Chapter 343: The Spoils
When Ishiro returned to Iwagakure, many people were already waiting for him inside the Tsuchikage's building.
Several high-ranking advisors and some of the key figures involved in the operation were all waiting nervously. Ishiro did a quick count; there were at least a hundred people.
Seeing Ishiro return, Bella was the first to step forward. "Ishiro, how did it go? Did you find the Monkey Clan's settlement?"
Ishiro nodded with a smile and said, "I found it. As of now, the only one left of the Monkey Clan is Hiruzen Sarutobi's summoning animal, Enma."
"Wooooah!"
"That's great!"
"We finally succeeded!"
The crowd erupted in loud cheers.
Ishiro understood what was on their minds. Whether the Monkey Clan was completely eradicated wasn't actually the most important thing; what mattered was whether their efforts over this period had paid off. Their methods had been far from righteous; describing them as contemptible clowns wouldn't be an exaggeration.
If they had failed, it would have meant that they had spent more than ten days wasting a tremendous amount of manpower and resources, all for a joke. But with success, this became a classic case study that could be written into the Ninja Academy's textbooks.
It was because of this huge difference between the two outcomes that everyone had been so nervous before and so ecstatic after receiving confirmation.
After the cheers died down, Ishiro immediately announced, "All ninja who participated in this operation will be credited with one B-rank mission. All key members will be credited with one A-rank mission. Akino Atsumi will be credited with one S-rank mission."
"Oh! Long live the Fourth Lord!"
"The Fourth Lord is brilliant!"
"Haha, I finally have an A-rank mission on my record!"
"I'm going to redeem a ninjutsu! I'll go as soon as the reward comes through."
After a little while, Ishiro said, "Alright, everyone has worked hard for the past ten-plus days. Go back and rest. The high-level officials will stay for a meeting. Akino, you join us as well."
"By the way, this was a surprise attack on a Konoha ally, so it's considered classified. If Konoha doesn't proactively announce this, we are to keep it confidential."
"Yes, sir," the crowd responded in unison, then dispersed.
Those remaining moved to the meeting room. Ishiro said to Akino Atsumi, "Akino, you've worked hard this time, going without sleep for over ten days. Go back and rest well for a few days. There's no rush to continue the research on space-time ninjutsu."
"A major war won't break out in the ninja world in the short term, so we still have time. You're still young, don't put too much pressure on yourself."
Akino Atsumi nodded and said, "Master Ishiro, I am now almost able to set up the Heavenly Transfer Technique. I will need some materials."
Ishiro and the others' eyes lit up. This was precisely why Ishiro had asked her to stay; these confidential matters were not suitable for discussion in front of so many people.
"I understand. You rest well first. We'll try after you're fully rested. At that time, I will also arrange for ninja who specialize in weapon forging to assist you. The village will give you priority for any materials you need. Don't worry," Ishiro promised.
"Yes," Akino Atsumi agreed and then left the meeting room.
After Akino left, the high-level meeting officially began. Bella asked impatiently, "Ishiro, did you get anything good from the Monkey Clan?"
Iwagakure's investment in this operation had not been small. Just reassigning many ninja who could have been performing other missions to entrap the Konoha delegation had caused significant losses for the village. Then, Ishiro had publicly promised so many high-rank mission records, all of which required the village to pay out tangible rewards.
If there was no profit to be made from the Monkey Clan, then Bella would have to state her position: she would not approve of such a venture next time.
Ishiro smiled and said, "There are some things, but I haven't looked closely to see what they're worth."
He then took out everything he had obtained from the Monkey Clan's underground shelter.
Seeing that most of it consisted of scrolls, with very few actual items and not much money, Bella was somewhat disappointed. In reality, it was a considerable amount of loot; this pile of goods probably represented nearly half of the Sarutobi clan's wealth (excluding real estate). After all, the Sarutobi ninja kept many of their combat-related items with the Monkey Clan.
But from Bella's perspective, the quantity was indeed not much. Especially after having calculated the entire fiscal revenue of the Land of Snow, this small sum could no longer stir any waves in her heart.
"Hehe," Ishiro, unfazed by Bella's disappointed expression, chuckled. "The main prize isn't here. Take a look at those scrolls."
"What good could be in these scrolls? Would Hiruzen Sarutobi actually leave S-rank ninjutsu with the Monkey Clan?" Bella retorted.
She was right; of course Hiruzen wouldn't do that. If he did, and something went wrong, he, the Hokage, would be drowned in the spit of every ninja in Konoha.
"While there are some ninjutsu scrolls among them, there aren't many. Most of them are storage scrolls," Ishiro said, picking one up and handing it to Bella.
Bella and the others gathered around to take a closer look and recognized them.
As if a thought struck her, Bella said, "Don't tell me these scrolls are filled with strategic materials."
Ishiro said, "Most likely, yes. When I found these things, the other items were all scattered about; they should be personal belongings. However, only this pile of storage scrolls was stacked together neatly. I estimate these are military supplies Hiruzen prepared for war."
"Let's go. To the warehouse. Let's open the scrolls and see," Bella said without a second thought.
No one else had any objections, all expressing their desire to go along.
Soon, the group arrived at the logistics department. They sent away the other ninja on duty, leaving only the department head, Yumi. Yumi was a middle-aged female jonin who had been the head of the logistics department for several years.
This was the first time she had ever seen such a grand assembly with the Tsuchikage and the entire advisory council. Moreover, Ishiro had dismissed all other on-duty ninja as soon as he arrived, which was highly unusual. She grew nervous, though she knew she hadn't embezzled anything.
Ishiro paid her no mind and directly opened the first storage scroll.
Poof!
A huge pile of items abruptly appeared before them.
"These are all kunai. Yumi, come estimate how many there are," Bella said, startled, quickly giving an order to Yumi.
"Yes," Yumi was also shocked, but hearing Bella's words, she forced herself to focus, circled the pile of kunai once, and then gave a confident number, adding that the kunai were stacked very neatly, making them easy to count.
Ishiro looked closely at the pile of kunai, not understanding how it was neat at all.
"Very good, very good." Based on the data Yumi provided, Bella silently calculated in her head, her eyes growing brighter and brighter. Not even counting the other items, the value of this pile of kunai alone was nearly worth the cost of the operation.
Next, Ishiro opened one scroll after another.
Consumables like kunai and explosive tags were the most numerous. There were also plenty of other military supplies, such as medical kits, soldier pills, and tents. Ishiro estimated that this pile of supplies was enough for a 5,000-strong ninja army to sustain a three-month standoff with an enemy on the front lines, provided no large-scale decisive battles occurred.
It seemed Hiruzen Sarutobi's decades as Hokage were not for nothing. In certain special circumstances, these supplies could turn the tide of a failing war.
Ishiro didn't know if Hiruzen had other arrangements. He would have to be more careful in the future and not fall into the old man's traps. Previously influenced by the original story, Ishiro had never thought much of Hiruzen, but now he realized the old fox had qualities worth learning from. I am also the Tsuchikage now. I should also start making preparations for a potential war.
Ikura looked at the now-unusable storage scrolls and said, "What a pity. These scrolls can no longer be used."
Ishiro nodded. "Indeed, it's a pity. The production cost of such large-capacity storage scrolls is extremely high, and the success rate is frighteningly low. The value of these scrolls themselves is probably not much less than the supplies they held."
Saka said, "What a grand gesture from Hiruzen Sarutobi. Our village doesn't even have a single storage scroll this large. We don't even have the corresponding technology."
Ishiro comforted him, "Saka-senpai, don't be disheartened. We will have them all in the future. Whatever good things Konoha has, we'll just slowly trade for them."
"Don't forget, our line of trade with Danzō isn't broken yet! As long as Danzō hasn't given up on his ambition to become Hokage, we have a chance to get the intelligence we need from him."
Saka strongly agreed with Ishiro's words. With Ishiro around, he felt that any incredible feat could be accomplished. As for the matter with Danzō, that was practically common knowledge throughout the ninja world.
Seeing Bella and Yumi excitedly calculating the value of the goods, Saka said, "It seems this high-level meeting won't be continuing anytime soon. Let's head back first and leave this place to them."
Ishiro nodded, then turned to Megumi, who was looking on with an eager expression, wanting to join the discussion. "Go ahead if you want to."
"Okay, Master Ishiro," Megumi said, and immediately joined Bella and Yumi's discussion.
Ishiro and the others left the logistics department together.
"Ikura, how have the sparring matches with the Suna ninja been going these days? What level have they reached?" Ishiro suddenly asked about the Suna matches.
Rasa had previously agreed to all of Ishiro's demands. Chiyo's One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique, some less advanced puppetry techniques, and the so-called compensation Ishiro had demanded had all arrived in Iwagakure with the Suna delegation long ago. Since the delegation's arrival, the friendly spars between the two villages' ninja had been non-stop, though previously they had been at the chunin level. Ishiro just hadn't had a chance to check on them until now, when he finally had some free time.
"They've already progressed to jonin-level spars. I personally oversee every match. Both sides have gained a lot, especially at the jonin level. It's rare for either side to engage in life-or-death battles with ninja from another village, so the training effect is excellent."
"This model can be promoted. We can deepen our cooperation with Suna in this area. This time they only sent a dozen or so chunin and a few jonin; the number is too small."
"Also, could we perhaps conduct some friendly spars with Kumo, Kiri, or even Konoha?"
Ishiro thought for a moment and said, "Kirigakure is hard to say, but there's a good chance with Kumogakure. I remember when I was at the border, I proposed a match with the Kumo-nin, and they agreed very readily. The Kumo-nin are a bunch of warmongers; they might be even more excited about this than we are."
"As for Konoha, isn't Kakashi Hatake's group in the village right now? We can take the initiative to invite them."
"Understood. By the way, there's one more thing. Your student, Himeki Suda, has become a Quasi-Jonin. She achieved her transformation during a battle with a Suna ninja," Ikura suddenly remembered.
Before Ishiro could express his surprise, Ikura continued, "Not only did she grow, but her ninja cat, Fūka, grew along with her. Although it's still at the chunin level, it can now use ninjutsu."
"What? How is that possible? How old is Fūka? It can already use ninjutsu?" Ishiro was astounded.
Ikura gave a wry smile. "I was even more surprised than you are now when it happened."
Yoshimura Kazumasa, Katsumata, Himeki Suda, Yuran Kawazoe, Takuhiro Uchiyama, Kanako. Of the six students Ishiro had taken on at the same time, it seemed only Katsumata had yet to become a Quasi-Jonin.
They're all progressing so quickly.
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