular kunai."

"Then what about that twenty percent discount you mentioned earlier?"

"Fifteen pieces minimum for the discount." Tenten replied quickly. "I'll also throw in a custom-made ninja tool pouch—waterproof, fireproof, and double the capacity of the standard version."

Takuma looked at her, and she looked at Takuma.

"You know, sometimes I think you're better suited to be a merchant than a ninja."

"They aren't mutually exclusive." Tenten laughed. "When I retire, I'll go back to inherit the shop. By then, you can be a regular customer, and I'll give you a ten percent discount."

"Only ten percent for childhood friends?"

"Childhood friends have to eat, too."

The two looked at each other for a moment and couldn't help but laugh.

Tenten stood up, pulled a charcoal pencil and a piece of paper from her pouch, and began to make a list.

"I'll go back and make five test versions first. The chakra-conducting fragment will be inlaid at the tip, about three millimeters in size. The kunai body will be made of quenched steel, keeping the weight the same, but adjusting the balance point to one finger-width in front of the handle. This way, the feel for standard throwing won't be affected, but you'll need to recalibrate the force for curved throws."

"Can you make a version specialized for curves directly?"

"I can, but that requires a separate mold." Tenten recorded quickly on the paper. "We'll test the standard version first. If the results are good, we'll customize the curved version based on your throwing habits. By the way, besides kunai, do you want shuriken too?"

"Shuriken have a small contact area. Won't the conduction efficiency be too poor?"

"Not necessarily. If it's a straight-trajectory shuriken, the contact time is short, so the conduction effect is indeed limited." Tenten tilted her head and thought. "But if combined with your curved throws, the shuriken stays at a wider angle against the target, so the conduction time is actually longer."

Takuma recalled how his curved throws hit.

It was true; when a curved shuriken hit a target, it often cut in with the side blade, a completely different angle from a straight-line piercing strike.

The fact that Tenten could deduce conduction efficiency from ballistic characteristics showed that her understanding of ninja tools went far beyond the level of just "knowing how to use them."

"Did you learn all this from your dad?"

"Half and half." Tenten lifted her chin proudly. "I learned a lot from helping out at the shop. The other half I figured out myself. Don't forget, I'm a woman aiming to become a legendary ninja tool master."

"Alright, Master." Takuma smiled and pointed to the list in her hand. "So, besides kunai and shuriken, what else do you recommend?"

Tenten had been asked exactly what she wanted to hear, and she excitedly flipped to a new page.

"The third category: trap-type ninja tools." She drew several diagrams of different shapes on the paper. "The explosive tag traps you're using now are too basic. The trigger method is too simple, and experienced ninjas can spot them at a glance. I suggest upgrading to composite traps: smoke bombs with explosive tags, flashbangs with poison gas bombs, or multiple series of steel wire with detonating tags."

"My dad doesn't let me sell trap-type ninja tools individually because they're too dangerous. But if I make them myself and you're the one using them, he should agree."

Takuma looked at her earnest profile, and a warmth welled up in his heart.

Tenten's tone was very flat when she said these things, as if she were discussing what to have for dinner.

She could have spent this time on her own training, yet she was willing to help her "debt-ridden" neighbor make equipment.

"Tenten."

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

Tenten's hand paused for a moment, then she continued scribbling on the paper, her voice quieter than before: "What are you thanking me for? It's not free. It's all on the ledger. Once you get promoted to Chunin and your mission pay increases, you can pay me back slowly."

"How long will that take to pay off?"

"Let's talk after the Chunin exams are over." Tenten winked at him. "If you get promoted, I'll give you a twenty percent discount. If you lose and come back, it's full price, plus interest."

"Your way of motivating me is so practical."