News of the Chunin Exams spread throughout the Village.
It wasn’t an official announcement, but rather one of those things that “everyone knows, but no one formally says.” The number of people on the streets increased, and business at ramen shops and yakiniku restaurants improved significantly.
Even the Logistics Area could feel the change—recently, there had been a noticeable increase in Ninjas from other Villages coming to pick up equipment.
Although most of them brought their own Ninja tools, they still had to go through Konoha’s supply channels for replacements and temporary borrowing.
Sato Fan’s warehouse remained the same as always: cold and deserted, with no one coming by.
But Section Chief Yamada came.
That morning, Sato Fan was squatting in Area B, organizing moisture-proof bags for explosive tags, when the warehouse door was pushed open.
Yamada, wearing a wrinkled Chunin vest and holding a thick folder, stood at the entrance and scanned the room.
“Little Sato, busy?”
Sato Fan stood up and patted the dust off his knees.
“Section Chief Yamada, what brings you here?”
“I’m here to bring you a big order.” Yamada walked in and tossed the folder onto the desk.
“The Chunin Exams are about to begin, and the higher-ups have requested that every warehouse increase its emergency reserves.
The Central Warehouse can’t hold any more, so a batch is being allocated to you.”
Sato Fan opened the folder, which contained a stack of allocation slips.
He flipped to the first page and froze.
Standard Kunai: 3,000.
Weighted Kunai: 1,000.
shuriken: 3,000.
explosive tags: 1,000.
food pills: 5,000.
He flipped to the second page.
Smoke bombs: 200.
Steel wire: 50 rolls.
Binding ropes: 100.
Basic medical kits: 30.
“Smoke bombs?” Sato Fan looked up.
“Aren’t these high-demand items usually kept in the Central Warehouse?”
“The Central Warehouse is packed,” Yamada said, leaning back in his chair and lighting a cigarette.
“During the Chunin Exams, many Ninjas from various Villages will be here.
The higher-ups are worried about trouble, so they’ve ordered every warehouse to increase emergency reserves.
The Central Warehouse is already overflowing—weapons, armor, medicine, every available space is filled.
These tactical auxiliary supplies are being distributed downwards.”
Sato Fan looked at the numbers on the allocation slips, and his heart skipped a beat.
Smoke bombs, steel wire, binding ropes, medical kits—although the unit price for these wasn’t high, they were highly sought-after items on the black market.
Combat Ninjas consumed them quickly and resupply was slow, so the price of private transactions was much higher than the official procurement price.
“When do these arrive?” he asked.
“They’ll be delivered in batches, and everything will be in place by this weekend.” Yamada exhaled a puff of smoke.
“Also, the higher-ups said this increase in reserves is for emergencies.
There might be inspections during the exams, so don’t mess anything up.”
“Inspections?
Who’s checking?”
“The Administration Department.
I don’t know specifically who yet.” Yamada stood up and patted the folder.
“Anyway, just do your job well.
According to the protocol, they have to inspect everything.
You understand, right?
I’m off.” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
The door closed.
Sato Fan stood there, staring at the thick folder.
He took out all the allocation slips and looked at them one by one.
Kunai, shuriken, explosive tags, food pills, smoke bombs, steel wire, binding ropes, medical kits.
Each item had a specific quantity and a storage deadline.
Adding these new supplies would bring the total inventory value of his warehouse to over six million ryo.
He put the allocation slips away and started calculating.
For the next week, Sato Fan was busy off his feet.
Monday morning, the first batch of supplies arrived.
Two horse-drawn carriages stopped at the warehouse entrance, piled high with crates.
He couldn’t move them alone, so he summoned a Shadow Clone.
The two of them divided the work—one moved the boxes, the other opened them for inventory—doubling their efficiency.
In the afternoon, the second batch arrived.
One thousand explosive tags, in two moisture-proof boxes, were locked into the iron cabinet in Area B.
Five thousand food pills, in ten boxes, were stacked in the back of Area C.
On Tuesday, the third batch arrived.
Two hundred smoke bombs, packed in four wooden crates, fifty per crate.
Sato Fan opened one crate and weighed a smoke bomb in his hand.
It had a tin shell and a pull-ring fuse, slightly smaller than a fist, and felt heavy.
This thing was more useful than a Kunai in actual combat—creating chaos, blocking vision, covering a retreat—it could save a life at a critical moment.
Fifty rolls of steel wire, twenty meters per roll, were packed in two crates.
One hundred binding ropes, specifically designed to restrain captives, were tough and difficult to break free from.
Thirty basic medical kits, each containing bandages, hemostatic agents, antiseptic ointment, and a simple antidote.
These items weren’t considered valuable in Konoha’s supply system, but on the black market, each one could fetch a good price.
Especially the smoke bombs and medical kits; combat Ninjas consumed them in large quantities, and official rations weren’t enough, so the price in private trades could double or triple the procurement cost.
Sato Fan placed the crates of smoke bombs against the wall in Area B, put the steel wire and binding ropes on the adjacent shelf, and locked the medical kits in the iron cabinet—these items were small, valuable, and easily stolen, so they couldn’t be left out in the open.
By Thursday, all supplies were in storage.
Sato Fan spent an entire day doing the books, writing down every single entry clearly.
He checked the ledger back and forth twice to ensure there were no clerical errors before locking it in the drawer.
Friday morning, Section Chief Yamada came again.
This time he brought someone with him—Koichi Nakajima, a Chunin responsible for the quarterly inspection of the Materials Section.
He was in his forties, with graying hair and round-rimmed glasses, looking like a diligent person.
“Little Sato, this is Senior Nakajima.
He’s here to check on the storage of the new supplies.” Yamada stood at the entrance without coming in.
Sato Fan took Koichi Nakajima on a tour of the warehouse.
The Kunai in Area A, the explosive tags and smoke bombs in Area B, the food pills and medical kits in Area C—everything was neat, orderly, and clearly labeled.
Koichi Nakajima opened a few boxes to take a look, closed them again, and made a few notes in his notebook.
“Smoke bombs and medical kits are high-demand items.
You need to keep a separate account for them and clearly state the reason for every monthly loss report,” said Koichi Nakajima.
“Understood.”
“I’ll come again at the end of the month for the quarterly inventory.
All supplies will need to be checked then.”
Sato Fan nodded.
Koichi Nakajima closed his notebook and turned to leave.
Yamada waited at the door for a while, and once Koichi Nakajima was far away, he leaned in and lowered his voice: “Nakajima is a stickler for the rules, so make sure nothing goes wrong.”
Sato Fan glanced at Yamada.
“Don’t worry!
Section Chief Yamada!”
Yamada patted his shoulder and left. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Sato Fan returned to the office, sat down, and opened his notebook.
He wrote down: First inspection, passed.
There’s another quarterly inventory at the end of the month.
Three more weeks.
In these three weeks, he had two things to do.
First, master the Body Flicker Technique, and he could also start learning the Mud Wall, aiming to use them proficiently before the Chunin Exams.
Second, formulate a plan for the “big operation.”
Orochimaru’s Konoha Crush Plan caused great damage to Konoha, following the Nine-Tailed incident.
Invading forces: about 100 Sand Ninjas, 100-150 Otogakure Ninjas.
Third Hokage · Hiruzen Sarutobi died in battle (Konoha’s spiritual pillar collapsed).
Numerous Jonin, Special Jonin, and Chunin died in battle.
Hundreds of civilians and logistics personnel killed or injured.
Konoha’s city walls and main gate were completely destroyed by the giant snake summoned by Orochimaru.
The Chunin Exam venue and surrounding blocks were mostly razed to the ground.
Many residential areas, training grounds, and warehouses were burned/collapsed.
Sensory barriers, communication towers, and medical stations were temporarily paralyzed.
The losses amounted to over 100 million ryo, and there were many suspicious points.
Thinking that a few hundred Ninjas and a few large Ninja snakes could crush Konoha is simply a joke.
Even if the Ichibi were released, the Ichibi’s abilities were far inferior to the Nine-Tailed, not to mention that Jiraiya was still in the Village (Jiraiya wasn’t hiding; even Kakashi knew).
Plus the prepared Four Violet Flames Formation and the Edo Tensei of the former Hokages.
No matter how you look at it, this damn Konoha Crush Plan was prepared specifically to kill the Third Hokage!
And Danzo and the Root were completely silent at the time; they didn’t appear.
Add that to the mess Orochimaru and Danzo had been researching together before.
This was clearly a grand play orchestrated by Orochimaru and Danzo to kill the Third Hokage.
As expected, the lethality of “I regret my shadow” is still great…
If Utatane Koharu and Homura Mitokado hadn’t asked Jiraiya to bring back Tsunade, Danzo would have been just one step away from becoming the legitimate Hokage!
But it seems these two Hokage Advisors aren’t good people either; they clearly knew something and didn’t want Danzo to become Hokage.
Even so, Danzo’s Root was completely out of the Hokage’s control because of this.
Tsunade’s power as Hokage was later constrained, and sometimes even influenced by Root (arranging Sai).
And Orochimaru entering Konoha as if it were empty during the Chunin Exams—it seems Root cooperated with him, but they didn’t expect his hands to be crippled by the Third Hokage’s Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
Sasuke, who was the trade item, ended up killing him, although the “Snake Lady” is famously hard to kill so he didn’t die, but overall he lost big time.
So what benefits can I gain from this turmoil?
Warn the Third Hokage?
No way.
Not to mention whether the Third Hokage would believe it, his tolerance for Danzo has always been very high.
If I’m not careful, this ordinary Genin might be dealt with as a sacrifice, and the Third Hokage would just endure it.
If it were during Tsunade’s reign, that would be one thing, but this old guy, the Third Hokage, wasted a hand full of SSRs.
White Fang committed suicide due to rumors, Hyuga Neji’s father Hyuga Hizashi committed suicide just to give the Raikage Village an explanation, the Uchiha Clan was wiped out, geniuses Shisui and Itachi died or left the Village, and of his three disciples, one betrayed and two left the Village.
He turned the perfectly fine strongest Ninja Village into one where even the Sand Village, the weakest, wanted to come and take a kick with a hundred people.
It’s hard to comment!
So, Sato Fan had already planned it out.
He would use this riot to swallow up all the supplies here.
6 million in funds—an ordinary S-rank mission is only 1 million ryo, enough for a Genin like him to do hundreds of C-rank missions.
Then, relying on the Konoha Crush Plan during the Chunin Exams, he would wipe the ledger clean once and for all.
With 30% of the buildings damaged, adding one more small warehouse wouldn’t be noticeable!
Therefore, there was no need to tamper with the losses in these two months; he needed to maintain the image of being diligent and serious.