Uchiha Ling had as many Exploding Tags as she wanted; she could manufacture tens of millions a day and wouldn't feel the slightest bit of heartache throwing a hundred million during a night raid.
Uchiha Ling's words stabilized Minato Namikaze and Uchiha Fugaku's wavering resolve, making them believe that such a night raid was indeed feasible.
"Hehe, very good, but what if the front lines don't have that many Exploding Tags? Does Uchiha Ling have any good ideas?"
Orochimaru knew that if Uchiha Ling proposed aerial bombardment, she must have a solution; otherwise, such an impractical idea would not have been suggested.
"Orochimaru, I have a channel to get Exploding Tags, and I can even give you a 20% discount. What do you say? How many do you want?"
Uchiha Ling didn't plan to provide Exploding Tags for public use for free. What was collective was collective, and what was personal was personal. She had no intention of letting them freeload off her.
For this war with the Hidden Sand Village, Konoha had allocated military funds. It was better for this money to fall into her hands and benefit the people than for Orochimaru to line his own pockets and buy experimental equipment, right?
"Oh? Is that so? But the front line's military funds are tight. I wonder if Uchiha Ling could ask her friend to make it a bit cheaper. I believe, given Uchiha Ling's love for the Village, she will do her best to make this happen, right?"
Orochimaru gave a sinister smile. His intuition as a fellow Ninja made him realize that Uchiha Ling probably wanted to take a kickback from the military funds, just like him. There was so little military funding; if Uchiha Ling took some, what would he eat?
His laboratory was severely lacking in funds right now, but these expenses were unavoidable for his Reanimation Jutsu research. It was a pity that Danzo was no longer providing him with funds.
Orochimaru somewhat missed Danzo. Although their cooperation was entirely based on mutual scheming, Danzo was generous with money. It was a shame they had fallen out now.
"Not a single bit cheaper. You should know that during wartime, my channel is only offering a discount to open up the market."
Uchiha Ling stood her ground. She couldn't agree to such a thing. If it became a precedent, how would she earn money in the future? Although selling an Exploding Tag at a 10% profit was still a gain, adhering to the philosophy that earning less was losing, Uchiha Ling would never let her thoughts be anything but clear.
"Alright then, let's start with 100,000 Exploding Tags." Orochimaru calculated the minimum number of Exploding Tags needed to bomb the enemy Ninja, who numbered over a thousand, then, after calculating the expenditure, he determined the quantity to purchase.
Uchiha Ling was a bit disappointed. 100,000 Exploding Tags, at the current price of 1,600 ryo per tag, even with an 80% discount, would only amount to 128 million ryo.
"Only"? Uchiha Ling was indeed a bit greedy. One should know that her current liquid assets were only a little over 100 million ryo. Doubling her personal assets was already quite impressive.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much good to buy in the Ninja World right now. Uchiha Ling only had the Ninja Cat Clan help her sell Exploding Tags and buy some valuable chakra metal.
"100,000 Exploding Tags it is. Give me the money first, and I'll buy them back for you quickly."
Uchiha Ling held out her small hand, motioning for Orochimaru to quickly hand over the money. She was never one to front the cost.
"Here's 100 million ryo. The remaining funds will be given to you once the Exploding Tags are bought back."
Orochimaru opened his mouth and spat out a sticky scroll, which he then rolled with his tongue and tossed to Uchiha Ling.
Uchiha Ling spread her hand, and a gentle ball of Wind Release Chakra enveloped the scroll, quickly blowing away the sticky fluid. After unrolling the scroll and confirming the funds were correct, Uchiha Ling used the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave the area.
"The Flying Thunder God Technique! How convenient! Uchiha Ling's talent is indeed the best I've ever seen."
Orochimaru curled his lips. There was a half-sentence he didn't say: Uchiha Ling was also the best vessel for Reanimation Jutsu, but unfortunately, he wasn't confident he could subdue Uchiha Ling.
Uchiha Ling merely flew to a nearby Flying Thunder God Mark, then instantly created 100,000 Exploding Tags. After placing them into a blank sealing scroll, Uchiha Ling returned to the front-line camp.
"These are 100,000 Exploding Tags, Orochimaru. Where's my final payment?"
Uchiha Ling watched as Orochimaru gathered 2,500 Ninja, who were currently preparing for mobilization and departure.
"Very well, then you take these 100,000 Exploding Tags and go ahead. After the night raid, the remaining Exploding Tags will count as your final payment!"
Orochimaru was a frugal man, and he had no intention of giving her the remaining 28 million ryo. If he, Orochimaru, was doing the procurement, advancing funds was impossible. He never paid the final installment.
"Very well, Orochimaru, you will regret this!"
Uchiha Ling was quite furious; no one had ever dared to owe her money and not repay it. However, she didn't fight Orochimaru on the spot. There would be plenty of opportunities to deal with him later.
"Hmph! Hehe, Uchiha Ling, remember, I am the Ninja Army Commander!"
After Orochimaru said this, he suddenly felt it sounded familiar but couldn't recall where he had heard it. But it didn't matter; he was very happy to have saved 28 million ryo.
"Uchiha Ling, don't make a move. I'll talk to Lord Third when I return to Konoha."
Minato Namikaze was afraid that Uchiha Ling, being young and hot-headed, would fight Orochimaru on the spot, so he immediately stepped forward and said he would find a way to resolve it.
Uchiha Ling naturally didn't care. As long as Orochimaru still cared about immortality, he would surely fall into her hands. However, being vengeful, she decided to make Orochimaru pay.
Once he used Reanimation Jutsu to become a woman, she would directly ambush him, seal his Chakra, and then sell him to the red-light district to be a courtesan! Let him face men!
"Now, the army departs!" Orochimaru led the way, with 2,500 Ninja following closely behind. Uchiha Ling, Minato, and Akimichi Choza blended into the crowd.
There was a ten-kilometer war zone between the Hidden Sand Village and Konoha. Beyond that was their Defense Line, and beyond the defensive line, somewhere, was their station. (Note: The Chinese terms 'Defense Line' and 'station' were not in the provided glossary, so I've kept them as is, assuming they are proper nouns or specific military terms that should remain untranslated based on the prompt's instructions for consistency.)
Currently, neither side had clearly located the other's base. With Ninja's high mobility, changing bases overnight was not an issue.
Ten kilometers was, at most, half an hour's journey for Ninja. Along the way, they naturally encountered some Hidden Sand Village Ninja scouting for intelligence.
Unfortunately, their sensory abilities were no match for Orochimaru, who charged at the front of the crowd, clearing the path with a wave-like swarm of venomous snakes. They were swallowed by the snakes in an instant.
Crossing the war zone, the Konoha Ninja army quickly arrived at the Hidden Sand Village's defense line. Without Orochimaru needing to urge her, Uchiha Ling instinctively used Super Beast Imitating Drawing to create a bird and then flew into the sky.
At this moment, the Hidden Sand Village Ninja within the various defensive structures had already detected the approaching Konoha army. The leading Sand Village Jonin immediately ordered his subordinates to call for reinforcements.
Unfortunately, they had no chance. Just as they stepped out of the outpost, preparing to gather and resist the Konoha Ninja army to buy time, Uchiha Ling looked at the scattered Hidden Sand Village Ninja below, a trace of reluctance flashing through her heart.
But in the end, she swiftly threw Exploding Tag Shuriken one after another towards the denser crowds. The Exploding Tag Shuriken were infused with Wind Release Chakra, making their speed incredibly fast.
Originally, Exploding Tags slowly floated down, but after Uchiha Ling designed them into Shuriken, their lethality and concealment greatly increased. It wasn't until the Exploding Tag Shuriken reached a height of ten meters above them that they reacted.
However, they made another mistake, believing them to be ordinary Shuriken, and simply used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, intending to blow them away.
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