Chapter 60: It's Not Like They Can Chase Me Here for Copyright Fees
However, even though this was "garbage time"—a war of attrition fought by continuously sending in small squads—Sunagakure couldn't just send its people out to die for nothing.
The various pieces of equipment Hiiro Rinko had designed, working overtime for two years before the war, were distributed in batches to the Suna shinobi.
For example, the scale-mail-style multi-layer armor worn under the standard tactical vest. It reduced thickness while compensating for the lack of strength with a multi-layered structure, lowering costs and allowing it to be distributed to more shinobi.
The same went for leg armor. While shinobi from all nations preferred sandals for their light weight, flexibility, and ease of releasing Chakra for tree-climbing or water-walking, in an environment like the Land of Rain where wounds heal slowly, it was better to not get those small cuts in the first place, rather than bother the already overworked medical-nin.
But more than the armor, it was the weapons that received the most praise.
The Fake Exploding Tags (Kibaku Fuda), which only glowed and didn't explode, were issued in even greater numbers than the real ones.
When Rinko first threw one, he had even faked out Chiyo. It was an excellent tool for creating openings, gaining the initiative, or diverting attention at a critical moment.
Survivors had brought intel on these back to Ame and Konoha, but what good did it do?
The person throwing it knows if it's real or fake, but is the person it's flying at willing to take that bet?
Because it didn't require a blast formula, its cost was far lower than a real Exploding Tag. Even with the added self-igniting function (to prevent enemy recovery), the cost of a fake tag was, on average, one-fifth that of a high-quality tag, and about one-third of a standard one. A bargain.
The shuriken launcher had been optimized into many versions. The most commonly used were the mass senbon-poison-dart model and the irregular-shuriken model.
The former was simple: it didn't aim to kill, but to achieve wide-area suppression, firing hundreds of poison-coated senbon per second. It easily paralyzed targets, who could then be finished off with a kunai.
The latter's ammunition was much more warped than a standard shuriken, making it hard to throw by hand but also creating wounds that were difficult to stitch up. The main goal, again, was not to kill, but to drain the enemy's medical resources.
In the Land of Rivers, the exploding-kunai-launcher was used often. Rasa, who had now inherited the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release, could use his Gold Dust to create footholds, carrying a team into the air to rain down firepower.
The reason they didn't do that here in the Land of Rain was simple: considering the weather, flying too high makes you a target for lightning. Especially when your 'cloud' is made of Gold Dust.
Rinko, on the other hand, loved the climate here. His skin and eyes weren't dry, and more importantly, his Water Release (Suiton) was much easier to use. As a practitioner of Yang Release, his tolerance for environments was much higher than a normal shinobi's. Temperature and humidity were just 'dislikes,' not real, substantial hindrances. But the expansion of his tactical options was vital.
He never thought the village would let him come to the war. Before this, he wasn't even allowed to leave the village for missions. When he asked Chiyo, his cheap adoptive mother's answer had left him speechless.
'Your 'probation' ended a long time ago. We didn't send you on missions, not because we were afraid you'd defect, but because the village felt you were more valuable doing research.'
'And besides, you didn't want to go, did you?'
He wasn't wrong. Compared to 'serving clients,' staying in the village and researching was far more comfortable. He had money, he had time. Aside from a serious lack of manpower, it was perfect.
Rinko was participating in this war because his brain was important. He was a ringer for tactical planning and counter-intelligence.
And for situations like this: Chiyo had just mysteriously taken a bunch of Jōnin and several Chūnin squads and left the battlefield, leaving him in command.
When he'd asked why, all he got was: 'Special mission. Don't ask, brat. Just hold the fort for a month or two.' A total brush-off.
What could Rinko say? The front was just small-scale skirmishes anyway. It didn't need delicate command.
Besides, in the year he'd been on this battlefield, he had used Transformation Jutsu and simple disguises to operate as three different people, all acquaintances from his past life who didn't exist here: 'Gojō Satoru, Master of Wind and Water,' 'Kokichi Muta, Puppet Master,' and 'Fushiguro Toji, Taijutsu Expert.'
After he took down six Ame Jōnin and three from Konoha, no one questioned whether he was just a "desk-job Jōnin" who had padded his stats.
As for why he used disguises... one, to feed the enemy false intel. Two, he didn't want to expose himself.
Fame? What's the use of fame?
Rinko wasn't planning on making money by taking missions. That pocket change wouldn't even make a splash in his research pit, and the missions themselves were often long, boring, and a waste of time. In fact, if he became too famous as a shinobi, wouldn't it be harder to go to other places and scam—ah, no, solicit funding?
Just then, an autonomous puppet in the shape of a blackbird landed at his tent opening. He retrieved the puppet, opened its stomach, and reviewed the recorded footage.
"Taijutsu Squad, get ready—"
A moment later, after finishing the last of his tea and feeling his state was adjusted, Rinko began his preparations. The 'Taijutsu Squad' wasn't a squad of taijutsu users; it was the squad whose combat style was best suited to his 'Taijutsu Expert' persona.
A few minutes later, a lean man with short, black hair, pupils as small as Rasa's, and a scar on the corner of his mouth walked out of the tent. He cracked his neck, rotated his arms, and took his three-section staff from a scroll, attaching it to his waist.
"The 'Heavenly Curse' Incarnate, Fushiguro Toji, is heading out—"
Borrowing the appearance of an old client who had died many years before him, Hiiro Rinko returned to the battlefield.