The appointment of the new generation of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen quickly spread to every corner of Kirigakure.
Hozuki Mangetsu and Momochi Zabuza—these two names were far from unfamiliar to the people of Kirigakure. Both were prodigies who had applied for early graduation from the ninja academy this year.
What truly shocked everyone was that three of the legendary swords—Hiramekarei, Nuibari, and Shibuki—had all ended up in the hands of a single individual.
Moreover, the combined ages of the four newly appointed Swordsmen barely equaled that of the elder, Jinin Akebino.
Additionally, Onime Kaede, Terumi Mei, and Mukumo had all been reassigned to new positions by the decree of Mizukage Yagura.
They all had one thing in common—they were rising stars within their respective clans!
With these three officially assuming their new roles, along with the Hozuki and Yuki clans, Kirigakure's major families now had seven representatives standing behind their new Mizukage.
(Terumi Mei alone represented the interests of two bloodline limit clans, while Karatachi was his own force.)
Compared to all this, the name Momochi Zabuza barely caused a ripple.
...
On their very first day working at the Mizukage's Office as Yagura's personal guards, Mangetsu and Zabuza witnessed something unexpected—the immediate dismissal of both Hoshigaki Kisame and Ringo Ameyuri from their positions.
They were assigned missions instead.
Kisame and Ameyuri were currently at a bottleneck, stuck between chunin and jonin level in terms of raw skill. Without their swords, they were just a step away from reaching jonin rank. Staying by Yagura's side in comfort would not help them break through.
And Yagura had no intention of letting them stagnate in a sheltered environment.
That would be a waste of their potential.
Kisame and Ameyuri themselves understood what they needed at this moment.
Upon receiving their orders, there was no need for words of gratitude—they simply each accepted an A-rank mission in another country, stayed in the village for a night, and left early the next morning.
Mangetsu and Zabuza, still processing what they had just witnessed, exchanged glances in confusion.
"Alright, enough staring."
Yagura punched each of them lightly on the shoulder.
"You two still have a long way to go before reaching their level. Once you hit a bottleneck, I'll send you out on missions too—don't think you can freeload here forever. This isn't a charity."
Among the four newly appointed Swordsmen, if they weren't wielding their blades, their strength ranked as follows: Kisame > Ameyuri >>> Mangetsu > Zabuza.
Mangetsu and Zabuza sighed.
They didn't want to admit it, but the difference in skill was undeniable.
For now, however, they had to take over the responsibilities that had previously belonged to Kisame and Ameyuri.
Yagura handed them a thick stack of documents. "One of you sort these by category—just use common sense. The other one, stamp approvals."
Keeping them busy would stop them from overthinking things.
Seeing their stunned expressions, Yagura feigned surprise.
"Wait, you didn't think being a guard just meant standing around all day, did you?"
The office staff, including Elder Genshi, struggled to hold back their laughter.
"Even the Anbu have to handle paperwork."
The Anbu members in the room suddenly stopped smiling.
No need to ask why—the budget was tight, and everyone had to pull their weight.
Terumi Mei, seated beside Yuki Murasaki, quietly absorbed the intricacies of handling official documents. She smirked internally.
Among the Five Great Nations, Kirigakure was likely the only one where the Mizukage assigned paperwork to Anbu and personal guards.
With Mangetsu and Zabuza now occupied, Yagura returned to his seat, shifting into work mode.
"Military Affairs Department, is the data I requested ready?"
Mangetsu and Zabuza turned their heads in surprise.
This was their first time seeing Yagura in action.
Yesterday, he had seemed carefree and playful, as if he were just goofing off.
They never expected that the young leader who used to be so casual and lighthearted now had the demeanor of a true authority figure.
"Yes, sir."
The head of the Military Affairs Department stepped forward, opening a file on Yagura's desk.
"Mizukage-sama, here is the detailed data on D-rank commissions, categorized by task type as per your request."
"Good, well done."
"We also compiled data on commissions of other ranks, though due to time constraints, the details aren't as thorough. If needed, we can refine the report further."
"That won't be necessary for now."
Yagura glanced at the department head approvingly.
A competent worker. He understood what his superior needed before being asked, going beyond basic duties to prepare for possible follow-ups.
And this wasn't something as simple as running an Excel spreadsheet like in Yagura's previous world.
This world had computers, yes—but it was still the late 20th century.
While computers were capable of basic calculations and data processing, they lacked the convenience of 21st-century technology.
The department head remained standing, waiting for further instructions.
Yagura had some initial thoughts about D-rank commissions based on earlier, incomplete reports and his observations of the Military Affairs Department's daily operations.
However, he needed to analyze the full data and discuss it with the department before making any decisions.
Taking a deep breath, he focused on the report.
Throughout August, Kirigakure handled D-rank commissions making up 66% of all village assignments.
Among them:
Household chores such as cleaning, weeding farms, pest control, and herding livestock accounted for 42.93%.
Investigation-related tasks, including finding lost pets, tailing unfaithful spouses, and locating lost items, made up 5.19%.
Delivery tasks, such as mailing letters and transporting goods, made up 51.65%.
Other minor commissions accounted for 0.23%.
After deducting the 3% mission subsidy granted to genin, net earnings amounted to approximately 8.1 billion ryo—only 16% of the total revenue.
(T/N: I probably spent an hour on these numbers, they are so wrong. So I changed a lot of the numbers to make some sense of it.)
Comparatively:
C-rank commissions: 83,000 missions, 50 billion ryo revenue (6% deduction).
B-rank commissions: 27,000 missions, 42 billion ryo revenue (10% deduction).
A-rank commissions: Around 2,000 missions, 12 billion ryo revenue (13% deduction).
S-rank commissions: 217 missions, 16 billion ryo revenue (25% deduction).
Scanning the data, Yagura immediately identified the issue.
D-rank commissions didn't generate significant revenue, yet they created the highest workload for the Military Affairs Department.
More importantly, these commissions consumed a large portion of genin's training time.
In peacetime, all active-duty ninja were required to complete a set number of missions.
Yagura had a bold idea.
—He wanted to eliminate D-rank commissions.
Freeing genin from this burden would allow them more time to develop their skills.
It would also streamline administrative tasks.
And, of course, it would make money.
The room fell silent.
Everyone, from the Military Affairs Department to the financial officers, stared at Yagura in shock.
What was the young Mizukage up to this time?
Given his track record, they knew this wasn't a baseless decision.
They remained respectfully silent, waiting for his next words.
Even the finance team, though internally panicked, held back their protests.
No D-rank missions? Where would they make up for the missing 20 billion ryo in revenue?
Meanwhile, Zabuza, recalling Kisame's advice from the previous day, immediately moved to push the blackboard forward.
"Thanks."
Yagura stood up, grabbed a piece of chalk, and wrote three bold lines:
D-Rank Commissions
↓
Housekeeping. Courier. Logistics.
↓
Computer & Internet: One-Click Ordering.