Chapter 303: The Short Sword
The muscular blacksmith, Sekitan, asked about Ino's requirements.
"It needs good chakra conductivity, must be easy to coat with poison, powerful to wield, good-looking, and imposing…" She listed seventeen or eighteen requirements in a row.
Sekitan quickly waved his hands, signaling her to stop. Your requirements are far too many. I'm just an ordinary blacksmith; I don't have such high-level skills.
"How much is the guest's budget?" he asked, hitting the key point.
Ino thought carefully.
The village reimbursement would come later; for now, she had to pay herself. Ino calculated the money she had on hand. "Around ten million ryo, I suppose. Of course, it's fine if it goes over. Just give me some time, and I'll definitely get the money."
She really didn't have much money on her, but she could always rob someone!
What was the point of training in all this ninjutsu? Was it just to help Konoha's farmers plant their fields?
Sekitan the blacksmith was a kind man. Seeing how young Ino was, he worried that if her weapon was too good, it might bring her trouble instead.
"Don't worry, Miss Yamanaka's strength is no issue," Tatewaki chimed in from the side.
"How does she compare to you?"
"She's much, much stronger than me."
"Stronger than even you?" Sekitan was a bit surprised. Tatewaki's martial skill was quite famous in the Land of Iron. While he couldn't compare to General Mifune, among the commanders under Mifune, he was ranked near the top.
Ino had witnessed Tatewaki's skill before. Facing Sasori's Performance of a Hundred Puppets, Tatewaki had managed to hold on for more than a dozen exchanges. His strength was genuinely not weak. He might be a little less than Asuma, but he was certainly stronger than a background chunin like Raidō Namiashi.
The blacksmith nodded heavily. "I understand. Since you want a more imposing weapon, how about I use chakra metal to forge a great halberd for you?"
At first glance, it seemed fine, but upon closer thought…
Ino felt that it didn't sound like a weapon a ninja would use. Moreover, it felt… strange.
The terminology in the world of Naruto was certainly different from her previous life, but this "great halberd" could easily be misinterpreted by her.
"Um, actually… a sword is fine. A short sword, perhaps?"
The First and Second Hokage both used swords. The reason ninjas now all use kunai is mainly for convenience; carrying a long sword is a real hindrance during assassination or kidnapping missions.
Kunai are convenient for missions, but on the battlefield, they are ultimately not as effective as a sword.
At least, Ino didn't find kunai to be effective.
"Fine, it's for you to use anyway. I still think the great halberd is more imposing."
"No, thank you. A short sword will do."
Seven days later.
Ino received a short sword with chakra-conducting properties named "Shūsui." Thanks to her friendship with Tatewaki, she was given a friendly price: fifteen million ryo. Even emptying her entire savings wasn't enough. Under the cover of a dark and windy night, she changed into Deidara's attire and robbed two temples in succession to pay the full amount.
The short sword was strapped to her thigh, convenient to draw when needed.
She tried it out and found it very satisfactory.
Returning to the village, she went to Jiraiya for reimbursement.
The village wasn't wealthy at the moment, so they reimbursed her five million ryo first, with the remainder to be settled at the end of the year.
Jiraiya didn't hide it from her; he was very clear. Everything had to wait until the end of the year! We'll have money once we're done with the Sand Village! No matter how poor they were, if they could get their hands on a major hidden village like the Sand, they could squeeze them until they peed.
Ino wasn't unreasonable. Once a war started, every department would indeed need money.
A hidden village had the right to demand its ninjas participate in war unconditionally, but at the same time, the village had the obligation to pay its ninjas remuneration. The two were corresponding.
A hidden village was a standard military organization. Military pay had to be issued, weapons had to be provided, rewards had to be given for victory, and pensions had to be given for defeat. They were the same as any feudal army in any era.
Ninjas had greater independence; you couldn't just say, "I'll reward you after we win this war." That wouldn't work.
If Kakashi was sent to assassinate a certain enemy ninja, it would be counted as a B-rank mission. Upon completion, the village, as the client, had to pay. They could pay on credit, but the money had to be given eventually.
When Obito was sent to blow up the Kannabi Bridge, he indeed didn't return, and he had no direct relatives. The village could pocket his reward and pension, but a record of an A-rank mission had to be noted in his file.
A battle between hidden villages was composed of thousands of missions. If the battle lasted a long time, the number of missions would be even greater.
This was how Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the others accumulated so many S-rank missions. From digging trenches to cut off food supplies to arson and murder, the tasks were varied. This extremely inefficient mode of operation was how a hidden village commanded its ninjas.
To put it simply, this was the ultimate expression of "wages in place, Four Emperors laid to waste."
You want me to do this or that, kill this or that person? Fine, you have to pay!
The reason Konoha could suppress all four directions was because they were rich and could pay their ninjas' mission fees in full. The reason villages like the Stone and the Sand were pinned to the ground was because they had no money; they were poor!
Otherwise, what kind of impact would a single Kannabi Bridge being blown up have on the war? It's one thing to say Ninja Academy students can't walk on water, but are you telling me Genin and Chunin who graduated years ago can't walk on water either? A single bridge stopped them? What kind of river was it, the River of Flowing Sand?
Hundreds, thousands of Stone Village ninjas standing on the other side of a broken bridge, shouting, "We can't get across! Our supplies are gone, the bridge is broken!"
Doesn't that sound ridiculous? Ino could alter the terrain with ninjutsu; how many ninjas could a single broken bridge stop?
It all boiled down to one thing: the pay wasn't enough, so the Stone ninjas didn't want to fight anymore!
If the old and steadfast Third Tsuchikage wanted to go to war, he had to persuade the Daimyo of the Land of Earth. Without the Daimyo supporting them with the state's finances, the Stone Village simply couldn't afford the mission payments for so many ninjas.
It was the same for Konoha. Once the war started, Jiraiya was prepared to "protect" the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.
Ino still had a good grasp of the big picture. She knew Konoha was currently rife with internal conflicts, from the ninja clans to the commoner ninjas. Everyone had an incentive to start a war to divert internal tensions; an external war was the best solution. Money was needed everywhere now. End of the year was fine; she wasn't in a hurry.
While Jiraiya and the others were preparing to go to the Sand, Ino had nothing to do. For the sake of the Yin Nine-Tails, she went to her "cheap senior brother" Minato to ask for instruction on sealing jutsu.
Minato was renowned in the ninja world for his Flying Thunder God Technique, but in reality, his sealing jutsu was also top-tier. He was extremely proficient in the Four Symbols and Five Elements sealing techniques. He had also obtained numerous secret sealing formulas from the Uzumaki clan and was extremely knowledgeable in this area.
Ino knew how to use the Five Elements Seal but had never learned the Four Symbols Seal. This time, to seal the Yin Nine-Tails, she specifically sought him out to learn this sealing jutsu.
One taught earnestly, and the other learned diligently.
Ino felt that to reach Minato Namikaze's level of sealing jutsu—to skillfully superimpose two Four Symbols Seals into an Eight Trigrams Seal to contain the Yin Nine-Tails—would be quite difficult. Her "Hand Seal" stat of 9 was a bit low; it would require a period of hard practice.
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