NARUTO: Ninja World Scientific Revolution

"Lord Orochimaru, we have gathered a lot of useful information from these Sand Ninja's heads. Currently, the only one stationed at Bōsha Town is the Sand Ninja puppet master, Chiyo. However, she is the only high-ranking official from Sunagakure here; the Fourth Kazekage is still in the village, organizing resources and personnel. He won't lead his forces to Bōsha Town for at least another ten days." 

A member of the Yamanaka clan, a ninja, slowly relayed the information to Orochimaru and the other elite jōnin leaders. It was fortunate for Hyūga Mirai that among the Sand Ninja, one of them had a brother who was a jōnin. When this ninja was at home, he overheard plenty of valuable intel from his older brother, which the Yamanaka clan's ninja were able to extract from his memory. 

Orochimaru spoke up, his voice raspy, "How many Sand Ninja are in Bōsha Town?" 

Yamanaka Kaze answered, "Based on the memories from these Sand Ninja and the intelligence brought in by other reconnaissance teams, there are approximately 1,100 ninja in Bōsha Town. However, this number includes non-combatant ninja, so the exact count is unclear." 

With 1,100 Sand Ninja in Bōsha Town and only about 700 Leaf Ninja in Kikyō City(including reinforcements), of whom only 430 are combat-capable, the numbers seemed to favor the Sand Ninja. However, Leaf Ninja are generally more skilled, particularly in ninjutsu, especially the various types of elemental release techniques. This is an area in which the Leaf Ninja significantly outclass the Sand. Even the cautious Nara Shikaku had to acknowledge the Leaf's advantage in this regard. 

After thinking for a moment, Nara Shikaku concluded that a surprise attack on Bōsha Town would benefit the Leaf Village. Even if the results weren't overwhelming, such an attack would serve as a deterrent for the Sand Ninja. 

However, Nara Shikaku also knew he couldn't take responsibility for starting a war. If it weren't for Orochimaru being the overall commander and insisting on this, Shikaku would have tried to dissuade him. 

"There's one more thing," Yamanaka Kaze hesitated for a moment before deciding to speak. 

"The ten Sand Ninja's ninja tool pouches were all taken by Hyūga Mirai. When I questioned him, he only handed over a mission order from the Kazekage." 

Orochimaru interrupted in his hoarse voice, "Kaze, there's no need to report such trivial matters. The information from the Sand Ninja's heads is all we need." 

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." 

Yamanaka Kaze wasn't without discretion; he merely thought that there might be other valuable information in the ninja tool pouches that should be analyzed by the intelligence team. However, since Orochimaru had spoken, Kaze didn't press the issue further. 

Inside the room, Hyūga Kiyo glanced at Hyūga Mirai with a slight frown and said, "You should've handed over the items to them. They'll return them to you later anyway." 

"There was no need for that. A chunin usually only carries a mission order, and who would be foolish enough to put confidential information on a chunin? Instead of following a pointless process, it's better to be straightforward with them," Hyūga Mirai replied, as he methodically opened the ninja tool pouches, having already inspected their contents. 

There were 240 shuriken, 160 kunai, 70 explosive tags, along with soldier pills, chakra wires, and puppet scrolls. 

Hyūga Mirai estimated the total value of these items, considering the resale value. If sold, they could easily fetch over three million ryo, with the majority of that being the value of the several puppets. 

Hyūga Mirai took out the puppets from the scrolls and inspected them. With his Byakugan, he could see all the mechanisms within the puppets clearly. Even the chakra wire, which controlled the puppets' movements, was visible. 

"These puppets are easy to control," Hyūga Mirai mused, connecting his five fingers to the chakra wires. A small flow of chakra was enough to make the puppets move according to his will. 

"Stop talking nonsense!" Hyūga Kiyo scoffed, immediately dousing his enthusiasm with cold water. "Do you think everyone is like you? With your Byakugan, it's easy to see the mechanisms, and your chakra control is excellent." 

Seeing Hyūga Mirai expertly control the puppets with ease on his first try, Hyūga Kiyo couldn't help but exclaim, "Perhaps you should consider developing the puppets as a new skill. That kind of chakra control is rare even within the Hyūga clan." 

"Forget it, puppets that require direct control are too simple for me," Hyūga Mirai quickly rejected. He wasn't interested in such basic puppets. His goal was to create a puppet guidebook to help sell them at a good price on the black market. These low-grade puppets were useless in his eyes; in fact, once he had memorized their mechanisms, he could easily reproduce an identical one. 

The design and mechanisms were far too simplistic, making them easy to find flaws during battle and thus easily countered. However, the Sand Ninja had likely foreseen this flaw and had puppet masters control two or three puppets in coordination to cover for each other's weaknesses. 

Hyūga Mirai found these puppets laughable. After witnessing the more advanced mechanical warriors from Kinoshita, he had no interest in these outdated models. 

"Kurenai, Kiyo, let's split the resources. I'll keep the puppets for now, and once I sell them on the black market, I'll give you your share." Hyūga Mirai waved his hand and immediately divided the kunai and shuriken into three portions. 

With these unexpected profits, even after using over a hundred explosive tags, Hyūga Mirai managed to replenish a good amount of chakra. Plus, with two A-ranked mission achievements and thirteen puppets, he had made nearly one million ryo in pure profit. 

Yūhi Kurenai smiled and accepted her share of the shuriken and kunai, saying, "I don't need a cut. This mission went so smoothly thanks to your plan and the explosive tags, Mirai. How about treating me to a big meal when we get back?" 

"Kurenai, don't jinx it!" Hyūga Mirai quickly warned, relieved that it was Kurenai saying this. If it had been Tsunade making the same comment, this mission might have turned disastrous. 

After the reconnaissance mission was completed, the higher-ups didn't send Hyūga Mirai's team back to the Land of Rivers for another mission, but instead gave them a patrol assignment nearby. 

It was an easy task: simply patrol the area, be on the lookout for enemy movements, and make sure there were no signs of infiltration. 

The Sand Ninja didn't have the strength to send a large force to Kikyō Castle, and with many Leaf reconnaissance teams stationed in the Land of Rivers, any small group of elite Sand Ninja trying to hide would not escape the detection of the Byakugan. 

"Looks like the superior shinobi assigned us an easy task after our tough mission," Hyūga Mirai thought, leading Hyūga Kiyo and Yūhi Kurenai on the patrol. 

The patrol was simple: complete the rounds, confirm there were no enemy traces, and move on to the next location. After two rounds, they would return and report back. 

Hyūga Mirai planned to take this time to familiarize himself with the puppets he had obtained from the Sand Ninja and record all the control methods. This would allow him to pass them off as legitimate Sand Ninja techniques and raise their resale value. 

(End of Chapter)